Feb. 27, 2008

One unintended side effect of the new and super-sized BIG EAST Conference has been a lack of familiarity with certain teams. This season's scheduling changes, which include playing every other team at least once, should help remedy the situation. Still, nine days ago I saw Georgetown play Providence for the first time in my life (from the nosebleeds of the Dunkin Donuts Center, no less), even though this is my fourth year at Georgetown and I have attended all but a handful of home games during my time on the Hilltop.

Despite this, I feel about the same level of familiarity with the Friars that I do with St. John's, the next club on the Hoyas' docket. While Georgetown and Providence did not play last season, and their 05-06 meeting took place over students' winter break, the Hoyas and the Red Storm have had no shortage of contests. In fact, Wednesday's game will be their 7^th during the JTIII era, which is still only in its fourth year. No, the reason for my lack of any memorable moments featuring the Johnnies has to do with a bigger problem: St. John's appears to have dropped off the face of the Earth.

Last year's 11^th place finish in the conference was the first time SJU had qualified for the BIG EAST Tournament in four years. This season, the Red Storm are in danger of having to watch the entirety of the BET from home once again. The repercussions of the two-year self-imposed postseason ban and the demise of the Mike Jarvis regime are still being felt. Rumblings about Coach Norm Roberts' job have spread from booster gatherings and internet message boards to the pages of the New York Daily News. And somehow, the only things I can remember from the GU/SJU games I've seen is that we were somehow down to them at halftime last year and that walk-on Bryon Jansen hit a three-pointer at the buzzer earlier this season.

I believe I'm hardly alone in my sentiments. Many Hoya supporters are already looking past this game - the Johnnies have not been relevant for awhile, while two critical matchups with ranked teams loom ahead. Such an attitude may be a mistake - if this season has taught us anything, it's that any team in the BIG EAST has the potential to beat any other - but it is understandable. The programs do share some outward similarities, such as their Catholic heritage, urban location, and young, African-American head coaches (At 42, Roberts is less than a year older than John Thompson III). But for all intents and purposes, they appear to be headed in completely opposite directions. The result seems destined to be a blowout, relegated to ESPNU and overshadowed by the games that will follow.

It was not always like this, of course. Every student of Hoya basketball history knows about the Georgetown/St. John's rivalry that grew to national prominence during the 1980's. The #1 vs. #2 games, including the famous Sweater Game, the battles for BIG EAST supremacy, NYC vs. DC, John Thompson Jr. vs. Lou Carnesecca. Those days are long gone now, but I still hear more than a few alums reminisce about them fondly. Some go so far as to say they wish St. John's would return to the upper echelons, so that the GU/SJU rivalry could regain its place in the spotlight.

Count me as one who lacks this particular nostalgia and who has no particular fondness for the team formerly known as the Redmen. If the Hoyas continue playing at a high level, constantly in contention for the BIG EAST crown, then prominent rivalries will emerge or reemerge, whatever the case may be. A few more endings like the final play of this year's collision in Morgantown, or even just a couple more close games, will go a long way toward cementing GU/WVU as a contentious must-see match up, for instance.

 So what are we to do with the game at hand, a mid-week chapter in a storied rivalry that looks to be fading fast?  Even if the stakes are not as high as when Looie and Big John paced the court, there is still plenty to hold one's interest. There's a student costume contest, for one, with a BIG EAST Tournament ticket and a free Amtrak ride on the line. Personally, I vote for whoever comes wearing the loudest sweater, in homage to the storied days of yore.

Most important, though, is one simple fact: this is a BIG EAST game. They're all big. They're all important. (I can't have been the only one who watched that Rutgers at South Florida game, right?  Right?)  Rivalry or not, people pay attention to what happens whenever the ball is tipped off on a court with the BIG EAST logo stenciled in the paint. And that's enough for me.

Hoya Saxa,

Dmitriy Zakharov (SFS/GRD '09)

Hoya Blue Communications Officer

Note: Given the grumblings that have been making the rounds regarding the game's 9:00 p.m. Wednesday start time, it's ironic that the last time the Red Storm came to town, it was for a 9:00 p.m. Thursday night contest (2/9/06). That game marked the start of the Hoyas current winning streak over the Red Storm, as they ran away with a comfortable 64-41 victory.