"Hurrah for the Red and... start the freakin' music!"

Many preseason tournaments are played at a neutral site, and for Penn, the Philly Hoops Classic at the Palestra was no exception.

Over the course of the weekend, the two Penn men's games drew 5,083 and 3,871 to the Virginia and Navy games, respectively.

Philadelphia native Sean Singletary received a bigger cheer before the opening tap than any Penn player, and the Seton Hall crowd may not have been as big as the Penn contingency, but it was certainly louder.

I understand it is Thanksgiving break, but this overall showing was pretty sad - I'd at least think there'd be some Philly basketball fans who just wanted to see a Big 5 team play a ranked opponent or a local All-American point guard play.

But what was even more depressing was the abscence of the men and women in the burgandy polos.

The band was at the Virginia game on Friday night, but somehow not there against Navy on Saturday. How are people back at school the day after Thanksgiving but not two days after? What if Penn beat No. 23 Virginia and was in the championship game on Saturday, would the band have showed then?

Brian Grandieri could find the positives in a bleak situation.

"I thnk the younger guys can realize what Ivy League play is all about, Grandieri said. "A lot of games probably have similar attendence. We missed the band tonight, but we really have to create our own energy, especially on the road. I hope guys remember this and hopefully we come out a little faster than we did."

And it was one thing to go through a game at the Palestra with a sparse crowd, but to hear the fans sing "The Red and the Blue" at the end of the game a capella? Truly a sad sight.