Soft Pretzel Logic

"I really don't think it's a story," he said. "There is a group of guys that has a tremendous loyalty and affinity for coach Dunphy, and it's like having your father or your older brother coaching for the opposition. He is like family to a lot of us, and guys are going to support him."

Though the Basketball U. story I linked to yesterday specifically mentioned that a lot of these people have "made a big production out of staying away from The Palestra," Curran said he doesn't see what happened last night as "a slight against the university."

"It's just that you've got a guy that's been a friend for a long time that you love, and there are going to be mixed emotions," he said. "The point of it is really that they have a tremendous loyalty to Dunph that is not a problem with the university, or with the team, or with the coaching staff or the athletic department. It's a positive in terms of their relationship with him."

But back when Dunphy left for Temple, I remember hearing rumblings from some former Penn players about wanting to keep the job in the Penn family. Miller, of course, had no prior Penn connections before coming to the Palestra from Brown. And So I couldn't help thinking that this has been simmering for quite a while.

Curran disagreed.

"Enough time has passed that this is a one-night story," he said. "The guys aren't boycotting the Palestra en masse or anything like that, it's just one of those things that they have somebody who will be coaching for the opposition tonight to whom they were very close."

After the game, I sought out someone who I learned quickly was one of the players in question. I was looking for Andy Baratta to ask him about the novel he wrote last spring -- not knowing at all, by the way, that Jim Salisbury interviewed him too. But then I asked Baratta what he thought of the game.

"It [stunk]," he said. "That's my thought. It [stinks] that Dunph had to be on some other sideline, and it [stinks] that Temple lost. It's not a good feeling to watch that game, to be honest with you."

Given that sentiment, I asked whether it felt strange for the 1994 Penn graduate to root against his alma mater.

"I was rooting for Fran Dunphy, and now he's the Temple coach, so now that's who I'm rooting for," he said. "We're all Dunph people, we're Dunph loyalists. To speak for myself, he's my connection to the university. For everyone I played with, he's their connection to the university. And he's our guy. Where he goes, we go."

That actually struck me as quite profound. It certainly is a testament to Dunphy that he is able to create such a strong bond with his players that the connection lasts for a very long time. There isn't the kind of rivalry between Penn and Temple that exists between other Big 5 schools. In fact, because both schools have campuses, they have quite a few common interests. But still, no coach had ever moved from one Big 5 school to another, so there was no precedent for this.

Then again, I wouldn't think Roy Williams' players went with him from Kansas to North Carolina. The fans sure didn't. Granted, the Jayhawks and Tar Heels don't play each other every year (they haven't met since 2002), so maybe that was a bad example. But it certainly was an awkward move. And I certainly wouldn't think a bunch of Kentucky players crossed sides when Rick Pitino took the Louisville job, and not just because of his time with the Boston Celtics after leaving Kentucky.

On a more pleasant note, Baratta said that his book is doing well, though he's still having a hard time finding distribution for it. I quite enjoyed reading it. The story is of an African-American boy, Darnell Cooper, who was born in the North Philly projects and is taken out of there by a well-off African-American laywer.

It turns out that Darnell is really smart and a very talented basketball player, and after high school he ends up going to Penn. But not too long after he gets there, Darnell's (white) girlfriend is found murdered, and Darnell is accused of the crime. So the story plays out amidst a quite interesting swirl of race and class issues, but it's not so deep that it overwhelms you.

Two other things about last night totally unrelated to the former players. First, among the dignitaries in the house (aside from Gov. Rendell, who is a Penn season ticket holder) was John Feinstein, the author and Washington Post columnist who is well known to be a fan of the Big 5. There was also a seat reserved for AP national college basketball writer Jim O'Connell, but he couldn't make it, due to what I overheard was some sort of health problem.

Second, the two rollouts I haven't mentioned on here yet were:

"Dunphy, why didn't you go to Temple? Isn't Hillel good enough?"

and

"Fran, at least this year you won't have a chance to lose in the tourney."

Those Penn kids might just have a sense of history after all.