Who is Georgetown?
Gee Kane
January 24, 2008
There are many curious sayings casually chucked around sports these days. “It is what it is” seems to be the most common. And the most annoying. I would like to know, what exactly does that phrase add to a conversation or an argument? When is it not what it is? Can you name one time?
The simplistic phrase almost always comes from a coach, player, or mid-level business manager that lacks the capacity or intellectual curiosity to actually search for a more enlightening explanation. From now on, I am going to protest every time I hear someone say “it is what it is” by saying, “No shit, asshole.” Well unless my boss says it, then I might just go with, “Are you sure? It might not be what it is.”
Another curious saying could be heard at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., this past Saturday and Monday when Georgetown took on Notre Dame and Syracuse over the holiday weekend. (Oh, you say that your company did not honor the holiday weekend? Well at Tee’s Weekly we take ALL national holidays seriously, especially Dr. King’s holiday. Ask St. Francis de Sales Catholic School if folks should be working and going to school on this most special holiday. One year, the school principal thought she would make up some early snow days by NOT observing Dr. King’s holiday. Crazy Dee eventually won the student body vs. administration showdown by telling the principal: “Look at me Sister Betty, either you honor Dr. King’s memory or we burn this bitch down!”)
The Georgetown University students standing behind each of the baskets will chant back and forth “We are!” and “George-town!” with increasing ferocity each time the phrase is repeated. I’m sure at least one fan visiting fan from South Bend or Syracuse upon hearing the students chant, “We are Georgetown!” thought, “No shit, asshole.” But before you dismiss the phrase as silly ask yourself, who IS Georgetown these days?
Georgetown University’s basketball team has once again established its identity since the arrival of head coach John Thompson III. The Hoyas last had an identity with Coach Thompson, Jr. and it mirrored the intimidating 6’10” coach. That was their on-court identity.
Off-court, Georgetown was a place that mothers could send their sons to get a diploma from a great university and maybe play for a Big East or a national championship. This winter, the mother of the nation’s top prep prospect, Greg Monroe, decided to just that.
Georgetown will graduate four contributing seniors this year and they might be better next year with the following disgustingly filthy rotation: Jessie Sapp, Austin Freeman, DaJuan Summers, Vern Macklin, Greg Monroe, Chris Wright, and Jeremiah Rivers. (Speaking of Jeremiah, the next time an announcer introduces him without saying he’s Doc Rivers’ son will be the first time. Tee’s Weekly policy is that he will be called Jay Rivers from this point on.)
Georgetown will see only its 10th McDonald’s All-American set foot into McDonough Arena at the start of the next season. Three of those 10 All-Americans will be on next year’s squad. Coach Thompson the youngest, like his father, has also established a team identity that mirrors him: smart, patient, disciplined, unflappable, and ready to compete for championships. We are Georgetown, indeed.
This year’s team will also have the chance to win a Big East championship and finish some business in San Antonio in April. The key player for the Hoyas run over the next three months will be Maryland native DaJuan Summers.
At times Summers takes over games and is the only Hoya given the task of creating his own shot. He’s a tough match-up at 6’8” because he can shoot over smaller guys and dunk on the necks of slower gumps. However, DaJuan, like all of us really, can have a bad day. And when DaJuan has a bad day, he makes sure he’s not left wondering if he had a bad day or not. He knows without a doubt.
This next part is the only part of this entire article that Tee’s Weekly founder Tee cares about: the numbers. In the last calendar year the Hoyas have lost five times and DaJuan’s shooting percentage in those losses was an astounding 16 percent. He attempted 23 three-point shots in those five games and made three of them. Even his free-throw percentage was way down to 61 percent. He is such a gifted scorer that when he settles for tough jump shots it is all the more frustrating. Summers certainly wasn’t the only Hoya who had a bad game in those five games, but when he has a good game, the Hoyas don’t lose.
Last Saturday, DaJuan had a pretty good game as the Hoyas beat Connecticut. Before the game, every other person who came to the will-call booth said their tickets were left by Coach Thompson. “Which one?” the woman asked every time. Both coaches had left plenty of tickets and both coaches have successfully impressed their identities onto their national contending teams.