'Hey Day', cheesesteaks and Big Five basketball

AFTER 2 A.M.: The Mecca and Medina of Philly cheesesteaks (see below) are too far away from campus for late-night eats. Closer to campus is The Greek Lady, which observes the extended college weekend and is open until 3:30 a.m. from Wednesday through Saturday. The Lady got her start as a food truck 20 years ago and only recently opened a restaurant. It carries your standard fare of hoagies and steaks as well as authentic Greek dishes.

MUST-EAT: Like the Jets and the Sharks fighting over the same Manhattan turf, Pat's and Geno's battle for the heart of the cheesesteak connoisseur. Located across the street from one another on 9th Street (where Wharton crosses Passayunk), both are frequented by celebs. Geno's attracts the pop-culture crowd -- Justin Timberlake, Nicholas Cage, Michael J. Fox and more American Idol contestants than you want to know. Pat's is the choice for the more politically-minded. Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, Senator John McCain and CNN's Larry King all have their pictures on the wall at Pat's.

RULE #34: You aren't hungover during Spring Fling, you are "Flungover." Or Penn students routinely call their peers at Wharton Whore-tons.

ONLY AT PENN: Held on the last day of classes, "Hey Day" marks the official advance of the junior to senior status. Armed with bamboo canes, red T-shirts and Styrofoam "straw" hats, the juniors march through campus to College Hall, where Penn's president proclaims them seniors. As you walk, your friends are supposed to take bites out of your hat (don't worry, they don't eat the Styrofoam, they spit it out), and by the time you reach the hall, your hat should be gone and your transformation to a senior complete.

THE PENNSTITUTION: Smokey Joe's Bar (the cool kids call it Smoke) is the Penn bar, and Wednesday (dubbed "Sink or Swim") is the night to be there. Penn students pay a $5 cover for the privilege of 50-cent drinks from 10 to midnight.

MUSIC MUST-STOP: Opened in 1968, the Electric Factory was the center of Philadelphia's counterculture. In 1995 the Electric Factory opened its most recent incarnation at 421 N. 7th Street. This fall Jason Mraz, Busta Rhymes, Ben Folds and G. Love will stop by. To hear Penn's student bands, head to Smokey Joe's on Sunday nights.

DOSE OF CULTURE: To combine pop and classical culture, go to the Philadelphia Art Museum. Run the steps like Sylvester Stallone in Rocky, and when you reach the top, take time to pretend you are in a slo-mo movie montage and raise your arms like you just knocked out Apollo Creed. Afterward, you can work out your brain with a stroll through the museum. Or you can skip the art, head over to Lincoln Financial Field and heckle opposing NFL teams.

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: The Big Five Classic, Dec. 3: Traditionally the Big Five Classic featured all six of the D-I Philly-area teams (poor Drexel is not considered a Big Five), but ESPN got greedy and took away the St. Joe's--Villanova game, moving it to Rivalry Week. Yet the doubleheader still has its merits. Students from all four schools pack the storied Palestra to support their teams. This year Drexel takes on LaSalle followed by Temple-Penn.

Penn-Princeton: The last gue team other than Penn or Princeton to win the Ivy League go to the men's NCAA tournament was Cornell in 1988. Without a conference tournament, this home-and-home series usually determines the Ivy's March Madness rep. Sadly, when Penn hosts the Tigers this March, the school will be on spring break.

TICKET MASTER: Franklin Field seats a whopping 52,000, but the Quakers are lucky to draw 15,000 even though they consistently sit at the top of the Ivy League football food chain. Penn athletic events are free except for the most popular team, men's basketball. To get good season tickets for games at the Palestra, students are encouraged to sleep over. If you don't want to spend an evening on the court, you can buy individual tickets for the big games (Big Five Classic, Princeton) easily, though they tend to sell out by game day.

PACK YOUR: Wonder bread. After the third quarter of Penn football games, students sing the school song, Drink a High Ball. Before Prohibition, students would sing the last line, "Here's a toast to dear old Penn," and then have a toast. Students now throw toast instead of having a toast. There is even a toast Zamboni, built by a Penn engineering student, to clean up the field after the toast has been tossed.

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