A FRONT ROW VIEW: Quakers king of the Ivy hill

King of the hill. It is a game that begins in childhood and never really ends. It only gets more complicated, more subtle. In sports, though, it is deliciously simple. Win enough games and you climb to the top of the hill. Keep winning and you stay there. Villanova lasted one game as king of the hill. For a month, the Wildcats climbed furiously up the Big East hill, leaving a trail of footprints on 10 straight opponents. Last Saturday, they trampled Connecticut on its home floor, on national television to boot, and planted their flag at the top. Then the Wildcats took a breath and enjoyed the view. It was a natural reaction, and a mistake. In front of President Clinton and a regal crowd Monday night in the nation's capital, another onrusher, Georgetown, charged toward the summit and shoved the Wildcats down -- hard. Wednesday night against Penn, Villanova came out snorting and slowed its tumble barely. So once again the critics will bleat that Penn cannot beat the kings of the hill. They will point to UMass and Temple and St. Joseph's and now Villanova, and they will have a convincing case. But they will forget how splendidly Penn plays as king of its own hill. You need only to look at Villanova's quick fall to see the brilliance of Penn's current Ivy League winning streak. Sure, Villanova plays in the Big East, a hill with a jagged, precarious top and challengers from every direction. The Quakers supposedly reign on top of a molehill. They throw rocks at small children. So winning 38 straight Ivy League games is greeted on campus with ho-hum headlines. Human nature being what it is, our appetite for success is never sated. The players, fans and media all react to the Ivy League success by starving for greater triumphs. That hunger is what you expect and want from the players. It is why they are successful. It should not, though, take away from what they have accomplished. The Quakers have a chance to become the first team since John Wooden's imperious UCLA squads to finish unbeaten in conference play three straight years. Only three teams have ever completed this hat trick. And Penn is not the first strong team to play in a weak conference. Remember UNLV? The first year of Penn's streak, Princeton was king of the hill. Since then the Quakers have held the title and worn its accompanying crown of thorns. Hunted every single game, they have never flinched. This streak screams out the players' excellence as well as coach Fran Dunphy's. It whispers the luster of Dunphy's coaching staff. After four years, players grow weary of hearing the same voice, even Dunphy's. Think about taking a class with the same professor every semester of college. No matter how good the teacher, you would tire of the same lecturing style. You would want the TA's viewpoint. So it is the assistants who prod and teach and massage egos. You sense the Quakers' egos need some massaging right now. You also sense Penn is vulnerable. Just two days ago the Quakers tailgated Villanova for the final 15 minutes but never discovered an opening to pass. Now they must recover from this maddening loss. Most likely, Penn will skate by on talent. But on some night, most likely in some faraway Ivy League gym, it will not. And when that happens, the media and fans will eulogize the streak in flowery language. Like most things, it will truly be appreciated only when it is gone. Adam Steinmetz is a Wharton senior from West Palm Beach, Fla., and a sports writer for The Daily Pennsylvanian.