Feb. 20, 2009

GEORGETOWN HOYAS
1983-84 NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS!
BEAST OF THE EAST! BEST OF THE WEST!
KING OF THE DOME!!!

Can it really be 25 years ago that our Georgetown Hoyas won the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship in Seattle in April 1984 with Final Four victories over the Kentucky Wildcats and the Houston Cougars? It is remarkable to think that the passage of time from then to now is twice the time from my senior year at Georgetown (1972- the 3-23 basketball season) to the glorious weekend in Seattle. This weekend, the Hoya Hoop Club will honor the National Championship team with an on Friday night from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. at the Fairmount Hotel, 2401 M Street, NW. Then, on Saturday, at halftime of the Georgetown - Marquette game at the Verizon Center, the 1984 National Championship Hoyas will be introduced to the fans. It promises to be a fabulous weekend! So go on line to guhoyas.com and bid on, among other things, a game of horse with Jeff Green, or autographed basketballs signed by Craig "Big Sky" Shelton and John "Ba-Ba" Duren, Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, or the late Coach Arnold "Red" Auerbach, an autographed pair of Dikembe Mutombo's size 19 Nikes, dinner for 4 with Coach John Thompson, III, or four floor tickets to the upcoming Bruce Springsteen Concert at the Verizon Center! Many thanks in advance go out to Mara Vandlik, C '07, from Hoyas Unlimited and to Karen Schneider, N '76 and Al Bozzo, B '85, from the Hoya Hoop Club board for all of their efforts in organizing and orchestrating the weekend's events and especially the auction!

I was fortunate to be able to attend the 1984 NCAA Final Four in Seattle with my wife, Linda Morgan, L '76, and my best friend from Georgetown law school, Don Letourneau, L '77, now a state trial judge in Portland, Oregon. I will never forget the electricity in the air as the shuttle bus dropped us in the King Dome parking lot on Saturday afternoon. Of all the sporting events that I have attended, this Final Four Saturday afternoon was the most highly-charged atmosphere that I can ever recall. We settled in our seats and watched the first game of the day between the Virginia Cavaliers and Houston, expecting an easy victory for Phi Slamma Jamma. Instead, we were treated to a close game with the Hakeem Olajuwon-led Cougars eking out a narrow victory in overtime over the Cavs.

Then the main event beckoned between our Hoyas, led by All American Patrick Ewing, and the Kentucky Wildcats, led by its senior twin towers, Sam Bowie and Mel Turpin. I must confess that, at the beginning of the season, I thought that the Wildcats belonged in the NBA, rather than the NCAA!! I was somewhat apprehensive as the game began and the early going seemed to bear out my fears as Kentucky jumped off to an early 15-8 lead and Patrick went to the bench with his third foul with 8:52 left in the first half. Kentucky stretched its lead to 27-15 with 3:06 left. Then, in the most extraordinary display of defense that I have ever witnessed, the Hoyas held the Wildcats without a field goal for the next 13 minutes and turned a 29-22 halftime deficit to 53-40 Hoya victory. For the second half, Kentucky shot 3 for 33 (9.1%) as a team, and their vaunted twin towers were 0 for 12. In fact, Kentucky's starting five went scoreless from the field in the second half. Hoya Captain Gene Smith shut down Kentucky's play maker Dickie Beal. And freshman Michael Graham, who switched to cover Turpin in the second half, not only held the 240 pound Turpin, a career 59.5% field goal shooter, without a field goal but intimidated him with elbow-splayed rebounds and perpetual glares and scowls. And, finally, David Wingate blew by Kentucky's Jim Master at will in slashing drives to the basket. For his performance, Graham was named CBS Player of the Game! And it was on to the Monday night final against Phi Slamma Jamma!

Interestingly, the Monday night final was somewhat anticlimactic as the Hoyas fairly cruised to an 84-75 over the Cougars. Freshman Reggie Williams led the attack that night with 19 points, including one seven-minute stretch during the second half after Houston had made a run, when he virtually took over the game. For his efforts, Reggie was named CBS Player of the Game for the finals. And, in a fitting tribute, Patrick was named Most Valuable Player of the Final Four!! And the Championship trophy came home to the Hilltop!! So come out this weekend, first to the Auction and Reception on Friday, and then to the Verizon Center on Saturday for the return game against Marquette and see the Hoya Champions of Yesteryear, whose play will remain forever etched in the memory of this long-time Hoya fan!!

WE ARE GEORGETOWN!!

Respectfully submitted,

Michael E. Karam, F '72, L'76, L '82
Proud Member of Generation Laughna