G L I D E H O Y A S: Hoyas' brawl with the Bayi Rockets in China turns a "negative" into a "positive"

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I've finally calmed down Hoyanation and friends about this whole fiasco. This was the first tweet that came in from Washington Post's Gene Wang in China when the melee took place:

gene_wang Gene Wang

Bedlam at Hoyas game vs Baiyi. Benches cleared. JTIII pulls team off court in 4th quarter. Fans hurled bottles at team.

18 Aug Favorite Undo Retweet Reply

The Hoyas vs. Bayi Rockets game started earlier than the previous game which started at 7 pm China time, 7 am our time here in the DC metro area. So, I figured the game started about 6 pm China time. I think the incident started between 7:30 to 8 am our time. I was stunned when I read the first tweet, and I couldn't believe what had just happened. Then another tweet came in:

gene_wang Gene Wang

Chairs were being thrown. Players and coaches had to dodge water bottle hurled from stands. This is when I started getting angry. It was very distasteful what I was reading and feeling because there was nothing I could no way I could help. I felt hurt, angry and helpless seeing what my team was going through, but I knew they would be able to defend themselves pretty much. Coach Thompson made a decision to leave. The score was tied at 64. From a fans account:

The photos started coming in a few moments later, and I was "stunned again," saying to myself, "oh my God" what is happening with team over in China?"

Today I took my wife and kid to see the Georgetown/Bayi game. It ended up getting cancelled due to fight. Actually, if they'd finished, Bayi had almost no chance of winning. Of their 60 some points, half were from free throws, which is extremely negative. A number of times it was obvious the students didn't commit fouls. Bayi is a professional basketball ruffian/hooligan gang. Good luck to the Georgetown students (team), they played well."

"I'm so glad to have a coach such as Coach Thompson III that knows how to act and what to say in the heat of the battle to quiet the storm. I don't know if another coach would of taken this approach with such calm and class. Coach Thompson III was like a platoon leader leading his troops off of the court in such an very hostile enviornment, and I'm not talking about a Big East arena this is something different in another country." - Glidehoyas

"Tonight, two great teams played a very competitive game that unfortunately ended after heated exchanges with both teams. We sincerely regret that this situation occurred.

We remain grateful for the opportunity our student-athletes are having to engage in a sport they love here in China, while strengthening their understanding of a nation we respect and admire at Georgetown University."

The fouls were 28-11 at the half with the Bayi Rockets shooting 70 free throws before the game was officially over.

“It was a game that the way it ended, the way play stopped, was not in any way shape or form how anyone anticipated or hoped that any game, any sport would end, which is unfortunate,” Thompson said Friday. More important than the ending, which will be the focal point of many articles and a lot of discussion, I’d like the events that led up to that, meaning how our team responded to a tough situation, a tough difficult situation where calls weren’t going your way, where the play wasn’t how you wanted it to be.”

“Once you go through an adversarial situation, and once you go through the tensions of competition that escalated to confrontation, that process a lot of times can forge a stronger bond once it’s done,” Thompson said. “As you get past the confrontation, the similarities that we have a lot of times can create a stronger bond on a go-forward basis. That’s hopefully what will happen.”

I think Georgetown should be most remembered of how they handled the situation from the time they left the court and afterwards. Ever since I found out the Hoyas were going to China I had been thinking and talking about the team being able to bond while in China because all the Hoyas have is themselves and for other good reasons.

Although the "team bond" had been taken place before the trip to China, and unfortunately, after such an incident is has has gotten stronger for the young Hoyas, so I think taking something "positive" out of a "negative" will be prove to be a big factor when the Georgetown basketball season starts step by step all the way through "March Madness." You think? I do! I'm sure it'll be a big celebration for the Hoyas when they return home. Hopefully, I'll can be there along with Hoyanation to welcome our Hoyatroopers home. I SALUTE!

Members of the Bayi Rockets and Georgetown Hoyas (Coach John Thompson, Jason Clark and Hollis Thompson) meet and exchange autographed basketball's from both team's after the altercation that took place in China