Happy 30th, Blue Ribbon!

The college basketball season begins in earnest tonight with the 2K Sports "Coaches vs. Cancer" Classic. It's a good time to salute BLUE RIBBON COLLEGE BASKETBALL YEARBOOK on the occasion of its 30th edition. Literally "published out of a guy's garage" in the early days, the magazine has since swelled to 400 pages and covers virtually all Division I college basketball programs in detail.

It took me a while, but I finally obtained all the BLUE RIBBON back issues. The writing is a bit less quirky and a bit more "corporate" these days, there are fewer typos, and we even get the occasional splash of interior color. But the content still beats any other college hoops mag on the market (though THE SPORTING NEWS annual is pretty decent).

Stevenson opens its new gym for hoops next Monday with a men's-women's double-header. Nicky and I plan to be there.