It’s the journey, not the hardware

With the 2017-18 Ivy hoops season coming upon us, I wish to share with you my one encounter with the Ivy League football championship trophy.

In 1982 I was doing post-graduate work on campus in a subject that will remain classified. (However, I will tell you that it was replete with the “three Ms”—math, molecules and, therefore, misery.) It was also the year that Penn football vaulted from doormat status to Ivy League champion. Up until this time, the football team was so incredibly bad. I once watched an opening kickoff squib a mere seven yards.

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Congrats to Penn football for beating No. 5 Villanova for the first time since 1911

Here’s a sentence most Penn football fans thought would never hold true: The Quakers beat Villanova at Villanova Stadium Thursday night, 24-13. It was Penn’s first win over the Wildcats since Oct. 14, 1911 and snaps a 14-game win streak in the series for Villanova, the fifth-ranked team in the FCS.

Pope Francis may be visiting Philly this weekend, but the first win under new Penn head coach Ray Priore was no Hail Mary. In the first half, Penn outgained the Villanova in yards, 219-29, and controlled the time of possession battle, 24:25-5:35.

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