Letter to the Editor

To the Editor: I was amazed by the ignorance of Aaron Karo's letter to the editor ("Where was Smiley?" The Daily Pennsylvanian, 2/15/01) in which he refers to Penn Men's Basketball Coach Fran Dunphy's "dismal performance" against Princeton and his "shameful treatment" of junior varsity call-up Ryan Smiley. Karo would be better off mentioning the dismal performance of the Penn fans in the Palestra. This year's Penn-Princeton game was easily the quietest in recent memory despite its enormous implications. When the Quakers played Princeton three years ago in a meaningless season-ending game, the Palestra was much louder than it was Tuesday night. In fact, many of the once-a-year Penn basketball "fans" who came this season only made significant noise when they started chanting for Smiley with a few minutes to go, despite the fact that the game was still within reach. I wonder how the Quakers felt when they heard their own fans giving up on them by calling for garbage time. That's not even mentioning the scattered boos by Penn fans which accompanied late timeouts. I was embarrassed to be part of a student body that has so little loyalty to its basketball team. And for those "fans" who heckle freshman Charlie Copp (and you shouldn't), you know that Copp will always give his full effort and wants to win every game badly. I think it's time that Penn fans start appreciating the effort that players and coaches put into representing our school and start supporting them through the mistakes and losses that inevitably come. I'm just looking forward to the Harvard and Dartmouth games, when only the real fans will show up and Penn will get closer to winning a come-from-behind Ivy League title. Go Quakers!

Tom FitzGibbon College '01

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