Those of you who are my Facebook friends may have scratched your heads a bit yesterday when reading my status which stated:
“Emily watched the world famous Princeton Tigers humble the Quakers last night.”
If you saw this and didn’t scratch your head, well then I’m not sure you are worthy of my Facebook friendship. Clearly, I lost a bet and was following through on it, as only gracious losers do.
The statement was a half truth at best. Yes, I did attend the Penn / Princeton basketball game on Tuesday night at the Palestra BUT 1) the Princeton Tigers are far from world famous and 2) there was no “humbling” as the basketball game in question came down to the final 30 seconds. And Penn lost valiantly.
Our Occasional Fodder writer, Geoff and I have been trash talking each other for weeks. You see, Geoff went to Princeton and when he realized he couldn’t get a job with an undergraduate degree from that school, he decided to upgrade and go to Penn Med. But for some reason, the man continues to bleed orange. I think he has a weird thing for New Jersey. I don’t know.
But we all went to the game on Tuesday after some really good Mexican at DiStrito.
Despite the fact that Dave went to Penn, met his lovely wife there, and supposedly has a fondness for our shared alma mater, he called “Switzerland” early in the process. He wouldn’t even sit in the same row as us. I think he was scared about getting in the middle. Besides, it was already uneven stakes in the battle of wits because did I mention Geoff… uh… went to Princeton? And as everyone from Penn knows, these poor, uptight saps are just not that quick.
Speaking of “not quick”, the basketball game was quintessential IVY League competition. There are no scholarships, no grand aspirations to go pro after graduating, and no egos (except for the Princeton fans in the stands) – just good old fashion, really slow hoops complete with he necessary accoutrements for intellectual fans. There are mediocre cheer leaders, goofy songs that make us feel superior to those who don’t know the words, and political conversations that go on during time out. In fact, the most contentious moment of the evening came not from Geoff’s loud Tiger support but from a comment he made about Ed Rendell who also was in attendance. (see first pic, four rows up, second from aisle on left, bald head, yellow tie) I swear the guy next to me was going to reach across my lap and K-I-L-L Geoff for his praise of our governor.
Had the politico goon made a move, I would have saved Geoff because I’m tough that way after spending my formative years on the urban streets of West Philadelphia while he tip toed through the tulips on some grassy knoll on the way to eat at his “Dining Club”.
The truth is nothing is more fun than a long standing school rivalry. If anything, it gives you the chance to insult someone who is pretty much beyond reproach every other day of the year. These Teflon genius people need to be taken down a notch every now and then, and if it takes a basketball victory to do it, then so be it. Just wait until next year.
