Todres | Phil's Hawks give Big 5 its pulse

Saint Joseph's coach Phil Martelli had a lot to say after the Hawks' victory over Penn last Saturday. What was the first thing on his mind?

"First, I want to acknowledge the crowd on both sides," he said. "It gives you chills, Saturday night at the Palestra. That's Philadelphia basketball."

It was Philadelphia basketball, indeed, as a sold-out crowd packed itself tightly into the gym, escaping the dreariness of winter to take part in a tradition that never gets old.

As unlikely as Penn's early double-digit lead might have been, it was still Big 5 basketball as usual: You expect the unexpected.

But Big 5 basketball at the Palestra has been anything but normal this season. I've been to symphonies that were more raucous than the Penn-Villanova game in December. When Fran Dunphy returned with his Temple squad a few weeks ago, the environment and attendance was equally disappointing.

To that end, the St. Joe's game was a most welcomed and refreshing break from what appeared to be waning fan interest in this year's city series. And naturally, both teams delivered a quintessential Big 5 thriller, filled with dunks, player confrontations, a technical foul and a decidedly blue-collar style of play from both teams.

Penn's Jack Eggleston crashed into the hardwood on three possessions in a row at one point, and picked himself up and sprinted right back down the floor every time. His breakaway dunk midway through the second half sent the Penn faithful into a frenzy. And after a Darrin Govens three-pointer, the Hawks' massive student section elevated the noise to another level.

That's because there were more of them than there were Penn fans.

It's no coincidence that St. Joe's, which technically hosted the Quakers at the Palestra, was able to draw the only Palestra Big 5 sellout to date this season. Martelli spoke candidly to that point.

"No one has the support we have," he said. "The people that turn out are the St. Joe's people, and they did tonight."

The Big 5 is something Martelli and Hawks fans take a lot of pride in, no matter how much a rival like Penn might be struggling. After the Villanova and Temple games, excuses for low attendance and interest ran the gamut.

Penn stinks. The financial crisis hits ticket sales. The schools just don't care.

The real issue is that one school just seems to care more than the rest. Even before its arena's renovation this season, St. Joe's was the only Philadelphia team other than Penn that continued to host all of its Big 5 games in the cathedral of college basketball.

Glen Miller and his players don't really like to talk about the Big 5 in the same terms. Whereas Martelli focused his discussion on the fans from both sides in his opening statement of the press conference, Miller's discussion of the Philadelphia tradition had to be prompted by a reporter and took on a different tone.

"We talk about the Big 5 at length in the recruiting process," he said, noting the competitive advantage it gives the Quakers over other Ivy League teams.

The second point that came to his mind?

"It enhances our out-of-conference schedule."

What about the fans? What about the energy of a filled Palestra on a Saturday night in the dead of winter? What about the history and the tradition? That's what makes the Big 5.

I don't think that Miller and his players truly understand or embrace the significance of the Big 5 yet, and as a result, the incoming classes of undergraduates lose the meaning of the rivalries as well.

Hopefully last Saturday's game will rub off on the rest of the Big 5. At least it was a step in the right direction.

Andrew Todres is a senior Political Science and History double major from New York. His email address is todres@dailypennsylvanian.com.

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