Cool write up in the CR Gazette today by Mike Hilas, with a little history of the Palestra and basketball in Philadelphia in general. A lot of Iowa connections.
By Mike Hlas, The Gazette IOWA CITY - The last time an Iowa men's basketball team played in Philadelphia was 1980, when it beat Georgetown in the NCAA East Regional final to advance to the Final Four.
A University of Pennsylvania student from Philadelphia named Fran McCaffery was in the crowd at the Spectrum that day.
Two years later, Mc-Caffery was a senior Penn player in the NCAA tourney. His Quakers team had a crazy season, starting 3-0, losing its next nine games including its first two in the Ivy League, then winning 12 straight to win the Ivy and get that league's automatic berth in the NCAAs.
Penn's home games then and now were in the Palestra, an 8,725-seat gym on Penn's campus. It opened in 1927. It is called the Cathedral of College Basketball. It has hosted more college basketball games than any building in the world.
It will have two more on Saturday. In the evening, Penn plays Ivy League archrival Princeton. In the afternoon, McCaffery's Iowa team will battle Penn State, which moved this home game from State College to Philly. It's a clash of Top 25 teams who built nice bodies of pre-New Year's work. It is sold out.
As of Thursday afternoon, the cheapest seats for the game at Stubhub.com were $104. Most were going for more.
McCaffery's father, a Philadelphia beat cop for 28 years, worked as a tickettaker and later as a security officer in the Palestra and got sons Jack (a longtime Philly sports writer) and Fran into games.
What games they were. Philadelphia's Big 5 - La Salle, Penn, St. Joseph's, Temple and Villanova - all would play each other every year. Saturday night doubleheaders in the Palestra were big events.
https://cedarrapidsgazette-ia.newsmemory.com/
By Mike Hlas, The Gazette IOWA CITY - The last time an Iowa men's basketball team played in Philadelphia was 1980, when it beat Georgetown in the NCAA East Regional final to advance to the Final Four.
A University of Pennsylvania student from Philadelphia named Fran McCaffery was in the crowd at the Spectrum that day.
Two years later, Mc-Caffery was a senior Penn player in the NCAA tourney. His Quakers team had a crazy season, starting 3-0, losing its next nine games including its first two in the Ivy League, then winning 12 straight to win the Ivy and get that league's automatic berth in the NCAAs.
Penn's home games then and now were in the Palestra, an 8,725-seat gym on Penn's campus. It opened in 1927. It is called the Cathedral of College Basketball. It has hosted more college basketball games than any building in the world.
It will have two more on Saturday. In the evening, Penn plays Ivy League archrival Princeton. In the afternoon, McCaffery's Iowa team will battle Penn State, which moved this home game from State College to Philly. It's a clash of Top 25 teams who built nice bodies of pre-New Year's work. It is sold out.
As of Thursday afternoon, the cheapest seats for the game at Stubhub.com were $104. Most were going for more.
McCaffery's father, a Philadelphia beat cop for 28 years, worked as a tickettaker and later as a security officer in the Palestra and got sons Jack (a longtime Philly sports writer) and Fran into games.
What games they were. Philadelphia's Big 5 - La Salle, Penn, St. Joseph's, Temple and Villanova - all would play each other every year. Saturday night doubleheaders in the Palestra were big events.
https://cedarrapidsgazette-ia.newsmemory.com/