Daniel McQuade: The Palestra: Home of the Big 5?

Maybe it was the unusually warm February weather. Maybe it was the fact that Saint Joseph's was looking to clinch at least a share of the Big 5 title. Maybe St. Joe's kids just have nothing better to do out there on City Line Avenue. On Monday night, a group of SJU students marched from 38th and Chestnut all the way to the Palestra -- over an hour before the 7 p.m. tipoff of the Holy War. The Holy War is the annual St. Joe's-Villanova game. St. Joe's epitomizes blue-collar, working class Philadelphia -- while 'Nova is pure Main Line extravagance. Before the game, St. Joe's students stole the Wildcat mascot costume. St. Joe's jumped out to a 40-9 lead and won, 92-75. The Hawks were returning the favor after the Wildcats routed SJU, 103-72, in last season's game. What's that? You don't remember that game from last year? Holy War 2003 will be a part of Big 5 lore forever, but Holy War 2002 is simply another game? The big difference between the two games -- 2002's game was played at the Pavilion in Villanova, while Monday's game was played at the Palestra. Ah, now we know why those SJU fans were so riled up. They were at home. St. Joseph's moves all its home City Series games to the Palestra -- the 8,722 capacity far bigger than the 3,200 seats at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse -- for a good reason. It's the right decision. "I think these city games should all be played here," St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli said on Monday. "We have an alternative that we love," SJU Athletic Director Don DiJulia said. "Our people have just come to treasure it." All the Big 5 games used to be played at the Palestra. But that was before each school had its own home arena. Schools obviously thought that they could sell more tickets if the game was on their own campus. There's easy access from all the other Big 5 schools to Penn, however. And one could argue that teams could attract more attention if the game were played at the Palestra. "It could [draw bigger crowds]," DiJulia said. "I'm not ready to say it would, because it hasn't been done in so long. But there are strange phenomenons." It wouldn't be easy to move all the city games back to the Palestra, especially for games against the host institution. "There's a small contingency that's critical of us playing Penn at the Palestra," DiJulia said. St. Joe's is a much smaller school, however, and Temple and Villanova fans might be against moving the game. But even if games against Penn rotate, what would be wrong with, say, Temple-La Salle at the Palestra? This year's Penn-Villanova game was played at the cavernous First Union Center. Please. Leave the South Philly venues to the pro teams -- the Quakers fans were in ridiculous top-level seats, there were about 10,000 empty chairs and the magic of a Big 5 game was, well, ruined. Penn's ancient basketball arena is a home court for any city team. The St. Joe's fans wouldn't have been as excited -- nor the game as memorable -- if Monday's matchup was at the First Union Center, or the Pavilion or even up on Hawk Hill. The Palestra "is the right place for it, and this is the right time," Martelli said. "The atmosphere can't be duplicated." Whether it's the history, the fact that there's not a bad seat in the house or simply because it is, the Palestra is where Philly basketball began -- and it is where it should stay. "I think, yes, the size of the building realistically can satisfy the needs, and the building is so tight that it creates a better atmosphere for whatever the game is," DiJulia said. "The more split the house is, the better the atmosphere is."

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