Expectations are created by fans and media based on what they think a team should accomplish during a season. Many people last year thought that the Hoyas exceeded expectations, but what do they know? Just because the success of the 2006-07 Georgetown Hoyas was greater than some anticipated, what makes those people think that the players and coaches themselves were surprised? Judging by the reactions from the Hoyas after the season-ending loss to Ohio State in the Final Four last season, the players were prepared to play in the Championship game, so in some ways, they didn’t live up to their own expectations.

It’s so easy for sports fans to get spoiled. They wait for years and years until their team finally wins a championship, and then the very next season, the same fans who were so thrilled with the performance of their team are quick to turn on them if that success isn’t repeated. Ideally, one championship year is supposed to be the foundation of many championships to come. Fans that experience one championship fail to appreciate the significance of that accomplishment and start dreaming of becoming a sports dynasty. In some ways it’s wrong for fans to be selfish, since most don’t understand how difficult it is for teams to have great success; but in other ways, the greedy nature of fans is important to making sure that players and coaches don’t get complacent. The bottom line is that winning a championship is a great accomplishment and should never be overlooked. The sad reality is that the accomplishment can’t provide any assurances of future success.

There is no denying the success of the 2006-07 Georgetown Hoyas Men’s Basketball Team. They will go down in Hoya History as one of the greatest team’s ever to play for the University. Their 11-game winning streak in the middle of the Big East regular season was remarkable and enabled the Hoyas to win the Big East regular season championship. Their incredible run through the Big East Tournament earned Georgetown its 7th Big East Tournament Championship, most of any Big East Team ever, and was reminiscent of the great teams of Patrick Ewing and Reggie Williams. Their phenomenal performances in the NCAA tournament against Boston College, Vanderbilt, and North Carolina were all perfect examples of dominant team performances, highlighted by individual greatness (Patrick Ewing Jr.’s reverse dunk and foul in the final moments against BC, Jeff Green’s game-winning shot vs. Vanderbilt, and Jonathan Wallace’s tying 3-pointer vs. North Carolina). It was a great year for Georgetown Basketball fans that ended a long period of championship-less seasons, but there isn’t much from last season that will help now as the Hoyas prepare for 2007-08.

There is every reason for Georgetown fans to look forward with great anticipation to the 2007-08 season. The defending Big East Champions have so many of the pieces back from a year ago that the team could pick up right where it left off last March. But the reigning champs always have a bulls-eye on their jersey, so the Hoyas will have to be ready to take the best shots of everyone they face. There’s no reason to go into the season with expectations. The only thing people should start a season with is patience. It’s not easy to be patient, but it is essential. If Hoya fans last year hadn’t had a little patience, they might’ve started rioting after the early season losses to Duke, Oregon, and Old Dominion (which ended a 25-year winning streak in McDonough Gymnasium). Time will tell how good this year’s Hoyas will be, most likely very, very good. But on the off chance that they struggle this year, it won’t diminish the accomplishments they made last season.