Category: Commentary

Demise of the Philly Big 5 ???

A rivalry in decline: Does anyone still care about the Big 5? 

The Temple News 12/20/22

The Big 5 is as passé as DVDs, Blockbuster’s and 8 tracks. Its heyday was back in the 1960s and 1970s where Palestra Big Five games were sellouts complete with noisy student sections, raunchy rollouts and streamers after the first basket. The building rocked back then.

Today’s Big 5 games are played with the passion of a CYO game.

The Big 5 has become the Big 1. At a recent Big 5 doubleheader featuring LaSalle vs Temple and St Joe’s vs Penn, only 3300 people showed up. Watching the games on TV, I noticed that as the camera panned the crowd, that many in attendance were alumni of decades past, a lot of gray hairs. The squeaks of sneakers on the gym floor were louder than the desultory cheers of a largely disinterested crowd.

It’s been a long time since a Big 5 school other than Villanova could attract or recruit a five star prospect. Past coaches were colorful and respected recruiters and strategicians. They could take unheralded players, many who were local stars, and create disciplined and competitive teams. It’s hard to know or remember the names of the current Big 5 coaches especially since Jay Wright has retired.

Fran Dunphy is the current dean of Big 5 coaches with his current stint at LaSalle and past head coaching jobs at Temple and Penn. If he can hold out a few more years, he could land a potential future job at St Joe’s. (St Joe’s has not had a winning season since 2015-16 season.)

Pro teams, in the distant past, would scout for NBA eligible players in Philly but there is only one potential draft prospect and he predictably plays for Villanova (Cam Whitmore).

One does not see much hope for the NCAA tournament with the exception of Villanova but they need quite an improvement to achieve the Sweet 16 if they get in. Shown below are current records:

Villanova 7-5

Temple    6-7

Penn        6-7

St Joe’s    5-6

LaSalle    5-7

The Athletic has reported that representatives from the Big 5 schools plus Drexel have been meeting on plans to revive the Big 5 spirit and rivalries.

I wish them luck and offer this piece of advice:

To generate fan interest, you need exciting and competitive teams. To field competitive teams, you need outstanding players. To attract outstanding players, you need outstanding coaches and facilities. To interest and hire outstanding coaches, you need $$$, plenty of $$$. 

News: Most Influential vs Most Thoughtful

My list is decidedly different. I chose people whose contributions, judgement and commentary I respect.

Mediaite’s Most Influential in NewsEric Burleigh’s List of Thought Leaders in Media
1. Suzanne Scott Fox News1. Kara Swisher
2. Elon Musk 2. Andrew Ross Sorkin CNBC
3. Chris Licht and David Zaslav3. Maggie Haberman NYT
4. Tucker Carlson Fox News4. Maureen Dowd NYT
5. Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinsski MSNBC5. Jim Acosta CNN
6. Sean Hannity Fox6. Chris Wallace CNN
7. Matt Drudge7. Bill Maher HBO
8. Lester Holt, Norah O’Donnell and David Muir8. Jonathan Karl ABC
9. Maggie Haberman9.  Karine Jean-Pierre White House Press Sec
10. Greg Gutfeld10. Sam Harris
11. Ben Shapiro11. Charles Barkley TNT
12. Jake Tapper CNN12. Nicole Wallace MSNBC

Getting Schooled

A sober and somewhat depressing essay about the states of education and teaching within the United States.

Here are just a few of the longstanding problems plaguing American education: a generalized decline in literacy; the faltering international performance of American students; an inability to recruit enough qualified college graduates into the teaching profession; a lack of trained and able substitutes to fill teacher shortages; unequal access to educational resources; inadequate funding for schools; stagnant compensation for teachers; heavier workloads; declining prestige; and deteriorating faculty morale.

There’s a Reason There Aren’t Enough Teachers in America. Many Reasons, Actually. Thomas B. Edsall NYT 12/14/22

I‘m hardly surprised to read about the many failures of the American education system. We need to prioritize education as much as we prioritize health care and defense spending. I had not factored the effects of the “culture wars” but I can imagine the toll it has created among many teachers. The job is hard enough now without adding politics and wacky prohibitions about what is taught and what books pass a purity test.

Education and teaching was much better when I attended school between 1958 to 1974. Teachers were generally respected. There were very few incidents of parental interventions. There was bullying but not to the degree seen today. There were no worries of a crazed gunman running into a class and shooting students. There was interest in pursuing teaching as a career. How that has diminished since I attended school!

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the number of students graduating from college with bachelor’s degrees in education fell from 176,307 in 1970-71 to 104,008 in 2010-11 to 85,058 in 2019-20.

Edsall NYT 12/14/22

The failure to provide or receive a good education is a bane for the rest of one’s life. We know what the problems are. How to fix all the holes in our education system is another matter.

Running on Empty

As I get older, there is a growing list of things that I can longer do or have lost interest in doing them…

Image by publicdomainpictures from pixabay
  • Playing basketball
  • Sex
  • Jogging or running
  • Ability to focus on a televised sporting event or show
  • Enjoy dining out
  • Patiently waiting in lines
  • Doctor appointments
  • Driving at night
  • Driving long distances
  • Children parties
  • Commercials, advertisements, public address notifications
  • Traffic
  • Politicians
  • Talking politics
  • Elections
  • Donald Trump
  • Eating apples
  • Religion or talking religion
  • Feigning interest in conversations or with people where I have little compatibility

Takeaways from the Results of the Midterm Elections

  • While Democrats did not win (they lost the House), in betting parlance, they easily covered the spread and earned a draw.
  • The Democrats backed into a decent result as opposed to earning it.
  • Democrats’ best friend = Donald Trump. Trump handpicked, endorsed and campaigned for many of the GOP candidates who were generally mediocre, unqualified and sometimes uncivilized.
  • Trump also selected the Supreme Court members who put over the repeal of Roe vs. Wade that spurred angry young single women to the polls.
  • Possibly voters took notice of the January 6, 2021 Congressional Hearings and decided to mete out their punishment of a party that supported a takeover of the nation’s Capitol and electoral process.
  • Election results have encouraged Joe Biden to run in 2024. Election results did not discourage Donald Trump to run in 2024. Both are delusional old men who should leave the game for younger players.

Thoughts after Reading The Pope at War by David Kertzer

  • Excellent book. Reads like a novel. Highly recommended for students, scholars and readers interested in World War II and specifically the Catholic Church’s role dealing with the leaders of Italy (Mussolini) and Germany (Hitler).
  • While understanding that the Pope needed to proceed cautiously on the diplomatic front to protect the Church and Catholics who lived in Italy and Germany, Pius XII generally caved to the demands of the Fascists and Nazis.
  • In pre-war Germany, there was evidence of abuse committed by Catholic priests. This was used as a negotiation card by the Nazis to get Pius XII to agree to their terms.
  • Pius XII’s reluctance to speak out against the atrocities committed against the Jews was an act of moral cowardice.
  • Pius XII did not address the Nazi bombings of London, Rotterdam and Warsaw as they occurred. However he lobbied the Americans and British not to bomb Rome and the Vatican.
  • Kertzer provided stories where priests and nuns refused to aid Jews seeking to hide or flee from Nazi pursuers.
  • Pius XII did lobby Nazi authorities to protect Jews who did convert to Catholicism. He did very little to protest the poor treatment and murder of Jews.
  • Pius XII was fully aware of what atrocities were occurring.
  • Many of the atrocities against Jews were committed by Nazi officers and soldiers who were Catholic.
  • Pius XII does not merit any consideration for canonization. He certainly was no saint.

Not Recommended for Prime Time

Around this time before the elections, newspapers endorse candidates who they feel are the best qualified for legislative and executive offices. Listed below are 15 GOP candidates who I believe are unqualified for office. They all share endorsements from Donald Trump which I think is disqualifying by itself.

However here is a list of election deniers, racists, intelligence challenged, mediocre, language mangling, lying GOP candidates.

1.Herschel Walker Senator Georgia

2.Marjorie Taylor Greene House Georgia

3. Doug Mastriano Governor PA

4. Kari Lake Governor Arizona

5. Mehmet Oz Senator PA

6. Tudor Dixon Governor Michigan

7. Blake Masters Senator Arizona

8. J.D. Vance Senator Ohio

9. Ron Johnson Senator Wisconsin

10. Mike Lee Senator Utah

11. Lauren Boebert House Colorado

12. Matt Gaetz House Florida

13. Jim Jordan House Ohio

14. Sarah Sanders Governor Arkansas

15. Kristi Noem Governor South Dakota

If more than five of these idiots win, democracy will be on life support.

Book Review: Profiles in Ignorance How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber by Andy Borowitz

I got it. We have experienced some really dumb men and women in Washington and national politics. Borowitz picked on Reagan but at least Reagan had some very wise and experienced people on his staff and Cabinet. Contrast the quality of intelligence and expertise with the various iterations of the Trump cabinet.

Dan Quayle, Sarah Palin, George W. Bush and of course “The Donald” are cited in the book as national embarrassments. The dumbest candidate of all time was not mentioned in the book, Herschel Walker. Walker was outed for paying for an abortion after he claimed that he did not. This font of sanctimony is decidedly pro-life. He has consistently lied about his education and credentials. Yesterday he received a standing ovation from members of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta.

There were various spokespeople who went on news shows to defend him. Who is dumber? Walker or the people who still support him?

Borowitz’s book was meant as satire. I saw no humor in his stories. It was depressing. So very few of the people profiled by the author read books. Aides could not dumb down information for Reagan or Trump.

Unless you have been in a cave or quarantined for 40 years, most of the stories in the book have already been reported. This is not a book for Republicans. There are a number of Democrats who have experienced issues with judgment but not like the GOP.