Jay Wright: College Basketball Is a Religion in Philly

With Villanova headed to the Sweet 16 and Temple and St. Joe's looking toward next year, the local spotlight is squarely on Jay Wright and the Wildcats. And what better regional and national representative for a program is there than Wright? He says all the um... correct things, he coaches with intensity, and his team has won at least two games in the NCAA tournament three times in his seven seasons as Nova's head coach.

Rooting for another Big 5 team can be tricky business for the countless alums of Philly schools living in the area. Some treat it as a never-ending war and refuse to support anyone but their alma mater. Others drop the face paint once their team is out and support the guys left standing because they're Philly sports fans no matter what. However, although Villanova and St. Joe's have passionate fanbases, but they also seem to draw the ire of opposing teams' supporters more than the other local programs. There are a few reasons for this, but for Villanova, the most significant may that under the previous regime, they backed out of Big 5 play for a while in the hopes of avoiding the inevitable loss or two that comes along with intense rivalries. As kids, many of us became 'Nova fans when they stunned the nation in 1985, but some of that support gradually diminished when Steve Lappas was in town.

Wright brought a lot of local fans back into 'Nova Nation when he rekindled the local series and in a short time took the program back to national prominence. He showed loyalty to the program and the city when he turned down offers offers for more "prominent" coaching jobs, like Kentucky, to stay in Philly. After the jump, there's some great audio of Wright on yesterday's 950 morning show talking about the Big 5 and the passion this city has for basketball.

I gotta admit, it's hard not to get behind him. St. Joe's on the other hand...

Comments

[Justin]

Awesome. I added this to my site and I referenced you guys.

[Carl P]

I would like to mention that St. Joe's fans are bigger douches than Nova fans.

At the Great American Pub in Conshohocken on Friday night, all the Nova fans that arrived early for the Nova game were rooting for St. Joe's near the end of their game. It was a cool atmosphere, and unfortunately, St. Joe's couldn't pull it out.

Then the Nova game started, and the mood in the bar quickly changed. All the Joe's fans began rooting for Clemson. I was pissed (being a Nova fan) and stood up at one point to tell a group of Joe's douches to "go the hell home - you're out of the tourney - go home" (this was right after a Clemson run, and I was pissed at their cheering). My friends gave me a round of applause.

As usual, it's a one-sided rivalry. Regardless, go Nova.

[DSD]

I live outside of Kutztown, about 60 miles or so northwest from the city, so I kind of look at the whole Big 5 thing as an outsider. I don't have any relatives who attended these schools, so I have no entangling alliances to any of them. My dad grew up in Philly, and my allegiance really is to anything Philadelphia. I want all the Big 5 teams to do well, and I really have no preference of one over the other. With that said, I can also understand the intense hatred between the schools, especially St. Joe's and Nova. I just want to see Philly represented well. I think the fact that it has been 30 years since Philadelphia has not been represented in the tournament is one of our proudest traditions, and I wish nothing bad to any of the Big 5 (including Drexel)

[Chamomiles Davis]

Ditto what Justin said.

[wendy]

Carl P, not to be picky, just accurate, didn't Nova win the tournament in 1985? That's 23 years ago. And Philly has had good representation in the tournament the past few years. Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point.

[wendy]

Sorry, guess it was DSD that posted the comment I'm referring to.

[Chamomiles Davis]

wendy,

I think DSD meant he/she was proud that at least one Philadelphia college has made the tournament every year for the past thirty years.

[theKrisheim]

there might've been 4 people in The Grog for the second round game, spring break i know, but whatever

they lose by 16

nice guys finish last

[Michelle]

Check your calendar, the 2nd round game was on Easter Sunday, and Villanova IS a Catholic institution! I don't think the lack of people in the local bars cheering them on reflects anything but the bad timing.

[theKrisheim]

you got me, i am an atheist without a calendar

[Not a fan of five]

my philly sports favorite list:

Phillies
Flyers
St. Joe's
Drexel
Sixers
Other Philly schools
My high school
Phantoms
Wings
Soul
That MLS team in Chester
My grade school
Eagles

[bboova]

Philadelphia College Basketball is bigger than whatever is the stupid fucking reason that you don't like St. Joe's.

Look how Handsome Jay Wright is!

[Charlie]

The "hatred' comes 100% from St. Joe fans because the Nova fans are too involved with the Big East. Haws will never live in the present --- only the past. I find they irritating and just wish that they would grow up and act like adults. They have always been jealous of Villanova because they will never have what Nova has - class and confidence.
I am a native Philadelphian and I could care less about the Big Five. The majority of players and students at all 6 Philadelphia schools are not from the area and the "rivalry" means little to them - except for the parochial hawks.

[Matt P]

@Boova: I agree, Wright looked terrific in that radio interview.

Re: my stupid reason: I can't root for the Hawks because the rivalry between Temple and St. Joe's was pretty intense when I was at TU. After all we said and did back then, it'd be totally hypocritical for me to change my tune now or any other time StJ might succeed. Maybe it will fade with time, but not so far.

Also, Martelli isn't man-pretty enough for me.

[Phils Phan]

Only difference between a St. Joe's student and a 'Nova student is that the 'Nova student was accepted for admission into St. Joe's.

Hey-o!

[Chamomiles Davis]

I spoke with an elderly gentleman this weekend who is both a fellow alumnus of Villanova and a lifelong Wildcat fan. He told me the rivalry between St. Joe's and Villanova stems from the orders that teach at each school.

The Jesuits, who run St. Joe's, blame the Augustinians at Villanova for the Protestant Reformation (Martin Luther, apparently, was an Augustinian priest). The Jesuits were established as a force of the Counter-Reformation.

"Holy War," indeed!

[themajor]

I might not know my catholic history correctly but I believe drexel is the only school to be associated with an actual saint other than in its name, just saying