Recently ESPN’s wildly popular show College Gameday rolled into north Philly to be on campus at Villanova prior to the Wildcats Saturday evening prime time match-up with the Pittsburgh Panthers. While the game featuring two of the nation’s Top 10 ranked teams lived up to it’s billing as the premiere contest of the day, the Gameday crew and especially former Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps once again stole the show.
Nearly 10 hours prior to the Panthers’ hard fought 3 point victory over the hometown Wildcats, Digger was once again up to his usually humorous antics that more times than not include matching his highlighter to the color of his tie and ends with him busting a move with the cheerleaders. Previously this season at Kansas, he donned a Michael Jackson glove and did the Moon-Walk.
And although sideline reporter Erin Andrews always seems to get the most attention, Digger decided not to don his dancing shoes but pay some homage to Philadelphia boxing legend Rocky Balboa, even if he was just a legendary movie character. For those of you who haven’t seen any of the flicks in the Rocky franchise, you’re missing the boat on a very entertaining story of how an unheralded boxer shocks the world by becoming the World Champion but also showcases the gritty hard working downtown areas and the struggles of growing up poor in Philadelphia.
During one of the show’s lead-ins we were treated to Digger decked out in sweats, shadow-boxing with some hanging beef, and running up the steps of the fabled Art Museum steps, and of course, clinging to his now famous highlighter. Funny stuff.
Check out the unveiling of Digger Balboa:
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
