Georgetown Basketball.
As Forrest Gump says, “It’s a household name.”
But these days, for the first time in several years, Georgetown’s players are also household names.
Repeat after their ESPN cheering section, “Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje,” “Kevin Braswell,” “Lee Scruggs,” “Mike Sweetney,” “Demetrius Hunter.”
(My apologies to the rest of the Hoyas. This is not my pecking order. This is the names-that-Sportscenter-has-made-common-for-the-past-two-weeks order and it shouldn’t be regarded as an exclusive list.)
Now, where do you, the readers, fit into all this?
Answer: Well, if your reading this there’s a good chance you have been following the team and are a part of we, the few, who joined the G-town B-ball bandwagon from the beginning.
(Sorry to brag, but my pre-season Sweet Sixteen prediction is looking more smart than optimistic these days.)
You saw their humble preseason start, their second half revival against Bethune-Cookman. You were bigger than your finals schedule and saw them wax the floor with Grambling, struggle past Coastal Carolina and put it all together on offense against Howard.
Most of your buddies missed it.
The attendance at these games was absolutely pitiful.
Granted, the competition was not too exciting, but we’re still talking about the signature sport at Georgetown. They weren’t playing Seton Hall back then, but we’re also talking about a team that was (and is) undefeated. We’re talking about watching these guys become a team.
McDonough isn’t the ideal place to watch a game, but it’s not like the Howard game at MCI was jam packed with screaming fans. More importantly, Head Coach Craig Esherick has a much harder time making the case that we need a bigger on-campus arena (or gymnasium) when we can’t even sell out McDonough.
We’re talking about seeing Kevin Braswell force his teammates to take their games to the next level. We’re talking about seeing seniors Anthony Perry and Nat Burton respond to coming off the bench by playing with intensity and providing their younger replacements with leadership. We’re talking about watching Mike Sweetney become a star.
We’re still talking about the same guys that beat Seton Hall twice?your classmates?showing off the talent that makes them the “big men on campus.”
They are not just good, they’re awesome and they deserve a big crowd, whether they’re playing against the Lakers or your mom.
Aside from that, watching your team dominate a few cup cakes is good for the soul?as in the soul of the school. You know, people actually used to like this school?lots of people. Basketball was a big part of the reason why. A little unity would do this school some good. A protest isn’t the only reason for thousands of students to get together.
But then again, you’re reading this, you were probably there, you probably care. Tell your friends, they missed out, but we’ll forgive them if they show up now. We’ll know they’re getting on the bandwagon late, but at least they’re getting on … just in time to see some records fall.
