Now, as a former columnist and editor at The Hoya, I don’t like to pick on what they write.  Despite all the pretenses we developed while looking down on campus from 421 Leavey, we were still kids.  God know I don’t want to be judged today by some of the drivel I published when I was editor.  Back then, well, everying seemed so important.  So I tend to let the kids play in the sandbox.

But then I read this piece on TheHoya.com today, saying that:

And yet, one thing stands in the way of Georgetown Basketball’s proper return to glory — a spot of tarnish on the program’s gleaming history. Maybe it was an inadvertent mistake, and it may be unpopular to bring up, but it’s about time that Georgetown apologizes to former Head Coach Craig Esherick (B ’78, L ’82) for the way we treated him.

Now, I admit - it ws stupid to give him an extension and then fire him a year later - Stupid FOR GEORGETOWN.  His coaching performance never justified his ridiculious extension - in many ways, that was a gift for his long-standing ties to the Hilltop.  It was a shame he was given a vote of confidence, then let go.  But you know what?  We live in a capitalist world, and college basketball is a competitive business.  He was not getting it done.

I wouldn’t cry for Esherick.  He was under contract when he was let go, and certainly keeps cashing those checks for the additional seasons he ended up not coaching.  For most of us, if we are fired, we don’t keep egtting paid for a few more years.

Ultimately, the money lost to Esherick’s contract has been made up - and then some - by the cash brought in by a more sucessful basketball program.  This is good.

People need to stop thinking of Georgetown as some benevolent entity.  It is, ultimately, a business (and one that has not had the best record maximizing its profits, if its constant solictiations for donations is an indiator).  Decisions need to be made based on what is best for the whole.  It may be mean to fire someone after giving them a contract extension, but it isn’t wrong - especially if they keep getting paid.

Besides, clearly the young writer has not had to suffer the barren wasteland that was Hoya Basketball, 1996-2000.  If he did, he may feel differently.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 26th, 2008 at 2:04 pm and is filed under Craig Esherick. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site. Your comments will be moderated but will appear as soon as humanly possible.