EDITORIAL: Unsportsmanlike conduct

The recent agreement toThe recent agreement tokeep Big 5 basketball aliveThe recent agreement tokeep Big 5 basketball alivein Philadelphia would beThe recent agreement tokeep Big 5 basketball alivein Philadelphia would beperfect - if only VillanovaThe recent agreement tokeep Big 5 basketball alivein Philadelphia would beperfect - if only Villanovawere a team player.The recent agreement tokeep Big 5 basketball alivein Philadelphia would beperfect - if only Villanovawere a team player.______________________________ The contract ensures the survival of cross-city men's hoops matches until the year 2000. Because it also allows the home team to pick the venue and keep the profits, the contract will probably bring more Big 5 games back to the Palestra. Still, there won't be a true Big 5 champion when each school only plays two official games against its cross-city rivals -- and that's a shame. This arrangement has been observed informally for a few years. But now it's official -- largely because Villanova is afraid that losses to tough opponents outside the Big East will ruin its chances of receiving an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. This is an irrational fear; the tourney selection procedure takes into account the strength of a school's schedule. The other four Big 5 schools have indicated they will continue to play a full league schedule -- minus Villanova for two of the competitors each year -- even if these games are unofficial. Big 5 basketball is a unique tradition. Year after year for the past four decades, four scrappy urban schools and another in the nearby suburbs have played each other for college hoops bragging rights here in the City of Brotherly Love. Round-robin Big 5 games attract capacity crowds, regardless of which two teams are on the bill on any given night. All of the Big 5 teams have been to the NCAA Final Four at least once, and Villanova and La Salle have won the Big Dance outright. Numerous NBA stars such as Eddie Jones, Lionel Simmons and Matt Guokas got their starts on the hardwood here. The Big 5 hasn't been the same since Villanova began refusing to play the entire league schedule -- and decided it couldn't afford the risk of losing to typically unranked but tenacious Big 5 teams. Tarnishing a tradition for the sake of an unblemished record is not exactly the old college try.