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One Sunday afternoon in early February, I found myself sitting in a cold, half-empty gymnasium in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. I was watching Rider and Loyola - two of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference's perennial doormats - fall all over each other. It was halftime, and the two squads had barely made it out of the twenties, spending most of the first half going end-to-end without scoring. I asked myself a logical question.

"What am I doing here?"
True, I had a stack of laundry back at home in Philly, and a copy of The DaVinci Code that had been stuck on page 67 since the previous summer. I was sure that something, somewhere in my apartment needed dusting, and it had been a while since I gave my cat a proper bath.

But it was the thirty-fourth game I had seen live since the Coaches vs. Cancer doubleheader at MSG in mid-November. The lure of new and different arenas far afield made for a great excuse for weekend mini-roadtrips, and there was usually a game somewhere in town on weeknights. My worst evening of college basketball beat my best evening of watching reruns on "TV Land."

"I wonder if I could make it to a hundred," I wondered.

Baseball has a bushel-full of magical statistical numbers that form instant associations - 755, .406, 73. But the Century is one of the few memorable numerals in basketball - Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 for the Philadelphia Warriors two score and two years ago in a tiny arena in a town better known for its chocolate, just a couple hours' drive from here. In an NBA era where everyone whines about playing time and "touches," it's not likely that this mark will be broken anytime soon, and college teams score 100 so rarely that they usually give everyone free tacos when it happens.

Sitting there in the "Broncs' Zoo," I knew it was too late to go to sixty-six games in a little over a month. But I did end up going to 82 before the season was out - the Century was a mission not quite impossible. I knew there would be no grand prizes awaiting me if I did this, and my grandkids would probably care less than less about the stories. It's all about gaining a sense of silent satisfaction. I'll bet even Dick Vitale doesn't get out to games that often. Oh, for the chance to be his "daddy."

I formulated a strategy - non-conference games, exhibitions and early season mini-tournaments in November and December would be important. If I could make it to 30 by New Year's, I'd be in good shape. Once the conference season started, there would be games everywhere - 20 each for January and February wouldn't be that much of a stretch. Conference tournaments' early rounds offer the rare opportunity for three or four games a day, and careful travel planning could yield big results. Throw in a few NIT games, a trip to the NCAA first/second rounds... and suddenly 30 games in March is a reasonable and attainable goal. There you have it - a hundred college basketball games.

It did occur to me that this entire exercise would be pointless and boring unless I recorded it somehow. I mean, if a dopey, slightly deranged hoops freak from Philadelphia goes to 100 college basketball games, and nobody notices, does it really happen? The linchpin of this blog will be this quest, and I'll make sure to post lyrical details and snapshots of all games I attend. Perhaps a unifying theme will emerge, and perhaps all this will make a good book. Hmmm. Nahhh, nobody buys books anymore.

Here, for the purposes of posterity, is the list of all 82 games I attended during the 2003-04 season.

#eeeeee class=story>

Date	Location	Details
2003.11.14	New York City (Madison Square Garden)	Coaches vs. Cancer Game 1: Pittsburgh vs. Alabama Game 2: St. Joseph's vs. Gonzaga
2003.11.17	Philadelphia, PA (D.A.C.)	Game 3: Drexel vs. 320 All-Stars (exh.)
2003.11.20	Philadelphia, PA (Liacouras Center)	Game 4: Villanova at Temple
2003.11.21	Philadelphia, PA (The Palestra)	Game 5: Wisconsin at Pennsylvania
2003.11.29	Philadelphia, PA (The Palestra)	Game 6: Illinois at Temple
2003.12.02	Philadelphia, PA (D.A.C.)	Game 7: Lafayette at Drexel
2003.12.06	Philadelphia, PA (The Palestra)	Philadelphia Big 5 Classic Game 8: Temple vs. Drexel Game 9: Penn vs. St. Joseph's Game 10: Villanova vs. LaSalle
2003.12.08	Philadelphia, PA (D.A.C.)	Game 11: Quinnipiac at Drexel
2003.12.09	Philadelphia, PA (The Palestra)	Game 12: Villanova at Pennsylvania
2003.12.20	New York City (Madison Square Garden)	Dreyfus Classic Game 13: Texas vs. Duke Game 14: Richmond vs. Manhattan
2003.12.23	Newark, DE	Game 15: Siena at Delaware
2004.01.03	New York City (Madison Square Garden)	Big Saturday Game 16: St. Francis NY vs. Quinnipiac Game 17: Holy Cross vs. Marist Game 18: Fairfield vs. Michigan Game 19: St. John's vs. Niagara
2004.01.10	Millersville, PA	Game 20: IUP at Millersville (D2)
2004.01.15	Philadelphia, PA (D.A.C.)	Game 21: Delaware at Drexel
2004.01.17	Rowan University, NJ	Game 22: Montclair State at Rowan (D3)
2004.01.17	Newark, DE	Game 23: Old Dominion at Delaware
2004.01.28	Philadelphia, PA (Liacouras Center)	Game 24: St. Bonaventure at Temple
2004.01.31	New Brunswick, NJ	Game 25: Notre Dame at Rutgers
2004.01.31	Jersey City, NJ	Game 26: Loyola at St. Peter's
2004.01.31	Long Branch, NJ	Game 27: Central Connecticut at Monmouth
2004.02.04	Philadelphia, PA (Tom Gola Arena)	Game 28: Rhode Island at LaSalle
2004.02.06	Philadelphia, PA (The Palestra)	Game 29: Harvard at Pennsylvania
2004.02.07	Philadelphia, PA (D.A.C.)	Game 30: William & Mary at Drexel
2004.02.07	Dover, DE	Game 31: Maryland-Eastern Shore at Delaware State
2004.02.07	Philadelphia, PA (The Palestra)	Game 32: Dartmouth at Pennsylvania
2004.02.08	New York City (Madison Square Garden)	Game 33: Boston College at St. John's
2004.02.08	Trenton, NJ	Game 34: Loyola at Rider
2004.02.10	Princeton, NJ	Game 35: Penn at Princeton
2004.02.13	Bethlehem, PA	Game 36: American at Lehigh
2004.02.14	Easton, PA	Game 37: Holy Cross at Lafayette
2004.02.16	Newark, DE	Game 38: UNC-Wimington at Delaware
2004.02.18	Philadelphia, PA (D.A.C.)	Game 39: Old Dominion at Drexel
2004.02.19	Long Branch, NJ	Game 40: LIU at Monmouth
2004.02.20	Philadelphia, PA (The Palestra)	Game 41: Brown at Pennsylvania
2004.02.21	Brooklyn, NY	Game 42: St. Francis NY at LIU
2004.02.21	New York City, NY	Game 43: Dartmouth at Columbia
2004.02.25	Newark, DE	Game 44: Virginia Commonwealth at Delaware
2004.02.26	Trenton, NJ	Game 45: Manhattan vs. Rider
2004.02.27	Philadelphia, PA (The Palestra)	Game 46: Cornell at Pennsylvania
2004.02.28	Easton, PA	Game 47: American at Lafayette
2004.02.28	Princeton, NJ	Game 48: Cornell at Princeton
2004.02.29	Philadelphia, PA (Liacouras Center)	Game 49: Fordham at Temple
2004.03.03	Philadelphia, PA (Liacouras Center)	Game 50: Massachusetts at Temple
2004.03.05	Albany, NY	Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference First Round Game 51: Rider vs. Loyola Game 52: Iona vs. Canisius Game 53: Siena vs. Marist
2004.03.06	Staten Island, NY	Northeast Conference Quarterfinals Game 54: Central Connecticut vs. St. Francis NY Game 55: Fairleigh Dickinson vs. Wagner Game 56: Monmouth vs. Mount St. Mary's Game 57: Robert Morris vs. St. Francis PA
2004.03.07	Upper Marlboro, MD	Patriot League Semifinals Game 58: Lehigh vs. Bucknell Game 59: American vs. Colgate
2004.03.08	Richmond, VA (Ashe Center)	Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference First Round Game 60: Norfolk State vs. NC A&T
2004.03.08	Richmond, VA (James Arena)	Colonial Athletic Association Final Game 61: Virginia Commonwealth vs. George Mason
2004.03.09	Richmond, VA (Ashe Center)	Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference First Round Game 62: Maryland-Eastern Shore vs. Bethune-Cookman
2004.03.10	Dayton, OH	Atlantic 10 First Round Game 63: Xavier vs. St. Bonaventure Game 64: Rhode Island vs. LaSalle Game 65: Duquesne vs. Massachusetts Game 66: Richmond vs. Fordham
2004.03.11	Cincinnati, OH	Conference USA Second Round Game 67: Alabama-Birmingham vs. Charlotte Game 68: DePaul vs. Texas Christian Game 69: Cincinnati vs. Louisville Game 70: St. Louis vs. Memphis
2004.03.12	Indianapolis, IN	Big Ten 2nd Round Game 71: Illinois vs. Indiana Game 72: Michigan vs. Iowa Game 73: Wisconsin vs. Minnesota Game 74: Michigan State vs. Northwestern
2004.03.13	Cleveland, OH	Mid-American Conference Final Game 75: Western Michigan vs. Kent State
2004.03.17	Villanova, PA	NIT First Round Game 76: Drexel at Villanova
2004.03.19	Kansas City, MO	NCAA Tournament, First Round Game 77: (7) Memphis vs. (10) South Carolina Game 78: (2) Oklahoma State vs. (15) Eastern Washington Game 79: (12) Pacific vs. (5) Providence Game 80: (4) Kansas vs. (13) Illinois-Chicago
2004.03.21	Kansas City, MO	NCAA Tournament, Second Round Game 81: (7) Memphis vs. (2) Oklahoma State Game 82: (4) Kansas vs. (12) Pacific

Warm-ups are over. Now it's showtime.

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