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The best thing about college basketball has got to
be the rivalries, think about some of the great ones:
Duke vs. UNC, Kentucky vs. Louisville, Indiana vs. Purdue,
even Penn vs. Princeton. It seems that every school
has their hated “rival” – even my
high school had Marian Catholic just a couple of miles
away. When you play these teams even the students who
could care less about sports still come out to watch,
it gives you a sense of pride to beat your rival, not
to mention bragging rights. A Penn State graduate once
told me in regards to their football season, “I
don’t care if we lose every other game this year,
as long as we beat Michigan.” Beating the rival
can give even the bleakest of seasons a silver lining.
Well here at Drexel we have our rival too, and no
it's not UPenn, we’ve actually played UPenn just
16 times in our history. No, our rival is a team from
“the first state,” Delaware – perhaps
had the founding fathers known just how big this great
land was they wouldn’t have made their first state
so darn puny. Nonetheless, how did UD become DU’s
biggest rival? And more importantly, why? Why not St.
Joseph’s, why not Penn, why not the Haverford
School? At least they’re in Philadelphia!
I mean seriously, Delaware? I don’t know about
most people but the first thing that comes to mind when
I think of Delaware is a scene from Wayne’s World
when Wayne proclaims with little excitement, “Wow,
I’m in Delaware.” Then there’s an
episode of The Simpsons when Bart comments on the family’s
impending trip to the first state, “I want to
visit a screen door factory!” The fact is there
is just nothing about Delaware to get excited about,
however on the same note there’s not much to get
upset about either, unless you genuinely dislike tax-free
shopping. So just how did the Fightin’ Blue Hens
come to be Drexel’s greatest nemesis, was it some
kind of punishment, did we draw the short straw, did
we not show up on the day when rivalries were assigned?
The answer is none of the above and if you think about
it this rivalry indeed makes a lot of sense. For as
long as I’m aware of, UD has always been in the
same conference as Drexel, the two schools have played
126 games against each other in their long history.
A large faction of Drexel’s student population
comes from Delaware and after witnessing some of it
first hand, I can understand how growing up in a family
of Delaware fans can make you resent that damn Blue
Hen. In Delaware, Blue Hen sports are life, the state
has no professional teams, and only one other D-I college
so the people down there take UD sports very seriously.
The Delaware fans’ loyalty is more evident when
you figure that the average age of someone attending
a UD football or basketball game is well over 65. Finally,
factor in that the two schools are less than an hour’s
drive apart and things start to make sense.
The Drexel/Delaware rivalry has proven to be one of
the most competitive in the region, if not the country.
Since its inception in 1911 the Blue Hens lead the All-Time
series 65-61. Coach Flint however, is 3-2 against UD
since coming to Drexel, including a 2-game sweep last
season. The Dragons have also beaten Delaware their
last 3 trips to the DAC.
If the Dragons are going to stretch their home win-streak
against UD to 4 it's going to take a very big effort.
Delaware began the season picked to finish 4th in the
CAA by the coaches, just ahead of Drexel, but their
strong play so far (7-4) has many believing they’ll
contend for at least 2nd place. The Blue Hens are lead
by Pre-Season First Team All-CAA SG, Mike Ames. Ames
is one of the most feared 3pt shooters in the conference.
He is coupled in the backcourt with another Pre-Season
All-CAA performer, PG Mike Slattery. Slattery is believed
by many to be the best “true” point guard
this conference has to offer. Slattery and Ames are
the main reason that Delaware has one of the top backcourts
in the conference. Their front court play has been a
problem so far this year but they recently got a boost
when 6’8” Harding Nana, a transfer from
Virginia Tech, finally became eligible.
I look for the Dragons to expose Delaware’s
weaknesses in the paint at the start, feeding Sean Brooks
as much as possible. If Brooks can stay out of foul
trouble he should have a field day against the weaker
Blue Hens’ big men. This will cause UD to start
double-teaming Sean, leaving plenty of open looks for
our 3pt shooters. The Dragons have been playing great
perimeter defense lately highlighted by Phil Goss and
freshmen sensation Bashir Mason. If the Dragons defense
is up to the task and we knock down the open looks that
Brooks will cause Drexel should pull this one out. Mark
my words however, it’s going to be a very close
game.
For me, beating Penn is what I’d most like to
see every year, I think we all know students at Penn,
its only blocks away and those Ivy League punks need
to be brought back down to Earth every once in awhile.
However, even in the years when we lose to the Quakers
we’ve always got that silver lining game, so to
steal a line from my friend at Penn State, “I
don’t care if we lose every game this year, as
long as we beat Delaware.”
Mike Wychulis
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