Project

Initial Proposal:

Why all Big 5 games should be played at the Palestra. I want to do this project because my family and I are big fans of Philadelphia college basketball, and I have spent many nights at the Palestra as a little kid watching the Big 5 and Ivy League games. I would like to interview some people who have played in, coached in, or have just been around the Palestra a lot. I already have some books on the historic arena, but I need to dig a lot deeper into the topic, by talking to people though either email or in person, watching a documentary, and make a couple trips to see some games at the Palestra. I anticipate that this project will teach some listeners about the kind of rich tradition that the Big 5 games at the Palestra hold. My mentor, Ms. Ward will keep me on track with my research and work and My Topic experts, which are nurmerous people throughout the Greenberg family with provide me with information about the historic arena and all of the teams. The only problem for me will probably be staying on task and supporting my thesis statement and my driving question.

Introduction:

The Palestra has been the Mecca of Philadelphia college basketball for the last eighty-two years. It was the first college basketball arena ever built. In 1927 the city of Philadelphia took a chance on college basketball by building an arena that was strictly for college basketball. This was such a risk because of the sports lack of popularity at that time. But once the Palestra was built, it attracted many people living in the Philadelphia area, and that’s when we knew that this place was something special. In later years the city of Philadelphia decided to form a city series of college basketball games, which would include five schools, LaSalle, Pennsylvania, Saint Joseph’s, Temple, and Villanova.







http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/sports/basketball/big5/big5entry.html -This is a homepage of the Big 5 that provide information about all five schools, players, and the memoral games that took place inside the Palestra.