Stuart Suss
PhD Student
Posts: 1439
Loc: Chester County, Pennsylva...
Reg: 11-21-04
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03-12-17 07:14 PM - Post#226604
The Ivy League postseason tournament should not exist.
I did not attend any games of the tournament that should not exist.
I did not attend any games of the tournament that charged $100, $75 and $40 for tickets, not including the $50 food charge added to the $100 tickets and the $40 food option for others.
I am among the group of fans who do not believe that Penn should be flying a championship banner from 1981 or from 1996. Penn lost playoff games to Princeton those years. If you do not make it to the NCAA tournament, your team should not be commemorating the season. It does not matter how the Ivy League defines co-champions.
In 2008, a 13-18, 8-6 (third place) Penn team ended its season with a win at Princeton. At the press conference Coach Glen Miller was asked about the season. “I realize that at Penn there are two places in the standings, first place and last place.†Miller replied. For all of Glen Miller’s failings, he was 100% correct with that statement.
10 years of mediocrity do not change my standards. Nothing should be celebrated except NCAA tournament appearances.
The Hall of Fame football coach, Bill Parcells, famously, and accurately, stated “You are what your record says you are.â€
This team’s record was 13-15, 6-8 (fourth place).
There is no accomplishment to finishing in fourth place.
We do not celebrate fourth place teams, even if the Ivy League allows a fourth place team to play an additional game.
That additional game was nothing more than the 28th game that was taken away from each team so that there could be a tournament that should not exist.
We do not celebrate a team that finished 6-8 because they started 0-6. Jerome Allen, in December of 2009, inherited a team which was 0-7. These coaches and these players did not inherit a team which was 0-6; they created a team which was 0-6.
On March 3, 1998, Mitch Henderson and his Princeton teammates arrived at the Palestra for the final game of the regular season. Princeton’s record was 25-1, 13-0. Steve Donahue sat with Fran Dunphy on the Penn bench. Princeton led 37-19 in the final minutes of the first half. Penn rallied to tie the game at 44-44, and took the lead twice in the final two minutes. The score was tied 66-66 with 12.1 seconds remaining as Penn set up its final play. Michael Jordan missed a three point shot at the buzzer. Princeton pulled away in overtime to win 78-72. Penn ended the season at 17-12, 10-4 (second place).
We do not celebrate the 1998 team even though they took an undefeated Princeton squad to overtime in their final game.
On March 2, 2013 a Penn team, which would finish the season at Pomeroy #249, upset #93, and ultimate Ivy League champion, Harvard, 75-72, in the Palestra. That was an even greater upset than this season’s win over Harvard. There was much enthusiasm about the future of the team and its freshmen stars, Darien Nelson Henry and Tony Hicks.
That 2013 Penn team’s final record was 9-22, 6-8 (fifth place).
We do not celebrate the 2013 team for finishing 6-8 even though they defeated Harvard at home. If we remember the 2013 team at all, it is for the unfulfilled potential of those who played on that team.
Next year’s team should be judged based on two standards.
1. At Penn there are two places in the standings, first place and last place.
2. You are what your record says you are.
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