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01142012_Mensbasketball_Cornell Credit: Henry Chang , Henry Chang

I had committed college basketball blasphemy, in a sense.

It was 2009, my first season covering the Penn men’s basketball team full-time, and I was seated in the Palestra’s court-side media area.

Marveling at the inside of the self-proclaimed ‘Cathedral of College Basketball,’ I was rudely awakened from my daydream when my red-and-black plaid Washington Nationals cap was roughly flipped off my head.

“No hats on press row,” I was informed, having been previously ignorant of my faux pas.

At first I was annoyed; not only was the hat my personal favorite at the time, but I felt as though my transgression did not merit such a reaction.

But over time, my view changed and the incident came to symbolize an important trope in my career as a sports journalist.

One must be professional when covering sports, both in manner and dress.

While this code of conduct — one that journalists follow under penalty of excommunication — only deals marginally with subjects like wearing hats, it shapes everything fit to print.

Too often the pretense of objectivity is tainted by hidden opinions and ulterior motives.

Not anymore. Starting today, readers will be treated to an unabashedly slanted view of Penn athletics — my view.

I can think of no better way to begin this magical journey of praise and criticism than by discussing the men’s basketball team’s beginning to the Ivy season, a two-game road sweep at Columbia and Cornell.

Starting 2-0 in conference is most definitely auspicious: after bumping into senior guard Tyler Bernardini on the street, he told me that the last time the Red and Blue started 2-0 in Ivy road play, it won the conference and its automatic NCAA tournament bid — which is true.

Even ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has Penn in his bracketology — slotted to participate in a play-in game in the West region.

Though just 9-9 on the season, Bernardini and his teammates have given themselves the best possible chance for a league title. Whether they keep it up remains to be seen.

But even more impressive than the historical implications of the games is how the Red and Blue went about winning them.

Despite an uncharacteristically poor performance from star point guard Zack Rosen in the first half against Columbia, other players stepped up their scoring until Rosen found his touch.

Big men like Mike Howlett, Fran Dougherty and Henry Brooks helped establish a strong defensive core inside, keeping the Lions from making any effective use of the paint.

This kind of interchangeability — both with scoring and defense — will be the Quakers’ most important resource during the grueling Ivy slate.

Against Cornell, the Quakers controlled from start to finish, a feat the team has been trying to perform consistently all season.

If the Red and Blue can continue this kind of play, the big, bad Harvard Crimson will need to watch out.

But that uncertainty is why they play the games, and why fans come to watch.

I personally cannot wait to see how Penn translates its hot start into a conference season.

I’ll be sitting there watching, hatless.

ELI COHEN is a senior philosophy major from Washington, D.C. He can be contacted at dpsports@theDP.com.

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