Penn @ Columbia Live Updates

Hey everyone. Neil Fanaroff here in snowy Manhattan to cover tonight's contest between Penn and Columbia. Stay inside, stay warm, and follow along with me as I'll be keeping you updated as to the goings on up here.

Penn @ Columbia

Student Attendance, The Line, and Ticketing Policy

In today's DP, I looked at dwindling student attendance and considered some causes and solutions for the problem. But of course, today was just about the busiest news day ever at Penn, so I don't blame you if you missed the column. Either way, I thought it would be good to continue the discussion here at The Buzz.

So I encourage you to read it anyways, but if you don't want to take the time, my basic points are this: 1. The Palestra will be packed again when the Quakers are again a winning team 2. The student ticketing policy needs to be changed if the Quakers want to enjoy a true home court advantage.

Read below the jump for some further analysis. Basically, I argue that lagging student attendance is a direct consequence of poor play, and point to UCLA's dwindling attendance figures as my basis. From what I saw at the Cornell game, students will return to the Palestra when they again expect Penn to win. This isn't too much of an argument, in my opinion, as just about anyone would rather see a win than a loss.

But I don't think that a winning team is enough to solve the core issues. Two years ago, the ticketing policy was changed to a general admission system, a move that I personally have always been in favor of. But to preserve a meaningful Line, the general admission policy came with the stipulation that only students who participate in The Line would get to sit in the lower bowl portion of the student section, while other students would sit in the upper bowl.

This, I believe is a fatal flaw to any hopes of a legitimate home court advantage, as you can read in my column. While I toyed with eliminating The Line altogether, my solution is three simple factors: 1. Keep The Line, and perhaps even extend it to make it more of a commitment 2. Reward Line participants with free season tickets 3. Have a complete general admission policy for student season ticket holders. The first students to show up to games at the Palestra get the best seats, regardless of whether they participated in The Line.

So what do you think of my plan? Love it? Hate it? Think it's absolutely unreasonable? Got a better idea? Sound off in the comments below, I'd love to hear some feedback.

Set your TiVos now

We have already chronicled the spectacle that is the Trinity men's squash program, which this weekend extended its NCAA-record winning streak to 224 en route to claiming its 12th straight national title.

The Bantams defeated host Yale, 6-3, for the championship on Sunday. But the big story became the taunting -- and, ultimately, shoving -- between the teams' No. 1's. First, the lack of sportsmanship made SportsCenter. Now, it's the focus of today's Outside the Lines. Tune in to ESPN at 3 p.m. ET or check your local listings.

Here's the Yale Daily News' account.  Penn, by the way, earned the B Division crown.

(HT Andrew Kaufman)

Toni Kukoc's son commits to Penn

It's been a rumor for some time now, but now it's official. Toni Kukoc's son Marin Kukoc has committed to Penn. Dick Jerardi writes in today's Daily News: "Penn got a commitment from Marin Kukoc, Toni's son from Chicago. He is just the latest in what is shaping up as a terrific recruiting class."

What Jerardi says is right. Penn has a dynamite recruiting class coming in next year, no matter which way you slice it. I've been covering the Class of 2014 extensively here on The Buzz, and it now stands at seven total players: Steve Rennard, Casey James, Dau Jok, Miles Cartwright, Cameron Gunter, Fran Dougherty and Marin Kukoc.

As far as I know, it's not over yet. Kevin Panzer, who committed to Penn and then de-committed, is not out of the running to re-commit. I'll be clear: I don't know anything for sure, except that he hasn't made his decision yet and Penn is still pursuing him. And I also don't think Penn is done pursuing other options, even with the huge class they already have.

As for Kukoc, the NBA pedigree is obviously the first thing that sticks out. He is a 6-6/6-7 swingman at about 185 pounds (that's a guess on my part). I don't know much else about him at this point, but the DP should have a full story later today or tomorrow. But I posted some videos after the jump which will hopefully give a better sense of him as a player.

And here's a look at Marin Kukoc off the court:

I'll say one thing for sure, Zack Rosen is going to have lots and lots and lots of shooters around him next year. If Penn isn't the best three-point shooting team in the league in a year or two, then the Palestra isn't the greatest college basketball arena in the country.

But on the flip side, I could see there being major problems with next year's roster. Here's how it stands now based on players who are expected to return: Zack Rosen, Jack Eggleston, Rob Belcore, Tyler Bernardini, Dan Monckton, Mike Howlett, Conor Turley, Zack Gordon, Larry Loughery, Brian Fitzpatrick, Malcolm Washington, Sean Mullan, Tommy Eggleston and the seven recruits. That's a total of 19 players, which is completely absurd for an Ivy League roster (or any college basketball roster). It seems all the recruits are still going to stick with Penn, unless something drastic and unexpected happens, which could mean some upperclassmen get cut from the roster. Is that really possible? We'll just have to wait and see.

The last interesting point I'll make for now is how this is going to affect the coaching search. Unlike the last time Penn went looking for a coach, the cupboard isn't bare this year. Whoever takes the helm next year, whether it's Jerome Allen or someone else, is going to have a superstar point guard for two years and a group of seven freshmen who could all wind up being quality players.

I still think Allen is the clear front runner, and he has played a role in these recruiting efforts which certainly gives him even better odds, but you can't put them at 100% just yet, and this class along with Zack Rosen could attract a coach with an impressive resume. Yet again, we'll just have to wait and see.

Yale vs. PENN live blog

Welcome to the Palestra for Penn vs. Yale. This is Joe Sanfilippo with you tonight, along with Eli Cohen and Noah Rosenstein. Follow along with us live on our live blog.

Yale @ PENN

Rosen wants Allen back

I was at the Brown game last night, but didn't go to the postgame press conference. However, Brian Kotloff did and passed along this quote from co-captain Zack Rosen about whether Jerome Allen should be hired full time as head coach:

"Undoubtedly. I don’t know if I’ve hinted at it or tried to hint at it in different ways without saying he’s our guy, but Jerome Allen is the right person for the job and they should hire him as soon as they possibly can. They should be begging him to stay.

"He demands respect. He knows what it takes to win and he’s gonna do everything that it does take. He’s willing to put in the work. He’s special with people. I could write a list on the top of this stat sheet for you and get it to you next game."

And at least one columnist at the DP agrees with that. What do you guys think?

Brown vs. PENN live blog

Hi, Penn basketball fans! This is Brian Kotloff bringing you live updates from the Palestra. It's the start of the second half of the Ivy season for the Quakers, who will look to even their League record at 4-4 against the Bears tonight. Follow along with me by clicking the link below, and also check our twitter page at twitter.com/dailypennsports.

Click Here

More bad news for W. Hoops

It's a dark time for the women's basketball team. At 1-20 (0-7 Ivy) and -- despite the hopes of Sarah Bucar and Mike McLaughlin -- with no real reason to expect a turnaround, the Quakers may wind up with the worst season in program history.

Now this: The City Six career points mark held by former Penn great Diana Caramanico was broken last night by Drexel's Gabriela Marginean. The forward's 19 points against Towston gave her 2,428 for her career with four games remaining.

At least Caramanico's 2,415 points remain the Big 5 mark to beat.

Princeton videos

Here's some video coverage of last night's Penn-Princeton game.

Game highlights

Post-game press conference

Penn v. Princeton Live Blog

Hi everyone, this is Michael Gold live at the Palestra with both Lauren Plotnick and Calder Silcox. We've got about 25 minutes to game time at the Palestra. Tonight, the Quakers tackle rival Princeton.

We'll be liveblogging tonight's game, as well as updating on Twitter throughout the night.

Click here to join our live coverage

M. Hoops multimedia coverages

Those of you who have been following here for a while know me as the sports journalist/editor who tries to be at the center of every discussion and the forefront of every news story. Well, that stuff is still a part of me, but I've taken on a much different role in the DP this year as the Online Managing Editor, whereby I run our website, theDP.com, and manage our multimedia content. Well as a newly born multimedia junkie and a former (but in many ways still current) sports writer, I am placing a lot of emphasis on multimedia for our sports coverage. As such, this weekend's first home basketball games since I became Online Managing Editor presented my best opportunity to practice and showcase what I plan on doing with sports multimedia in the next year. So after the jump you'll find all the things we did with multimedia this weekend, and I insist on having a lively and constructive discussion about my work and what you all think are the best ways we can use multimedia to enhance our sports coverage moving forward.

First, on the night after each game, we put together some quick (and easy) photo slideshows with all of our photographers best images from the games. I would love to embed the slideshows here on The Buzz, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. So here are links to our Cornell slideshow and our Columbia slideshow. Our talented sports photo editor Pete Lodato took some amazing photos of the Cornell game using a special flash system that's available in The Palestra but we previously were unaware of. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but I'm sure Pete will be happy to discuss it in the comments (he's like a giddy little kid when he talks about photography). If you notice many of the photos have a flash in the background, which comes from multiple angles and provides perfect lighting for the photos. That's what I'm talking about here.

If you have any thoughts on the way we've set up our slideshows please let me know in the comments. Keep in mind there is only so much we can do based on our budget, technology and time constraints, but I will do whatever I can to improve what we're doing.

And now to the exciting stuff...VIDEO!! I'm making a huge push to revive our video program, especially in sports, and that started this weekend as well. I was on the court for both games shooting video, which was only my second (and third) times ever trying to shoot video. You can find my handiwork embedded below. Forgive me for my slightly shaky camerawork, especially during the press conferences (when I should've used a tripod but couldn't find the one the DP has). Nevertheless, I'm sure you avid Penn sports fans will enjoy what we've put together. And again, let me know your thoughts in the comments.

One last thing: I can't figure out how to embed the videos from theDP.com, but I've embedded the videos from our YouTube page for your convenience.

Cornell game highlights

Cornell post-game press conference

Columbia press conference (I got footage from the game too, but had no time to finish editing everything since I'm still learning and taking my time doing all this stuff).

Panhel at the Palestra (Penn's eight sororities had a tug-of-war fundraiser at halftime of the Columbia game and the DP covered it so I put together this footage as well. After all my job isn't just sports anymore).

And as always, outside of this discussion of multimedia, I'm always up for a heated chat about some real sports stuff.

Penn vs. Columbia M. Hoops Live Blog

Hi everyone, this is Ari Seifter live at the Palestra with 25:00 to game time. The Quakers will try to back up an impressive upset of #22 Cornell last night against Columbia tonight. Penn theoretically controls its own destiny in the Ivy League, as unrealistic as that seems.

Click Here

The Aftermath to the Cornell Upset

In case you haven't heard, Penn had a pretty big win yesterday. In addition to reading our recap (which links to a full box score), check out our sweet photo slideshow from the game, taken by DP Photo Editor Pete Lodato. (You can also read the Cornell Daily Sun's recap if you so desire).

Upsetting the top team in the Ivy League would have been a pretty big deal regardless of the program. But throw in Cornell's No. 22 rank, and last night’s game is garnering national recognition.

Pat Forde at ESPN.com has a post that discusses three big games yesterday, including the Quakers' upset. He calls Penn's win "certainly the biggest league upset of the year nationwide. Might be the biggest upset, period." That link also has a video interview with Zack Rosen and Jerome Allen. Yahoo Sports also asks if this was the upset of the year.

In addition, here's another ESPN article about the wide-open Ivy race. On that note, Penn (3-2 Ivy) is technically in control of its own Ivy League title destiny, since it will take on both Cornell (6-1) and Harvard (5-2) again and has yet to face off against Princeton (5-0). As a friend of mine joked, if Penn wins the rest of its games this season, it will win the national championship. Of course that isn't going to happen -- nor is it even likely they will sweep the rest of the Ivy slate. But a team that many thought would struggle to win four or five Ivy games, has already won twice on the road and is now undefeated at home after upsetting the No. 22 team in the nation.

Cornell vs. PENN live blog

Hi, Penn basketball fans! This is Brian Kotloff bringing you live coverage of the Quakers’ first Ivy League home game against Cornell. Penn is looking for its third Ivy win of the season, but it will need to pull off a monumental upset of the Big Red in order to do so. Follow the action along with me below.

Cornell vs. PENN

Ed. Note: The DP's story on tonight's game can be found here. We'll be updating steadily and filling in some of the missing details.

A poll in which Penn is ranked way ahead of Cornell

Sure the Ivy League champion football season was great. And even if the basketball team is 3-15 at least there's a lot to talk about with the team.

Yet for those of you that know me, the one sport I really get excited for here at Penn is W. Lax. I've covered three runs to the final four, including last year's 13-12 double overtime loss in the national semifinals to archrival Northwestern. I even went to Evanston, Ill., last May for a game in which the Quakers fell 11-9 to the Wildcats. So excuse me if it seems premature to have a post about a team that doesn't start playing for over two and a half weeks.

But as you can see in our special online edition (Snow Day= no paper), the preseason coaches poll was released Tuesday and Penn came in third. But the Quakers will get a chance to prove they're No. 1 when they face No. 2 Maryland and No. 1 Northwestern in back-to-back weeks in early April. Both games will be at Franklin Field, and the two visitors each lost in their last appearance at 33rd and South. In the 2007 NCAA Tournament Penn beat the Terrapins 9-7 to advance to the final four and in 2008 the Wildcats lost 11-7 for the first time in 37 games.

As the article mentions, those aren't the only ranked teams Penn will play. Ivy League rivals Princeton (9), Dartmouth (15) and Cornell (19) were all ranked. And the Quakers will also face No. 4 North Carolina on the road. At the same time, this isn't new. Penn basically plays the same teams every year, though this year Maryland replaces Penn State. So coach Karin Brower Corbett -- she got married in the offseason-- doesn't have an extra hard task compared to past years.

Back in September I predicted the Quakers would win the national championship. I do realize Northwestern's the favorite to six-peat, but they are a young, albeit still very talented, team. (Then again, the last time Northwestern was this young they beat Penn in the NCAA championship game). So just because Penn's third doesn't mean I'll change my prediction. It's been three straight years of Widlcats dispatching Quakers on the final weekend of the season. Is fourth time a charm? Guess we'll have to wait and see.

M. Hoops @ Harvard Live Updates

Hey everyone, Neil Fanaroff here at Lavietes Pavillion in Boston, MA for tonight's matchup between the Penn Quakers and Harvard Crimson. Penn's looking to continue its winning ways after consecutive down-to-the-wire victories over Brown and Dartmouth. Harvard, however, looks to bounce back from its disappointing start to Ivy League play, after losing consecutive games to Harvard and Princeton.

I'll be bringing live updates to those of you stuck inside thanks to the snow, or anyone else who wants to follow along. Follow along with me here:

Penn @ Harvard Live Updates

Penn wants YOU

Calling all soccer aficionados out there: Brian "Rudy" Fuller needs some help.

The Penn men's soccer team is looking for an assistant coach -- and advertising for the opening on Pennlink, the Career Service website. Good to know that a background check is required, at least.

Here's the posting (Pennkey req.). You can apply here (through Feb. 10). And after the jump, a screenshot.

HT: Brandon Moyse

M. Hoops at Dartmouth Live Updates

Hello everyone, Neil Fanaroff here at Leede Arena in chilly (but not snowy) Hanover, NH where the Penn Quakers will tonight take on the Dartmouth Big Green. The Quakers look to keep the momentum up from Saturday's last-second victory over Brown, while Dartmouth looks to pick up its first Ivy League win of the season. You can follow all the action with me here:

Penn @ Dartmouth Live Updates

Legal Gambling on Penn

So it appears to me that we're all about the gambling here at the DP these days, but I thought I'd throw this in anyways.

For those unaware, ESPN.com has had an ongoing game for a while called Streak for the Cash. The rules change every so often, but the premise is fairly simple: they place a number of games/props for you to choose from, you pick one at a time and try and string together as long a streak of correct picks as you can. Under the current rules, the winner at the end of each month wins $100,000. It's completely free, so is a nice way for risk-averse people like myself to get a bit of a sports gambling fix and it's also very difficult.

As you can see on today's Streak page, one of the games to pick today is Penn-Dartmouth, I suppose it makes some sense, as the game is expected to be a close one, and thus a tough one to pick. Dartmouth, favored by 2 over the Quakers, has been picked by 87.2% of people as of this post, so the masses clearly are going with the 4-14 Big Green over the 2-14 Quakers. What do you think, loyal Buzz readers, should I wager by 5-pick Streak on this game? Let me know in the comments below.

On another note, tonight's matchup features two interim head coaches facing off against each other; I wonder when the last time that happened was?

See you in a few hours, when I'll be liveblogging the game from frigid Hanover, NH.

The basket still counts

The Ivy League conducted an official review of Penn's last-second victory over Brown on Saturday, and ruled that they will not take any action. There is no indication of whether they ruled the basket was released before the buzzer, but rather a focus on the NCAA rules stating that "The final determination of the outcome of the game rests with the game officials and their approval of the final score," and that game scores cannot be changed once the referees leave the court.

Based on a bit of ambiguous language, I'm not sure if the League actually found that the bucket was good, or is just saying that they won't change anything regardless. If the former, great. If the latter, I think the discussion of replay being instituted will become an even hotter topic. What do you all think? Should the Ivy League institute instant replay at all men's basketball games, regardless of whether they're televised?