Rage's season opens Sunday at Palestra

The arrival of the ABL team from Richmond, Va., is the first of several women's basketball events involving Penn. Even though Penn students are known as loyal basketball fans -- some even willing to wait in line overnight for the best season tickets -- few know there is now another team which calls the Palestra their home court. The Philadelphia Rage, one of the nine teams in the American Basketball League, moved from Richmond, Va., to Philadelphia this year. The team is playing 19 of its 22 home games in the Palestra during the 1997-98 season. "It's exciting for all of us, and it's a great opportunity to help women's basketball -- not only as it applies to Penn -- but also because it leads us to the point as host of the 2000 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament," Athletic Department Director Steve Bilsky said. Although Penn is hosting the tournament, the games will not be held in the Palestra, but rather at the CoreStates Center. The Rage's first game at the Palestra will be against the Atlanta Glory, on Sunday. However the Rage's season opener will take place in Ohio, against the Columbus Quest tomorrow night. Driven by the desire to have a larger TV market, the Rage left Richmond last summer and relocated to Philadelphia -- the fifth-largest media market in the U.S., where several of their key players, such as former Olympian Dawn Staley, grew up. Rage officials approached the Athletic Department early last summer to discuss venue suggestions in Philadelphia. "I think they found the Palestra's history for great basketball appealing," said Athletic Department Associate Director of Operations Tony Vecchione. Built in 1927, the Palestra has hosted more games, more visiting teams and more NCAA tournaments then any other facility, but the Rage will be the first professional team to call the venue home. Three games on the Rage's home schedule conflicted with other events at the Palestra, so those games will be played at Temple's new Apollo, according to Vecchione. Besides the few game conflicts, Athletic Department administrators say they have been pleased with their negotiations with the Rage. "They've been very cooperative to work with, and they understand that this is in no way supposed to displace any Penn event," said Vecchione, who is in charge of all contracting, scheduling and management for events held in Athletic Department facilities. The Rage started their morning practices at the Palestra on September 26, but they will not conflict with the Penn basketball team practices. "They're professional athletes, so they practice during the day," Vecchione said. "Students are in class at that time, so it worked out well." Although the Athletic Department will not release specific details about the money involved in the contract, Vecchione said the Rage is "paying the same fee any other tenant would pay to use the Palestra." He later added, however, that the payment is a "slightly more competitive rate because of the length of time they'll be here." Although the Athletic Department will make some money from the deal, Bilsky emphasized that the revenues will be used for facility renovations. "By fixing [the Palestra] up, hopefully we can attract other users," Bilsky said. "It's a great facility, and we don't want to lose hosting opportunities because of its shape." Money from the Rage contract went toward renovating the visiting-team locker room. "We upgraded it -- basically we brightened it up by painting and adding new carpet and lighting," Vecchione said. In the event that the Palestra's four locker rooms are all needed, the Rage's locker room will be shared. Tickets for Rage games held in the Palestra range from $8 to $28, and can be purchased individually or for the season. A weekend ticket plan as well as a five-game ticket plan, offering seats at discounted rates, are also available.

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