SC Interviews a Man of 100 Games

Kyle Whelliston is a man on a mission. His quest is to scan America for NCAA basketball, and see 100 games, up close and very personal. Kyle reports on this adventure from the blog "The Mid-Majority" (subtitled "Truth, Justice, and College Basketball"). To that end, he's witnessed everything from the Missouri Valley Conference to the Ivy League. That's not easy to do if you're getting paid, which he isn't. I decided to pick his bouncing brain.

Sports Central: What prompted all of this?

Kyle Whelliston: It kind of clicked together in a random way. Last season, I had a lot of free time on my hands, and I seemed to be attending a lot of games. Somewhere around January, I said I'd add all the games up, and the count was getting pretty high. I was sitting at a Rider game, figuring it on pen and paper, and I arrived at a total of 34. I thought, "I must have too much time on my hands." Eventually I got up to 82, including 25 games in the space of one week. I went to Championship Week, and was out on the road in the early rounds, quadruple-headers. I saw so much basketball I figured once I got up into the '80s, it wasn't a stretch to see 100 games.

SC: Sort of like the fans in Hershey, PA the night Wilt [Chamberlain] went over 80 points — they started cheering for 100.

KW: It's been suggested to me that when I reach 100, I should pose with the number written on a piece of paper, like Wilt did. I don't know that I'll do that. I thought of it as a good blog gimmick.

SC: Were you blogging prior to that?

KW: No, I started The Mid-Majority in November. I was originally going to cover the state of college basketball, and say, "By the way, I'm trying to attend 100 games." I aimed to provide news, a little database, and a box where one can enter their zip code to see what games are in their area (which I originally did for my own purposes). After about 10 games, it dawned on me that rather than just attending LaSalle and Penn games, I could start making plans and venture out a little further, and make ventures way up north and way down south. I wanted to see where college basketball is now, and provide recaps. One day, I might have a letter to a program, the next I might have a googy cartoon.

SC: How are you getting to the games? Car? Train?

KW: I go to most games in the family car. I've traveled some by train.

SC: Have you garnered much media coverage, sports talk radio and such?

KW: No, I didn't set out to do this as a gateway to a book, or a spot on ESPN. It has pretty much taken over my life. I should mention, first of all, that I have the utmost respect for anyone who makes their living as a writer. By default, writers are my heroes. I'm in awe of what you do. This isn't an attempt to get a job in sports media, or a book like [John Feinstein's] "The Last Amateurs." Feinstein was at the Palestra last night.

SC: Yes, he called into to [Tony] Kornheiser today. Kornheiser's son goes to Penn.

KW: He was on NPR yesterday, and he was talking about Illinois/Wisconsin, but he said, "But I'm not going to be at that game, I'm going to be at the Palestra, where it's really happening.

SC: He and Kornheiser agreed on-air that it's hands-down the best place in the country to watch a game. No disrespect to all the WAC arenas called "The Pit," or those places where the court is higher than the players' chairs.

KW: Someone once said that at The Palestra, 100 fans sound like 1,000 and 1,000 like 10,000, and that 10,000 fans create a din the likes of nothing else on earth.

SC: Probably Bill Conlin.

KW: I'm sure it was some crusty old Philly sportswriter. After the Palestra, there's a long silence to second place.

SC: What conferences (that you weren't previously familiar with in person) have surprised you, either in terms of fan enthusiasm or basketball talent?

KW: I've really gotten an education in the MVC. I've lived on the East Coast most of my life. I went to school at Oregon, The Pit, so I saw a lot of Pac-10 games. The middle of the country was my gap. I'm impressed with the fans from Bradley, Southern Illinois and Wichita State. I mean 20-year-old kids who can name rosters from way back.

SC: Theyve heard of Chet Walker, Dave Stallworth, and Mike Glenn?

KW: (Laughs) Yeah. The Missouri Valley is a classic mid-major. I get two or three of their games a week on the dish.

SC: Seen anybody that could knock off a larger school in a 4/13 (seeded) game in the tournament?

KW: You said you were in Orlando (for the NCAA Regionals) last year, so you saw Western Michigan. They could have beaten the six seed, Vandy, last year. Things are starting to shake out now. I read what you wrote about the NBA for Sports Central with great interest. I see a lot of that in the college game — players who shouldn't shoot three's, offenses with no one in the post, teams where no run knows how to run a fast break. They're not being paid a million dollars, but their penalty is they won't have a 250 RPI, or they'll lose to that eighth seed in the East Regionals. I've hammered on it at length. The popularity of the three-point shot, prior to that, the game required more all-around skill. It has stratified the roles of players. As far as ESPN is concerned, they're not going to air a show that examines the ill effect of the three-pointer.

SC: Not as long as ABC is airing those games. Can't bite the hand that feeds you.

KW: That's why independent journalism is so important. The networks love to see those mid-major teams with a marquee player, those teams that get wiped out by 30 points

SC: Bryce Drew.

KW: Right, remember Harold "The Show" Areceneux of Weber State?

SC: And Jerald Honeycutt at Tulane.

KW: The exceptions that prove the rule. They'll have a guy that goes nuts and gets 40 points. But to take a game in the tournament, or two, a school's gotta have an inside game and outside threats. I was in Kansas City last year, when Pacific went a round in. They knocked off Providence. The game was not as close as the score indicated. Then they ran into Kansas, which was essentially the home team. They held their own for 25 or 30 minutes, then Kansas just threw all their big men at them. Pacific is out the Big West. They had to undergo special preparations to face 6-10 guys.

SC: Holy Cross put a scare into Kansas a few years back.

KW: They play so hard. I just saw them play American U. up in Worcester, and they just throttled them. They're so anonymous. I had a few Holy Cross fans approach me and tell them I wasn't giving them enough respect, but I just have to see a team more than twice, to make sure they're not just a bunch of lunchpail guys.

SC: They could send somebody packing early (from a Regional).

KW: Yeah, but they've got to get through Bucknell. They haven't played yet, and Bucknell's stacked. When they meet, sparks are gonna fly. I'll get up to that one. I primarily commute between Boston and Phily.

SC: What's ahead for The Mid-Majority?

KW: I have a LaSalle game tonight. I'm going to Rider-Princeton, sort of a South Jersey game. There are three games in Philly Saturday. I hope to be up to 50 by next Tuesday.

SC: Was last week's snow an issue?

KW: It caused me to miss some. If I need games late, luckily, there's a regional in Worcester this year. Then I can try to get a Continental flight for about $100 to the first round games in Cleveland, I've got good friends there. I went to the MAC Tournament there last year — now those are some fans. They bring 'em in round-by-round. I could do four here and four there, or two and two and two. I hope it doesn't come to that.

SC: Did you have a writing background?

KW: I originally went to school for journalism — Oregon had the second best school on the West Coast. I was one of those kids who planned to "teach the New York Times about real journalism." This was in the early '90s. Then the Gulf War changed all that, and students began to wonder whether they could spread lies for the evil machine. The Oregonian made sweeping budget cuts, pretty much gutting the school of journalism. I studied graphic design and printing, and moved back East. I went to Drexel, the non-Big Five school. That was my introduction to Philly basketball, they were in the America East Conference, Malik Rose and all that.

SC: The Shaq of the MAC.

KW: Right. There've been so many conference shakeups. The Seaboard, the America East. I got a basic college basketball education. At Oregon, I went to all the games, Terrell Brandon was there, and he certainly made it worth showing up. But at Drexel, I discovered the Palestra. For the past seven years, I've "lived" there. I guess that's why fans accuse me of an East Coast bias.

SC: Really?

KW: I get asked why I don't cover more Western ball.

SC: Are these people offering airfare and expenses?

KW: That's my comeback to them, I'm doing this out of my own pocket, on limited finances. If they want to fly me out, and pay for accommodations, I'd be happy to cover Cal State-Northridge, or their Idaho State Bengals. I'm just a guy blogging about going to basketball games. I walk up and buy my own tickets. I got credentialed at one school, but they treated me so poorly because I was writing for the web, it wasn't worth it.

SC: Well, I wish you well on your quest, enjoy the games.

KW: Thank you.