Running Diary of Georgetown Game and South Carolina Primary Night
Tee Kane
January 31, 2008
I couldn’t decide whether to do a running diary of the South Carolina primary or the Georgetown game, so I decided to do both. The problem is that tip-off for the Georgetown game coincided with the closing of the South Carolina polling booths at 7 p.m. This means it's likely to be a highly frenetic and at-times nonsensical diary. You may need your un-medicated ADDHD 12 year old to translate (maybe Scientology children are actually good for something after all).
6:29 p.m.: We are starting on MSNBC, which has a 30-minute countdown going until the polls close. The first two people to talk are Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan. I’m already thinking this was a bad idea.
6:36 p.m.: Keith Oberman and David Gregory with some exit polls and some old political hands as guests: Kiki McLean for Clinton, Joe Trippi for Edwards, and Joe Erwin for Obama. Kiki appears inside a studio somewhere, but is wearing a red, Polartec fleece like she either walked in from the ski slopes or a Cold Stone Creamery.
The first few minutes are all about Bill Clinton. The Onion handled it best with this article. They absolutely nailed the quotes. Even the biggest Bill Clinton fans know he has absolutely no self-control. Were we really surprised when he couldn’t help injecting himself in the race? How could he possibly help himself?
6:43 p.m.: The Obama campaign sounds confident. They either have some favorable exit polls or a death wish.
6:46 p.m.: Moralist Bill Bennett is on CNN speaking from Las Vegas. High comedy. He seems happy. It’s a good bet he’s up at least $600 on the slots today. I wonder if CNN had a production assistant assigned to him at all times to make sure he didn’t disappear to some dark slots corner at a casino off the strip. Democratic strategist Donna Brazile made a smart decision and is NOT wearing red Polartec. Good job looking like a grown-up.
6:54 p.m.: CNN’s John King is making his first appearance tonight with a map of South Carolina behind him. I'm really hoping someone compares one of the candidates to the Swamp Fox, Francis Marion, tonight, mostly because Marion specialized in shooting red coats in the Revolutionary War. I wish I could have been around for revolutionary America just to hear the anti-English rhetoric.
6:56 p.m.: CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux is getting some leaks that Obama did well. I’m going to make a prediction that he wins by seven percent, with Edwards doing well.
7:00:0001 p.m.: PROJECTION! Well, that was fast. It sounds like the margin is going to be much larger than my projection just a few minutes ago. And there is a race on for second place. I get a congratulatory call from Tee’s Weekly IT Director Timee Kane, who is watching the game in the bar with our Editor-in-Chief. Just a note about our editor, she sent out a four-page email this week to the staff on the proper usage of compound modifiers. Just so you don’t think it’s all fun and games to write for Tee’s Weekly.
7:03 p.m.: How about John Edwards winning the white vote, but getting a solid one percent of the black vote? CNN is also projecting Mike Gravel will finish eighth, right behind Strom Thurmond, who picked up 12 votes from a few Alzheimer patients in a Columbia, SC, nursing home.
7:07 p.m.: I’m switching over to ESPN, where Georgetown is already up eight to four. The night is off to a great start for the Kane family.
7:08 p.m.: Jamie Smalligan makes a three for West Virginia. It’s important to remember that even though Georgetown is ranked eighth, they are four-point underdogs playing at West Virginia, which is unranked. That’s a massive home court advantage for the Mountaineers. Of course, most of this is due to a screaming, belligerent Kane cousin who couldn’t pass a blood alcohol test if it were administered in February.
7:13 p.m.: Fellow Colonial Steve “Onions” Shep sends me an illegal link via Google chat to watch the GW game on the internet as well. In an unrelated story, the person who I rent my room from in Bethesda just threatened to turn off all the power to the house.
7:18 p.m.: Timeout in Morgantown. Over to MSNBC, where Tim Russert is sounding alarms for Clinton campaign about Obama’s support for black voters. My guess is that this a bit of an overreaction. No way Obama wins 80 percent of the African-American vote in the rest of primaries.
7:23 p.m.: Back to ESPN. Georgetown is down four. West Virginia has already hit three three-pointers. This West Virginia team is an odd combination, with players recruited by departing coach John Beilein (Michigan). Beilein and current West Virginia coach Bob Huggins are about as diametrically opposed as you could imagine in terms of playing styles and moral compasses (only 23 of the 95 players Huggins coached at Cincinnati graduated). The trademark of Beilein’s teams is a bunch of tall guys who can shoot threes, even if they lack athleticism. Huggins looks surprised anytime his players shoot from behind the arc.
Jessie Sapp cuts the lead to three. There’s a great article in Saturday’s Washington Post about Sapp, including some quotes from his New York City friend, Pitt’s Levance Fields, and some unexpected complimentary quotes from UConn coach Jim Calhoun.
7:36 p.m.: Jim Calhoun should not be confused with long-serving, 19th-century South Carolina senator John Calhoun, which takes us back to MSNBC, where they just called second place for Hillary Clinton and third for John Edwards. Someone may want to send this column to John Edwards. It’s all over but the concession speeches.
7:41 p.m.: George Washington is down 40 to 18 against Duquesne. I never thought I’d ever write that. What a disaster of a season, but don’t think for one second they are going to lose their two votes in Tee’s Weekly’s Top 10. Steve and I are steadfast in our denial.
7:45 p.m.: West Virginia hits yet another three at the buzzer for the lead into halftime. But wait. The three is correctly waived off on the replay. 25 to 24, Georgetown is up by one at the half.
7:58 p.m.: Nobody is saying anything interesting on either CNN or MSNBC about the nomination. I’m dying for someone to ask Bill Bennett who he would bet on to win the nomination. They keep showing footage of Hillary and Chelsea getting on a plane to go somewhere. No sight of Bill. He must be giving the concession speech.
8:03 p.m.: Keith Oberman makes a good joke about American Samoa in Clinton’s concession speech. I just learned that Hillary is actually getting on plane to fly to where she will give a concession speech.
8:05 p.m.: Start of the second half of the Georgetown game, where West Virginia has gone on a quick 8-2 run to take the lead. Georgetown makes two terrible turnovers and Coach JTIII calls a timeout. Not good.
8:12 p.m.: Bill is actually giving the concession speech. Unbelievable. It’s like a wedding where the best man gives an hour-long toast and talks all about himself, while the bride contemplates pulling the microphone and choking him. If you don’t get that joke and were ever a best man, then it’s time to get out the tape of your friend’s wedding. My housemate comments that Brian Williams really doesn’t look like he wants to work on a Saturday. Where’s Tom Brokaw when you need him? The public can get Bob Sagat to come out of TV retirement, but not Tom Brokaw?
8:29 p.m.: Georgetown 34, West Virginia 40, with 11 minutes to go. The game feels a lot like the Pittsburgh game, where Georgetown faded in the second half. Of course, as soon as I say that the Hoyas go on a nice run with a couple of back-door cuts.
8:34 p.m.: Steve passes on a nice stat, “GW 0-4 in A-10 games when their opponent scores more than 20 points.” GW down 30.
8:38 p.m.: Jessie Sapp makes a free throw to complete the old-fashion three-point play and tie the game. West Virginia responds with another three. Georgetown comes right back down the court and gets yet another back-door basket. That’s some great back and forth basketball.
8:48 p.m.: After some emergency nourishment, it’s down to the final five minutes of the game with West Virginia up by three. West Virginia keeps making shots while Wallace is having an off game and can’t make one of his divine threes. Obama is set to give his acceptance speech at 9 p.m.. It’s getting tight again.
8:54 p.m.: Huggins is complaining about something. I’ll tell you what he’s not complaining about, and that’s graduating too many players.
Steve passes on another stat: “More bad news for Hillary: she was not named one of the final 10 in tonight's Miss America pageant”
9:00 p.m.: Patrick Ewing Jr. hits two big free throws after missing both a minute before. That’s followed by a missed West Virginia shot. Hibbert with a tip to get the lead down to one. West Virginia holds the ball with a minute to go and gets a back-door, alley-oop layup to put the lead back to three.
9:01 p.m.: Quick Hoya timeout (a quick flip over to MSNBC and there’s no sign of Obama). Sapp drives and get fouled and makes both free throws. A soft foul is called on Jeremiah Rivers, which sends Darris Nichols to the free-throw line. He makes the first, but misses the second! Hoyas get to use their full arsenal of plays with time left on the clock and only down two. Nothing happening for Wallace, they’re running out of time. Pass to Sapp, and he nails a three. Wow!
9:08 p.m.: Hoyas are up by one with 6.2 seconds left. (CAUTION: The next few minutes were not typed exactly in real time due to an excess of seizures.) West Virginia inbounds and gets the ball up the court quickly. Da’Shawn Bulter ends up with the ball in the corner. He drives on the baseline with a clear path to the basket and floats one toward the rim, but out of nowhere Patrick Ewing, Jr. blocks the shot. Where did he come from? Huggins is berserk, chasing the officials down the tunnel, arguing that it was goaltending. It’s very close. What a finish to a great game.
9:11 p.m.: I’m still shaking and screaming as I switch over to Obama’s victory speech. The dog has no idea what’s going on (mostly because he doesn’t have a soul), but thinks it somehow increases the chance I will throw him the ball.
9:17 p.m.: Obama is nailing another victory speech. Some great unifying talk along with some thinly veiled references to the Clintons. I’m an absolute dead sucker for this guy.
9:26 p.m.: I give up the remote for five seconds and somehow there is now figure skating going on. Time to get a Guinness. Thanks for hanging in there.