M. Hoops holds on for win, completes sweep of Tigers

This week in 1978, the men's basketball team completed a rare sweep of Princeton. It was just one hell of a contest. It was the traditional Penn-Princeton rivalry -- Old Nassau against West Philly, the scrappy champions against the talented challengers, and a young coach against a legend. It was tough, physical basketball, a close contest from the opening tipoff to the final buzzer, the type of game Princeton's Pete Carril loves and almost always wins. But this time Carril did not pull off another of his fabled upsets, and it was a shame the excitement and beauty of the 49-44 Penn -- the first time the Red and Blue have defeated the Orange and Black twice in one season since 1974 -- was tempered by bitterness, insults and disdain. Sure it bothered Carril to lose to Penn, even though it has happened in the past. "If you want to say simply I am upset," Carril said. "Yes, I am upset. I do not have any good feeling for them? and they do not have any good feelings for us." Probably true, yet that is not enough reason for all the irrational outbursts that occurred during and after the game. And it didn't merit insulting a college basketball player. Yet for Carril the loss was especially tough to accept. His temper had been boiling since early in the game. Princeton had the ball and was running a slow, patterned offense. Tiger forward Frank Sowinski received a pass from behind center Bob Roma's screen and seemingly hit a jump shot. But Tony Price, following Sowinski, got entangled in Roma's pick and in trying to free himself, threw an elbow. "Roma caught my arm," Sowinski said, "and I yanked it out and gave him a little shove. Fortunately, the referee only caught the first foul [which nullified the basket]." Unfortunately, that was when everything started. Carril quickly rushed off the Princeton bench and began berating first referee Steve Honzo for not calling a flagrant foul on Price and then Tony, which in turn incensed Penn coach Bob Weinhauer. Weinhauer rushed Carril and began yelling at him until Honzo ordered both men to sit down. But Carril continued giving Honzo a large piece of his mind until he received a technical foul. It was enough to bench the irate coach, but not to quiet him. It visibly bothered Weinhauer that one of his players had to suffer Carril's hysterical outburst, but he refused to blow up the issue. "I'd rather not comment on it," the first year coach said quietly after the game. "I think it is up to Pete to comment." Which Carril did not hesitate to do. He had continued sniping at both referees (Honzo and Mickey Crowley), and at one point yelled during halftime, "He belongs in jail, not on a court," obviously referring to Price. But it was after the game when Carril let all the frustration of two losses to Penn express itself. "The flagrant foul in the first half would put George Atkinson [Oakland Raider defensive back accused of dirty tactics] to shame," Carril said. "You can quote me on that. There is no reason for it?" "What happened in that particular case was a flagrant foul [the elbow Price threw at Roma]. It should not be tolerated in basketball. If they do not tolerate it in the NFL, how can they tolerate it in the NCAA?? What is college sports about? Get the meanest guy on the waterfront and?" It is strong language, especially for a college game. No one calls Price the nicest player in the Palestra, but he has never been called Maurice Lucas or Rocky Balboa. "I do not care what Pete Carril thinks," Price said. "I happen to play for Weinhauer. He [Carril] can cry all he wants until next year, but I play for Penn. I will play as hard as I can out there. I am sure if I played for him, he would be happy with me out there." "Mr. Carril has a penchant for getting excited," Quaker forward Keven McDonald said. "He sometimes sees things the refs don't particularly see. We have had our share of those calls. "But this year we have a great team. I am not afraid to admit it. We have the best team in the Ivies. We deserve the championship." On that point Carril has a right to disagree, but there are better ways to do it than how it was done Saturday.