I hated him.

Because he was black.

And really talented.

I was not alone.

Come on. You probably hated Patrick Ewing for the same reasons. Because we were a different country in the 1980s. Racism was more overt. Accepted. Think about that as you read this excerpt from a story in the New York Daily News once written about Ewing:

"In Philadelphia, Villanova fans raised a sheet that read 'Ewing is an ape.' Another fan wore a T-shirt that said 'Ewing kant read dis.' Someone threw a banana peel on the court. In Providence, Hoyas coach John Thompson pulled his team off the floor until a sign that said 'Ewing can't read' was removed."

All that really happened. And while there are certain outposts in today's society that would still condone such behavior, I'd like to think we've at least advanced to a point where cultural standards wouldn't tolerate such intolerance anymore.

I'm not sure there's ever been a more important sports program — and one single player — that got us talking about the rhythms of race and sports than Patrick Ewing. And now, all these years later, I couldn't be happier for him, finally a head coach, finally getting the job, recognition and respect he deserves.

Ewing was named head basketball coach earlier this week at Georgetown, his alma mater.

His hiring Monday stirred many emotions. See, I'm not proud of the way I used to see the world. This is what happens when you attend an all-male, white, Catholic high school where everyone looks, sounds and acts the same way. It's called comfortable shelter. Never venture beyond your comfort zone or borders. It's safer that way. Everything you say is fully substantiated by our own opinion.

It was in the 80s, the same time Ewing and the Hoyas were dominant.

And I hated them.

Who didn't?

For no reasons other than they were really good. And because they were an all-black team. With attitude. With a black head coach. Hoya Paranoia. Hated the whole act.

It turns out the Hoyas of the 80s were beacons. They showed us — even us cloistered, Caucasian clowns — that blacks weren't just there to play basketball. They could coach it, police it, run it, own it.

My first awakening came during a Big East Tournament at the Garden. I'd never heard Thompson speak before in person. It was after a Georgetown game. I was mesmerized. Never heard a man so insightful. With gentle humor. There was a back-and-forth with Tony Kornheiser that still makes me laugh.

When the formal part of the interview session ended, I approached him. I was a kid at the school newspaper. I asked to talk to him. He was gracious. I asked him, "Coach, why do you think people hate you?"

It was exactly the question he wanted to hear.

His answer was incredible. Essentially, he said, the country might purport to be ready for black achievement ... until there's black achievement. He said, "I hope we've made people think."

Thompson ended it by quoting Dr. King, who died 49 years ago Tuesday: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

I've never forgotten that.

I've always said that the greatest educational experience of my life is moving to New London. Interacting with its people, especially the high school kids, changed me. Awakened me. Made me a better person.

No. 2 on that list? The Georgetown Hoyas. They challenged the establishment 30 years ago. Saw and heard hurtful, horrible things. But can we honestly say they didn't change the way we viewed blacks in sports? Their contribution to sports goes well beyond the 1984 national championship. They got us thinking.

Ewing was always miscast as a player. He was never on the front page for all the wrong reasons. Yet he was hated because of his skin color and his dominance. It was automatically assumed that he "kant read dis." And yet if you ever talked to him ...

So happy for him now that he's a head coach. He's taught us many lessons. Here's hoping he wins down there just off M Street and the Potomac.

This is the opinion of Day sports columnist Mike DiMauro