Adam Goodman | Going into overtime

It's been a hard-fought battle from the beginning.

Marked by erratic shooting, tenacious defenses and the occasional moment of brilliance, we're all tied up at 10-10. Next point wins. We had been up 10-5 - a virtual lock for victory - but flashy play (tragically misguided attempts at alley-oops) and a lack of discipline had led us to squander our lead.

It may not be Penn versus Princeton, but for a former high-school player whose dreams were crushed when he realized that, no, he was not good enough to play Division I college basketball (or any division, for that matter), this pick-up game is epic stuff.

Determined to close out the game, our point guard streaks up the court and finds me in the low post. I'm on the verge of unleashing my signature spin move on the hapless kid assigned the fruitless task of containing me when - CLICK! - we're engulfed in darkness.

Game over. It's 7:45 p.m. on a Saturday night and Pottruck is closing. We wander blindly out of the gym, disillusioned and traumatized, left to drink away our sorrows at some godforsaken frat party.

While it's reasonable for university gyms to close early on the weekends (most do), Penn would do well to keep Pottruck open for a few more hours on Saturday nights.

For one thing, the demand exists.

According to Bryan Haunert, PennRec's associate director of facilities, an average of 200 people enter the facility between 6 and 7:30 p.m. (when the gym stops allowing people in) on Saturday nights. During the weekdays, only 90 people, on average, enter Pottruck two hours prior to closing, so Saturday night has far and away the heaviest traffic at closing time.

Whether it's because Penn students are antisocial and don't go out on Saturday nights, they're partied out already (such unworldly people do exist) or they're planning on going out later, a few hundred Quakers are consistently hustled out of the gym on Saturday nights earlier than they'd wish.

"I'd prefer it to close around 10," Mawuse Gbegnon, a senior in the College, told me mere minutes before expulsion from Pottruck. "The main reason is that people get up late on Saturday mornings or even afternoon. You got to eat, study, and you want to lift weights before you go out."

Closing early isn't a monetary issue either.

"It's not a big financial burden by any means," said Haunert. "It wouldn't set us back. It's two more hours a week; 100 more hours for the year. We can afford to do it. We have student fees that pay for what we do."

So why don't they?

"We're not opposed to being open until later. The 8 p.m. time is not set in stone," explained Haunert. "We try to funnel everything through the Recreation Advisory Board because that way the UA speaks as the voice for students. So that's the group that would have to bring something up to us."

The Recreation Advisory Board is a committee of six - two members from the UA, two from GAPSA, an alum, and a faculty or staff member - that meets monthly to discuss issues such as intramural sports or guest-pass policy.

Sal Filippello, a College sophomore and one of the UA members who sits on the board, describes his role as "basically, just trying to get everybody's input to make things better."

"I definitely think the gym should be open later," Filippello added when I asked about Pottruck's early closing hours. "10 o'clock seems like a better time to me."

In other words, there's no real reason why Pottruck shouldn't stay open later on Saturday nights. Filippello seemingly hadn't raised the issue at Advisory Board meetings, but at least he shows up. While Haunert was careful to note that the issue had been resolved, he informed me that the UA members inexplicably failed to attend almost every meeting last spring semester (Filippello was not yet a member).

That kind of irresponsibility on the part of our student government is embarrassing and inexcusable, but it's not as though Penn students are knocking down the doors of the UA eager to voice their demands and complaints.

"I haven't really had many students approach me about it," Filippello admitted. "I try to tell people if they have qualms to come see me. I guess the communication could be better, but for the UA as a whole I think it works well."

At least in this case - and perhaps it represents a larger problem - the lines of communication between the student body, the UA and the administration have been eroded.

If we want a Department of Recreation that values our opinions and interests and takes them into account when formulating policy, then it's on us - not the administration - to rectify this situation.

Adam Goodman is a College sophomore from La Jolla, Calif. His e-mail address is goodman@dailypennsylvanian.com. A Damn Good Man appears on Fridays.

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