NRA, ENVIRONMENTALISTS UNITE: TARGETING GROWTH - The Boston Globe (Boston, MA)

GEORGETOWN - Members of the Georgetown Fish & Game Associationhave been gathering at the rustic clubhouse at the end of Lake Avenuemore than ever lately, but the meetings come and go without a singleshot being fired at the club's shooting range. Pistols are holsteredand rifles left on gun racks, and instead zoning maps are spreadacross battered wooden tables.

About two years ago, members of the 54-year-old sporting clubjoined with area residents to fight a common enemy: a proposed 64-unit condominium complex on an adjacent hill overlooking PentucketPond. Club officials feared that the newcomers and the club'sshooting ranges wouldn't mix; residents were worried about increasedtraffic, among other issues.

The unusual alliance, called the Pond Street Association, hasalready persuaded the developer to reduce the size of the project.

'This would quadruple the number of people in this area,' saidsporting club president Bob Gray, who has become schooled ineverything from housing policy to wetlands laws as he plunges intothe world of land-use planning. He has become active, he said,because 'most towns in eastern Massachusetts haven't done a very goodjob figuring out where the development should go.'

Gray is not alone.

Across the country, gun owners have become the latest soldiers inthe battle against sprawl, determined to protect target, trap, andskeet ranges from encroaching development, and eager to work withresidents, environmentalists, and planners with whom they havepreviously battled.

The National Rifle Association has successfully lobbied in 44states, including Massachusetts, for range-protection laws thatseverely limit neighbors' ability to close down pre-existing sportingclubs on the basis of noise complaints. Now it wants to be moreproactive, by seeking to prevent development close to shooting rangesin the first place.

'It's the logical next step,' said Jim Wallace, legislative agentfor the Gun Owners Action League, a sporting-club advocacy groupbased in Northborough. Wallace says that the sprawl closing in onsporting clubs across the state is disturbing evidence of a lack oflong-range planning. 'The growth has been phenomenal around here overthe last 20 years. In the next 20 years there won't be any room foranything.'

Planners and environmentalists say they welcome any groupconcerned about planning and preserving open space, even ifideological differences on other issues are stark. Farmers andenvironmentalists who have warred in the past over pesticides andrunoff now work together to keep subdivisions and strip malls fromrising on agricultural land.

Now, gun and hunting clubs are being recognized as leadingprotectors of open space. The state Department of EnvironmentalProtection found that sporting clubs ranked behind only thegovernment in terms of controlling undeveloped land. Gun enthusiastswho have historically opposed government intervention are nowclamoring for better planning.

It seems that in the battle against sprawl, strange bedfellowsabound. And gun groups are wasting no time embracing the themes ofthe 'smart growth' movement.

Community preservation is a big catch phrase in the smart growthmovement - the safeguarding of homegrown businesses and family farmsagainst the onslaught of ubiquitous big-box strip malls.

Edward George Jr., a Malden attorney who has represented sportingclubs in battles with neighbors, said that gun owners inMassachusetts are probably not devout smart-growth advocates in theirhearts. But, he said, encroaching suburban development has been sucha wearying issue for many of the not-for-profit clubs for so manyyears, it's not surprising that some are looking for long-termsolutions.

'They will use any excuse to shut them down,' George said ofhomeowners that border shooting ranges. 'If a buyer sees a home on aSaturday afternoon, buys it, and then discovers on Sunday morningthat a gun club is next door, it's easier to go after the gun clubthan the real estate broker.'

That's what the Maynard Rod and Gun Club discovered several yearsago when a subdivision went up next to club property in Sudbury.Residents sued, saying the adjacent range was loud and dangerouslyclose. They prevailed on appeal, but the club still operates, helpedin part by a legal maneuver that reclassified it as a nonprofit,educational facility.

Carl Toumayan, an attorney at Kashian & Reynolds in Arlington whorepresented the Maynard Rod & Gun Club, said gun clubs are forced tobe creative. The NRA-sponsored bill passed by the Legislature, whichlike those in the other 43 states essentially says that noise from along-established gun club cannot be considered a nuisance, hashelped, Toumayan said. But claims are still being made against clubson zoning or environmental grounds.

Many clubs are trying to acquire more land to create a bufferagainst development, he said.

The relatively sudden appearance of development in even ruralareas prompted the NRA to seek protection of shooting ranges as acomponent of public lands policy. The NRA joined with the US ForestService in 1998 to form the Public Lands Shooting Sports roundtable,which includes the Bureau of Land Management. Target shooters areincreasingly portraying themselves as responsible stewards of naturalareas. Wallace, of the Gun Owners Action League, said the self-preservation motivations of the sporting clubs are obvious. But, hesaid, target shooters represent a broader constituency than mostpeople realize.

'We're just the litmus test,' he said. 'I've always said, `As thesportsman goes, so goes society.' First you have areas closed tohunting because of sprawl. Now we're all dealing with pollution,water problems, less access to natural areas, overcrowding inschools, trapping wildlife just to get rid of them. Is life betterfor the average person? You tell me.'

It IS the shoes.... (special report: the business of sports) - Black Enterprise

Ron Williams has been in the sporting goods business long enough to know a pretender from a contender. Right now the team-sports specialist for River Grove, Ill.-based Wilson Sporting Goods Co., a $546 million industry mainstay, is anything but pumped by the numbers game of African-American representation in the sporting goods business. 'Because they see black athletes on television selling footwear, clothing and other products, people assume it's a natural progression for us to be on the business side of the industry. But that's not the case,' observes Williams, founder and chairman of the Association of Black Sporting Goods Professionals (ABSG).

In fact while sporting goods ads often feature prominent black athletes such as Michael Jordan, Jerry Rice, Deion Sanders, and more recently, Shaquille O'Neal, few of those campaigns bear the stamp of approval of a top African-American corporate executive. And even though African-Americans are avid consumers of sporting goods products, almost none of the advertising work featuring these sports stars goes to black-owned ad agencies.

Meanwhile, black-owned businesses continue to have a hard time getting a significant share of the sporting goods market, which generated more than $30 billion last year alone. Drew Pearson Companies (DPC), the largest black-owned company in the industry (No.79 on the BE INDUSTRIAL/SERVICE 100), generated just $33 million in 1992.

How important is this industry? Consider this: The sale of Major League Baseball tickets generated $560 million in 1991, while sales of hats, jackets and other League-licensed sports gear generated $2.4 billion. Once again, African-Americans, highly visible on the hardwood, diamonds and gridirons of America, are all but invisible in the most important sports contest of all--the off-court competition for dollars. The following is the third in a series of special reports, 'The Business of Sports.' In this installment, BE looks at the progress made by black professionals and entrepreneurs in the sporting goods industry.

Stuck On The Sidelines

The climate for change, it is safe to say, is less volatile now than it was three years ago. It was then that Operation PUSH, the Chicago-based civil rights organization, launched a boycott of Nike Inc. in a futile attempt to force the industry giant to 'Just Do It-: hire more minorities. Although that wake-up call has led to widespread introspection, change has been slow-footed for an industry that has profited by leaps and bounds since bursting out of its Chuck Taylors (The Air Jordans of a bygone era) in the 1970s.

The National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) reports that industry sales rose from $25.2 billion in 1988 to $30.3 billion in 1991, with a 4% increase projected for 1992. Beaverton, Ore.-based Nike led all companies with $3 billion in sales in 1991, while Stoughton, Mass.-based Reebok International Ltd. was second with $2.2 billion. The most prominent segment of the industry is the footwear/apparel market. Thanks to the ringing endorsements of superstar athletes and the hip-hop fashion statements of black entertainers, African-Americans accounted for 22.6% of the $2.7 billion basketball shoe market, according to American Sports Data Inc. of Hartsdale, N.Y.

Yet best estimates are that blacks represent less than 3% of the industry's professional work force nationwide. Critics are quick to charge that prominent African-Americans, such as Nike board member and Georgetown University basketball coach John Thompson, are extremely rare and offer little more than token representation in the industry. It is widely acknowledged by industry observers that blacks were simply left out of the mix while privately held sporting goods companies boomed overnight. However, that was then, and this is now. If organizations like the ABSG have anything to say about it, the issue of minority representation is not going to go away quickly or quietly.

Williams, a 15-year industry veteran, estimates that even the ABSG would be hard pressed to come up with the names of 120 black professionals in the sporting goods industry. His own employer, Wilson, has over 100 sales reps nationwide, but only two are black.

Not surprisingly, Nike and Reebok are among the corporate front-runners in what figures to be a marathon journey toward black representation from the mailroom to the boardroom. Reebok--with such key players as Bryony Bouyer, manager of Boks brand, and Leslie Mays, director of cultural diversity--has a minority work force of roughly 11% among it's 1,850 employees worldwide. Nike has 644 African-Americans, or 12.4% representation, among its 5,214 domestic employees. But only 58 blacks (less than 2%) are in the managerial or professional group.

African-Americans aren't progressing much faster in ownership circles. It is here that a handful of former and current athletes are having the most success bankrolling the manufacturing of goods such as shoes, caps, shirts and shorts.

Former Dallas Cowboys receiver Drew Pearson co-owns Dallas-based DPC, which specializes in caps and other sports-fashion apparel. Los Angeles Raiders receiver and kick returner Tim Brown owns Dallas-based ProMoves Inc., an athletic footwear company that posted $2.5 million in sales in 1992. And Major League Baseball Hall-of-Famer Lou Brock owns Brockworld Products Inc., a St. Louis-based wholesaler, merchandiser and retailer of novelty and gift items, with more then $4 million in sportsrelated sales in 1991.

Aside from those well-known sports figures, the ownership runs the gamut from Harold Martin, owner of Novi, Mich.-based MVP Products Inc. (which specializes in custom-designed athletic shoes for high schools and colleges), to James Copes, owner of two Oakland-based sports specialty shops.

Yet, whether as owners or as corporate leaders, it is clear that African-Americans are relegated to the sidelines of an industry heavily dependent on black athletes and black consumers. 'It seems like this is a business that only the white majority of America has been associated with,' says Pearson. 'But really, I can't think of anyone who would be better qualified to sell sports apparel than blacks. I'm disappointed that we have failed to find sales reps, qualified manufacturers and qualified black retailers in this business.'

The ABSG: Driving For Change

Since its founding, the ABSG has become the industry watchdog, with Williams, its chairman, as chief sentinel. 'Until we as black people become part of the solution, we will continue to be part of the problem,' he warns.

Together, the ABSG and its corporate members, which include Nike, Wilson and Reebok, have begun the process of identifying and educating qualified candidates for the sporting goods business starting as early as high school. For example, at press time, more than 300 minority students were slated to attend the ABSG's Career Awareness Program at Atlanta's Emory University last month, in conjunction with the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (SGMA) Super Show. But tension between the ABSG and the companies it hopes to change remains very thick. (For more information on the ABSG, call 310-821-6910.)

About 15 years ago, after attending several national trade shows, Williams first noticed how few blacks there were in the industry. This prompted him to help start the ABSG three years ago--putting his career at risk in the process. 'I've been like Malcolm X out here. They don't want to touch me,' says Williams, referring to other sporting goods companies.

'Until our association was founded, no one was holding these manufacturers and this industry accountable,' Williams adds. 'We're not trying to create an us-against-them situation. We need the industry because that's where the jobs are. But there comes a point where you need to see some progress.'

Williams continues: 'Regardless of the percentage of total dollars, African-Americans spend a lot of money in this industry. And there's no question who sporting goods companies are advertising to. All the ABSG is saying is that if you recognize us as being viable consumers, then your workplace should reflect your marketplace.'

Needless to say, not every company sees eye-to-eye with the ABSG. Williams points to New Haven, Conn.-based Starter Sportswear Inc., a $200 million marketer of sports apparel, and $688 million Russell Corp., based in Alexander City, Ala. Both companies have benefited from the intense popularity in black urban communities of jackets, caps and other gear emblazoned with team logos, such as those of the Los Angeles Raiders and the Chicago Bulls. 'Starter apparel has almost become a uniform in the black community,' Williams says. 'Yet [company representatives] have been very arrogant and bullheaded about why they have to do anything just because their market is in the black community.'

According to Williams, Russell's position is that the scarcity of blacks in the sporting goods industry is a societal, rather than industry, problem. Therefore, he explains, the company feels it's not their problem. 'The bottom line,' Williams says, 'is that black people must become more informed and concerned consumers. They must make the decision that if a company will not hire us, we will not buy its products.'

For the record, Starter, Russell and a number of other companies declined to address the issue in detail. A survey on racial diversity sent out by the ABSG and the William Monroe Trotter Institute at the University of Massachusetts (the results of which were released at the SGMA Super Show in February) resulted in only five responses out of 50 queries. 'The CEOs, presidents and directors of human resources have decided not to cooperate or release any information pertaining to the status of minorities in their companies,' charges Harold Horton, survey administrator and associate director of the institute. 'If they aren't making this information available then it appears to me they have something to hide,' he says.

SGMA President John Riddle responds that while the numbers are low, the industry is receptive to diversity issues. 'Traditionally the industry has not recruited; it has not needed to,' he asserts. 'However, to be sensitive to our country's needs, we are trying to ensure that the pool of professional applicants within our industry family is as diverse as possible. Our industry is small on dollars but big on recognition.'

Riddle continues: 'We're the size of Chrysler Corp. We are small, vertical and entrepreneurial. Our advice to those knocking on our door is not to simply go after the world class companies, but get to know the smaller companies that are 90% of our industry. After all, there are more opportunities within the 90% than in the 10%.'

Leslie Mays of Reebok echoes Riddle's thoughts about recruitment. She points out that most sporting goods companies were set up by white males with while males in mind. 'It's an industry that has not necessarily been open to people of color over the years, primarily because it's a new industry that got started on the family-business level,' Mays explains. '[Minorities] were just not in the mix when these companies started and began growing so quickly. I think the industry has made great strides, but there's still a lot more we have to do. I think we're just laying the foundation,' she says.

Doing The Right Thing

That foundation, critics argue, should ultimately result in blacks not just being recruited for human resources and administrative-support jobs, but also for engineering, research and development, sales and marketing, and design posts. 'A lot of companies just try to paint a picture,' says Henry Chriss, a chemistry laboratory manager with Nike. 'They want to get the proverbial token in there and say |See what we did.' I'd like to see a company get African-Americans in higher-skilled, higher-level positions. There are a lot of very educated and qualified minorities for these positions. Companies just need to do a better job of getting out there and finding them.'

Nike's recruitment of Chriss away from Middlefield, Ohio-based Duramax Inc., where he was quality-control laboratory manager, and Urban and Minority Affairs Director Michael E. Lewellen away from Southwestern Bell in St. Louis, are positive signs of Nike's commitment. Less significant was the appointment of basketball coach John Thompson, a long-time company shoe endorser, to its board of directors.

'Doing the right thing is not hiring Thompson to your board of directors,' says Martin of MVP, the black-owned athletic footwear company. 'Doing the right thing is hiring educated and qualified personnel.'

Reebok has allocated $19 million to minority businesses over the next two years. This includes a multimillion-dollar, full-service assignment with New York-based UniWorld Group Inc. Reebok has also stepped up its image by naming former Harvard basketball coach Peter Roby as director of basketball promotions and Brian Dunmore as advertising and marketing legal counsel. The company is also relying on the design and engineering expertise of E. Scott Morris and Robert Purvy.

But the most compelling story at Reebok could be that of 27-year-old Bryony Bouyer, Boks brand manager. Boks, a casual shoe with an athletic heritage, is scheduled to debut in the spring of 1994. 'I remember saying when I was in college that if someone gave me a chance to do something, I would do it well,' says Bouyer of her start as an administrative assistant at the foot wear company six years ago. Bouyer discovered that youthful exuberance is very much in vogue at Reebok. After stints as a marketing assistant assistant business manager, assistant brand manager and associate brand manager, she was told by Reebok to take the next 18 months and design a shoe that would be fashionable in 1994.

While her proven ability to organize and complete projects is important Bouyer is banking on being culturally connected enough to feel comfortable walking into the same stores as the younger crowd targeted by Boks. 'The challenge is in developing that right kind of product to appeal to the right kind of people,' she says. 'In athletics you can decide the trend, but fashion is different. You're trying to get that right product with the right attitude.'

In fact, the industry has become increasingly dependent on fashion trends. Robust sales of apparel with college and pro-team logos are propping up industry growth, as demand for sports equipment and even athletic footwear has cooled, say industry observers.

Lately it has been black fashion that has captured the imagination of the industry, whether it be Los Angeles-based Eurostar Corp., which is using former gang members to help design its shoes, or Modesto, Calif.-based Hi-Tec Sports Inc., whose 'Magnum' military-style boots have become--to company officials' surprise--an inner-city rage. And as sporting goods companies work to improve their numbers, the steady flow of black-consumer dollars has not gone unnoticed.

Major League Opportunities

DPC is clearly one of the benefactors of this trend. The 7-year-old company has grown from being a $500,000 operation in its first year to a $33 million company in 1992. CEO Pearson, along with President Kenneth W. Shead, 46, Executive Vice President Mike Russell, 32, and CFO Dave Briskie, 31, own DPC. Pearson points to licensing agreements with the NFL NBA, Major League Baseball and the National Black Collegiate Licensing Co. as the main reasons why DPC has flourished. 'The bread and butter, the bulk of our business, is the licensing business,' says Pearson, 41. 'If we didn't have the licensing, we would still be in the sports apparel business, mainly selling to major corporations. We would not be selling retail.'

Needless to say, wanting a license and getting one are two entirely different animals. NFL Properties, the licensing arm of the National Football League, earned $2 billion in 1991. It processes over 600 product applications per year and rejects the majority of them. The Atlanta Olympic Committee, which will host the 1996 Summer Games, has already mailed out over 2,000 applications, with the Olympics still three years away. 'The major barrier we had as a business was getting through to the league and being able to be granted a license,' recalls Pearson. 'It's not a thing that's tough only on minorities; its tough on everybody, period, because it is such a treasured and valued commodity.'

Former Dallas Cowboys President Tex Schramm and the Rev. Jesse Jackson were instrumental in helping Pearson get a license. Major League baseball was still reeling from the fallout over derogatory comments about blacks made by former Los Angeles Dodger executive Al Campanis in 1987. It was at that point, according to Pearson, that DPC presented itself to the leagues as a 'qualified minority company' to help ease the negative atmosphere prevailing in pro sports. (Racist remarks allegedly made by Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott have renewed the intensity of calls for equal opportunity in sports. At a meeting of Major League Baseball team owners, held in Grapevine, Texas, in January, Jackson's Rainbow Commission of Fairness in Athletics presented 14 points of concern, all directed at baseball's treatment of minorities.)

With minimum guarantees to meet and 8% to 10% royalties on every licensed product sold, DPC struggled 'the first year or so because we didn't have strong financial backing,' Pearson says.

Fortunately, all three leagues met with DPC as it barely met its minimums. Now it is surpassing the minimums three times over. 'It was a blessing, and we're fortunate that they gave us time to grow, because now it's paying off,' says Pearson. 'If you execute once, you get these agreements; if s going to be lucrative to your business.'

A license 'gets you almost immediate acceptance with the retailer,' says Jeffrey C. Durand, a black sports agent and co-owner of Minneapolis-based Hansen Sports Inc. Hansen's Wrist Pro wrist protector is a hot new product with both pro and amateur athletes. If retailers carry the product, 'that's more than half the battle,' he adds.

Former baseball star Lou Brock, 53, has been selling Major League Baseball-licensed novelties and gifts since 1974. It was only in 1991, however, that his company, Brockworld, got the green light on a line of League-licensed active wear. He is also branching into the now affordable field of photo imaging, a technique that enables him to superimpose the likenesses of sports fans and 364 Major Leaguers onto a T-shirt poster or photo. Brock has conducted test marketing in Houston, Los Angeles, Kansas City, San Diego and St. Louis.

This isn't the first time that Brock has been on the cutting edge of sports licensing. Almost 20 years ago, he was so amused by the umbrella hat worn by a Chicago Cubs fan, that he tracked down the patent and bought it for around $4,000. He later wore a similar hat while taking the field before a game, thinking people would find it so funny that they'd stop throwing objects at players in the outfield. The hat eventually caught on with the college crowd, and Brock's future in sports merchandising was on its way.

Tim Brown's ProMoves doesn't have an umbrella hat or a license with either of the pro leagues, but it may have the next best thing: a high profile NFL player as its majority owner. Brown, the 19B7 Heisman Trophy winner from Notre Dame University, decided three years ago to sell high quality, performance-oriented athletic shoes that were codesigned and sold by the NFL players who wore them.

After bouncing the idea off industry experts, Brown, 28, and his brother, President and CEO Donald Kelly, 34, eventually entered into a royalty-driven venture with the Missouri-based Pagoda Trading Co., known for its licensed footwear for the Walt Disney Co. and Mattel Inc. The first line of shoes hit the market last February, and sales have been brisk. 'All we're trying to do is carve a little niche for ourselves. There is such a tremendously large market that you don't need a 20% share to be successful,' says Kelly.

Larry Dower, vice president of sales, says that it doesn't hurt that Kelly presides over ProMoves with a never-say-die attitude. 'Donald Kelly doesn't know the words |No, it can't be done.' Its just not in his vocabulary,' explains Dower, an 18-year industry veteran. 'People have said to us, |Are you guys nuts? Who needs another shoe company?' But it all goes back to Donald. |That doesn't matter,' he says. |We'll get our share of the market.' '

Kelly was making $35,000 a year working for a Texas utility company when Brown first suggested they start a shoe company. He had long since given up on the bachelor's degree in social work he earned from the University of Texas-Arlington, saying that he realized 'the best way to effect change in society is to create jobs.'

After a year in his new job, which has resulted in a lot of sweat equity, Kelly says: 'I don't intend to ever design a shoe, but I know that I obviously have to manage this situation and be the driving force in making sure things get done. I'm just hoping and praying that I make the right decisions.'

To compete with Nike, though, may take more than praying. Williams, who spends the better part of his days calling on sporting goods stores in the name of Wilson, explains it this way: 'I can walk into a store and a guy will tell me right up front: |That's a nice shoe you've got, the price is right, But there's one problem: It doesn't say Nike. Why should I buy Wilson when I know Nike will sell?' Their image has really transcended the industry. If you think of cola, you think of Coke. That's how the industry thinks of Nike.'

It is that reputation and, some suggest, the lack of planning by Operation PUSH, that caused its 1990 boycott of Nike to fail. Still, it caused concern within the sporting goods industry and throw the spotlight on the lack of African-American entrepreneurs and corporate professionals, much to Williams' delight. The ABSG among others hope that the industry will eventually have something else in common with soft drink, fast food and other consumer-products businesses with a bottom-line stake in the black consumer market: a demonstrated commitment to both diversity in hiring and in business development.

Their Comeback Is Complete - The Washington Post

There was one current player in the Riggs Library that day, onegawky high school senior who sheepishly approached his new coach andput out his hand.

'C-congratulations, Coach,' Roy Hibbert said to John ThompsonIII, the day JT III was chosen to resurrect Georgetown's moribundprogram in April 2004.

'He told me they were having workouts,' Hibbert remembered. 'If Iwanted to come work out, I could work out.'

'He had braids,' Thompson said, half-smiling, rolling his eyes.

Thirty minutes earlier, Big Roy, the all-growed-up senior, hadlowered his shoulder and scored, and the will and resolve ofThompson's players outlasted a deeper and a hair more talentedLouisville team in a 55-52 scrum for their second straight Big Easttitle -- something not even Pops's Georgetown teams had done.

Hibbert had 12 points and four blocked shots in the game, andmade an impossibly tough basket inside to give his team the lead inthe final four minutes. He got help from 6-feet-nothing JonathanWallace, who with less than two minutes left maneuvered his compactframe through mounds of Louisville muscle in the key and -- grimacing, fading away off one foot -- released the prettiestteardrop from maybe five feet.

All net.

In a mucked-up game in which good looks at the basket were at apremium, DaJuan Summers then made the most of a rare unobstructedview, knocking down a three-pointer from the right baseline thatbroke the tie with 40 seconds left and sent the Phone Booth intoanother state of delirium.

After Louisville's last gasps from beyond the arc, the wallflowerrecruit from four years ago grabbed his jersey. His voice bellowingloudly, Hibbert kick-started the student section on one side of thearena with the first two words of a familiar chant: 'We are!'

The bare-chested boys and face-painted girls hollered back:'Georgetown!'

In about a week, some well-intentioned television analyst willsurmise why the Hoyas don't deserve a No. 1 seed in the NCAAtournament. Or point out how Georgetown is too flawed to win thenational title a year after its scintillating run to the FinalFour.

And, as usual, they will miss the point completely.

See, before worrying about where Georgetown is going, we need tobreathe for five seconds and see how far the Hoyas have come since2004 -- the year the program's national relevance was lost amidits 13-15 finish and one-and-done in the Big East tournament.

Running on memories more than fumes, Georgetown had become St.John's South -- that esteemed, private Catholic university thatkept waiting for its time-machine transport back to the 1980s.That's the program JT III inherited when he left the security ofPrinceton and the nonscholarship Ivy League for his old man'spressure-cooker job.

Big John, who knew there would be cries of nepotism, was alsothere to wish his son well four years ago in that perfectly chosenon-campus library -- a beautiful, Victorian cast-ironprefabrication, a room that just oozed old Washington.

'I don't know, it's hard to think about that for me,' JT III saidwhen asked whether he ever imagined such a quick turnaround. 'We hada plan. We actually wanted to win a national championship that firstyear. But then you just go about your business. That's how Iapproached it, not, 'Ooooh, let's by year X accomplish this.' Wereally wanted to just improve and get better. And we still do.'

Recalled Hibbert: 'At the time, Georgetown wasn't playing toowell. I just couldn't believe it what they were going through. Ithink we changed it around.'

Ya think?

For the final two minutes yesterday, the masses stood andscreamed -- all 19,116 of the Verizon Center capacity. They werecompletely enraptured by the most exhilarating college basketballgame anyone could remember in this building since George Masonrocked Connecticut's world to go to the Final Four in 2006.

A very talented team coached by Rick Pitino, who 21 years agoshocked Big John's Hoyas to go to the Final Four with Providence,went down hard.

Bill Raftery called the game on national television. Secretary ofState Condoleezza Rice clapped wildly from courtside. Jason Campbelland Patrick Ewing Sr. posed with Mayor Adrian Fenty for a photo opat halftime.

Georgetown is not merely back; the Hoyas have become boffo boxoffice, the place to be on a sporting Saturday in Washington.

The postgame news conference was standing room only in a smallroom, drawing a crowd unlike the Wizards and Capitals had seen.

In his usual seat along a table in the back of the room was BigJohn -- proud father, Washington icon, talk-radio host, and, now,unpaid ombudsman.

'Are you going to hold it over Pops, now that you've donesomething he's never done?' Thompson III was asked. Confirming thefeat, JT III replied, 'No.'

'Ask him when they're going to compare you to your peers, and notPete Carril and your father,' John Thompson Jr., said, his voicegrowing a bit stern. 'You'll never make a damn dime if you have tobe compared to ancient people. When will you be compared to yourpeers, which you have done extremely well against, as opposed toyour ancient dad and Pete Carril?'

JT III beat Pitino, his father's old peer, today -- siphoningevery bit of resilience from his determined kids, who amazinglyfinished unbeaten at home for the first time in 12 years.

Looking back to that day in 2004, with JT III and young RoyHibbert standing there, it's safe to say almost every hoop dream aplayer and coach could have imagined four years ago has come true:dropping top-ranked Duke two years ago; stunning North Carolina lastMarch; just two wins away from a national title; and another BigEast crown Saturday before a deafening crowd at home.

Almost every dream imaginable, even the one in which the coachenvisioned his future center in a clean, dark suit, his hair neatlytrimmed, before the cameras.

'The braids?' Hibbert said, smiling. 'Senior year of high school.I was going through a phase.'

Devils have no prayer against Iverson, Hoyas.(Sports)(Ncaa Tournament) - The Washington Times (Washington, DC)

RICHMOND - Second-seeded Georgetown began its march toward the Final Four with a merciless pounding of No. 15 Mississippi Valley State, methodically drubbing the Delta Devils 93-56 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

The Hoyas will meet No. 7-seed New Mexico at 12:15 p.m. tomorrow in the second round. The Lobos were 69-48 winners over Kansas State in the other early East Region first-round game.

Inspired by first-round upset victories by low seeds Princeton and Drexel, the Delta Devils - sporting new Nike basketball shoes and warmups courtesy of alumnus and San Francisco 49ers star Jerry Rice - took the court hopeful of creating some unexpected drama of their own.

But the game marked a homecoming of sorts for Allen Iverson, and no upstart team from Itta Bena, Miss., was going to spoil his fun. The sophomore guard from Hampton, approximately 30 miles from Richmond, made 13 of 18 shots and scored 31 points in only 25 minutes as Georgetown (27-7) built a 23-point halftime lead and smothered the Delta Devils in the second half.

The 6-foot Iverson, a first-team Associated Press All-American, treated the crowd of 11,859 at Richmond Coliseum to a 'SportsCenter'-worthy collection of perimeter jumpers, slashing layups and baseline jams and exited to a standing ovation. Among the spectators was former Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, whose grant of conditional clemency after Iverson's 1991 conviction for maiming by mob allowed him to attend Georgetown.

'It was nice having everyone there,' Iverson said, 'but I can't let all the attention become a distraction. We're here for a reason, and I have to stay focused.'

Georgetown coach John Thompson spoke kindly of the overwhelmed opposition, saying, 'This is a whole different environment for Mississippi Valley State. We play on national television an awful lot; we're in the [NCAA tournament] a lot. It's very difficult for some of those kids to get in this setting and relax right away. I'm sure they are far better than they played against us today.'

After nine minutes of relatively good basketball, the Delta Devils disintegrated. Georgetown (27-7) went on a 19-3 run that gave them a 40-15 lead with 4:26 remaining. As the Delta Devils (22-7) wilted under Georgetown's fullcourt trapping zone defense, committing 13 turnovers in the first half, Iverson and reserve center Jahidi White (13 points, eight rebounds) took turns converting those turnovers into transition baskets.

'During the time we got that spurt, our defensive intensity picked up,' senior center Othella Harrington said. 'We ran a little trap at them and they couldn't handle it. Jahidi was doing a great job on the inside, too. The guards were getting him the ball, and he was too big for them to guard, so I think his play contributed a lot to the run.'

And when the Mississippians weren't kicking balls out of bounds or throwing panicky passes to phantom teammates, they were forcing outrageous shots en route to a 24 percent first-half performance from the field.

'Today you witnessed a good country whipping,' Mississippi Valley State coach Lafayette Stribling said. 'We got careless with the basketball, and we couldn't throw it in the well. But the best team won today. This Georgetown team is really something. . . . The Iverson kid is everything we expected and maybe some more. . . . We were just overmatched.'

The second half mirrored the first as Georgetown's Harrington (15 points, eight rebounds), and Ya-Ya Dia (10 points, six rebounds) joined White in the middle to give the Hoyas a 50-34 rebounding edge despite the efforts of Delta Devils center Marcus Mann (24 points, seven rebounds). Mann entered the game as the nation's leading rebounder but was swarmed under by the Hoyas' frontcourt horde.

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HOYAS REPORT

Analysis and commentary from yesterday's game:

ALL IN THE FAMILY - Coach John Thompson used No. 13-seed Princeton's Thursday night upset of No. 4-seed UCLA as an inspirational warning to his Hoyas before yesterday's first-round matchup with No. 15-seed Mississippi Valley State. But the Tigers upset win was more than just a motivational tool for Thompson.

'The Princeton vs. UCLA game had special meaning to me because my son [John III] is one of the assistant coaches at Princeton,' Thompson said. 'Shortly after the game he called me from a pay phone, and when the phone rang I knew exactly who it was. And Pete [Carril] has special meaning to me because my child loves him, so I love him, too. So, I was glad about that and certainly I used it.'

VICTIMS - While the rest of the Hoyas had a field day against the overmatched Delta Devils, posting a 66 percent shooting effort, freshman guard Victor Page had one of his least auspicious games of the season. After starting out 4-for-4, Page missed 10 of his next 11 shots and committed five turnovers, finishing with an ugly 14 points.

Orangemen squeeze Hoyas into another last-minute setback.(Sports) - The Washington Times (Washington, DC)

The show gets more polished with each performance, but the curtain keeps falling on the Hoyas' heads. For the third time in Georgetown's last six games, the Hoyas pushed an upper-echelon Big East team to the brink, impressing with improvement but losing just the same.

Yesterday's double-edged rendition came against No. 18 Syracuse before a season-high crown of 15,983 at MCI Center. The luckless Hoyas matched bows with the ballyhooed New Yorkers for more than 38 minutes before yielding 81-79 in the game's final act.

The Hoyas (8-8) have lost six of seven Big East contests, three by a total of five points.

Georgetown's locker room was predictably somber after yesterday's loss. Coach Craig Esherick, now 1-2 since taking over for John Thompson on Jan. 8, searched for hope amid the hapless trend.

'The three games seems like three years right now,' said Esherick, whose Hoyas also recorded a near-miss against No. 11 St. John's (71-69) last Monday. 'It's very hard for me today to feel good about it. Syracuse was a ranked opponent and St. John's was a ranked opponent - they're both very good teams. We did not play poorly in either game. We had a chance to win both games, and we have to build on that. . . . We have to build on playing better, but we also have to win some games.'

Just as they did against St. John's, the Hoyas battled from 10 points down yesterday to claim a 68-67 lead with 5:08 remaining. Guard Anthony Perry, who had a game-high 26 points and five steals, hit two free throws to give Georgetown the lead.

Surprisingly, the Hoyas contained the vaunted Syracuse frontcourt tandem of Etan Thomas (nine points, eight rebounds, three blocks) and Ryan Blackwell (10 points, eight rebounds) and seemed to survive an unexpected first-half explosion from sophomore forward Damone Brown (19 points, 11 rebounds). But the same player who tortured the Hoyas throughout the game, junior point guard Jason Hart (20 points, eight assists), proved too much in the game's final minutes.

Hart responded to Perry's free throws with a pull-up 3-pointer from well beyond the arc on the left wing to put Syracuse (12-4, 4-3) back on top. He then harassed Georgetown point guard Kevin Braswell (four of 21 from the field) into three consecutive misses over the Hoyas' next four possessions, and when Perry struck from behind the arc with 1:48 left to pull Georgetown within a point, Hart again rose to the challenge.

On the Orangemen's next possession, the Los Angeles native drew a double-team near the top of the key, leapt into the air as if to shoot and then flashed a pass across the top of the circle to an unguarded Blackwell. Despite his subpar day, Blackwell buried the open 3-pointer and the Hoyas. His shot

gave Syracuse a 75-71 lead with 1:33 remaining, and the Orangemen converted free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.

'Jason's really the key to our basketball team - when he plays well, we win,' said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim of his playmaker. 'That was some good basketball from both teams. Today you had a case where we played our best and they still could have won. Georgetown's playing as well as I've seen them play all year, and I think that's a tribute to the players and Craig and the staff.

'[With Thompson resigning], it would be very easy to go the other way, but they've stepped up and there's no comparison between this Georgetown team and the one I watched at the beginning of the year. That's a very good basketball team, and they're going to win a lot of games and make some people pay as the year goes on.'

But even a bevy of compliments from a man stingy with superlatives can't sugarcoat reality.

Sure, Georgetown starts essentially three first-year players (Braswell, Perry and center Ruben Boumtje Boumtje, who played a total of 80 minutes last season) and a sophomore swingman Nat Burton).

Sure, they nearly beat a sluggish St. John's team on the road and followed with another 'almost' despite Syracuse's best effort.

But when the Hoyas take the court Tuesday against West Virginia, they will arrive sporting the school's worst Big East start and will be the first set of Hoyas sitting at .500 after Christmas since 1974.

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HOYAS REPORT

Seen and heard yesterday at MCI Center:

BOEHEIM ON BIG JOHN - The rivalry that built the Big East wasn't quite the same without John Thompson cussing down the sideline at longtime nemesis Jim Boeheim. In his 23rd season at Syracuse, Boeheim met briefly with Thompson before the game, then discussed the coach's departure afterward.

'I don't know if any two coaches have had the wars that we had for the 20-plus years that we've been going at it,' said Boeheim. 'It was bitter, it was harsh, it was a war for a long time, but the last five or 10 years we've gotten a little older and grown to respect each other. We've been through so many battles, and it's different not seeing him out there.

'But like I said earlier, Craig [Esherick] is such a great coach - he knows the league. So many times you bring coaches in from outside the league, and they can't coach in this league. Craig knows the league, he's smart, he's a good basketball coach. And like I said, they're playing better than they've played all year.

'John Thompson is a legend in this game. I don't have to butter John up anymore, or say anything nice about him, but he deserved to be in the Hall of Fame a long time ago for everything he's done in coaching. . . . But as I said to somebody earlier today, you know we lost Lou Carnesecca [1992], and St. John's is [No. 11] in the country right now. So, this is about programs, and it's about teams and players.

'You know, John and I haven't made a basket in a long time. And he's going to be missed, but people come along who are going to get the job done.'

BLANCHARD SIGHTING - Coveted blue-chip recruit Lavell Blanchard from Pioneer High School attended the game as a part of his weekend visit to the Hilltop. The 6-foot-7 swingman from Ann Arbor, Mich., ranked by recruiting analyst Bob Gibbons as the top senior prospect in the nation, is rumored to have narrowed his candidates to Michigan, Georgetown and Virginia. Blanchard looked rather subdued behind the Hoyas' bench, and many felt Thompson's resignation (Blanchard's mother liked Thompson) would hurt Georgetown's chances. But the fact that Blanchard still chose to use one of his precious campus visits on the Hoyas has to be a good sign for Georgetown.

After a Long Climb, Braswell Is Peaking - The Washington Post

Georgetown Coach Craig Esherick needed time to retrieve theanecdote that would properly illuminate his relationship with pointguard Kevin Braswell, which for four years has been rather like abouncing basketball, down one moment and quickly back up.

Esherick has immense affection for Braswell, who has started to gothrough a series of ends to a career as distinctive as anyone hasever had at Georgetown. In his final home game Saturday, Braswelltied the school record for assists with 16. That clearly wasn'ttypical, but it shows how creative he can be when under control.

'That was the happiest I've ever been for Kevin,' Esherick said asGeorgetown continued preparations for Wednesday's game againstProvidence here in the first round of the Big East Conferencetournament. 'It was his best game as a college player.'

A moment later, Esherick was recalling another game, more than twoyears earlier, when Braswell was neither so brilliant nor so mature.He'd taken the weekend to rummage through his memory bank.

More than two years earlier, Braswell had a poor practice beforethe Hoyas left for a league game against West Virginia in Charleston.Then he forgot to pack his game shoes, which required going to asporting goods store and buying a pair. Worst of all, Braswell fouledout on what Esherick thought was a monumentally dumb play and hisabsence helped the Mountaineers to a five-point upset.

'I was ready to kill him,' Esherick said.

Now he's more than ready to praise Braswell.

'He's as resilient and dependable as almost anyone we've everhad,' Esherick said. 'He has been hurt, but doesn't think about notplaying, doesn't think about not practicing. Nobody ever plays wellevery single game. But I've never thought the entire time Kevin hasbeen here that he wasn't ready to compete every single game.

'He's intelligent, interesting and charismatic. But he also hasfound a way to drive me crazy at times, and that makes me like andrespect him even more because things have not been one way all thetime. He's handled my idiosyncrasies very well, and I've handled hisvery well.'

As many gifted high school players do, the 6-foot-2 native ofBaltimore thought his college career would be a series of him sinkingshot after glorious shot and his team at least close to if notwinning the national championship each year.

Braswell has been brilliant lots of times, scoring 40 points as asophomore in a triple overtime NIT victory over Virginia and makingseveral game-winning baskets in the final seconds when everybody inthe gym knew he'd be taking them.

'At the end of games, when the score's close, that's when hethrives,' said front court reserve Courtland Freeman. 'That Virginiagame was amazing to watch. He was so strong-willed.'

Braswell has started every game at Georgetown, 31 as a freshman,34 as a sophomore, 33 last year and 27 so far this season. His 686assists are the most in school history. His career scoring average,13.5 points, is second among Georgetown guards, behind Allen Iverson(23.0) and Eric (Sleepy) Floyd (17.7). His rebounding average, 3.9,is the best ever for a Georgetown guard; his average for steals (2.8)is just behind Iverson's school-leading 3.2.

Much of the friction between Esherick and Braswell has been overhis role: Braswell's scoring guard instincts vs. his assignment ofsetting up the offense. Braswell has accepted Esherick's quick hookafter a too-clever pass has gone out of bounds, and Esherick hasacknowledged Braswell's clear leadership qualities.

'There's been a lot of pressure on Kevin this season,' forwardGerald Riley said, 'because he's the only senior.'

Particularly in his sophomore year, Braswell was more than willingto pass up a difficult shot. But he was smart enough to realize thatno teammate at the time was able to catch a hard pass or make a shotbeyond 12 feet. Had Georgetown had today's players two years ago,Braswell might have 50 more assists.

'Coach has been there for me, time after time, on and off thecourt,' Braswell said. 'He's probably given me a chance to play atthe next level.'

Esherick said that barring 'a major earthquake or apoplexy'Braswell would get his degree in May. His major is sociology, with aminor in English and theology.

Individual records are close to meaningless for Braswell. Whatgalls him is Georgetown having to settle for the NIT his first twoseason and having to win at least two and probably three games inthis week's conference tournament to earn a bid to the NCAAtournament. He still figures the Hoyas have enough talent to go asfar in the NCAAs as they did last season, to the round of 16.

'We're playing our best ball now,' he said, referring to a three-game winning streak he hopes the Hoyas will build on, postponing aslong as possible one more last experience.

Hoyas' speed leaves Orangemen in dust.(Sports) - The Washington Times (Washington, DC)

Georgetown vs. Syracuse. It's the game that built a conference; the Super Bowl of Big East basketball. And just like most of those Super Bowls, last night it wasn't even close.

The sixth-ranked Hoyas jumped out to a 15-6 lead in the game's first three minutes and didn't slow down until the final buzzer, dismissing the 17th-ranked

Orangemen 83-64 before 18,753 delighted fans at USAir Arena.

Georgetown (17-2, 7-1 Big East) dominated every facet of the game, out-hustling, out-shooting, out-rebounding and simply out-running an overmatched Syracuse team that's now lost three straight conference games. The win gives the Hoyas a commanding three-game lead over the Orangemen in the Big East-7 division. The Hoyas follow this win, their first over a ranked team this season, with a trip to St. John's on Saturday.

Everything was working for the Hoyas against Syracuse (13-5, 4-4). Sophomore Allen Iverson (26 points, six assists, four steals) and freshman backcourt mate Victor Page (17 points, four assists) performed a virtual clinic on turning intense defense into transition points. Iverson was one step ahead of the Syracuse transition defense all night, routinely streaking up the court on Syracuse misses to receive long outlet passes for easy scores.

'We did a very good job defensively early,' said Georgetown coach John Thompson. 'We wanted to pressure them defensively and get out on the break.'

And on those rare instances when Iverson and Page weren't racing past the slower Orangemen for layups and jams, Othella Harrington was playing like the Othella of old in the paint. Harrington connected on eight of his 10 shots from the field, posting 23 points and nine rebounds in upstaging Syracuse big man John Wallace.

Over the first four minutes of the game, Harrington followed a sloppy Iverson layup attempt for a score, made two impressive turnaround jumpers from the foul line, delivered a 60-foot pass to Iverson for an assist and came from nowhere to block an Otis Hill jam. In short, it was Harrington who staked the Hoyas to an early nine-point lead.

'I think the difference in the game was Harrington,' said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. 'When he plays like that, they are a very difficult team to contend with.'

Sporting a menacing new goatee, Harrington did most of his offensive damage from the foul line, capitalizing on a soft spot in the sagging Syracuse zone.

'That was the shot they were giving me, so I was taking it,' Harrington said. 'If I had been called upon to get down inside and bang, I'd have done that, too. The big thing is that I've gotten more touches of late.'

Syracuse power forward Wallace, who entered the game averaging almost 24 points per game, didn't get many touches last night. Thompson used 6-foot-7 sophomore Boubacar Aw on Wallace for most of the night, and the Hoyas' defensive stopper held Wallace to a quiet 17 points.

'I thought Boubacar and Jerry [Nichols] did an excellent job on Wallace,' said Thompson. 'Boubacar was so excited about playing him that when I told the kids I wanted someone to run at Wallace everytime he touched the ball, Boubacar said, `No, no. I'll guard him myself.' '

In fact, there wasn't much Georgetown didn't do well. Only Syracuse center Hill (19 points) was able to find open shots consistently for himself.

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HOYAS REPORT

Analysis and commentary from last night's game:

MAKING A POINT - In the latest in a long line of new looks out front for the Hoyas, Boubacar Aw spent much of last night's first half running the point for Georgetown. The spread set with Aw flanked by Allen Iverson and Victor Page seemed to work well for the Hoyas, as the 6-7 Aw was easily able to pass over the Syracuse zone, while keeping clear of the lanes of penetration so key to Iverson and Page.

ALL CYLINDERS - Georgetown's Allen Iverson spent most of last night's postgame news conference describing the benefits of having everyone involved in the offense. 'When Victor [Page] and Jerry [Nichols] are making their shots and Othella's opening things up in the middle, teams can't focus on me,' Iverson said. 'It's great to see everyone involved like that.'

AW-ESOME - Even after holding Syracuse power forward John Wallace to a quiet 17 points, Georgetown swingman and defensive specialist Boubacar Aw wasn't the least bit happy. After a performance applauded by all, Aw could only comment, 'I didn't want him to score double-digits, so I am not happy.'