True fans know you play five at a time: the ECAC stages a quintupleheader, and 11 hours, 8 minutes later, some want more

Sporting News, The, Dec 13, 1993 by Bill Heller

The ECAC stages a quintupleheader, and 11 hours, 8 minutes later, some want more

So, you think you're a college basketball fan, do you? Ready to sacrifice the essentials? Food? Eat at the game. Family? Not today.

TV? Set the VCR.

A whole day? Certainly.

That's what real college basketball fans did last Saturday at the ECAC (as in Eastern College Athletic Conference) Challenge at Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, N.Y. Five games in one day at one site. Unlimited basketball. For $12. Is this a great country or what?

Excluding tournaments, the quintuple-header was believed to be the first of its kind. "I've heard of four games at one site, but never five," says Gary Johnson, NCAA Statistics Coordinator.

ECAC Events Coordinator John Garner says, "I don't know if anybody is crazy enough to do five games in one day. We did it because we wanted to kind of resurrect college doubleheaders. Our goal was to bring some exciting non-conference games in a highly visible event."

The ECAC gets points for originality. Two local Division III games, RPI vs. Skidmore and Albany vs. Union College, were followed by a division I women's matchup, host Siena College vs. the University of Vermont. Two Division I men's games followed, Vermont vs. Marist College and the headliner, Siena vs. Holy Cross. The first game started at 11:01 a.m. and the last began at 8:34 p.m., just a respectable 34 minutes late.

A common thread of the first four games was frenetic finishes. Great basketball is great basketball, Division I, II or III, male or female.

For some, the Challenge took on a different aspect. Denise Buffo started her 15-hour shift at 8:30 a.m. in a booth about the size of a postage stamp outside the arena's parking garage. By 10:12, 18 minutes before the gates opened, she'd just for customers.

But, hey, it's a job, something Buffo appreciates. She also works in a daycare center and as a teachers' aide. Why three jobs? "Look at the world," says Buffalo, 24. "You tell me. I'm just trying to get ahead."

Her schedule Saturday included only a lunch hour and two 20-minute breaks. "It's a long day," she says. "I don't really think about what's going on inside. I'm just here in the booth." Fortunately for her, it was heated.

Inside,d while RPI and Skidmore began warmups for their 11 a.m. game, there was only one person in the 15,000-seat arena, and he was a ringer: Tim Brown, the athletic directorc at Skidmore. He was psyched for the ECAC Challenge: "It's a fantastic experience for the kids. It'll be a lifetime memory."

Brown has memories of even longer mornings, days and nights crammed with basketball. Skidmore used to be in the NAIA, and, though Skidmore didn't qualify, Brown annually went to the national championship tournament in Kansas City. Early-round tournament play began at 8:30 a.m. and finished after 10 at night. "It was a treat," he says.

Vinnie Scalzo, director of correspondencec for Gov. Mario Cuomo, and his 15-year-old son, Brian, were sitting in the first row for the opening tip of the opening game. There were only 96 other customers for the start of an historic basketball event. "I am an addict," the elder Scalzo says.s "I love basketball. We love basketball. It's an exciting game. I went to two games last night, the Columbia High School Tournament."

Scalzo, 49, had the day cased: "We're breakfast before we got here. We're going home after the 1 p.m. game, have something quick to eat, and pick up Brian's mother -- if she's ready -- and head back for the next three games." And on Sunday? "There's a girls' high school tournament at Shenendehowa, but I'm not going," he says. "The Giants are on." When he got home, his wife, Sheila, hadn't yet returned from a day trip to Stockbridge, Mass. He and Brian didn't wait around. They didn't want to miss the opening tip for Game 3. Sheila took a bus to the game to join her family for Games 4 and 5. "I really enjoy basketball," she says. "It's probably the only sport I understand."

Following a one-point victory by the Skidmore Thoroughbreds -- the college is in the horse racing capital of the world, Saratoga -- Albany State's Great Danes overcame a 13-point second-half deficiet to edge Union, 68-66. Albany State's Coach Richard (Doc) Sauers, who has not had a losing season in 37 years and is Division III's all-time winningest coach (634 wins), appreciated the opportunity to be on the same card with Division I teams: "I think it's a great idea to give Division III teams a chance to play in an arena like this. And it's great exposure."

Another fan who took in all five games was Ken Lyons, an Albany businessman who played at Trinity College.

"I fell in love with the game at age 7," says Lyons, 55. "It's been a true lifetime love affair." He didn't mind that the Challenge opened with two Division III games. "I played Division III," he says. "This is a chance for Division III players to be in a big-time atmosphere in a big-time arena."

Lyons ate at the arena: a cheeseburger, hot chocolate and hot fudge Sundae for lunch at noon, and a jumbo hot dog, Nachos Grandes and Diet Coke for dinner at 7. And it cost him only $15.