Jan. 3, 2012
The Greatest American Hoya (Believe it or Not)
Look at what's happened to us.
The 2011-12 basketball season began without much fanfare for Georgetown. The Hoyas, after all, featured a roster of ten freshmen or sophomores and precious few key contributors from last season's team. And right…last season…well, it ended with a thud: five straight losses, including consecutive double-digit defeats to Final Four teams in the Big East and NCAA Tournaments. Small wonder, then, that the Big East Coaches selected the Hoyas to finish 10th in their Preseason Poll. The Associated Press season preview was even more direct: the title was "Young, Inexperienced, and Unranked".
But things haven't exactly gone according to script have they?
Since the calendars flipped over to November:
The Hoyas became the surprise of the Maui Invitational, with a 2-1 record highlighted by a gritty overtime victory over Memphis.
Hankamania ran wild over the basketball blogosphere.
Hollis Thompson ran wild over the Coleman Coliseum in a last-second victory over Alabama.
And those freshmen? They're doing just fine, most recently providing critical first half minutes in one of the toughest environments in college hoops (Louisville's Family Sized Bucket of Corporate Sponsorship Center). Otto Porter in particular has become a quick fan favorite, recording double digit rebounds in consecutive games, none more important than the go-ahead put back in a win over then-#4 Louisville.
I can't believe it myself.
The Hoyas currently hold a 12-1 record, having won ten consecutive games dating to the Maui Invitational. They're off to a 2-0 start in Big East play after the win in Louisville and Saturday's victory over Providence. And as I write this, they've been voted the #9 ranked team in the nation in both major polls this week.
Suddenly, we're up on top of the world…
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's back up a moment for our readers from post-Ewing generations.
"The Greatest American Hero" was an early 1980s television program (a comedy? not intentionally) that aired on ABC. It's before my time-as a matter of fact, TGAH's series run coincided with when my mother carried and gave birth to me. I like to think I'm part of a small-scale baby boom of children whose parents were desperate to do anything except watch "The Greatest American Hero".
The storyline goes something like this: a special-ed teacher played by the dude from Carrie is on a field trip with his students, when their bus breaks down in the desert. While searching for help along a lonely desert road, he is visited by aliens in a spacecraft (I'm sure the special effects were hilarious) and given a black case. When he gets home, he discovers the case contains a very 1981-chic red suit and cape, which turn him into the world's most unlikely superhero, out to save the world from…I don't know, all those Rod Stewart videos MTV was playing at the time.
(His principal superpower: keeping this show on for three seasons. It's one of life's great mysteries how ABC got more episodes out of the weekly adventures of a teacher-turned-superhero than Georgetown got games out of Michael Graham.)
The Greatest American Hero is notable thirty years later for exactly two reasons:
--The producers changed the name of the protagonist (Ralph Hinkley) after the assassination attempt on President Reagan; and,
--It spawned unquestionably the greatest cheesy theme song ever recorded, Joey Scarbury's "Theme from The Greatest American Hero (Believe It or Not)". (I'll wait while you enjoy it…)
Now personally, I've only watched about an episode's worth of TGAH, but you darn well better believe I can belt out a mean Joey Scarbury in the car.
"Believe it Or Not," aside from being a Solid Gold slice of TV heaven (and a solid choice for your answering machine message), is also a fitting soundtrack for a mild-mannered, unassuming bunch of characters, who find themselves thrust into the limelight. A group of young, marginally regarded scholars who suddenly realize they have strange superpowers.
A team that starts out "Young, Inexperienced, and Unranked," and two months later is flying away on a wing and a prayer into the Top 10.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We can be forgiven for looking to a short-lived adventure series for parallels to our basketball team. After all, who else but the schmaltziest of 80s television drama writers would consider a script so unlikely. Don't be surprised if there's a major ratings ploy around Rivalry Week, and we find out Moses Ayegba wasn't really injured during the Kenner League…it was all just a dream.
In true TV drama fashion, this season's scripts have often left the drama until the final act.
In Maui, the Hoyas' defense denied Memphis on the final possessions of regulation to force overtime and then in the extra period to preserve a three-point victory. In road games in Tuscaloosa and Louisville, they survived losing double digits leads in the final minutes to win in the final seconds. And in last week's thrilling episode, Georgetown fended off an unlikely villain, holding the Providence Friars scoreless for the final 4 ½ minutes to MacGyver their way to a 49-40 victory.
Every week, there's another unlikely hero. In Maui, it was freshman Greg Whittington whose putback with 18 seconds remaining sent the Memphis game to overtime. At Alabama, Hollis Thompson shot GU to a cliffhanger two-point victory. Against Louisville, Otto Porter leaped over tall opponents in fourteen single-bounds for a double-double and the tiebreaking basket.
It's always an adventure with these guys…just a matter of figuring out who plays the leading role in a given week.
So it seems appropriate to ask: who's donning the 1981-chic blue and gray suit and cape against Marquette on Wednesday night.
Put another way: who's the next Greatest American Hoya?
A few candidates:
Otto Porter
Aliases: Bubba, AWESOME!!!
Superpowers: Instinctual rebounding, hustle plays
Possible kryptonite: Airplane rides ( no longer)
Two straight double digit rebounding games and two straight crucial offensive putbacks to seal victories. Otto is the Sixth Man with a sixth sense for the basketball.
Markel Starks
Aliases: Future Congressman Starks
Superpowers: Ability to hit four three pointers in a single half, speechmaking
Possible kryptonite: Willingness to enter politics
His new found confidence matched only by his gifts at the microphone: a career-high and a Happy Holidays wish to the media at Louisville.
Jabril Trawick
Aliases: Broad Street Brilly (under development)
Superpowers: Attacking the basket, frightening scowls
Possible kryptonite: sour candies
With a career high in points in the toughest environment of the season at the Yum! Center, Trawick helped keep the Hoyas in striking distance in the first half against Louisville.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fortunately, there's a new episode of Hoya basketball this week, and the storyline sounds interesting.
Games against the Marquette Golden Eagles (the nickname was brought back to life in a highly-rated two-part 2005 episode) have foreshadowed plots both good and bad for Georgetown.
In a Very Special Episode on February 10, 2007 the Hoyas celebrated the 100th Anniversary of Georgetown Basketball by defeating the #11 Golden Eagles 76-58. It was the first in an eight-episode run of weekend games that included a Big East regular season and Tournament championships, an East Regional Championship, and the Hoyas first Final Four appearance in 22 years.
Two seasons later, the plots were mostly tearjerkers. On January 31, 2009 the Hoyas lost 94-82 in Milwaukee for their fifth consecutive defeat. It marked the last week of the season that Georgetown was ranked in the Top 25, and started a slide ending in a disappointing season finale loss in the NIT.
So what do the producers have in store for us tomorrow night?
They could be setting up a redemption arc for Marquette. The Golden Eagles suffered a surprising 17-point loss to Vanderbilt last Thursday, in a game that featured a stunning opening act, as the Commodores raced out to a 35-8 lead. To their credit, Marquette responded in style over the weekend, controlling most of their Big East opener against Villanova and holding on for a four-point win.
Which characters will get the best lines: Henry Sims or Jae Crowder? Jason Clark or Darius Johnson-Odom?
Who will be the Greatest American Hoya?
Will Georgetown maintain its undefeated Big East record?
What costume will Pilgrim Pete wear during the Groupon Gatling Gun promotion?
Stay tuned for our exciting all-new episode tomorrow night at 7pm!
John Hawkes (SFS '04)
Proud Member of Generation Burton
