Basketball Jones wrote:

my main fear about this game is that if GW "wins" there will not be a regular season matchup between GWU and Georgetown for at least another 25 years

Remember the last Maryland at GWU game

We are a week and a half away so I went back to this thread and am calling attention to this interesting post from Basketball Jones.  Whether the "fear" is legitimate or meant as a joke, the post does raise the question as to where GW-Georgetown goes from here? 

Much has changed over the past 44 years.  The Hoyas became a national power, faded to near obscurity, and are now appearing to make strides under Ed Cooley.  GW became a consistent NCAA Tournament candidate, faded to total obscurity, and are now making strides under Chris Caputo.

The last time the schools regularly met one another, Georgetown had risen to the point where they stood "everything to lose with nothing to gain" by playing GW.  The reverse was true for GW who could consider those Georgetown meetings to be the closest to an NCAA Tournament game that they would see for about another 10 years.

While the Hoyas still play in the better conference with the bigger budgets, the schools are far closer to one another from a talent perspective than they've been in decades.  Torvik has GW ranked #60 in its preseason forecast while Georgetown is #71.  It is much easier to make the case today that: a) a loss to GW should no longer be considered embarrassing and b) scheduling one another annually should help each other's metrics.

Bragging rights aside, I'm unclear as to how often GW is competing against Georgetown for the same recruit or transfer (perhaps this will increase if the programs remain close to one another talentwise) which makes the ramifications of an annual game that much more insignificant.  Would a player in this day and age really choose one school over the other based on who won their last annual meeting?   I can't believe this would be the case but folks like Rising are far closer to today's players than I am.

Back to Basketball Jones's hypotheses, I can only hope that a GW exhibition win would not realistically result in Gtown wanting nothing to do with us for another 44 years.  Sure it's possible, but my hope is that adults can act like adults when considering a future series.

Curious to know your thoughts.  Will this be the start of an eventual regular season series?  Will GW get any home games in that series?  Will a Gtown win keep this hope alive while a GW win squash any hope of future matchups?  Where do you see GW-Georgetown going after October 18?

I think everyone should relax about this game. I strongly believe it will have all the hallmarks of an exhibition game. Different lineups and inconsistent play. Doubt CC plays anyone 30+ minutes like he would in the regular season but we will see.

If you believe that if we win this game it means something, you are likely wrong. If you believe that if we lose this game it means something, you are likely wrong. It is exactly what it is advertised to be - an exhibition game - nothing more or less - except that it happens to be Georgetown. What all of those who were around for the rivalry are missing is that it was more than 40 years ago and generations of current GW students, alumni and faculty weren't around for it. Georgetown hasn't even been good from a basketball standpoint for many years. There is likely little fire in belly for most current GW fans.

Whether or not this results in a regular season game in the future is interesting but I don't think it makes or breaks either program. We don't need Georgetown to be relevant and Georgetown doesn't need GW to be relevant. 

So while this game is unique as far as the opponent and history, whatever happens, happens, both in the game and in the future as far as I am concerned. I am far more interested in seeing how our guys play together and what different lineups CC will employ regardless of result. I'm far more interested in a victory over Maine on November 3rd than an exhibition game win over Georgetown. Sorry but Georgetown isn't Georgetown anymore at least as far as the JT Georgetown program that GW fans grew to despise.

Rising, neither my post or any of the responses to it would seemingly suggest that we all ought to relax.  I think this is a knee-jerk reaction on your part to not make more of the event than the exhibition that it is.  We all know the game does not count in the standings (except perhaps for one reporter during A10 Media Day who commented about GW's upgraded schedule which includes Georgetown among others).  Frankly, I'm not sure anyone needs to be told to relax.

My point though was to ask whether you see this exhibition as a springboard to a possible future of meaningful GW-Georgetown games.  Am not sure if your response is "no, it won't" or you simply failed to address this question.

Where I will whole-heartedly disagree with you pertains to the perception of the game.  It's more than possible to intellectually understand that the outcome of the game is meaningless with respect to both team's 2025-26 resumes and yet still be emotionally vested.  Do you really think our current students, young alumni, and anyone else who was not following GW in 1981 doesn't realize that Georgetown is a rival school?  Or that GW does not have some resentment over what Georgetown basketball (not exactly a big state school) was able to accomplish?  Or that they can't produce ill feelings over Gtown snubbing its nose at GW and discontinuing the annual series simply because an inferior GW team had the nerve of taking a Sleepy Floyd led Hoya team to double overtime before losing?

You wouldn't exactly had to have seen Babe Ruth play to understand the Curse of the Bambino or similarly, why Red Sox fans can't stand the Yankees.

Seriously Mayhem ... you are going to use a Yankees-Red Sox analogy when the Red Sox and Yankees play every year and are in the same Division as opposed to have not played in more than 40 years? I promise you if you go down to GW right now and stand outside the Smith Center and ask students whether they care about the GW-Georgetown basketball rivalry more than 85-90% will tell you "not really or no". None of them were even alive when Georgetown had its glory run. 

As to whether this results in a future real game between GW and Georgetown, my answer is I don't know and frankly I don't care that much either way. I would much rather see CC get us in the NCAA tournament and whether that involves playing Georgetown or not is up to CC. So call me neutral. GW is unlikely to ever reach the heights of the Thompson Georgetown era. After 40+ years, all the animosity is gone. JT is dead and so is the rivalry. A bunch of 60+ year old men aren't going to revive it.   

Rummaging in my attic I found an old yellow pin that says "Beat George****.  A little bit rusted and I am convinced it smells of stale beer.  From 1969 or so I suspect.

Basketball Jones, you struck a nostalgic nerve.  The 71 freshman team (17-1) was scheduled to play its final game vs Penn at the Polestra but was cancelled due to a blizzard.  Haviland Harper and Clyde Burwell, both from Philly, were looking forward to this game all season and they were as bummed out as anyone could be.
That same team regularly scrimmaged DC area competition in the tin tabernacle vs DeMatha, McKinley Tech, and also had Maryland and Gtown on their schedule.  Pros such as Sid Catlett (rip) Adrian Dantley, Austin Carr were regular invites to workouts.  It was all arranged through networking.

There was also a little known DC Metropolitan Extramural league where players from all the area universities competed in high level, organized, well officiated, well attended games at different venues in the DMV.  And yes, there were rivalries.

There is a rich DMV culture that still exists today, and Caputo and Cooley know it.  Like minded coaches and players seek out ways to improve through competition.  It takes a game like this upcoming scrimmage to rekindle what once was.



 

With all due respect Rising, you do have a tendency to do this.  People get excited about something but thank God you're around to tell everyone to calm the fuck down.  The original point of all this, which was to ask whether this exhibition might be the springboard to future regular season meetings, has somewhat predictably been distorted by your assertions that this game means nothing and that people (I'm presuming like me) should not have an ax to grind 40 years later.

I suspect what today's players might care about is whether this will lead to an annual rivalry game.  Am I breaking any rules calling this a rivalry game given the school's proximity to one another?  The players may actually think that it's pretty cool that they are the ones to face the Hoyas all these years later, even if this is only an exhibition.  The program obviously thinks something of this as evidenced by the way the game has been used in promotions.  

Two things can be true.  You can be very excited to see this game and really want GW to kick their asses in even if it's just an exhibition.  At the same time, you can reasonably conclude that the outcome will have no bearing on the team's upcoming season.  It's really OK to acknowledge both of these things.

Time to face facts. The problem is not that the GW fan base isn't excited about this.  The problem is that the GW fan base has dwindled to practically nothing.  This is what happens when you no longer invest in marketing the program.  This is what happens when you back the wrong horse, disposing of a talented coach who wanted to coach GW for years and years rather than a sexual deviant who ended up leaving in disgrace.  Don't expect to pack the place under these circumstances.