The Golden Age of Basketball-Chapter 84 - 23 Interview

The Gonzaga players who had won the game celebrated in the locker room, singing the English version "Unity is strength" of the song "Unity is Power," taught to everyone by Gan Guoyang.

At that time, the Bulldog didn’t have their own team song, sharing an old tune "Washington and Lee Swing" with many other colleges. Composed in 1910, the song carried an old-fashioned Jazz flair that made it impossible to sing along to.

Instead, the song "Unity is Power," taught by Gan Guoyang, was catchy, uplifting in melody, and the lyrics had a good meaning. Dan Fitz unofficially established it as the team’s song, which they would sing whenever there was a chance.

Reporters and fans crowded both inside and outside the locker room; many wanted to know what song the Bulldogs were singing.

Dan Fitz told the reporters it was a religious song, which meant taking pride in Jesus Christ, uniting around him, and attaining the glory of championship.

Fitz wasn’t talking nonsense; after the song’s adaptation, it did indeed contain the line "With Jesuit pride," matching the school’s Catholic background.

However, after the celebrations, Fitz denied the reporters’ requests for interviews, saying the students were very tired and needed to rest. Maybe they would have a chance to talk with the reporters tomorrow, but definitely not tonight.

He, Beelman, and Delong escorted the players from Pauley Pavilion back to the hotel. On the way, he reminded all players not to accept interviews from reporters without permission, not to speak recklessly, and to follow the commands of the coaching staff.

After returning to their rooms, Fitz, Beelman, Delong, and other members of the coaching team gathered for a meeting.

They first celebrated briefly, opening a bottle of Sherry and sipped lightly from their glasses.

Dan Fitz’s tolerance for alcohol was quite good, but his face turned red with just one sip. He was really excited and happy.

He quickly calmed down and shared his thoughts with Beelman and the others, "Next, we will be facing Georgetown. I have already sensed trouble, big trouble. We need to set up a contingency plan to be prepared, do you have any suggestions?"

Everyone knew what Fitz meant. Georgetown was a team plagued by racial controversy, and since John-Thompson put the team together, this Black team had often been drawn into racial disputes.

Whereas Gonzaga was predominantly a White team, apart from Gan Guoyang, they were all White.

In 1984, the atmosphere of racial divide in America was still very strong, especially after Reagan took office, his conservative stance signalled an uptick in racial discrimination.

Georgetown University, which was predominantly Black, had faced discriminatory treatment everywhere, especially their Black center Patrick Ewing, who had been mocked for his looks and intelligence.

For example, during last year’s game against Providence College, a fan held up a sign courtside that read "Ewing Can’t Read," and John-Thompson led his team off the court in protest. During a game against Villanova, fans displayed a banner that read "Ewing is an ape".

In response to such discriminatory slogans and remarks, Thompson’s reply was always incredibly tough. Under his leadership, Georgetown became extremely aggressive. Their fighting incidents were numerous, and Ewing was notorious for his fierce elbows and fists.

This series of actions established the Georgetown Hoyas as a team with a ferocious image. They were unfriendly to the media and secluded from outsiders, filled with anger before every game.

People coined a term to describe them, "Hoya Paranoia."

"Hoya Paranoia, everyone knows this term. They aim to create a horrifying atmosphere for the games. Every team feels fear before playing against them, which can negatively affect the players’ performance. I think we should do the same, refuse interviews with the media and avoid getting caught up in racial issues. The players are still kids, and all they need to do is play this game well," he said.

Beelman believed the team should remain as silent as possible, not to get caught in the whirlwind of public opinion, and not to be used by the media.

Delong and the others agreed with Beelman’s opinion, but Dan Fitz had a slightly different view. He said, "Before the last game, I also said that we should solve problems with basketball. But Gan said, it’s better to take the initiative than to sit and wait to be killed. And we won. Thompson is creating this kind of pre-game trap, putting people in doubt and panic."

"So what do you think we should do, hold a press conference, calling them all apes?"

"Are you crazy? Of course not. Georgetown is a Black team, we are a White team, no matter what we say, we’ll be at a disadvantage. That’s the most insidious part of Hoya Paranoia, they start from an invincible position because they are perceived as right. Even if we have good grades and play fair, we’ll still be seen as the bad guys, the plantation owners, the plantation enforcers."

"So we should keep silent, not get involved in it. Georgetown is not unbeatable. Win the game, and no one cares if it’s Black or White."

"But we are not all White, we also have a Yellow guy. Our King in Yellow, Gan."

Fitz drained his glass of Sherry with a sly smile on his face.

The next morning at breakfast in the buffet dining room, Fitz told Gan Guoyang that at ten o’clock, ESPN’s famous host Dick Vitale would conduct an exclusive interview with him, asking him to prepare a little.

"An interview? Why interview me?"

"Why interview you? You’re now the president of the NCAA scene, the number one superstar. Should he interview me instead?"

"I know I’m a star, I’m not asking that, what I mean is, why agree to do the interview with him."

"Various reasons, you need some publicity, everyone wants to know about you. Then, you need to say some good things about our school, you know what I mean? Gonzaga University is a decent school."

Gan Guoyang stared at Fitz for a while and said, "Are you trying to make me say that Gonzaga is not a racist school, that God allows us to treat everyone equally, that a Chinese-American like me received equal treatment, right?"

Fitz patted Gan Guoyang on the shoulder heavily and said, "You really are so understanding, Gan."

However, Gan Guoyang shook his head and said, "I don’t think you treat everyone equally, that’s not true."

Fitz got anxious and said, "What are you talking about? How have we not treated everyone equally?"

"You gave me a single room, that’s preferential treatment."

"Fuck, I’ll cancel your single room privilege next time!"

At ten in the morning, as arranged by Fitz, Gan Guoyang did the interview with Dick Vitale.

Dick Vitale was ESPN’s host focused on NCAA basketball broadcasts, who had been an NBA coach and had coached the Detroit Pistons; his role in the trade of Bob McAdoo led to his dismissal—his traded draft pick indirectly allowed the Celtics to form the frontcourt trio of Parrish, McHale, and Bird.

Although his coaching career was a failure, he shone in the broadcast booth, becoming popular with the audience and listeners for his flamboyant language, sharp insight, and enthusiastic demeanor after trying a few episodes of ESPN’s live broadcasting.

Not only was he a host, but he was also an excellent journalist, having close relationships with many in college basketball, allowing him direct contact with popular teams and players and providing firsthand information and viewpoints during commentaries.

Last night, he made proactive contact with Fitz through several connections, hoping to have an exclusive interview with Gan Guoyang.

Fitz had the same idea and readily agreed, facilitating this short, one-hour personal interview.

Dick Vitale, with a cameraman, a makeup artist, and a set worker, built a simple interview set in Gan Guoyang’s room, then they sat down and talked about personal life, basketball, university, and issues related to racial identity.

Besides Vitale, Gan Guoyang, and the cameraman, there was no fourth person present.

Fitz, Beelman, and others were waiting outside the room, as Vitale said that the interview might not be broadcast depending on the content and quality; if they were not good, it might not air.

What Fitz didn’t expect was the interview, initially set for an hour, extended to a hundred minutes, and it was past lunchtime when Vitale and the cameraman emerged from the room, with sweat on Vitale’s bald forehead.

Fitz hurried over and asked, "Dick, how was it, the interview went well, right?"

Vitale’s expression was complex as he said, "I guess it can’t be aired."

Fitz was surprised and asked, "What happened? Did Gan say something inappropriate?"

Vitale shook his head and said, "No, he spoke very well, one of the best athletes I’ve ever encountered. But... you know, sometimes things that are too good or too bad just aren’t suitable for TV."

"Patrick and I knew each other from way back, as early as 1981 when Ewing was in Pittsburgh for the Dapper Dan high school all-star game. That’s when he got into a brawl, he hit a kid... he seemed to always be angry, both on and off the court, like he wasn’t happy at all.

When we interviewed him after the game, Patrick was very aggressive... he wasn’t easy to talk to, and he seemed arrogant and willful on camera. I’m glad they didn’t air that interview, a seventeen-year-old running off at the mouth, airing it would’ve only left a bad impression."

... Before the 1984 NCAA Elite Eight game, the matchup between the black Georgetown vs. the white Gonzaga caused a lot of talk. Although many people said basketball is just basketball and has nothing to do with race, everyone split into two camps based on skin color, just like in the 1966 University of Kentucky vs. University of Texas at El Paso game.

The day before the game, I interviewed Gan, by then he was already a legend, but he was as mysterious as his dark eyes. We all knew what an incredible player he was, but nobody really understood him, just like his massive but misunderstood homeland.

I did a half-hour interview with him, originally scheduled for an hour. We talked a lot, and went deep on some issues, about our country, their country, about black, white, yellow... To be honest, his depth and sharpness stunned me, hard to believe he said so many insightful things. When I came out of the room, my professional intuition told me, the interview couldn’t be aired.

Because we’re a basketball program, not a talk show. His remarks were not problematic, they’re very correct today, but at that time they would’ve caused a lot of unnecessary controversy, dragging the show off course.

From that day on, I switched from being an Ewing supporter to quietly rooting for Gan in my heart. I was won over by him. And the subsequent results proved my ’betrayal’ was right, haha.]

————Published in 1988, an excerpt from "Just Your Average Bald, One-Eyed Basketball Whacko Who Beat the Ziggy and Became a PTPer", co-authored by Dick Vitale and Curry Kirkpatrick.