Here's the entry I promised in an earlier blog about the Holy War:

VILLANOVA VS. SAINT JOSEPH'S

This rivalry is part of the Philadelphia Big 5, but it'd still be one even if there was no Big 5. The two schools are both Catholic, but they're very different. For starters, Nova is not even located in Philadelphia, but rather in the Main Line suburbs (the affluent part of the area, people like Allen Iverson and Andy Reid among others have gigantic houses there.) Saint Joseph's is closer to the city, but is basically on the borderline of the suburbs. This hasn't stopped SJU people from claiming that "We're true Philly!" even though Temple, Penn, and La Salle are much more based in the city.

A lot of the rivalry is based off each schools' image based off the past. SJU was seen back from the 1950s to the 1970s as the school where the blue-collar Catholic kids of the city would go to college at, whereas Nova was the school of the upper class of Pennsylvania, along with a good amount of kids from New Jersey and New York as well. It's changed a lot since then, basically since SJU and Nova pretty much cost the same to attend now. Once again, that hasn't stopped the SJU people from claiming that all Nova kids are rich while they're the kids from the other side of the tracks, when the reality is that whenever SJU kids try to use that, it's basically the pot calling the kettle black.

As compared to the other Big 5 games, the intensity is ratcheted up much further, thanks to what the two schools' fanbases see each other as. SJU fans see Nova fans as arrogant, claiming that Nova fans put their program alongside Duke (which is untrue, SJU delusion at its best). Meanwhile, Nova fans see SJU fans as jealous of Nova being in the Big East (extremely true, every SJU person I talk to whines about Nova being in the Big East) and the 1985 national title (Well duh, if I were an SJU fan, I'd be jealous too considering their 2004 team, their "best team ever" only got to the Elite Eight.) But there's another divisive figure in this rivalry:

Phil Martelli.

John Chaney may have been more hated by the other Big 5 school fans, but Martelli is quickly rising up the ranks. Chaney at least had the respect of the city fans, whereas the fans see Martelli as a media whore. Basically, he has to get on every sports program on CSN and CN8, and it's gotten really annoying. The Nova and Temple fans have even dubbed him "Shill Martelli" for it.

Another thing that makes this rivalry is the delusional, crybaby SJU fanbase. They did have justification to complain about GoonGate in 2005, but then they got their panties in a bunch about the behavior of Temple students during the game between SJU and Temple this year, crying about Temple students chanting "Fuck The Hawk" and "Fuck Martellli" when their students chanted a sexually explicit epitaph at John Chaney during their first meeting at the Palestra. Then comes their inferiority complex towards Nova, which shows leading up to the Holy War, which they treat basically as their Super Bowl, which if they lose they're in a 3 month long depression for. You haven't seen a bigger group of crybabies, whiners, and basically idiots until you've seen the SJU fanbase. They even whined to the Daily News during the tournament this year about Nova getting more coverage than them. Well no shit considering that Nova was a #1 seed in the NCAAs and SJU was in the NIT. They still, according to my Temple friends, whine incessantly about GoonGate, and probably will for another 40 years.

To close, the rivalry is fun, simply for the car-wreck factor of SJU. When the tournament comes, I'll root for any other Big 5 school in it (Temple - especially since I'm a fan of Fran Dunphy, Penn, and La Salle), but not SJU. If they were to luck their way into a #1 seed again, then get bounced by a #16 seed, then there would be ritual suicide on City Avenue, but of course preceeded by whining about how Nova was probably responsible for it.