- Sep 22, 2013
- 4,956
- 250
- 85
Duke Blue Devils men's basketball (NCAA) and Georgetown Hoyas men's basketball are the two 'icons' in American college basketball.
The modern media age of sports-marketing creates all kinds of society 'chatter' about competitive sports symbolic of 'capitalism flowery' (e.g., Jerry Maguire).
So how should we market/present the Blue Devils and Hoyas in terms of cultural podiums? The more seriously we address such a loaded question the better our media-immersed consumerism-culture 'signature' becomes!
For every capitalism-angel there is a 'Headless Horseman.'
====
"After heady Duke University men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski ('Coach K') took over the program, the team really picked up. In the late 1980s, Coach K was overseeing the development of two incredible college athletes, Johnny Dawkins and Danny Ferry, the players who helped lift the Blue Devils to three Final Four appearances [1986, 1988, 1990]. Then in 1991, the program really took off. The 'darling' Blue Devils (led by star-center Christian Laettner and star-guard Bobby Hurley) won the national championship after stunning powerhouse UNLV in the national semifinal before taking down mighty Kansas in the championship game. Coach K and Duke repeated their dazzling ways in 1992 when they captured a second national title (after getting past the very ambitious Rick Pitino coached Kentucky Wildcats in a regional semifinal game considered by many to be the greatest NCAAB game of all time!). Duke would return to the title game in 1994 and 1999 but not win again until 2001 and then again in 2010 and 2015. Under Coach K, Duke appeared in a whopping 12 Final Fours and won a whopping 5 national titles! Many sports-writers called Coach K's Duke Blue Devils the 'modern-era Camelot of collegiate sports'."
"Every good cultural fairy-tale has an intriguing 'counter-part.' Well, Duke's counterpart was the John Thompson coached Georgetown Hoyas, a team building its own 'fairy-tale.' Thompson coached the NBA African-American athlete-legends Patrick Ewing, Allen Iverson, Alonzo Mourning, and Dikembe Mutombo. Thompson saw his Hoyas go to the Final Four three times [1982, 1984, 1985] and win the national title in 1984 (with Patrick Ewing as the star-center). Thompson's Hoyas were stunned the following year by the shocking-upstart Villanova Wildcats 66-64. However, Thompson had already established Georgetown as a 'prestigious beacon' of college basketball where African-American student-athletes could aspire to be 'American heroes.' Indeed, Ewing, Iverson, Mourning, and Mutombo all had stellar NBA professional careers. Sports-writers declared Thompson's Hoyas to be the 'ethnic-minority heroes of modern-era collegiate sports'."
"Was this the achievement of modern-era media-gauged sports-marketing? Was the presentation of shining teamwork and coaching excellence a sign of the positive 'face' of competitive sports (and American culture in general)? One could not deny the eerie fact that Duke was not alone in 'shining' in such a spotlight, since Coach K had to 'share' these 'sociocultural laurels and honors' with Coach John Thompson! Why were there two teams sharing such a spotlight? Sure the Georgetown Hoyas had their own seasonal rivals (e.g., Villanova, St. John's, etc.) as did the Duke Blue Devils (UNC, Kentucky, etc.), but no teams but Duke and Georgetown pronouncedly 'nabbed' the coveted 'sports-culture icon' award (an 'invisible' but socioculturally-enchanted honor). Why were there two teams sharing this award? It seemed American culture (capitalism, sports-culture, media, marketing) could create a teamwork festivity but such a prestige would have to be...shared. Was this an omen of the 'volatility' of competitiveness? How would America fare?"
GOD: Duke and Georgetown inspire student-athletes!
SATAN: Yes, kids dream of college as much as professional sports.
GOD: That's a good thing...
SATAN: In the modern age of free-agency and recruitment, education suffers.
GOD: It sure does; this parallels the emergence of illegal steroids.
SATAN: Commerce/media is a double-edged sword.
GOD: Yes, capitalism promotes both vital competitiveness and cutthroat behaviors.
SATAN: You can't mitigate ambition...
GOD: That's why we need great coaches and social leaders (e.g., John McCain).
SATAN: Yes, America needs individuals idealistic towards American culture!
GOD: Beware the green-eyed monster...
SATAN: Every good fairy-tale comes with a deadly omen.
GOD: For example, America's JFK romance came with Nixon's Watergate!
SATAN: Coach K and John Thompson will be remembered as 'academic gods.'
GOD: Let's hope capitalism promotes more teamwork than cynicism.
SATAN: We can only hope (unfortunately)...
====
The modern media age of sports-marketing creates all kinds of society 'chatter' about competitive sports symbolic of 'capitalism flowery' (e.g., Jerry Maguire).
So how should we market/present the Blue Devils and Hoyas in terms of cultural podiums? The more seriously we address such a loaded question the better our media-immersed consumerism-culture 'signature' becomes!
For every capitalism-angel there is a 'Headless Horseman.'
====
"After heady Duke University men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski ('Coach K') took over the program, the team really picked up. In the late 1980s, Coach K was overseeing the development of two incredible college athletes, Johnny Dawkins and Danny Ferry, the players who helped lift the Blue Devils to three Final Four appearances [1986, 1988, 1990]. Then in 1991, the program really took off. The 'darling' Blue Devils (led by star-center Christian Laettner and star-guard Bobby Hurley) won the national championship after stunning powerhouse UNLV in the national semifinal before taking down mighty Kansas in the championship game. Coach K and Duke repeated their dazzling ways in 1992 when they captured a second national title (after getting past the very ambitious Rick Pitino coached Kentucky Wildcats in a regional semifinal game considered by many to be the greatest NCAAB game of all time!). Duke would return to the title game in 1994 and 1999 but not win again until 2001 and then again in 2010 and 2015. Under Coach K, Duke appeared in a whopping 12 Final Fours and won a whopping 5 national titles! Many sports-writers called Coach K's Duke Blue Devils the 'modern-era Camelot of collegiate sports'."
"Every good cultural fairy-tale has an intriguing 'counter-part.' Well, Duke's counterpart was the John Thompson coached Georgetown Hoyas, a team building its own 'fairy-tale.' Thompson coached the NBA African-American athlete-legends Patrick Ewing, Allen Iverson, Alonzo Mourning, and Dikembe Mutombo. Thompson saw his Hoyas go to the Final Four three times [1982, 1984, 1985] and win the national title in 1984 (with Patrick Ewing as the star-center). Thompson's Hoyas were stunned the following year by the shocking-upstart Villanova Wildcats 66-64. However, Thompson had already established Georgetown as a 'prestigious beacon' of college basketball where African-American student-athletes could aspire to be 'American heroes.' Indeed, Ewing, Iverson, Mourning, and Mutombo all had stellar NBA professional careers. Sports-writers declared Thompson's Hoyas to be the 'ethnic-minority heroes of modern-era collegiate sports'."
"Was this the achievement of modern-era media-gauged sports-marketing? Was the presentation of shining teamwork and coaching excellence a sign of the positive 'face' of competitive sports (and American culture in general)? One could not deny the eerie fact that Duke was not alone in 'shining' in such a spotlight, since Coach K had to 'share' these 'sociocultural laurels and honors' with Coach John Thompson! Why were there two teams sharing such a spotlight? Sure the Georgetown Hoyas had their own seasonal rivals (e.g., Villanova, St. John's, etc.) as did the Duke Blue Devils (UNC, Kentucky, etc.), but no teams but Duke and Georgetown pronouncedly 'nabbed' the coveted 'sports-culture icon' award (an 'invisible' but socioculturally-enchanted honor). Why were there two teams sharing this award? It seemed American culture (capitalism, sports-culture, media, marketing) could create a teamwork festivity but such a prestige would have to be...shared. Was this an omen of the 'volatility' of competitiveness? How would America fare?"
GOD: Duke and Georgetown inspire student-athletes!
SATAN: Yes, kids dream of college as much as professional sports.
GOD: That's a good thing...
SATAN: In the modern age of free-agency and recruitment, education suffers.
GOD: It sure does; this parallels the emergence of illegal steroids.
SATAN: Commerce/media is a double-edged sword.
GOD: Yes, capitalism promotes both vital competitiveness and cutthroat behaviors.
SATAN: You can't mitigate ambition...
GOD: That's why we need great coaches and social leaders (e.g., John McCain).
SATAN: Yes, America needs individuals idealistic towards American culture!
GOD: Beware the green-eyed monster...
SATAN: Every good fairy-tale comes with a deadly omen.
GOD: For example, America's JFK romance came with Nixon's Watergate!
SATAN: Coach K and John Thompson will be remembered as 'academic gods.'
GOD: Let's hope capitalism promotes more teamwork than cynicism.
SATAN: We can only hope (unfortunately)...
====
