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Username Post: In preparation for the 40 year celebration Saturday        (Topic#22437)
Streamers 
Professor
Posts: 8141
Streamers
Loc: NW Philadelphia
Reg: 11-21-04
01-09-19 06:35 PM - Post#271872    

Nice article here to refresh your memories

 
SRP 
Postdoc
Posts: 4894

Reg: 02-04-06
01-09-19 07:27 PM - Post#271875    
    In response to Streamers

Great stuff. I remember reading about the Quakers' stunning wins in North Carolina in Sports Illustrated (not enough detail for my taste) and rooting hard for Penn in that game against MSU.

 
LyleGold 
PhD Student
Posts: 1712

Reg: 11-22-04
Re: In preparation for the 40 year celebration Saturday
01-09-19 08:04 PM - Post#271878    
    In response to Streamers

It is a great article, and it brought back plenty of memories. I especially enjoyed the reminiscences of some of the players which added to our own personal memories. I went to Raleigh for the first weekend and still have crisp images in my mind of both the Iona and Carolina games, but hearing Weinhauer and the guys talk about their own feelings is priceless. They totally expected it and were kind of annoyed at the lack of respect for Penn. Similar to Weinhauer's comment, I recall Penn State souvenirs on sale at Reynolds Coliseum. After the Syracuse game, Boeheim said that Penn is not an Ivy League team, it's a Big Five team and he wasn't surprised by how good we were. When Booney was asked to explain how we blew past the Orangemen (esp. in the first half), he shrugged and said,"We just run our stuff!" Everyone around the program just felt we deserved to be there, especially after the nationally televised game against Georgetown, which led to the "We've Got a Secret" slogan.

I still remember the pep rally at Franklin Field so clearly, and it's interesting that Booney also thinks of it as the high point of that whole incredible journey. The north stands, upper and lower, were packed, and there was a Michigan St. mannequin hanging in effigy from the upper deck.

My only slight criticism is that Mike Kern goes out of his way to write a feel good story and, in doing so, never mentions Matt White. He also glosses over some of the bumps the other guys have experienced along the way and just says that everyone has done fine.

By the way, isn't Kern on the Daily News staff anymore? This appears to be a PennAthletics article. I remember Kern bumming a ride back to Philly from Yale off of P38 some years ago. I guess the DN's budget couldn't even cover a train ticket back then, and things are even worse now.

 
weinhauers_ghost 
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Age: 64
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Reg: 12-14-09
Re: In preparation for the 40 year celebration Saturday
01-09-19 11:08 PM - Post#271900    
    In response to LyleGold

I was also surprised and disappointed that Matt's name never came up, too. He will be sorely missed in Philly on Saturday.

 
SteveChop 
PhD Student
Posts: 1150

Reg: 07-28-07
01-09-19 11:09 PM - Post#271901    
    In response to LyleGold

I concur with Lyle - lots of great memories. I can't wait to see those guys this weekend. I was at all six tournament games and was then (and still am) one of the "few hundred" in the stands who can be heard cheering for the Quakers.

Of course, I had expected to go to the Final Four in 1971 but ...

 
UPIA1968 
PhD Student
Posts: 1117
UPIA1968
Loc: Cornwall, PA
Reg: 11-20-06
Re: Matt White
01-09-19 11:30 PM - Post#271903    
    In response to SteveChop

Isn't that Matt cutting down the net in the picture accompanying the article?

I still consider him the best center in Penn history. I played a game of one-on-one with him in the Palestra one day early in his freshman year. I remember vividly how quick he was despite his size. I had never played against a big guy with anything like his quickness. That is why they are there and we are here.

Remember the game that championship year when he had double-digit assist? They ran some kind of high-post offense and he kept hitting the cutters. He got an extended tryout with the Clippers I think. They don't get to the Final Four without him.

Edited by UPIA1968 on 01-09-19 11:31 PM. Reason for edit: No reason given.

 
LyleGold 
PhD Student
Posts: 1712

Reg: 11-22-04
Re: Matt White
01-09-19 11:37 PM - Post#271905    
    In response to UPIA1968

That looks like Tom Leifson to me.

 
weinhauers_ghost 
Postdoc
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Age: 64
Loc: New York City
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Re: Matt White
01-09-19 11:52 PM - Post#271906    
    In response to LyleGold

  • LyleGold Said:
That looks like Tom Leifson to me.



Good catch. You are indeed correct.

 
palestra38 
Professor
Posts: 32685

Reg: 11-21-04
01-10-19 09:26 AM - Post#271920    
    In response to SteveChop

Of course, I had expected to go to the Final Four in 1971 but ..

And '78. And we had the lead with 8 minutes to go against the team (Duke) that went to the Final Game.

Really, everyone knows we had more talent on the '78 team than '79. Difference was the '79 team won the key game (NC) and the '78 team did not. But having those 3 (MacDonald, Greene and Crowley) would have helped against Magic....I would have hoped.

 
Penn90 
Masters Student
Posts: 570
Penn90
Reg: 11-22-04
Re: In preparation for the 40 year celebration Saturday
01-10-19 10:31 AM - Post#271936    
    In response to LyleGold

According to his Twitter buyout Kern to a buyout in 2017. You're right; it's a great article.

And kudos to Penn for spending a little extra $$$ and thinking outside the box to get a really good writer/reporter for this story -- not just a PR hack.
Leges sine moribus vanae


 
LyleGold 
PhD Student
Posts: 1712

Reg: 11-22-04
01-10-19 05:06 PM - Post#272001    
    In response to palestra38

  • palestra38 Said:
Of course, I had expected to go to the Final Four in 1971 but ..

And '78. And we had the lead with 8 minutes to go against the team (Duke) that went to the Final Game.

Really, everyone knows we had more talent on the '78 team than '79. Difference was the '79 team won the key game (NC) and the '78 team did not. But having those 3 (MacDonald, Greene and Crowley) would have helped against Magic....I would have hoped.



I know you feel that way and have said so many times. '78 had a higher talent level undoubtedly, but it's an open question about which was the better team. I'm sure you remember our conversation with the late, great Matt White at the Palestra a few years ago on that very topic. While he never came out and said '79 was better, his response was,"Well, just look at the results."

The bitter irony of the Duke loss (84-80 after leading by 8 with 8 minutes to go) was that the Blue Devils featured freshman phenom Gene Banks who was the star of the West Philly Speedboys' national championship team. "Tinker Bell" grew up in the Palestra and wanted to come to Penn, but the antiquated Ivy freshmen ineligibility rule proved costly and he chose Duke. The Ivies finally changed the rule the following year and we got Vincent Ross, who was a teammate of Banks at West Philly and was a major contributor to the Final Four team as a freshman.


 
OldBig5 
Masters Student
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01-11-19 09:30 PM - Post#272144    
    In response to LyleGold

Enjoyed the article--as I recall the Iona game was not on TV so had to listen on the radio.

The 78 team was great also. I attended the first round game at the Palestra against the Bonnies. There was a doubleheader with two of the other five teams matching up--I know Temple was not playing since that is where I was in school at the time.

NCAA games at a packed Palestra. Can't get much better than that. I also attended the Villanova versus St Joes NCAA game in 71 while Penn was playing in West VA against Duqesne that night.

My other favorite Palestra memory was watching my high school team finally break through and win a Catholic League title in 75 by beating Roman. Unfortunately they had to face Gene Banks, Tim Smith, Clarence Tillman and co. in the City title game.

I know someone mentioned that Banks might have gone to Penn if they had freshmen eligible. I believe a few years earlier the same was true for Adrian Dantley. And Ernie Grunfeld. Imagine those guys playing for Penn.

 
LyleGold 
PhD Student
Posts: 1712

Reg: 11-22-04
In preparation for the 40 year celebration Saturday
01-12-19 12:01 AM - Post#272152    
    In response to OldBig5

Wow, you saw some great Big Five Palestra ball. I didn't even know about the Big Five until I came to Penn in 1976. I grew up in the Maryland suburbs of DC and remember Adrian Dantley's DeMatha career and recruitment pretty well. The Penn story you tell is news to me. The big story in the DC area was how Digger Phelps swooped in at the last second and snatched Dantley out of the grasp of the Terps. Lefty Driesell had been courting Dantley for years and reputedly gave him a key to Cole Field House so he could let himself in and shoot around. Dantley played in countless summer pick up games with McMillen, Elmore, and Lucas, and was considered all but set to come to Maryland.

As far as West Philadelphia High, Tim Smith was the senior leader of the team that won the city title over Judge in 1975 while Banks was a sophomore. Timmy averaged 17.7 ppg that year while Banks had a 15.4 average. Eggy Tillman didn't play on that team, but came a year later in the same class as Vincent Ross. They played with Banks for two years and became consensus national champs. Banks couldn't resist playing in the ACC as a freshman and broke Penn's heart by going to Duke. The following year, Tillman and Ross won another city title with a less dominant team, the Ivy League made freshmen eligible, and Ross came to Penn where he joined Tim Smith on the way to the Final Four.

http://tedsilary.com/archive/BB1975recap.htm

 
OldBig5 
Masters Student
Posts: 639

Age: 66
Reg: 02-18-18
Re: In preparation for the 40 year celebration Saturday
01-12-19 09:17 PM - Post#272365    
    In response to LyleGold

  • LyleGold Said:
Wow, you saw some great Big Five Palestra ball. I didn't even know about the Big Five until I came to Penn in 1976. I grew up in the Maryland suburbs of DC and remember Adrian Dantley's DeMatha career and recruitment pretty well. The Penn story you tell is news to me. The big story in the DC area was how Digger Phelps swooped in at the last second and snatched Dantley out of the grasp of the Terps. Lefty Driesell had been courting Dantley for years and reputedly gave him a key to Cole Field House so he could let himself in and shoot around. Dantley played in countless summer pick up games with McMillen, Elmore, and Lucas, and was considered all but set to come to Maryland.

As far as West Philadelphia High, Tim Smith was the senior leader of the team that won the city title over Judge in 1975 while Banks was a sophomore. Timmy averaged 17.7 ppg that year while Banks had a 15.4 average. Eggy Tillman didn't play on that team, but came a year later in the same class as Vincent Ross. They played with Banks for two years and became consensus national champs. Banks couldn't resist playing in the ACC as a freshman and broke Penn's heart by going to Duke. The following year, Tillman and Ross won another city title with a less dominant team, the Ivy League made freshmen eligible, and Ross came to Penn where he joined Tim Smith on the way to the Final Four.

http://tedsilary.com/archive/BB1975recap.htm



I could have sworn Tillman was on that team but looks like you are right--I didn't attend that game.

That was the beginning of the end of the road for Al "The Cat" Clancy who fancied himself as the next Bob McAdoo. He had a scholarship to St Joes but don't think he ever played varsity. Jim "Mo" Connelly who was a junior on that Judge team went on to have a good career at Lasalle. Tom Kneib was our point guard. His brother John had played at Temple and was pretty good. Bobby Convey was another guard on the 75 team. His son (same name) ended up being a soccer prodigy and signed with DC United at a young age--he never developed as the big star but played some with the USA National team.

 
rbg 
Postdoc
Posts: 3044

Reg: 10-20-14
04-02-19 08:32 AM - Post#283169    
    In response to OldBig5

ESPN has a story on the 1979 Final Four team.

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketba ll/story/...

 
Streamers 
Professor
Posts: 8141
Streamers
Loc: NW Philadelphia
Reg: 11-21-04
04-02-19 10:33 AM - Post#283173    
    In response to rbg

Still gives me goose bumps. I had forgotten about Leifsen's FTs in the Iona game.

 
LyleGold 
PhD Student
Posts: 1712

Reg: 11-22-04
04-05-19 01:51 PM - Post#283328    
    In response to Streamers

I had forgotten about Leifsen’s FTs also (and I was standing courtside), but I do remember Booney’s and Kenny Hall’s clutch FTs in the final seconds against UNC two days later. Still the biggest goosebumps come from remembering the pep rally at Franklin Field, getting swept up in the torrent of fans on Locust Walk and carried into the north stands to find a bigger crowd than ever attended football games - and that Mich St mannequin dangling in effigy from the upper deck. We felt invincible and, when Weinhauer declared his intention to win the national championship (“Where’s Princeton now? North Carolina who?), we believed every word of it. Alas, a few errant Matt White layups later and reality came crashing down...

 
QHoops 
Senior
Posts: 368

Reg: 12-16-04
04-05-19 02:14 PM - Post#283332    
    In response to LyleGold

I believe it was "... where the HELL is Princeton now?" after a very long pregnant pause. (And "the Orangemen are back home shoveling snow")


I agree, that rally extended much further into the general Penn community than anything else I've experienced since then.

Alas, the chance to skip a class on a nice spring day for a feel-good outing was probably enticing to a much wider swath of students then vs now.

 
QHoops 
Senior
Posts: 368

Reg: 12-16-04
04-05-19 02:16 PM - Post#283333    
    In response to QHoops

That memory leads me to ask Otto, the preserver of all things Quaker - does any video of that rally exist?

 
LyleGold 
PhD Student
Posts: 1712

Reg: 11-22-04
In preparation for the 40 year celebration Saturday
04-05-19 03:00 PM - Post#283335    
    In response to QHoops

http://letsgoquakers.com.s123176.gridserver.com/19...

Audio - it’s worth listening to the natural sounds and trying to reassemble the event in your mind. The speeches are short and buried in the various chants, etc, but this is priceless.

The Weinhauer wisecracks begin around 17:30.

 
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