Dom Cosentino, who covers high school football for PhillyBurbs, has just filled a void in my life.  Cosentino just launced the Big Five Post, which is what I believe to be Philly’s first Big Five Blog – it’s a welcome addition and the early returns look good. 

In honor of launch I had a virtual sit down with Cosentino to ask him Five Big Questions about college hoops in Philly.  Full Q&A ATJ

1. How/why did the blog start?

   I’m a newspaper guy, but like anyone else, I can see what’s happening to newspapers. They’re still an important medium for providing content, but they’re clearly not delivering it well. Blogs have the advantage of being quick and easy, while most newspaper sites are cluttered with too much that’s distracting — portals for buying cars and such. That stuff is important — it pays the bills — but it’s being delivered at the expense of the content, which should be simple to both find and navigate through. I’m of the opinion that journalism isn’t dying, it’s just evolving. There’s still room for good reporting because people will always want information, and they want it from someone they can trust. I have the advantage of sticking with my full-time job as a sports reporter while working on BIG FIVE POST, which is cool. The site finally got started because I was trying to think of something I was really into and that wasn’t being done. I got some help from A.J. Daulerio of Deadspin, who’s an old friend from college. He took me to Locust Bar a few months back and we got drunk. By the time we were up to our ears in tequila at the Pen & Pencil, BIG FIVE POST was born.

2. What is your relationship with the Big 5? I saw you attended LaSalle, do you have personal connections to any of the other schools?

   Other than being a La Salle grad who has covered the Big 5 for PhillyBurbs in recent years, I don’t. I do have a cousin who’s a ‘Nova grad who, like me, is from Pittsburgh. He likes to say that Howard Porter is the reason he’s even here in Philly, that when he watched Porter play for the ‘71 Nova team that got to the NCAA final, he felt he had to check out the school. The rest, for him, is history. You hear stuff like that and you hang around for a while and it all kind of makes sense.

3. The Big 5 is different from most cities’ relationship with basketball in that the teams seem to have a real mutual respect.  I went to one of the Big 5 schools and I still pull hard for all the others, what is it about the Big 5 that allows for that?

   I think it’s the history of it. The newspaper guys always covered the games and the teams with an eye on the past, which was informative. But you become aware of it when you go to the Palestra — there’s just something magical about the place, corny though that sounds. And last year, on Selection Sunday, I finished my work and popped into a bar on my way home. There was a group of guys just sort of hanging out, and all of a sudden one of them asked something like, “Who’s the best point guard in Big 5 history?” Instantly, names like Howie Evans and Jameer Nelson and even Guy Rodgers were thrown out. I sat with those guys until 3 a.m., and they were still talking when I left. I like to think there are conversations like that going on in bars all over the city all the time, and I want BIG FIVE POST to tap into that.

4. What are some of your personal favorite memories of the Big 5?  Give me an anecdote or two that could convince someone who didn’t know all about history and tradition to tune in.

   My favorite one — and it is personal — came just last year, when La Salle beat St. Joe’s 90-89. It was exhilarating from start to finish. I think St. Joe’s made something like 63 percent of its shots … and still lost. But that’s what happens. It’s crazy. St. Joe’s and Temple played two regular-season games last year, and both won by one. You just never know, and that’s what makes it cool. Seeing that St. Joe’s team in 2004, the one that went undeafeated and got a No. 1 seed, was just incredible. But then to watch the Hawks get all the way to the NIT final the following year was almost as amazing. I had the privilege — and I consider it a privilege — to be around when John Chaney was coaching at Temple. That was a guy who LOVED his players –which is why he rode them so hard — and every one of them loved him back, Anyone who’s ever been to the Holy War (Villanova-St. Joe’s), or to Penn-Princeton, is going to know what I mean about what makes the Big 5 special. Heck, even Drexel hosted NC State in a postseason game two years ago. They all have their moments, and they just keep coming.

5. In a sentence each, what are your thoughts on the current teams?

   St. Joe’s has to find a way to blend the old (Nivins, Carr, Govens, Williamson) with a group of new freshmen.

   La Salle can defend and rebound, but it’s still not quite there mentally — at least until it wins a big game. Villanova is banged up, and the Big East is just impossible again this year — but the ‘Cats are a veteran, tested group.

   Temple has a surefire All-American in Dionte Christmas and a kid on the come in Lavoy Allen, plus Fran Dunphy silenced all doubts with the job he did last year.

   Penn struggled last year, but much of its core is back, starting with Tyler Bernadini, the Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

   Drexel is young, but it had a good recruiting class and may finally see some promise from Chester High’s Kenny Tribbett. 

Good stuff all around, remember to update your blogrolls and stop by B5P to welcome Dom to the neighborhood.

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