March Madness, indeed. It seemed more than fortuitous that as I was flipping around last night I stumbled upon MASN, which was just beginning a repeat of the Georgetown/Villanova ’85 final, which I had not seen (or even seen many highlights of) since it played live…gulp, 26 years ago! On April Fool’s day, naturally.
Prompted equal parts by nostalgia and genuine fascination, I could not help but compile some thoughts. Here is one of the greatest college basketball finals (and certainly the biggest upset) seen through the eyes of a fan who may not be wiser, but is most definitely older.
1. I had sort of misremembered it being a fairly slow, sloppy game; not the case. It was quick(er) paced but controlled, all due to Villanova and their brilliant game plan. Rollie Massimino gets full props for outcoaching John Thompson. JT had his guys playing full-court from the get-go but Villanova was too savvy (their senior leadership was crucial) and beat it throughout. I kept thinking: a lesser team, any other team would just collapse under this relentless pressure.
2. Not only did Ed Pinckney (future Celtic) have a great game, he outplayed Ewing.
3. Ewing, as he sort of did vs. UNC and definitely did a few times in the NBA, came up smaller than expected (or hoped) in the biggest games (it hurts but it’s true). He should have dominated because of his size advantage but Pinckney somehow outhustled and outsmarted him throughout the game. There is a notable moment when Thompson briefly benches Ewing and can be seen exhorting him to get under the basket and get busy; it works, and Ewing comes out with some rafter-shaking dunks. But then he picks up 3 quick fouls, which changed the momentum (which I totally remember that from when I was a freshman in high school watching it…). Things worked out OK for Ewing, but if you had told me in 1984 that this would be his only championship on the college or pro level, I would not have believed it.
4. The players all look like they are wearing speedos.
5. It’s astonishing how tiny/thin they all are (with the notable exception of man-child Ewing). Obviously not a lot of weight lifting back then. Reggie Williams is a stick.
6. Reggie Williams had sick game. Smooth as silk but hard as nails (just as I remember), and he arguably had the most maturity/poise –and heart—on the team, as a sophomore; Wingate and Martin each had so-so games but Williams was tight on both ends–just as I remember.
7. Sad but true: my fellow South Lakes Seahawk Michael Jackson did not have a very good game. He certainly ran the floor well, but a few bricks and bad passes did not help the cause; a better performance and he could have gone out a two-time champ (Sidenote: I recall still being in grade school when he was the man at South Lakes: we went to those Friday night games and cheered for the team, and him. It was big news, huge news when he decided to go to Georgetown because back in those days we would not have been able to follow his college career nearly as closely had he gone out of state.)
8. I hadn’t thought in quite a while about Thompson and his big white towel that he kept slung over his shoulder. Genius.
9. If Michael Graham hadn’t sabotaged his career (and the team’s dynasty, when, after blowing off his studies, Thompson proved why he was the man and kicked him off the team), Georgetown would have not only won in ’85, but ’86 as well. Remember him? That was a scary dude, and he rocked the shaved head way before it was remotely fashionable.
10. Villanova’s poise is astonishing. Yes, the ball kept dropping but as I watch, they were just taking high percentage shots and using their senior smarts to its full advantage.
11. If there had a been a shot clock in ’85, 100% Georgetown wins.
12. If there had been a shot clock in ’82, for that matter, 100% Georgetown wins.
13. No tats.
14. It’s an alarming commentary on how annoying announcers are these days that Brent Musberger –whom i loathed in the ’80s– sounds remarkably restrained and reasonable to my ears in 2011.
15. As much hype as the Big East gets these days (although they obviously took a warranted hit for their collective lameness in this year’s tournament, memorably being dissed by the ever-amusing Charles Barkley), it was the realest of deals from early to late ’80s –as local fans will recall. St. Johns was also in the final 4 this year (’85). Think about that.
16. The ’80s was by far the best decade for sports, and for me in particular. As a (then) fanatic Celtics fan, ‘nuff said. As a college b-ball fan, we had playoff-like games every week with these big east rivalries (I still remember it was like Ali-Foreman redux, each weekend: Carrier Dome, Madison Square, Cap Centre (!); G-town/V-nova/St.Johns/Providence/Syracuse. Of course the NFC East, and the real glory days of a great Redskins team (The hogs, the rings, etc.) and we still had the Patrick Division in the NHL (sigh). Oh, and the Yankees sucked.
17. Not saying this is a good thing, but ESPN (and modernity in general) changed everything: even in this final game, there were few in-game replays and much fewer TV time-outs/commercials/nonsense. Again, not saying the hi-def, 15 multiple angle replays is a bad thing, but there is something quaint and –yes authentic– about this.
18. Georgetown did not choke, Villanova deserved to win. They were undeniably fortunate (22 of 28 from the floor for a 78.6% shooting percentage; are you kidding me?) but they were not lucky.
19. Gary Mclean had the weirdest, most unorthodox shot ever.
20. Remember the days when players stayed all 4 years?
21. Michael Jackson and Billy Martin on same team? And both of those (more) famous associations were still very popular circa 1985.
22. Exactly two weeks after this game the most exciting round of boxing ever took place in the most surreal title bout ever: Hagler/Hearns. I vaguely recall the Miracle On Ice; I remember every detail of that epic brawl, of which more another time.
23. Is it possible that Georgetown did not take Villanova seriously enough?
24. Having just seen the Fab 5 documentary, we can attest and confirm that the Hoyas were the real deal: these were all dark-skin brothers and you know huge chunks of our country hated them and rooted against them on principle (I knew it, and saw it, then). Fab 5 were more notorious for their sheer talent and trash talking (and, of course, lack of discipline which certainly cost them at least one title game), but if we are going to talk about influence and legendary us vs. them sociology, it was embodied by this era’s team.
25. Seriously: Ed Pinckney outplayed Ewing. That was the difference right there.
26. There was one white guy on the floor the entire game. And he was good (Pressley).
27. St. Elmo’s Fire was not released for another 6 months.
28. You can never, ever underestimate how crucial it is to hit your free throws. (Villanova had 2 one-and-ones in the final 2 minutes to stay in the lead and hit all 4 shots. HUGE.)
29. John Thompson looked utterly defeated with at least 3 minutes left. Who would have guessed he would never get to another title game?
30. Billy Packer (the young/er Billy Packer who had not succumbed to the prissy arrogance and negativity that almost overwhelemed his final years) was all but openly rooting for Villanova in the final moments.
31. OMG: the most surreal thing I’ve ever seen: during Georgetown’s last time-out, they show the bench and the school’s academic advisor (Mary Fenlon) is sitting at the end of the bench…she is a middle-aged white woman wearing a garish 19th C style dress…a middle-aged white woman ON THE BENCH with all these tall African Americans. Surreal.
32. Michael Jackson scored the final two baskets for Georgetown. Just sayin’.
33. This list has 33 items. Respect for #33.
*Bonus: The only NCAA final I’ve ever missed (before last year, when I was on a cross country flight) was the 1987 final, because I had tickets to see The Pretenders (at the Cap Centre, of course). It was, of course, worth it. Iggy Pop was the opening act.
