Big 5 to Take on Gotham? Hakim Warrick Has Even Better Idea?!

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Inquirer staff writer Joseph DiStefano is reporting that the Big 5 Men's and Women's basketball conference is currently in negotiations to stage a Philadelphia versus New York college basketball tournament in the Fall of 2012.

DiStefano mentions Fordham, Columbia, Manhattan, Iona and one other unnamed NYC school as the leading candidates to take on our very own La Salle, Penn, St. Joseph's, Temple and Villanova. Just brainstorming who else could be involved, the St. John's Red Storm would round out the NY Five rather nicely.

When asked to explain his motivations, Tom Muldoon, the gentleman leading the effort, offered the following:

"It's a great time for that. Who is better today? The Yanks or the Phils? Who is better, the Eagles or the Giants? You've got these rivalries of quality."

We feel pretty confident answering all of those questions, especially that Giants inquiry, but we'd love to see this thing played out nonetheless.

Potential logistics for the proposed tournament, plus Hakim Warrick's own idea for a "Philly versus..." exhibition after the jump....

In the article, Muldoon claims the Wells Fargo Center is already an interested party and that a "fat TV contract" with an ABC or NBC is perfectly achievable. If that sounds like some big talk, fret not; the board backing Muldoon's effort is a veritable who's who of individuals across the Philadelphia sports and business landscape. Per DiStefano:

"The board leading Muldoon's effort includes Phillies boss David Montgomery, representing Penn; Citizens Bank CEO Dan Fitzpatrick, a La Salle alum; David Resnick, a donor for the sports program at Temple; Villanova donor Bob Melchionni; and investor John J. Griffin, a St. Joe's booster. Others prominent in sports and business are involved as well."

We should also mention that if Wells Fargo really is interested, that could go a long way towards securing a deal with NBC, a fortunate consequence of the network's recent merger with Comcast.

Anyway, jumping gears just a bit, but still staying on basketball, Philadelphia native and current Phoenix Sun Hakim Warrick has been generating some buzz of his own.

Thanks to the massive success of the recent Goodman League games in which some of the NBA's finest decided to go all kinds of happy-go-jacky on each other, Warrick is hoping to stage a Philadelphia vs. Washington D.C. exhibition inside the Palestra. Thank god they put in the new video boards.

This from Dave Zangaro over at CSNPhilly.com:

"[The potential Philadelphia roster could include Tyreke Evans, Jameer Nelson, Richard Hamilton, Kyle Lowry, John Salmons, Wayne Ellington, Gerald Henderson, Ronald Murray, Markieff and Marcus Morris and Sixers guard Lou Williams, who strangely enough would be the only non-Philly guy on the team."

I really don't know which I'm more excited for, the potential to see something totally bats--t freaking absurd go down so I can join one of these in-the-middle-of-the-game-on-the-floor celebratory mosh pits:

..or the possibility of hearing this music again:

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