Bring back the magic

Tuesday night's basketball game between city rivals Penn and Saint Joseph's reminded fans of the great Philadelphia tradition of Big 5 basketball at the Palestra. For 50 years, college basketball's most historic gym has played host to the informal city league, consisting of La Salle, Penn, St. Joseph's, Temple and Villanova. Over that span, rivalries and traditions have formed that are unmatched in any other city today.

Sadly, some of those traditions are no longer with us. And with the Big 5 celebrating its golden anniversary this year, it is about time to bring one of those traditions back: streamers.

In the early 1970s, when Penn basketball was gaining national prominence, students began to bring red and blue streamers to games. After the Quakers scored their first basket of the night, fans would throw the streamers onto the court in celebration. The tradition then caught on with the other Big 5 schools whenever they played at the Palestra.

The streamers became an integral part of the fabled Philadelphia college basketball experience.

"I could never forget the streamers," former La Salle basketball coach Speedy Morris told The Philadelphia Inquirer in 2000. "One side of the building was for one team; the other side was for the other team. I can't put into words how exciting it was."

But the streamers met an untimely end in the late 1980s when the NCAA ruled that they were too much of an interruption to games, often requiring as long as five minutes to clear off the court. Teams were charged with technical fouls if their fans threw streamers.

The tradition made a slight comeback in 1993, when Penn played St. Joseph's on what was billed as "Nostalgia Night" at the Palestra. While the NCAA rule did not change, Quakers coach Fran Dunphy and Hawks coach John Griffin agreed that their players would not make the free throws awarded for the technical foul.

But that was one night only.

Like throwing toast at Penn football games, throwing streamers should return as a regular feature at the Palestra.

It won't be easy.

If the Big 5 schools cannot convince the NCAA to change its rule, the coaches should make a gentlemen's agreement similar to the one between Dunphy and Griffin 12 years ago.

In a time of continuous change in college athletics, some traditions, like the streamers, must be preserved.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.