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Rich Hofmann | Hoyas' success fills famous fathers with pride
included waving a bunch of
bananas at Ewing from the stands. It was all very complicated, as complicated as yesterday was simple; hugs, tears, the whole wonderful deal.
Thompson said, "This is their time, not ours."
Ewing said, "I'm not even thinking about '82 or '85."
Big John said, "This isn't Big Pat's time, it's Little Pat's time."
Big Pat said, "I'm just proud as a father to see my son and my university flourish. It feels like I won."
Across the way, Thompson and his son had already shared an emotional hug. The night before, the son had brought one of his assistant coaches, along with some pizza and chicken wings, to visit the father in his hotel room. It was 12:30 or 1 a.m.,
Thompson remembered.
He said, "We always talk about strategy because that's our family . . . You don't ask the Hershey family, 'Do they talk about chocolate?' That's what we do."
The conversation went on for
a while, more b.s.-ing than anything, Thompson said. And then, the father said of the son, "He looks after me. I love it."
And then, asked to sum it all up, Big John said, "I'm happy - that's my child."
It is all a little bit jarring, to be honest. The notion that John
Thompson and Patrick Ewing would ever be viewed in the way they were viewed yesterday kind of shocks you if you lived through the early '80s. But there they were - helpless fathers,
joyous fathers, proud fathers, just fathers.
And, so:
"Dad, Dad, you need this," one of Ewing's daughters yelled at one point, holding up an official pass that would allow him access to the floor.
Ewing looked at her, then waved dismissively. He was
going onto the floor to congratulate his son and nobody was
going to stop him - and if Patrick Ewing Jr.'s father knew anything yesterday, he knew that. *
