THE PROJECT BEGINS


Over the next several months I will embark on a mission to experience as many college basketall games as possible throughout the five-borough New York City area and beyond. I have targeted 18 division one schools throughout the NYC/NJ area, plus 7 in the basketball mecca of Philadelphia. I, along with my leatherball junkie brethern, will see as many of these schools live as possible and provide boozy, post-game recaps of all the essentials.

There exists a rich history of basketball tradition here in New York City, and we plan to soak in it. We are concentrating on the college game here primarily, a near necessity in order to avoid having to watch the Knicks play. The first ever post-season college tourney, the NIT, took place right here in Gotham in 1938. And now, sixty-nine years later I got bored and started a blog.

College basketball is pure. It's not just about the final score or the size of the paycheck. It's about the atmosphere. We will judge pep bands on the loudness of their trombones. We will clap along to the cheerleader's routines, and boo them when they fail. We will smuggle in small bottles of liquor. In between all that, we will catch some basketball.

These are the rules of the Project, as outlined to my roundball compatriots in a pre-Christmas missive:

1. You will be required to drink.
2. You will be required to take sides. Place a bet if you can't muster up the necessary fake enthusiasm.
3. You will not be required to go to New Rochelle. Or Staten Island. Or Hempstead. Don't worry, I understand.
4. The fourth rule of fight club is there is no fightclub.
5. We're going to need an airhorn. Does anyone have an airhorn?

I understand a cow bell has been offered in substition of the airhorn, which should work just fine.

Let the games begin.