Notes and Notables (Cusick signs, Bilsky on scoreboards)

Two items of note in your Penn Athletics news this Friday:

After a whirlwind couple of days, pitcher Paul Cusick signed a contract with the Phillies Thursday, officially employing him with the team he grew up rooting for. My man Chan Park, summer sports editor for the DP, has a story in this week's issue, which you can read here. You can also watch this video courtesy of Penn Athletics, in which Cusick notes that he'll be bringing sunscreen down to Clearwater, Fla., where he'll begin the pro-acclimation process with other draftees.

In news on campus, Dick Jerardi of the Daily News writes about some improvements coming to a Palestra near you this offseason — notably, new scoreboards. In the article, Athletic Director Steve Bilsky admits he doesn't know quite how old the current scoreboards are, but Jerardi guesstimates that they're somewhere between "25 and 40 years old."

The issue with updating the scoreboards is that any time something changes in the Cathedral of College Basketball, the Palestra diehards go up in arms. The AD says he's trying to walk a fine line between improving the fan experience while not changing the arena's atmosphere. Interestingly, Jerardi writes that the scoreboard facing Penn's student section will be nicer than the one facing opponents' fans:

"The east end board, opposite the Penn student section, will have video capability. The other board, behind the students, will also have bells and whistles. But, Bilsky promised, they won't be leading anybody in cheers."

While I'll miss the teletype style ads for Amtrak and the Inquirer, the ability to watch a replay sure goes a long way towards bringing Penn basketball into the 20th century. Maybe if we had the new videoboards last season we could have seen this when it happened. (Perhaps Bilsky is reconsidering now...)

Jokes aside, Bilsky actually mentioned these scoreboards in our editors' sitdown back in January. Back then, the AD was a little vague on the timetable, saying he would like to get it done by next season, and it now appears that it will be done by then. He also mentioned using it for other purposes:

"What I could see happening is using the Palestra for things beyond basketball — maybe have movie nights and things like that where students can come down and utilize the facility in a way that’s beyond a basketball game." Or, he continued, "If you had an NCAA Tournament game, you could bring people down to watch it on the screen." A big 'if'. If movie nights do come to fruition, I'm putting in my request now for Air Bud. Or anything with Denzel.

Bonus note: check out this adorable slideshow of small kids playing field hockey and football at Franklin Field. Wondering why? read this article.