PHILADELPHIA BIG 5: Big 5 laden with history and tradition

The year was 1966. St. Joseph's was nationally ranked. Villanova was the heavy underdog. For some reason, that didn't seem to matter. Despite the Hawks' heavy hitters of Cliff Anderson and Matt Guokas, the Wildcats were in front the whole way. Nursing a nine point lead with 5 minutes, 38 seconds to play, 'Nova seemed destined for the upset. The Wildcats should have known better. They didn't score a field goal the rest of the way. As the horn sounded, dreams of an upset vanished due to the most unlikely of sources. A seldom-used sub named Steve Donches, in for the fouled-out Billy Oaks, drained a 29-footer at the buzzer to complete the St. Joe's comeback and give the Hawks a two-point win. Half an hour later, the improbable hero reemerged from the locker room, stepped out onto the hardwood and cut down the net. It was a typical Big 5 game. These words have become one of the most popular phrases in Philadelphia speak. The Villanova-St.Joe's classic is just one of a plethora of games with storylines eerily similar to the one described above. The battles for local bragging rights always go down to the wire, with startling upsets the norm, not the exception. It is a tradition like no other in college basketball. "It's just an incredible, exciting kind of event that occurs," Penn Big 5 Hall of Famer John Engles said. "It's a spectacle. I can't even call it a game. It's not like any other college basketball game I've been to." The Big 5 is history, and it is the history that makes the league so unique. The storied Quaker City tradition has become a way of life for so many. The beginnings were so innocent, but the ramifications of the decision to bring the five city schools together are still incredibly far-reaching. It officially began 40 years ago on February 10, 1955, but the City Series' roots extend well before that. Villanova, Temple, St. Joe's, La Salle and Penn all had their fair share of national success back in the 1930s. During that decade, the Owls, Hawks and Explorers began participating in doubleheaders at Philadelphia's Convention Hall. With the inception of World War II, even the U.S. Navy played a role in the league's foundations. Following the onset of the war, the Navy bumped the Quakers out of the Palestra. Left without a home court, Penn began to take part in the Convention Hall doubleheaders. Following the war, the Quakers returned home to the Palestra, but their devout followers yearned for the twinbill format to continue. Enter Villanova. The Wildcats moved many of their games into the Palestra to accommodate the desire of Philadelphia hoops fans. So with Penn and Villanova playing doubleheaders at the Palestra and Temple, St.Joe's and La Salle doing the same at the Civic Center, Penn Sports Information Director Bob Paul and Business Manager John Rossiter came up with an idea that would revolutionize the state of the college game. Instead of the nationally-renowned city schools playing within a block of each other, often on the same night, and spreading the fan base, maybe all five could move to a single location. That location was the Palestra. While there could not have been a better setting, rumors still exist there were some questions about choosing Penn's arena as the common site. Did Penn really want La Salle, Temple and St. Joe's to move in and play on its hallowed ground? Apparently, the Quakers were willing to make that sacrifice, because the Penn athletic administration was instrumental in making the series a reality. The schools agreed to split profits evenly in an effort to promote some of the nation's best basketball under a single roof, and the Big 5 was born. "The five athletic directors and presidents were willing to sacrifice individual praise and publicity to do something as a group," former Temple star Guy Rodgers said. "It's 40 years of the best damn basketball in America. The Big 5 was like the Final Four every night." There is a very simple explanation for that. Each of the members has made it to the Final Four, with La Salle and Villanova staking claims to national championship trophies. Penn shocked the country with its 1979 run to the Final Four, and the great Temple teams led by Rodgers graced basketball's ultimate stage twice during his career. St. Joe's took its turn in 1961. Imagine five teams having reached the Final Four playing against one another every year under the same roof. It isn't hard to see why it was impossible for college basketball fans not to fall in love with the Big 5. As the format was finalized, the mystique began to materialize. Fans on each side would flood the court with colored streamers when their team scored its opening basket. Each of the teams' banners would grace the ceiling. All the different school colors would spread throughout the gym. And the emotions of every player and coach would be left on the floor. It quickly developed into an atmosphere like no other. The prosperity of the league is so great that the debate over when the Big 5 reached its peak is wide open. Some argue for the glory days of the mid-1960's, with the heyday of the likes of Jones and Guokas. Others think the beginning of the '70's, with Harold Porter taking Villanova to the NCAA championship game against UCLA, was the pinnacle of the City Series. "The Big 5 built and built," league historian Bob Vetrone said. "There are so many different perceptions of when the league was at its best. That just shows the longevity and greatness associated with the Big 5. The aura is remarkable." But suddenly, after all these years of storied history, it wasn't the same. In 1986, the presidents of each of the five schools signed a contract to continue the existing round-robin format at each school's respective gym rather than play all the games at the Palestra. Five years later in 1991, one school backed out. After 36 stellar seasons in which every team played each other every year, the Big 5 would no longer exist as we had known it. Villanova said it could not proceed with the series in the traditional format because basketball now contributed a much greater role to the university's financial interests. This coupled with the NCAA limiting the number of regular season games to 27 and the increase in the Wildcats' commitment to the Big East made head coach Rollie Massimino feel he couldn't continue to play every team each year. While that may have been the official explanation, rumors persist that Massimino was just tired of watching his Wildcats struggle in the city games. Rollie was 41-33 in the Big 5 during his tenure at Villanova, but the feeling abounds that the Wildcats wanted to replace two challenging contests with two cupcakes. "I wish the old format would resurface again," Temple coach John Chaney said. "It's a matter of Villanova protecting its own turf. You don't want to schedule yourself out of a job. These days, you have to calculate your schedule to survive. The pressure on younger coaches to win is so high. I'm too old. Nobody's going to fire me." As a result of the Wildcats' reduced schedule, the Big 5 still exists, but it is only a shade of its former self. With Villanova playing two teams one year and the other two the next, the days of the awe-inspiring doubleheaders at the Palestra have become a distant memory. These days may never return, but the memories will never die. The unique tradition of the Big 5 will live on.