Bringing the Beanpot to Boston Basketball

Heading into this weekend, there is an abundance of important men’s basketball storylines to follow in the Ancient Eight. After hanging on by the skin of its teeth last week against Princeton, can Yale continue its stellar play on the road? Can Harvard take down Princeton in Jadwin for the first time since the Game Boy was released? Will Cornell get its second win against Division I competition? What DOES the fox say?

However, I want to take this space to tackle a more important basketball question: Why is there no basketball Beanpot?

Backing up slightly, the Beanpot is an intercity athletic competition among the local Boston universities. Most popular is the men’s hockey Beanpot, where Harvard, Northeastern, Boston University, and Boston College play three games over two weeks to determine the best—and worst—hockey teams in the city. Played at TD Garden, the games draw heavy attendance from all over Beantown. There are also Beanpots for women’s hockey, baseball, baseball, softball, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s rowing, and cycling. Hell, even Qdoba used to sponsor a Rice and Bean Pot Burrito Bowl.

There is an easy set of candidates for a men’s and women’s basketball Beanpot. In fact, the six schools—Harvard, Holy Cross, BU, Northeastern, BC, and UMass—got together in the beginning of the year for the inaugural Coaches vs. Cancer tripleheader. Held in the Garden, the event was swallowed by the stadium it was played in. As the season opener for most participants, it fell on a Sunday in the middle of football season. Needless to stay, fewer fans showed up to the Garden than stay all the way through a Heat game.

The failure of the event to generate interest should not take away from the possible success of a prospective Beanpot. Just three years ago, Harvard coach Tommy Amaker stated that he “would certainly be in favor of anything like that.” Boston College’s current coach, Steve Donahue, who grew up in Philadelphia—the home of intercity basketball competition—also voiced his support. In Philly, the Big 5 pits each of the town’s Division I schools against each other, a throwback to an era where they all played their home games in the sacred Palestra. However, Boston doesn’t have anywhere near the same amount of college basketball history. A basketball Beanpot fizzled out in 1976 —after 14 unsuccessful years—mainly because Boston is, and always will be, a professional sports town. It is not Austin, Gainesville, or Tuscaloosa—college towns where student-athletes are lionized and Saturday, not Sunday, is the day where God delivers the gift of football.

But that is all the more reason for a Beanpot. From the Yankees and Rangers to the Colts and Lakers, Boston sports have been defined by rivalries. The Beanpot has proved a great way to develop those intercity rivalries in other sports. BU senior defenseman Adam Clendening once said, “You come to BU and you know you’re supposed to hate BC.” In basketball, the teams play each other every year, but bragging rights mean little without a city trophy to show for it.

The other main barriers to the tournament are logistical. A Beanpot would require sponsors and for many teams to give up a home game along with the revenue that comes with it. To fix what didn’t work once, the schools should harness what makes college sports great—the atmosphere and the fans. Instead of trying (and failing) to fill up the Garden, play a six-team tournament in a single gym over three days. Not only would this give the Beanpot a unique, authentic feel, but advertisers could sell anywhere between a single day pass and a three-day ticket that would span all five games. In a meritocracy, the RPI or KenPom could decide the two teams getting a bye. A more equitable proposal could rotate the two teams getting a bye to ensure different matchups every year. This could coincide with a change in venue—BC’s Conte Forum (capacity 8,600), UMass’ William D. Mullins Memorial Center (9,493), and the renovated Lavietes Pavilion all jump out as possible sites.

Ultimately, this idea will require time and a citywide buy-in. But a city that loves sports as much as Boston, especially one with two legitimate top-40 national teams in Harvard and UMass has the fans—and the teams—to see the event succeed.

—Staff writer David Freed can be reached at david.freed@thecrimson.com. Follow him on twitter @CrimsonDPFreed.