Game! Of! The! Night! 2/12/2008: Princeton at Pennsylvania
Princeton at Pennsylvania (Ivy League) Even the great rivalries have their down years, and it's usually because one or the other team involved is down. Even the most diehard Penn fan will admit that the P&P games have been somewhat lackluster during this recent swan-dive of a decline that Princeton's suffered in the past several seasons, and I've actually detected -- gasp! -- sympathy for the Tiger-men on the part of the Quaker faithful in the days not-so-long gone by. But here's what we're wondering: now that the long string of Penn championships appears to be over in the face of a New Cornell Reality, how will this rivalry react? If there's no league to play for, no title at stake, will the entire focus of the season be beating the other? Will everybody just stop caring? We don't have very much experience with this, so we don't know... Penn and Princeton have lorded over the Leaves so long that an entire generation has never seen both teams, to put it bluntly, suck simultaneously. Princeton (5-14, 2-2) is backing away from the hybrid approach of Joe Scott with the summer hiring of Sydney Johnson, and Glen Miller just doesn't have the horses in Year Two at Penn (7-14, 2-2). So instead of the Cornell-Columbia road weekend being an opportunity for fans of the P's to slip out of town on a relaxing ski trip, it's two quick and painful losses for both teams. And if you've been reading along these last few years, you know how dearly I love The Palestra and this rivalry, and it's been the thrill of a lifetime to become an honorary member of Penn's Red and Blue Crew these past few years. We're currently back at home recuperating from our 11-day ass-pounder of a Midwestern trip, and will only be present in spirit tonight. But we're definitely thinking of you as you paint those rollouts this afternoon. Make 'em good!
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