(09-01-2020 11:00 AM)Jared7 Wrote:  

(09-01-2020 08:19 AM)cuseroc Wrote:  

(08-31-2020 10:28 PM)Jared7 Wrote:  Great coach. Great man. RIP. (Manley Field House is officially closed!! - I was a student at G-town at the time and after all that blather we heard for weeks about it, it was the PERFECT comment!)

LOL, Being able to look back on it with over 40 years of reflection, and what it did for the 2 programs, it was indeed the perfect comment.

CNN had a segment this morning where Patrick Ewing was interviewed and he made a very eloquent depiction of what John Thompson meant to Georgetown and the things he has had to overcome, and the impact he made on the lives of many young men. It was very touching.

Ever since those days, I've never failed in turning a Syracuse grad from an intelligent seemingly rational individual into a mass of sputtering inchoate rage by having a conversation something like this: First, I spot their putrid orange "I love me some Marty Head" or "Rony Seikaly" t-shirt and ask them if they're a Syracuse fan. Then I say oh yeah - great journalism school, but I've got a question. What happened with Manley Field House, is it closed or something? And, they usually respond friendly-like and say oh no, they still use it for administrative offices and intramurals. And I go, no, is Manley Field House OFFICIALLY CLOSED??!! And then, a look comes over their face and they get that I went to G-town and am deliberately baiting them and suddenly it's all John Thompson this and John Thompson that and how the Orange is really far superior. And I just smile... And say "But isn't Manley Field House officially closed??"

And, it wasn't just Syracuse. It was every Big East school (in that configuration) that hated us. Coach Thompson, by embracing the "Villain role" and having teams which beat their's had a way of getting under the skin of every single Big East basketball fan. It was St John's and Nova and BC and Providence (with that evil Rick Pitino) and even Seton Hall. And definitely UConn (with their "Patrick, Can U Read this" signs). Having been with the Celtics in their Bill Russell heyday, he knew that embracing the Villain role was marketable and generated interest and (sports-related) controversy. College basketball is going to miss him...

There were so many great coaches and players and personalities in the Pre-Football Big East of the 1980s. Syracuse vs Georgetown stood out, but it was so tight-knit that basically everyone was a rival of everyone else. Heroes and Villains all over the place and which was which depended solely on your allegiances, LOL. Thompson, like Boeheim, was in the thick of all of that.

Nothing else was or will be quite like it.

One of the very best ESPN 30 for 30's "Requiem For the Big East" went into that in great detail and I DVR'd it and watch it again every now and then.

Part of it was because most of those schools had been independent and had never really had conference rivals of that sort. And, quite suddenly, after 1979, they did. In spades! And every school and their students really embraced it like it was something wholly new. And the media got into it and helped fan the flames. It was glorious.

And to me, the Hoyas were (and are) always the heroes. John Thompson was the Man!

What an icon. The all time John Thompson story is the Rayful Edmond III meeting.

(09-01-2020 11:25 AM)Hokie4Skins Wrote:  What an icon. The all time John Thompson story is the Rayful Edmond III meeting.

That's an amazing story that I knew nothing about until today. Thanks!

(09-01-2020 11:00 AM)Jared7 Wrote:  

(09-01-2020 08:19 AM)cuseroc Wrote:  

(08-31-2020 10:28 PM)Jared7 Wrote:  Great coach. Great man. RIP. (Manley Field House is officially closed!! - I was a student at G-town at the time and after all that blather we heard for weeks about it, it was the PERFECT comment!)

LOL, Being able to look back on it with over 40 years of reflection, and what it did for the 2 programs, it was indeed the perfect comment.

CNN had a segment this morning where Patrick Ewing was interviewed and he made a very eloquent depiction of what John Thompson meant to Georgetown and the things he has had to overcome, and the impact he made on the lives of many young men. It was very touching.

Ever since those days, I've never failed in turning a Syracuse grad from an intelligent seemingly rational individual into a mass of sputtering inchoate rage by having a conversation something like this: First, I spot their putrid orange "I love me some Marty Head" or "Rony Seikaly" t-shirt and ask them if they're a Syracuse fan. Then I say oh yeah - great journalism school, but I've got a question. What happened with Manley Field House, is it closed or something? And, they usually respond friendly-like and say oh no, they still use it for administrative offices and intramurals. And I go, no, is Manley Field House OFFICIALLY CLOSED??!! And then, a look comes over their face and they get that I went to G-town and am deliberately baiting them and suddenly it's all John Thompson this and John Thompson that and how the Orange is really far superior. And I just smile... And say "But isn't Manley Field House officially closed??"

And, it wasn't just Syracuse. It was every Big East school (in that configuration) that hated us. Coach Thompson, by embracing the "Villain role" and having teams which beat their's had a way of getting under the skin of every single Big East basketball fan. It was St John's and Nova and BC and Providence (with that evil Rick Pitino) and even Seton Hall. And definitely UConn (with their "Patrick, Can U Read this" signs). Having been with the Celtics in their Bill Russell heyday, he knew that embracing the Villain role was marketable and generated interest and (sports-related) controversy. College basketball is going to miss him...

So are you saying that Quo Vadis is the "Big John Thompson of this message board"? (Just playfully giving you the business, Quo. No malice intended, my friend.)