Feb. 15, 2008
To get you in the mood, watch this youtube link first:
Villanova vs. Georgetown 2-11-2008
My earliest recollection of Syracuse basketball goes back even before I was broadcasting Georgetown basketball.
As I grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, the city of Scranton had a team in the Eastern Professional Basketball League. One of its star players in the mid 1960's was none other than Jim Boehiem. While I was stationed in the military in Washington, D.C. at Walter Reed Hospital, I spent a considerable amount of time at Fort Meyer, in Virginia. I attended the Syracuse vs. George Washington game in 1972. The legendary long-time Syracuse broadcaster, Joel Mariness, broadcast that game. I remember his famous line, "Sweet D", which stood for Dennis Duval, and the brothers' Lee, Mike & Jim.
After becoming Georgetown's broadcaster in the 1974-75 season, I remember Georgetown's upset vs. Syracuse in the then Kodak Classic in Rochester, New York.
That was my first away game ever broadcasting basketball for the Hoyas. Our broadcast booth was located at the top of the auditorium, high up away from the court.
After that game, Coach John Thompson Jr. walked to the top of the Rochester War Memorial Auditorium with both sons John III, age 8, and Ronnie, age 6, for his post-game show on the air. After the trek to the top, Coach told me "I'm not doing this again," in reference to the long, agonizing walk to the broadcast booth.
In 1980, Georgetown played Syracuse on February 13, and upset Syracuse on two Sleepy Floyd free throws with five seconds left in the game. That was the final game in Manley Field House, because the Carrier Dome was scheduled to open the following season. The security for that game was extremely tight, so we were told. Even though credentials were hard to obtain, I walked right into the media entrance without being challenged. So much for the crack Syracuse Security staff, as I would continue to experience later on in my career. At the end of the game, Georgetown's team as well as our followers vacated quickly for fear of being bombarded with whatever Syracuse fans could get their hands on. Many of us went to Scratch Daniel's, a local watering hole in downtown Syracuse, for the victory celebration. Fellow broadcaster John Schultz, Dick "Hoops" Weiss, writing for the Philadelphia Daily News, Rudy Martzki, then writing for the Syracuse Post-Standard, Bob Ryan with the Boston Globe, and I stayed well into the morning toasting the Hoyas' victory. Eventually, the entourage was unceremoniously evicted after a coat rack went flying and ketchup was splattered all over the walls. No comment on who threw what.
In 1980, Georgetown played Syracuse in the first Big East Tournament Final. I remember we were broadcasting at the top of the Providence Civic Center, now the Dunkin' Donuts Center. Toward the end of the game, Louis Orr traveled and Georgetown was able to eke out an 87-83 victory.
The following week Georgetown then had to return to Providence to play in the NCAA's, when they beat Iona and Jeff Ruland.
The next year Georgetown played at the Carrier Dome in the Big East Tournament. During that tournament game we were broadcasting on a catwalk above the court at the top of the bleachers. After the game, someone stole Georgetown's WWDC radio banner. John Blake, then Georgetown's Sports Information Director, and currently media director for the Boston Red Sox, was able to retrieve it, having chased after people at the White Tower Restaurant in downtown Syracuse. How he tracked them there is sure to be one of life's great unsolved mysteries.
January 10, 1983, saw a Georgetown vs. Syracuse match up on a Sunday afternoon on CBS at the Dome. Prior to the start of that game, the most of the covering media and I stayed at the Hotel Syracuse in downtown Syracuse. All four of our rental cars did not start due to the cold temperatures, and we ended up getting a ride to the Dome with the hotel van. At halftime, a Syracuse cheerleader tumbled to the floor and was knocked unconscious and was carried off the floor. Noted: have a backup plan to get to the arena, and stay clear of the human pyramids.
In a particularly close game against Syracuse in 1985, I asked the security guards to see what they could do to protect the media table, being concerned of a potential rush by the rabid fans. They assured me they would take care of it. Pearl Washington hit a game-winning shot to beat Georgetown, and the fans ran over now-Associate Athletic Director Brian McGuire, the entire press table and myself on their way to rushing the court. Afterwards, I mentioned to them how uninvolved they were. The guards, including the Chief of Security, apologized to me, but remarked, "What did you want me to do?" to which I calmly replied, "Sir, I thought your job was security, and your job was to protect the innocent." With that, he just shook his head and walked off.
In 1988, Charles Smith drove the length of the floor to beat Syracuse, 69-68. There may have been oranges thrown onto the court. I didn't stick around long enough to find out.
I don't recall more than a few times among the twenty-five or so years of traveling to the Dome where there wasn't at least one snowflake on the ground. One year, during a particularly brutal snowstorm, I entered the Carrier Dome with a brand new pair of rubber galoshes. I asked the security guard at the gate if I could leave my Totes there at the Security Hut and pick them up after the game. With a nod from the guard, I jokingly said "They'll be safe, won't they?" When I returned after the game, my new galoshes were switched with someone else's old pair. Nothing leaves my sight now on press row, including coats, gloves, briefcases, and kids.
Another night, before a Syracuse game in the late 1990's, I met Doug Logan, then radio broadcaster for the Orange, for dinner. We walked into the heart of the Syracuse campus and stopped at a local Syracuse student watering hole, which was packed to the brim with students. As I entered, Mr. Logan calmly announced, "Ladies & gentlemen, here's the Voice of the Hoyas!" I was bombarded for the next twenty minutes with questions upon questions for the next day's game. I might have received a refreshment or two in return for my knowledgeable conversation.
In the most recent GU/Syracuse rivalry, Syracuse featured Gerry McNamara. We both grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Upon his first trip to Washington, D.C., I presented to him a copy of the Scranton Times, our hometown newspaper, which I have been receiving for the past fifty years. I told him I was from Scranton, and that I used to battle his uncle, Jim Connors, for the Ping-Pong Championship at the Scranton Boys Club. Connors eventually served 12 years as the mayor of Scranton. Each Georgetown Syracuse game I would always chat with McNamara's parents prior to the start of the game. They were glad to talk about Scranton and his uncle, who used to brag about his Ping-Pong escapades.
This upcoming game will be my son's first trip to the Dome, and I've advised him not to bring anything that could be ruined if hit by flying oranges. The students are a mob, and difficult to control. For those who have yet to experience the Dome, I advise you to bring your snow boots and riot gear.
We'll be on the air at 11:55 am for the 12:00 noon tip on Sportstalk 980 AM. The game will also be broadcast on ESPN.
Hoya Saxa!
Rich Chvotkin
The Voice of the Hoyas
