Former president Bill Clinton — noted hoops nut and proud Georgetown alum — was in the Garden last night taking in the Big East quarterfinals. Once I — veeeery cautiously and politely — squeezed through the Secret Service phalanx around him, Clinton was kind enough to give me (and another reporter) a lengthy interview between games of the evening session.
Here it is:
Q: What do you think about these games?
Clinton: Every one of these games has been good.
Q: And they’ve all been upsets.
Clinton: But they’re not really. They’re upsets in number only, because all these teams are going to the tournament. The Big East Tournament is not like any other tournament. All the teams are going to the tournament, and the officials are letting them play Big East basketball. They let them play defense. They let them play the game. And as a result, the lower seeds actually have a chance.
For example, Syracuse lost today — to my alma mater, but I love both those teams — but they went from being up nine to down nine. They had a lot of turnovers, Syracuse did, and Georgetown just didn’t miss. Syracuse couldn’t make a layup. ESPN said that they still felt that Syracuse should be a No. 1 seed, but Georgetown’s seed will be much better and will allow them to accelerate their chances of going further in the tournament.
Even though Marquette had already played Villanova to two points, once up there and then down in Philly, and everyone was treating them like underdogs. Now Marquette will get a remarkably better seed. But I don’t think it’ll affect Villanova’s seed very much. And Notre Dame? They’re just on fire. But Pittsburgh’s still a really good team. These teams are all really, really good.
That (Notre Dame win over Pitt) was a particularly good defensive game.
Q: I grew up in D.C. watching Georgetown, so I like defensive games. You enjoy good defensive games?
Clinton: I love John Thompson. I saw that he was bursting with pride today and every time the cameras on him he was trying to be passive, but you could tell he was bursting with pride.
Q: The quarterfinals are usually good.
Clinton: The quarterfinals always have the best games. The six-overtime game (Syracuse won last year) was in the quarters. I stayed up for that whole game, all night. I had been working and got back up to Chappaqua and I stayed up to the last second of that game. I watched it all. Up until 1:30 (a.m.)”
Q: You still have a rooting interest for the rest of the tourney?
Clinton: I always cheer for Georgetown. But there are other places where I know people. Like the student body president at West Virginia was one of Hillary’s friends. The chancellor at Pittsburgh — I just learned this — came to the University of Arkansas for a job interview in 1975 and the commissioner (John Marinatto) just told me that Hillary and I took him to dinner. We were on the faculty together. It’s crazy who you run into.
I’m just happy to be here. I’m a huge basketball fan. And Arkansas wasn’t very good this year so when I’m not rooting for them, I love Syracuse. I like (Jim) Boeheim.
Q: But when Syracuse plays Georgetown?
Clinton: And I like Louisville. (Rick) Pitino and I have become friends. But that Syracuse-Georgetown game was a good game today. And it wasn’t like Syracuse folded. I mean, Georgetown just played out of their minds. So there’s nothing to worry about Syracuse and seeding in the tournament. If they play a good team in the tournament and they go 5-for-19 or something from the free-throw line and have a lot of turnovers, they’re going to have a tough time in the tournament.
If you think about it though, that’s like a 20-point blowout. But it actually wasn’t. I mean they got a couple baskets at the end, but they still played pretty well. I don’t think you can discount them.
Q: When Georgetown played Syracuse this afternoon, who were you rooting for in that one?
Clinton: I had to root for my alma mater. It’s hard for me to root against them, even if it is Syracuse. I think that win will help Georgetown more than it will hurt Syracuse for the tournament. Remember, North Carolina lost the same game (last year). They lost in the semifinals of the ACC (Tournament). But they went on to win the national championship. So it’s not all bad.
