Etiquette problems

If you noticed a drop-off in the frequency of my updates last night as the first half wound down, it was because I felt a pressing need to use the restroom.

After working my way through the halftime line, I got a pleasant surprise. Right above every urinal was a simple sheet of Penn Athletics headlines. Kudos to the athletic department, I thought.

The guy standing next to me had other ideas. Already in the act, he ripped the sheet out of its 50-cent plastic holder and crumpled it up. Deciding that this was not sufficient to convey his anger, he then uncrumpled the paper, tossed it in the urinal, and resumed.

For my purposes, I'm assuming a Drexel affiliation. Call that unfair if you must, but it makes sense to be frustrated with the way the Dragons played last night.

Drexel coach Bruiser Flint certainly was. From where the local reporters were sitting, we could hear every word -- and there were plenty that don't warrant mention anywhere -- directed at the officiating.

One word to describe Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Mel Greenberg's expression during an early tirade: priceless.

Speaking of prices, former blogger Jonathan Tannenwald pointed out to me the other day that, although Drexel started a rousing chant of "Da-ddy's trust-fund!", Drexel president Constantine Papadakis rakes in almost $120,000 more per year than our own Amy Gutmann, according to the Inquirer.

I wonder if giving that much to the basketball program would have even been enough to get Penn's bench to score a single point last night. Last year, the lowest output of Penn's bench was two, which happened in a home loss to St. Joe's and a road win at Hawaii. The latter turned out to be the 2005-06 Quakers' biggest win.