RIP John Thompson (Big John)

[Della9250]

An icon in a lot of different ways

Here is the only announcement (I thought I copied it originally but didn't)

 

[Chef2]

Considering the only spot I've seen it is a local radio station in DC, I sure hope this is a case of first, not right.

 

[Batman]

Considering the only spot I've seen it is a local radio station in DC, I sure hope this is a case of first, not right.

Pretty sure Thompson worked for them, if not currently then definitely in the past.

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

He did. I used to listen to his show when i moved to southern Pennsyltucky in 2005.

 

[Justin_Rice]

Served him a Big Mac at the local McDonalds when he was in town recruiting prolific high school dunker Roland Roberts.

That's all I've got ...

 

[Splendid Splinter]

 

[Songbird]

I came of age during Georgetown's dominance. LA boy but loved the Hoyas and their colors and their dominance.

And that they were coached by this massive black man.

The loss to Villanova remains one of life's unsolved mysteries.

This photo says it all about John Thompson's presence at Georgetown.

 

[Starman]

The one man in the last 70 years who single-handedly established a national program in his own image.
Tark at UNLV probably his only competition in that regard; Krzyzewski doesn't count because Duke was already a national program, having made the FF five years before his arrival.
When Thompson arrived, Georgetown had nothing in basketball to distinguish it from dozens of small urban Catholic colleges in the East -- except it was usually one of the worst of the bunch.

 

[heyabbott]

The one man in the last 70 years who single-handedly established a national program in his own image.
Tark at UNLV probably his only competition in that regard; Krzyzewski doesn't count because Duke was already a national program, having made the FF five years before his arrival.
When Thompson arrived, Georgetown had nothing in basketball to distinguish it from dozens of small urban Catholic colleges in the East -- except it was usually one of the worst of the bunch.

He made a basketball conference too. his personality and his team’s unique intensity was the greatest single factor in making the Big East. Others get partial credit. He was the main attraction.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Growing up, it was so much fun to be a fan of the Big East in the 1980s. As someone who rooted for St. John's and Syracuse, Thompson and Georgetown played the villain role so well RIP

Oh, and arguably, his finest moment:

 

[Songbird]

Indeed ... Georgetown-St. John's, Georgetown-Cuse, Cuse-St. John's, were probably the 3 Big East games that were always on Sunday TV and ESPN's Big Monday. The rest of the conference got nice exposure too but Georgetown, St. John's, Syracuse were the Big 3 for about 5 years.

 

[heyabbott]

When Thompson arrived, Georgetown had nothing in basketball to distinguish it from dozens of small urban Catholic colleges in the East -- except it was usually one of the worst of the bunch.

UConn and Calhoun? And it’s also one of the instances where the number of titles doesn’t measure the coach or the program. JT only won one, GTown only won 1. But Thompson and Georgetown were better than Calhoun and UConn.

 

[Moderator1]

Unless I'm missing it - there's nothing on the Post website yet, which makes me curious.

 

[Moderator1]

That ESPN story has no attribution, just says he died. Very curious how people know this for sure.

I'm always skittish about death stories since the Joe Paterno fiasco.

 

[MileHigh]

Post now has it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/loca...8f4846-eb69-11ea-ab4e-581edb849379_story.html

 

[MileHigh]

Growing up, it was so much fun to be a fan of the Big East in the 1980s. As someone who rooted for St. John's and Syracuse, Thompson and Georgetown played the villain role so well RIP

Oh, and arguably, his finest moment:

Felt the same way growing up in SoCal in the 1980s. Loved the Big East every Monday night. I too rooted for St. John's and the 'Cuse and saw Georgetown as the villain.

But man, what a conference.

RIP to a giant.

 

[playthrough]

Just didn't get any better than those Big East days. Also enjoyed hearing him on the radio in recent years, such a commanding voice. RIP.

 

[da man]

As a young sportswriter covering the NCAA tournament in the '80s, I could not stand Thompson. He made things as difficult for us as he could and did everything possible to make his players inaccessible. He'd bring players to the press conferences only because he had to, and anytime you'd address a question to one of the players, Thompson would answer for him. Hoya Paranoia was real.

I liked him a lot better once he became a commentator.

 

[wicked]

Not to rip the Post, but wow, they were really behind on this. I don't think they had anything until about six hours after 980 reported it. Mike Wilbon said elsewhere that he got a call about it last night.

 

[Starman]

Thompson was certainly very prickly at times, in every sense of the word. He acted like everybody in the world was out to get him, and he wasn't far wrong.
He built the blackest of all major college programs at one of the whitest of America's white-bread schools.
I have Georgetown alums in my family --- my mother went to Vizzy -- and JT was definitely a hard sell for most of their age group -- until he started going to FFs. Friction was constant inside and out of his program, and he used it to make it hard as rock.