Whether or not you're like me and don't consider card playing a sport, no one should feel good about this decision. From the Associated Press:

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The state's highest court on Tuesday upheld the decision of state regulators to allow groups led by a Connecticut Indian tribe and a Chicago billionaire developer to build slot-machine casinos on Philadelphia's riverfront.

The Supreme Court rejected the challenge by a rival applicant that lost out on a license, and sped Philadelphia toward becoming the nation's largest city with downtown casinos.

On Dec. 20, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board chose the two casinos, Foxwoods Casino Philadelphia and SugarHouse Casino, from among five suitors. The winning projects were backed by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, which runs the huge Foxwoods Resort Casino on its Connecticut reservation, and Neil G. Bluhm, a billionaire developer from Chicago who is the biggest investor in SugarHouse.

Both slots casinos could open as early as next year.

I know plenty of people who want to go to college somewhere fun. I don't know half as many who want to go somewhere best known for bilking people out of their retirement savings.

Since I'm now officially a junior, assuming I don't fail too many of my classes, I'd like to bid a fond farewell to the DPOSTM alumni who helped make this year a little less hellish.

Thanks first go out to Zachary Levine and Josh Hirsch, both of whom were the first to train myself, Krista Hutz and Sebastien Angel in the ways of the DP. Without them the 123rd DP board would be a shambles. And I think their headcuts managed to pop up on this blog a few times over the past couple years.

Thanks also go out to our other seniors -- Matt Conrad, who I succeeded at the DP; Jeff Greenwald, who put in two terms as an editor; Matt Meltzer, a four-year staffer; and Sarah Lem, our resident senior walk-on. Also props to Fred David, our top sports photographer, who doubtless covered more Penn games than anyone over the last four years.

One final thanks to Evan Goldin, who put untold hours into making this blog actually look like a blog.

So on behalf of The Buzz, thanks for a great year. And thanks to our readers for keeping up; be sure to check back with The Buzz over the summer -- unlike our opinion-oriented counterpart, we don't slack off when school's not in session.

Two not-so-quick notes before I depart:

The women's tennis team was bounced from the NCAA Tournament by Wake Forest. That was no surprise. What was shocking was that the Ivy League rookie and player of the year and Penn's No. 1, Ekaterina Kosminskaya, didn't play.

For the athlete who probably had the biggest impact on any Penn program this year, her absence is more than a little bit strange -- especially after all the trouble it took to get her here.

Edit, 2 pm: Penn coach Mike Dowd told me this afternoon that Kosminskaya had to go home to Russia for "personal, family reasons" that coincided with the Tournament. But she will play in the individuals in Athens, Georgia, where her and doubles partner Maria Anismova -- another freshman -- will be the first Penn women's doubles team ever to compete. End update

Lastly, congratulations are in order for the women's lacrosse team, which took care of business against Boston University on Sunday. A typical Penn performance, holding the Terriers to their second-lowest point total of the year and getting goals from seven different players. Next up: No. 5 Maryland on Saturday -- this time on turf, not grass.

When Reggie Williams' 30-foot three at the buzzer was off the mark, I kicked the chair next to me and pouted for the next few minutes. No. 6 VMI lost an 84-81 decision to No. 1 Winthrop in the final of the Big South Tournament, and another chance to knock off a team slightly above Penn in the RPI went awry. Another few upsets last year and Penn might have been playing No. 3 Iowa instead of No. 2 Texas.

But Monday night, I was on the other side. After watching No. 1 seed in the Colonial Athletic Conference Virginia Commonwealth get to the championship game with a tough seven-point win over Drexel, I was really pulling for VCU to knock off No. 6 George Mason - a team that went 9-9 in the regular season, and whose RPI (120) is a good ways behind VCU (51). The Commodores went 16-2 in the CAA (13th toughest RPI conference) and 26-7 overall. But with a loss, they would not have much of a shot at the Tourney.

But even though George Mason would be one more team behind Penn in the tournament, I was happy to see the Patriots lose. For one, I really wanted to see Drexel in the Tournament, and George Mason winning would hurt the Dragons, because there aren’t going to be 3 or 4 teams from the CAA.

I had also followed the Colonial some this season - heading to the DAC to see Drexel play VCU, watching bits of the conference tournament and then seeing the rematch Sunday night. For this reason, I took a sigh of relief when Eric Maynor plucked two different players to go coast-to-coast in about 10 seconds to take VCU’s rightful spot in the Big Dance. I would have hated to see a team that fully deserved the Colonial title go down to a George Mason squad that went 0-6 against teams better than it - Drexel, Hofstra, Old Dominion (twice) and VCU (twice) - in the regular season.

So I guess it depends on what angle you take, but in the end, I don’t think it’s so bad that Winthrop (14-0 Big South) eked one out against VMI (5-9). The best sporting event in the world will be better for it, and so will the conferences that base their bids on a few high-stakes games.

Here’s a win that would really help the Quakers’ seed that's not even in a conference tournament: Penn beating Princeton.

This weekend marks the beginning of Penn’s Ivy League season, but a week from today the Big 5 schedule starts up again as well when the Quakers head to La Salle on Thursday Jan. 18, and then host Temple on Jan. 24 and St. Joe’s on Jan. 27. While the Quakers (0-1 Big 5) are one game into the Big 5 year, they don’t control their own destiny. They must win out and hope for Villanova (3-0) to lose its last city game next month to St. Joe’s.

Last night I made the trip up SEPTA’s Orange line to the Liacouras Center to see Temple host St. Joe’s. The Owls opened up a big early lead, but quickly got passed for good by the Hawks, going on to win 80-67. Here are a few notes from the game.

It was clear for any fan to see, the Hawks dominated the Owls on the inside. Temple (6-8, 0-2 Big 5) starts no one over 6-foot-6, and as a result St. Joe's (10-5, 1-0 Big 5) starters 6-10 Pat Calathes, 6-9 Ahmad Nivins and 6-8 Rob Ferguson dominated inside. The three combined for 57 percent shooting and averaged 17 points and six rebounds each. Nivins was the most active of those players, going 6-of-10 from the floor and three offensive boards, but also turned it over four times.
When the Quakers match up against the Hawks, they will probably do a much better job inside, as Stephen Danley (6-8) Mark Zoller (a generous 6-7) and Brennan Votel (6-7) off the bench have the defense, size and rebounding skills to keep them under wraps.

The St. Joe’s freshmen guards (basically everyone besides those three forwards) – Jawan Carter, D.J. Rivera, Garrett Williamson and Darrin Govens – played up to their hype. They combined for 12 assists and only six turnovers against an athletic Temple backcourt.

Temple’s 7-foot center Sergio Olmos did just about nothing. No wonder former coach John Chaney barely played him last year. In 15 minutes of play, the sophomore project from Valencia, Spain had one nice offensive rebound, but followed it with a miss from point blank range.

This was a fairly ugly game, and St. Joe’s coach Phil Martelli made sure he had the officials on his side for it. Martelli called a timeout some five minutes in just to argue with the refs. The Hawks were huddled up, but by the time he said a word to his players, the timeout was over. Whatever he said had a profound effect, his squad went on a tear and never looked back.

On the way back on the subway, Buzz writer Josh Hirsch and I ran into an interesting character. The man asked us if we went to Temple, we replied no, and he proceeded to guess what school we go to. “St. Joe’s? Villanova? Drexel? La Salle? Sciences [USP, five blocks SW of Penn]? Textiles [Philadelphia Univ.]?” After telling him Penn (while even dropping clues like it is in between Sciences and Drexel), he immediately recalled that the Quakers are in their first season under the new head coach, and start up their Ivy season this weekend. Wow, I guess that’s Philly for you.

On Monday the RPI rankings (according to collegerpi.com) placed Philadelphia schools Drexel and Villanova in the top 10, at 7th and 9th, respectively. However, neither the Coaches or the AP top-25 polls that came out that day included either squad. Drexel was the 40th highest vote-getter, while Villanova garnered none in the AP poll. Neither team got any top-25 votes in the Coaches poll. So far this year, Drexel (17th toughest strength of schedule) has beaten then No. 23 Syracuse, as well as Villanova and Temple on the road in its last three games. Villanova (9th toughest SOS) has beaten Navy, as well as Penn, Iowa and Oklahoma all on the road.

A team like Louisiana State (7-3, 71 RPI) has beaten no one in the RPI top-50 (and lost to the two teams from there it faced - Wichita State and Washington) but is still ranked AP No. 17. The rankings, especially in the early-mid season, mean little, and LSU will have to get some quality wins to keep its lofty rank. Drexel and Villanova's high RPIs are most likely due to their quality road wins, as unlike in the AP and Coaches polls, road wins have over double the weight of home triumphs.

As of Sunday, Penn was ranked as 123rd in the RPI, though different sources vary the Quakers' position a few spots in each of their ratings systems. Penn is clearly hurt by the road weighting system, as they play far more games at home than away.

Not mentioning Penn's clash with No. 2 North Carolina, here are some notable upcoming City six matchups over the break. RPI is in parenthesis.

Dec. 28: George Mason (103) @ Drexel (7)

Dec. 30: Temple (108) @ Villanova (9)

Jan. 2: Temple (108) @ No. 5 Duke (3)

Jan. 6: DePaul (50) @ Villanova (9)

Jan. 6: Mass. (91) @ La Salle (239)

Jan. 7: St. Joe's (150) @ Charlotte (129)

Jan. 8: Villanova (9) @ Georgetown (67)

I am terrible at sports predictions. I was among the bottom few in Prognostiquakers, have never won my fantasy football league and took Pitt in the Final 4 last year.

So it's clear that I don't make too many bold predictions these days. However, when Drexel matched up with Syracuse, I almost guaranteed the 8-point underdogs would win at the Carrier Dome. I told everyone, and for once I was right. Frank Elegar dropped 27 and 10 on the No. 23 Orange, while point guard Bashir Mason had five assists, five steals and no turnovers. Drexel was down 10 in the second half, but rallied for the 84-79 win.

Even drexeldragons.com used 'stunned' in the headline, but I saw it coming. Drexel is the best team in Philly, and barring a shocker on Tobacco Road, will have provided Penn its best win of the year. The 7-2 Dragons don't get the opportunity to play many quality opponents, but when they have had the opportunity, they have taken advantage of it. After losses to Penn (68-49) and Rider (89-81, OT), the Dragons have won five straight, including wins over St. Joe's, at Villanova and at No. 23 Syracuse - the latter two have accounted for half of the Quakers' losses.

What does all this mean? Drexel is ninth in the RPI according to cbssportsline.com, and with a win over Temple this weekend should definitely become a top 25 team.

It’s done. This morning, I handed in my probability final exam, the hardest test I’ve ever taken. It’s not that I was unprepared, just prepared for the wrong things.

For instance, I had the zero-one law down pat. Given a certain set of conditions, which you’ll thank me for not getting into, an event must either have probability one or probability zero. It is or it isn’t. No gray area.

So in that spirit, assume all the conditions hold, and here are my zero-one laws.

Event: Penn will beat Illinois-Chicago and Seton Hall.
Probability: One.
Never mind exams and the rust of 12 days between games. This team will be so ticked off that the Flames, 1-3 on the road, won’t have a chance, and the Quakers will carry the momentum into the Meadowlands.

Event: Penn will follow that up with a win over North Carolina
Probability: Zero
Anger won’t do a thing against the nation’s Under-20 All-Stars.

Event: Penn will shoot 50 percent from the field for the season.
Probability: Zero
The Quakers are among 24 teams making more shots than they miss, but that's a nearly impossible thing to keep up. Sorry for using the word nearly, I forgot the rules. But shooting 50.1 percent through nine games isn’t bad. Mark Zoller and Ibrahim Jaaber firing at 59 percent apiece isn’t hurting their cause.

Event: Four Quakers will average 30 minutes per game
Probability: One
I’m a little nervous about this one, because the zero-one law doesn’t let me cheat and say “if everyone stays healthy.” Steve Danley is fourth at 30.4 per game (behind Jaaber, Brian Grandieri and Zoller) despite foul trouble early on. Look for Mike Kach to continue eating into Tommy McMahon’s minutes, but nobody else’s should be in danger.

Event: Paul Arizin’s story would be laughed at by a movie producer
Probability: One
The Big 5, and the basketball world as a whole, lost a legend when former Villanova and Philadelphia Warriors great Paul Arizin passed away yesterday at 78. The script of Arizin’s life story begins when he is cut from his high school team at La Salle High School. It moves on to spotlight his enrolling in Villanova, as a student, not a basketball player and eventually being invited to join the team. By the time the credits roll around, he’s been an All-American, a Basketball Hall-of-Famer and a member of the NBA’s list of its 50 best.
Nah, too unrealistic for Hollywood.
Not for Philadelphia.

As a bonus, and as appeasement for taking time off to survive finals (sportswriters and academics mix like oil and water) here are Philadelphia’s top 10 in our player rankings.

As always, the formula, taken from the book The Wages of Wins, accounts for points, rebounds, assists, field goal and free throw attempts, steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls. This week’s are adjusted to Penn’s nine games played.

1. Zoller, Penn, 99.0
2. Crawford, Drexel, 97.3
3. Christmas, Temple, 81.8
4. Nivins, St. Joe’s, 79.5
5. Jaaber, Penn, 77.5
6. Grandieri, Penn, 71
7. Sumpter, Villanova, 70.5
8. Dacons, Temple, 67.5
9. Elegar, Drexel, 65.8
10. Harris, La Salle, 63.8

Penn faces off tonight against a dangerous and senior-heavy Drexel squad with a win over Vermont already under its belt. A win here could really help Penn down the road if Drexel has a good season. Refresh this page for live updates.

FINAL: Penn 68, Drexel 49

Penn spent the last five minutes working down the clock and pounding through Drexel's full-court press. First quality win of the year for Penn, with an opportunity for another next week against Monmouth. Not too shabby.

5:15 Second half: Penn 60, Drexel 41

This game is now Penn's to lose. Zoller and Jaaber each hit layups in transition. Steve Danley takes a seat with four fouls.

6:13 Second half: Penn 54, Drexel 39

Drexel has gone to a press with some success. Penn has burned a few timeouts trying to get through it.

6:29 Second half: Penn 54, Drexel 39

Grandieri hit the free throw and will finally get a break. On the other end, Mason hits a three. Drexel's going to need a lot more than that.

Danley also just hit two free throws after being fouled on a fast break.

11:07 Second half: Penn 51, Drexel 36

I take it back. Elegar is back in the game. If I were Bruiser Flint, I'd try whatever I could too. His Dragons do not look good, forcing shots left and right. They've gotten some fortuitous rebounds, but they are giving up easy baskets after working incredibly hard to get theirs.

Wow. Grandieri is on fire tonight. He just hit a strong layup in traffic and will try to convert the and-1 when we come back.

11:07 Second half: Penn 42, Drexel 33

Penn coughed the ball up with the shot clock running low and Rodgers took it the length of the floor for an easy layup, but Penn quickly answered. That has been the story of the night for Flint and the Dragons. Flint, just feet away from this reporter, is about to have a heart attack.

15:03 Second half: Penn 40, Drexel 30

Penn is certainly making it happen on the boards. Mark Zoller and Steve Danley each missed shots, but Penn managed to tip the ball each time and recover, and finally Grandieri got a clean look underneath. Result: a three-point play and a ten-point lead for the Quakers.

15:03 Second half: Penn 37, Drexel 28

Scott Rodgers hits a pretty teardrop floater in the lane. The Penn contingent, though, is concerning itself more with the first rollout of the night. It reads: "Stop coming to our parties."

16:01 Second half: Penn 37, Drexel 26

What toughness by Steve Danley. The senior worked for a solid six seconds under the basket, finally finding just enough room to go up and turn it into the three-point play.

Also, Flint just benched Elegar -- I'm sure for the remainder of this game -- for poor play, especially turnovers. Interesting.

17:48 Second half: Penn 34, Drexel 26

Grandieri drew no less than three defenders on the Quakers' first possession, leaving Zoller wide open at the top to nail an open three.

Drexel has not shaken the turnover bug yet, coughing it up twice on out-of-control drives so far in the half.

Halftime: Penn 31, Drexel 26

Tommy McMahon drained a three after an exceedingly long fight for a loose ball and Brian Grandieri hit two from the line, ensuring that Penn has a small lead heading into the locker room despite a late three by the Dragons.

This game was supposed to be physical and low-scoring. It is certainly the latter, but right now the only thing separating the teams is who has made fewer mistakes.

2:15 First half: Penn 26, Drexel 21

Mejia hit two free throws to bring the margin to four, and Jaaber can only get one of those back on his subsequent trip to the line.

Then Mejia hits a three, and all of a sudden Penn's lead is down to two.

But after Tommy McMahon misses the tail end of a one-and-one, Randy Oveneke commits an inexplicable foul, and Steve Danley hits two more from the stripe to push the margin back to five.

4:06 First half: Penn 22, Drexel 14

Jaaber hits a three, and Drexel's foul total gets pushed to six.

An unexpected advantage for Penn tonight -- they have not allowed the Dragons to get anything going inside.

Mejia hits a three to put Drexel within half of Penn's score, and Jaaber picks up his second foul. Still anyone's game.

8:49 First half: Penn 19, Drexel 11

Stat of the night so far: Drexel's 2-for-6 performance at the line.

Jaaber hit a floater in the lane to give Penn another two, and Darren Smith blocked a three-point attempt by Mason. But he made a bad rookie mistake on the next possession, going up for a horrible shot and costing Penn a possession.

10:37 First half: Penn 17, Drexel 9

Penn has been pushing the tempo when it can, and it results in a Zoller midrange bank shot and a long three from Jaaber.

Bashir Mason answers with a three, but Drexel needs more than that. The Dragons also can't keep picking up senseless fouls, with four already.

12:36 First half: Penn 12, Drexel 4

Grandieri again! He comes up with the ball at midcourt and finds Ibrahim Jaaber open underneath for another layup. Bruiser Flint is forced to call a timeout.

12:55 First half: Penn 10, Drexel 4

Drexel center Frank Elegar has been a force early on, grabbing an offensive board and working his way open for a layup. But while trying to save a possession, Drexel turns it over and Brian Grandieri scoops up the loose ball for an easy two.

On the next possession, Steve Danley shows his versatility, blocking a shot inside and hitting a three-pointer to extend the lead.

15:15 First half: Penn 5, Drexel 2

Both teams need to get it together, or this game is going to be no fun to watch. Nine turnovers and seven points on the board as of now.

Tramayne Hawthorne picks off a pass and takes it coast to coast, putting Drexel on the board and firing up the visiting crowd.

16:54 First half: Penn 5, Drexel 0

Impressions so far: Penn has notched some early turnovers, which they will not be able to count on the whole game. Also, letting the Drexel student section chant "This is our house!" with no one to answer them five minutes before tip-off is embarassing.

Zoller got a strong offensive board and Jaaber hit a layup in traffic for the only scoring so far.