It would be exceedingly difficult to find something on Georgetown’s campus that is more common knowledge than our 1984 NCAA Basketball championship. Maybe President Bill Clinton’s status as an alumnus or the name of our bulldog mascot rival the 1984 season’s notoriety, but that only belies the fact that basketball season is considered nothing less than sacred. That year, legendary Coach John Thompson Jr. led Patrick Ewing and the Hoyas to college hoops immortality and this campus will never forget it. With the Final Four run in 2007 and several competitive seasons since, Hoya basketball has established itself as a staple in the culture of Georgetown. Ask any group of Georgetown students which athletic program has the most top finishes and of course they will quickly answer “basketball.” Well, they would be wrong.
Instead, that title should belong to the sailing team, which won its eighth national championship last spring in Austin, Texas. To say that our sailing team is dominant in their field of athletics is an understatement. But at a school so bent on success and prestige, why isn’t a team that has won eight national championships since 2001 put on a pedestal and lauded over like the basketball team? Regrettably, as in many other cases, it comes down to money.
Ideally, the University could allocate funds for promotion of sports programs based on their success. This way at least when a team is doing well and should be making Hoyas proud, students would actually know about it. Unfortunately, very few other college sports receive the commercial popularity that basketball enjoys. The sailing team is just another one of those non-revenue programs that suffer from this commercial structure year after year. And so with most of their minimal revenue being spent on sustaining activities such as travel and equipment and not publicity, these teams quickly become an afterthought for students.
The lack of interest doesn’t just stop with sailing though. Georgetown women’s cross country won the NCAA National Championship last year, and other than a few hints of interest ,the notoriety faded and failed to carry over into this year’s season. This team, as with sailing, earned every bit of their National Championship, but still Georgetown as a whole disregarded the success without much hesitation.
Bringing attention to these non-revenue sports teams has proved to be a daunting task. With the University only able to heavily promote the one team that brings in the big bucks and students paying all their attention to the flashy, mega-hyped nature of NCAA men’s basketball, it is hard to discern what must be done to make a change.
What Georgetown really needs is an athletic team capable of bridging the gap between non-revenue sports and recognition by Hoya fans. One team looks to be doing just that, and for that reason men’s soccer has taken on more than just an attempt at a national title. Georgetown soccer does not receive national commercial attention, yet the team sold out its stands, overfilled its student section, and had countless fans gripping the fences surrounding the field last week in the quarterfinal.
With their convincing win over the University of San Diego last Saturday, men’s soccer thrust itself into the Final Four and into program history. Never has a Georgetown soccer team made it this close to winning the College Cup and students are eating it up. The excitement surrounding a team that only had two televised games this year brings some hope that maybe this time success will stick. The stands up on North Kehoe Field were brimming with shouting Hoya fans and the student section would not be denied after the final seconds passed as they rushed the field and created a massive, jumping huddle around the players.
Soccer winning the NCAA National Championship could do much more than simply add another top finish in the Georgetown record books. It could broaden the range of attention paid to sports programs. Although they still have to get through Maryland, it is definitely possible for this talented group that has already withstood a rigorous Big East schedule.
The most important consequence of the men’s soccer team’s victories is that they shed light on the world that exists outside of basketball. The real test will come next year when the soccer season rolls around again. If this year’s run has bridged the commercial gap, students will turn out to support men’s soccer with the excitement that only basketball has captured. 1984 was a long time ago and it is time for us to start cheering on Hoyas in each of our sports. Two wins in Alabama could go a long way in making this increased support and attention a lasting quality.
While sailing and cross country are certainly very successful programs, you failed to mention the fact that supporting a team involves actually being able to watch and/or understand what is happening. Sailing and cross country do not fit these criteria. It is not just about money its about being able to watch a full game without having to run alongside the competitors.
I agree with Tim’s comment above. While I feel that it would be wonderful if more Georgetown students and Alumni paid attention to these non-revenue sports, it’s about much more than money. Sailing and Cross Country are simply not sports that excite people and they are not easy to follow. Soccer is the most popular sport in the world, so although it may not be #1 in the United States, it is still widely regarded as a very popular sport and the fact that we are competing at the highest level possible in the NCAA makes it something that the Georgetown community can easily get behind and take pride in. I’ll be cheering hard for this team that has already made us very proud, and I hope my fellow alumni will join me in doing so not only this weekend, but at the start of next soccer season as well. HOYA SAXA!!!