The Greatest Game Ever Invented

We often forget during March Madness about all the hard work and conditioning that takes place during the summer and off-season. They call it the city game, but a quick look at the movie Hoosiers, reminds of the history of basketball and its roots in the heartland of America. The recent passing of Dennis Hopper, who plays Scooter in my favorite basketball movie Hoosiers, has played heavily on my mind. This past weekend that I spent in New York City, I was very saddened to hear about the passing of Coach John R. Wooden, one of the greatest coaches in history. I was very happy that Georgetown played in the last Wooden Classic attended by Coach Wooden this past year. My memories of meeting Coach as a young boy at the Washington Metropolitan Basketball camp at St. John's College High School is something I will never forget.

On my recent trip to London, I was fascinated by the passion for the sport of soccer in England. I was frequently corrected that I should call it futbol. When I asked my cab driver if he was excited about the Olympics coming to London in 2012, he told me that they really did not care. He was only concerned that London win the bid for the 2018 World Cup. The UK has not hosted the World Cup since 1966. It was with conviction that he told me that London was the best place in the World to host the World Cup. I was truly impressed with the love of the sport on my visit.

As I walked the streets of New York this weekend, I was reminded of the great love of baseball in New York. As you walk through the five boroughs of NYC you can feel the passion for America's Pastime. In fact at this very moment I am preparing to go to Nationals Stadium to see the major league debut of Steven Strasburg. However, my mind continues to drift towards summer league basketball. Indeed you can go out on many of the playgrounds of DC or New York and see some of the best basktball players in the world, like at Rucker Park. I will now make my case for basketball being the world's greatest game. Indeed it is a team sport that is truly the ultimate match-up sports where you can take advantage of individual match-ups. If you have a basketball and a court you can play a team game or one-on-one. Basketball requires tremendous hand-eye-coordination, and arguably the greatest amount of athleticism throughout the entire body. Indeed I concede that any declaration of the world's greatest sport is completely subjective, and this represents my own personal opinion. Indeed any argument for soccer, baseball, football, etc. is truly an exercise in what is pure and great about athletics.

I would like to make my last tribute to the great Coach John R. Wooden. People often forget that he grew up on a farm in Indiana. Indeed his life was the embodiment of integrity. Who can forget in the movie Hoosiers when Barbara Hershey tells coach Norman Dale that every basketball game her brother played was the most important thing that ever happened to her family, and that she just did not get it. If you come out to see the Kenner Summer League at McDonough Arena, and the 2010-11 Georgetown Basketball season you will experience why. My favorite scene in the movie has Dennis Hopper discussing basketball strategy with Gene Hackman telling him that he knows everything there is to know about "The Greatest Game Ever Invented!"

We are Georgetown!

Dr. Thomas A. Wong

Hoya Hoop Club Vice-President and Director of Communication

Proud Member of Generation Ewing