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Hoyas Down and Out
John Thompson Jr., left, coached Georgetown to its last national championship in 1984 and its last appearance in the Final Four in 1985.
(By Jonathan Newton -- The Washington Post)
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The Hoyas came into the game having won eight straight and 19 of their last 20. Their accomplishments included the Big East Conference's regular season and tournament championships and their pulsating overtime victory over North Carolina last Sunday for the NCAA East Region title, which thrust the Hoyas into their first Final Four in more than two decades.
It was a run that awakened a dormant fan base and a campus clamoring for a winning team again.
In the arena, the section of gray Georgetown T-shirts wasn't nearly as big as the block of red where Ohio State fans were cheering, but the Hoyas' fans were loud and intense, hopping up and down with faces painted silver and blue, pumping their fists.
Senior Pam Papapetrou and her friend Heather Silverio said they were running on adrenaline after four hours of sleep the night before and camping out earlier in the week for tickets.
Silverio said: "These boys deserve it. They're so nice, so classy, they have no attitude. I want them to win it for them -- not for us." Then she blurted out, "I just want them to win so bad," and the two high-fived.
Most were hopeful at halftime that the team would pull it out. But as the game went on, fists clenched and arms crossed. One girl put her blue-painted face in her hands. At the end, some dropped into their seats for the first time, or wiped away tears.
"Tough game," said senior Shaun Blugh, walking out surrounded by men with red eyes. "Jeff Green didn't take advantage of his opportunities."
Other students immediately were swarmed by people trying to buy their tickets.
Back home, students and fans wandered through Georgetown last night in disbelief. Some strolled from the packed bars along M Street looking for something other than the readily available drafts to help them get over the loss. Hillary Prince, 22, found her salve: a chocolate banana cream smoothie.
Throughout the game, some wandered through Georgetown seeking a place that didn't have a long line to watch the game -- or a heavy cover charge. Some watched the game from a sidewalk, peering through the glass window at J. Paul's on M Street, where cheers rolled liked waves. But after the game, Carlos de Leon, 22, could only stand and hug his girlfriend and think about what might have been. "It's bad, it's sad but next year," he said. "What can you say?"
Not since 1985, the senior season of Ewing Sr., had Georgetown advanced so far in the tournament.
"This is the year we moved ahead," Ewing said, sitting courtside at last night's game. "We came out of the darkness and into the light."
Staff writers Susan Kinzie, from Atlanta, and Clarence Williams, from Washington, contributed to this report.
