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Username Post: New Member        (Topic#21217)
OldBig5 
Masters Student
Posts: 639

Age: 66
Reg: 02-18-18
02-23-18 10:10 PM - Post#249099    

Just dropping by to say hello to everyone. Have been lurking here for a year or so and finally joined. I actually went to Temple but my grandpa, dad and older brother went to Penn so have been a fan since the late 1960s.

 
Chip Bayers 
Professor
Posts: 6997
Chip Bayers
Loc: New York
Reg: 11-21-04
02-23-18 10:12 PM - Post#249102    
    In response to OldBig5

Welcome.


 
OldBig5 
Masters Student
Posts: 639

Age: 66
Reg: 02-18-18
02-23-18 10:12 PM - Post#249103    
    In response to Chip Bayers

Thanks.


 
Mike Porter 
Postdoc
Posts: 3614
Mike Porter
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
Reg: 11-21-04
02-23-18 10:29 PM - Post#249111    
    In response to OldBig5

Welcome and always nice to have new voices!

 
Silver Maple 
Postdoc
Posts: 3765

Loc: Westfield, New Jersey
Reg: 11-23-04
02-23-18 10:37 PM - Post#249113    
    In response to Mike Porter

Welcome. At some you’re going to be expected to insult Jeff. You might want to start thinking about that.

 
OldBig5 
Masters Student
Posts: 639

Age: 66
Reg: 02-18-18
02-23-18 10:50 PM - Post#249118    
    In response to Mike Porter

Since I have some time let me go on and on about my fandom!

I grew up in northeast philly and was always a big sports fan from the start. I remember starting to watch the Big Five games whenever they first started to appear on channel 17 or when we got that first UHF antenna. Those doubleheaders usually on Wednesday and Saturday nights had me glued to the tube--Saturday night games were followed by Bullfighting from Mexico as I recall. Charlie Swift and Al Meltzer and then harry Kalas later on after Charlie's unfortunate suicide.

One of my older brothers started attending Penn in 1967 so I started pulling for the Quakers. I still remember him jumping up and down when Bilsky hit that long shot to win that 32-30 game against Villanova. Mom came upstairs as she thought we were fighting. I would read the Daily Pennsylvanian sports page he would bring home and all about that great Freshman team led by Corky Calhoun and Bobby Morse. I was ready for the team to make the big time and it happened for sure.

I attended Catholic school and most of my friends of course rooted for the catholic schools. I remember one of the hardest days of my life being coming to school on Monday after the 90-47 loss to Villanova and facing one kid whose brother went to Nova. I lost 25 cents to him as I recall but it was the ribbing he gave me the rest of the school year that hurt almost as much as watching the game itself in disbelief. Another regional final loss the following year. I always remember Morse hitting a long jumper on a fast break to tie it about midway through the second half but then UNC went on a run.

I continued to follow the Quakers through the 1970s--the names all sort of run together. Hankinson. Littlepage. Haigler. Bigelow. Stefanski, Beecroft. Eagles. High Henry Johnson. And of course Keven MacDonald. I attended the 1978 first round game at the Palestra. I believe it was Lasalle and St. Joes in the first game and then Penn crushed the Bonnies in the nightcap (or actually daycap). I always wondered how good the teams would have been if either Adrian Dantley or Ernie Grunfeld showed up in West Philly. I believe we were runners up for both guys.

Went to Temple in the late 1970s. I only applied to two schools-Penn and Temple. Penn kept me wait listed so eventually I just decided on Temple. Of course I became a Temple fan but the Quakers would always be my number one team. I used to kid dad that he had not contributed enough as an alumni for me to get into Penn. Dad was actually a professor at Penn in the 1950s.

I moved away from Philly in 1984 and it became hard to keep up other than in the newspapers and those NCAA games when the team would make it to March Madness. Once the internet came in full gear and more games became available it ended up being the Glen Miller/Jerome Allen coaching era--yuck. Great to see Coach Donahue having the team back on top. I don't think it can ever be like it was back in the late 1960s and 1970s but it is fun. Plan to watch tomorrow night against Harvard. I am in Cincy now so maybe somehow they will end up in the Nashville bracket and I can catch a game down there?

As the years have passed, I have added Virginia Tech to my fandom as our son is a Hokie. Daughter went to William and Mary--maybe this will be the year they finally make the March dance. But the Quakers will always be my number one team.


 
palestra38 
Professor
Posts: 32682

Reg: 11-21-04
02-23-18 10:52 PM - Post#249119    
    In response to OldBig5

Welcome---nice to have you with us. Good time to get on board.

 
SteveChop 
PhD Student
Posts: 1150

Reg: 07-28-07
02-23-18 11:00 PM - Post#249125    
    In response to OldBig5

Let me join the others in welcoming you. Like your brother, I also came to Penn in 1967. Private message me as to who your brother is - since it sounds like he may be a classmate, curious to see if I know him.

 
Quakers03 
Professor
Posts: 12480

Reg: 12-07-04
02-24-18 03:53 PM - Post#249219    
    In response to SteveChop

Welcome aboard! Good stories.

Speaking of posters, I'm surprised we haven't seen the return of some old posters now that the program has turned it around. I know some stay away because they don't like certain posters, but what happened to someone like Penn94?

 
Lefteroo 
Senior
Posts: 398

Reg: 02-12-05
03-03-18 07:06 PM - Post#250481    
    In response to Quakers03

Welcome. Great to read about your Penn fandom.

 
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