Round trip: Fan of college games wants to see them all

Ned Hirsch gives new meaning to the words "basketball junkie."

He has traveled from his home in Rockville Centre, N.Y., to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament at Joel Coliseum not because he's a fan of any particular MEAC team but because he has an objective.

He wants to see every NCAA Division I men's team play at least once.

"It's not really a goal," Hirsch, 55, said. "It's more of a quest of mine."

Hirsch fell in love with college basketball in the 1970s, as an undergraduate at the University of Virginia and as a graduate student at Syracuse University.

Watching games turned into a hobby, one some might consider a little out of control. There are 345 Division I men's team this season, and by the time Hirsch leaves town this weekend, he'll have seen games involving more than 250 of those schools and his share of TV timeouts.

Hirsch, a lawyer with a very understanding wife, says one reason he hasn't yet seen every team is expansion in the division.

"Schools keep moving up to Division I, and it's hard to go to someplace such as Montana or somewhere just to see one game," he said. "It's a lot easier seeing the whole conference in a tournament."

Hirsch already knows he'll have to make a special trip to Durham someday to watch N.C. Central, which is making the transition to Division I and eventually will join the MEAC.

"That's why I call it a quest," he said. "I'm not sure I'll ever complete seeing every school because of expansion."

The MEAC Tournament is Hirsch's 13th conference tournament. He attended the Southland Conference Tournament in Katy, Texas, last season, but, to his disappointment, didn't see every team.

"As it turns out, not everybody in the conference gets into the tournament, so I only saw eight schools play," Hirsch said. "And there are also other conference tournaments where the early rounds are played on campus sites. That makes it tougher."
Hirsch says that basketball isn't the only reason for his travels. He enjoys checking out tourist attractions in the cities he visits and says he loves meeting fans from different schools.

His quest has gained steam as he has added to his list.

He has even had outside help. The NCAA got wind of what he was doing and sent him tickets to the 2008 Final Four in San Antonio. The NCAA also asked him to blog about his Final Four experiences on its Web site.

"I was seated near Rev. Jesse Jackson, Bill Russell and Sandy Koufax," Hirsch said of his one Final Four appearance. "That was my one shining moment."

Hirsch has a long list of highlights from his basketball obsession, starting with his first game in 1971, when he saw Bobby Knight coach Army to a victory over Cincinnati at Madison Square Garden.

He also has father-and-son experiences he has seen Patrick Ewing and Patrick Ewing Jr. play in person.

And he has watched some of college basketball's great coaches and great players, including Julius Erving (Massachusetts), Michael Jordan (North Carolina) and Carmelo Anthony (Syracuse).

And although Hirsch concedes that ESPN analyst Dick Vitale has seen Duke play "probably 300 times," he thinks he has seen things that Vitale has not.

"I bet Dick hasn't seen a Sam Houston State game before," Hirsch said. "But I saw them play last year."

March is Hirsch's favorite month because all of his work targeting a tournament to watch, making travel arrangements and securing tickets comes together.

And then there's the basketball. He says he has been to all the big conference tournaments, including the first Big East Tournament in Providence, R.I., in 1980.

"This is fun, and I enjoy it," Hirsch said Tuesday while watching N.C. A&T play Howard. "I really love this time of year."

Hirsch, a die-hard fan of the New York Yankees and New York Jets and a season-ticket holder for both, says he gets mixed reactions from people when they learn about his quest.

"Some people think I'm a little crazy, but others will say, 'Why haven't I thought about doing that?"' he said.

jdell@wsjournal.com.