Student-athlete-cheerleaders

This post comes live from a darkened hall in the Palestra, where The Line has severely blurred the line between fan and journalist.

But as I suppress my rah-rah enthusiasm for basketball season, I can't help but be impressed at how one of Penn's weaker programs put its game face on for the big night.

Yes, the volleyball team beat Brown in a dramatic five-game match. The surprise was how forthright the team was in asking fans -- 99% of whom were attending their first Quakers match ever -- to move closer to the Palestra floor.

Not only did the visiting Bears get heckled the way few Ivy teams ever would, but -- more importantly -- the Quakers themselves were on center stage.

Normally, this wouldn't matter. But the team's sychronized cheering and spirited fanfare became more and more infectious as the game went on, and I have to give the team credit for being entertainers as well as athletes.

Coming from a team that has a highly questionable history, that's even more important.

Events like The Line are all about the fans. Tonight, I'm glad they got to see that even in as unstable a place as Penn volleyball, plenty of good things can still happen.