Preamble: A reminder to enter the Soft Pretzel Logic-Philly Feed trivia contest, in which we want to know when the last time was before this year that three ACC teams played in Philadelphia. Click here and leave a comment to submit your entry.
I've been meaning to mention that a couple days ago, I was interviewed by a college sports blog called Storming the Floor. You can read the piece here, but there's a question they asked me that was left out of the final product that is relevant to us tonight.
When they asked me what my favorite college arena in the region is, I of course said the Palestra, and I put the Wachovia Center second.
That surprised the interviewer, Marco Anskis, and I bet it might surprise a few of you.
Well, tonight is part of the reason why I said that. Yes, this is an NBA arena, and as such you don't get the closeness to the action of the Fieldhouse, the DAC or Tom Gola Arena.
But you know whenever you're here for a college game that it's a big deal. Usually, it's Villanova playing one of the bigger-name Big East Teams like Connecticut or Syracuse. Sometimes, it's a non-conference game like Texas last year or LSU tonight. Or it's the NCAA Tournament.
Regardless, whenever I'm here I feel like the game has a lot more sizzle to it than games at the Pavilion and pretty much all the other venues in the region. Maybe it's the lights, or the video screens, or the fact that there's almost always a national tv broadcast going on.
So off we go in the nightcap of the SEC-Big East Invitational doubleheader. South Carolina beat Providence in the first game, 67-66. The news here so far is that Shane Clark started, but midway through the first half Villanova trails 17-10.
And despite what I said above, the crowd here isn't all that big. Maybe it's because of the late start, maybe it's because Villanova didn't totally control the ticketing, but the upper deck is almost totally empty. There's the usual big Wildcats student section, though, and there's just enough noise around to get at least partway through my cold-fighting head.
Comments (3)
Seriously, the Center? Perhaps they left the question out because they knew how crazy the answer was. You should have joined 4000 of your closest friends at the Fieldhouse last Thursday to see what atmosphere really looks like. It was so crammed and hot it felt like a Saturday night at the O.D.--without the Miller Lite. Most of all the people who go there to watch games are passionate as hell, and don't really care that they can't measure up to Uconn, unlike some other venues (and fanbases)in the city.
Posted by DC | December 6, 2007 11:15 PM
Posted on December 6, 2007 23:15
#1 - Palestra
#2 - Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse
NO DOUBT ABOUT IT!
THWND
Posted by phillyhawk | December 6, 2007 11:57 PM
Posted on December 6, 2007 23:57
I'm with you on the Wachovia Centeras a #2. It may seem strange but when you think about it... There really is no other place in Philadelphia that has had college games that have grabed the nation's attention.
(i.e. unranked Villanova beating #2 Kansas during the 2005 blizzard, #4 Villanova beating #1 UConn in 2006, NCAA 1st and 2nd rounds in 2006. Also Penn shocking Villanova 72-58 in 2002)
Posted by Ryan | December 7, 2007 12:59 AM
Posted on December 7, 2007 00:59