My first Ivy League football experience was... interesting.
A friend and I attended our very first Penn football game last Saturday at the beautiful and legendary Franklin Field. Thank you, Groupon, for the $5 tickets and free pretzel vouchers.
In no way does Ivy League football compare to SEC football, or even PAC-10 (err-I mean PAC-12), ACC, Big 12, etc. Nevertheless, I really enjoy watching collegiate football, and the game was still fun to attend! Now I know I'm just making a huge generalization about Ivy League football, but it reminded me of high school football, only a little more impressive. I know it sounds mean, but this was NOT like watching the big dogs play. Or even the medium sized dogs. This was like watching little dogs, like Pomeranians or Shih Tzus, run around and fumble the ball every 75 seconds or so. To be fair, Pomeranians are just as much fun to watch as Golden Retrievers, am I right? Now obviously these athletes have more talent than most high school players and are good enough to make this squad. However, they probably wouldn't make the cut if trying out for bigger programs in the area, such as Penn State or Temple. The players are noticeably smaller, whiter and less adorned with ink on their skin. Just sayin'. Someone's got to be honest about it. Ivy League programs can't offer scholarships to athletes, so obviously they can't draw the best athletes to their programs (Patrick Witt of Yale is an exception, but even he can't make his team good). I have a deep respect for athletes that compete for non-scholarship providing schools. When I was recruited by Columbia University in high school, I wouldn't even consider visiting the school/program when I was told they couldn't offer me a scholarship. Props to Ivy League athletes. They obviously love what they do and don't expect anything in return. Besides a win here and there.
Back to the aforementioned football game. Penn lost to Cornell. Cornell is one of those schools I just can't stand, all because of Andy Bernard from The Office. "I went to Cornell. Ever heard of it?" It's hilarious how arrogant he is about a school that most people have rarely heard about. Anyway, I hate Cornell because of Andy Bernard.
The crowds were so small at this game. I felt so bad for the teams playing in this massive capacity stadium to probably a couple thousand fans total. This photo was taken at half time, but you can tell that the stands are pretty empty regardless of it being half time or not.
Aside from my above blasting of Penn football and Ivy League football in general, I am excited for next year's football season. I do love me some college football, and though these guys don't fall into the category of the big dogs, even as small dogs they are fun to watch play.
3 comments:
O come on! Don't you remember watching the bulldogs play?!? Nothing can beat that! Ok, maybe a few things can ;) Sounds like you are enjoying grad school... soak it up! I miss school so much! (I mean kindergarten with 6 year old is great, but i miss deep thinkin)
FYI: All Penn Card holders get in to games free. This game was probably so poorly attended primarily because a disappointing loss at Harvard the week before eliminated Penn from contention for a share of the Ivy title.
John Heisman and Chuck Bednarik both played for Penn. (Heisman coached Penn as well.) Penn football invented the forward pass. And Penn-Cornell used to be the biggest college football game of the year.
The University of Pennsylvania is also the only school in the top ten in number wins for Division One men's basketball and football. Both squads are in rebuilding years. But I've seen some really good football played by the Quakers (including an undefeated season). And the basketball program was downright awesome until the last few years when the previous coach really screwed it up.
Go see a Big Five game in the Palestra. That's the Penn sports experience that you really want.
Zack: thanks for the heads up! I didn't think that Penn gave away anything free, including student admission to athletic games! I actually attributed the poorly attended game to the Thanksgiving holiday, but their loss to Harvard and subsequent elimination from contention for the Ivy League title makes sense, too. I do know that Penn has a rich football history, as do many other Ivy League schools, and that Penn was Ivy League champs the past two years. No need to be defensive, I thoroughly enjoyed the game, and like I mentioned in the post, I really do have a deep respect for all the athletes in the Ivy League. It's just much different from the football I've witnessed at "scholarship schools" as coach Bagnoli once referred to non-Ivy schools in the school newspaper back in September. If you and ShaNae enjoy watching basketball, we should all go see Penn vs. LaSalle at the Palestra on Jan 10th. (As long as you don't totally despise me for my forthright thoughts regarding Penn football.)
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