Impeach Baskets

Illinois Republican Henry Hyde, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, is leading the team of prosecutors in the impeachment trial of President Clinton. Fifty-six years ago, as a backup center at Georgetown, Hyde did battle with another titan—George Mikan of DePaul—in the NCAA Final Four. "March 25, 1943—I can still feel the excitement of playing in Madison Square Garden," Hyde says of the '43 semifinal in which the Hoyas beat Mikan's Blue Demons 53-49. A 6'3" string bean, Hyde started the second half after John Mahnken fouled out trying to stop the 6'10½" Mikan. Hyde held Mikan to a single second-half point, mostly by shoving and elbowing him. "I know I will spend a lot of time in purgatory for what I did to Mikan in that game," says Hyde, whose lone basket of the tournament came that day. The Hoyas lost to Wyoming 46-34 in the final. ¶ Last week Hyde said he would "obviously" prefer watching basketball to "having to deal with the present situation" in Washington—by which he did not mean the '98-99 Hoyas' sub-.500 record.