One man's quest to visit every NCAA D1 football stadium

All right, so the University of Miami's been caught in a humongous football scandal following Ohio State, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oregon, and, as the King

Frank Deford | Aug 24, 2011

One man's quest to visit every NCAA D1 football stadium /

All right, so the University of Miami's been caught in a humongous football scandal following Ohio State, North Carolina, Tennessee, Oregon, and, as the King of Siam used to say, "Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera." What's more to add? The sport is totally out of control, and neither the college presidents nor the NCAA can do anything but make dopey, empty promises. So why bother? Let me instead, tell you a nice college football story.

It is about...a quest.

On November 13th, 1954, young Dick Wessels, a high school sophomore, went to a football game at Purdue. Fifty-six years and two hundred and sixty-four days later, on August 4th, 2011, Richard H. Wessels, a labor lawyer from Geneva, Illinois, arrived at Bulldog Stadium, home field for Fresno State. He had done it. Wessels had visited the stadiums of all 120 NCAA Division 1 college football teams.

I mean, sports fans tend to like to collect stuff. I've heard of fans going to all major league parks. I've met people who spend their time going to sports Halls Of Fame. Autographs, cards, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. But fifty-six years and change to go to 120 stadiums, from Massachusetts to Hawaii ---- this takes the cake. "I'm a quester," Dick Wessels says. "I'm a leaf blowing in the wind."

Think of it. Places like Boise State, which the Quester visited on July 26th, on what he calls "my last push," didn't exist as a four-year school when he began his pilgrimage. Also, he usually must travel alone. His wife, he says, thinks he's a fine fellow, but nuts in this one particular territory. Nonetheless, if Wessels hits the highways and byways all by his lonesome self, he finds plenty of company. Athletic directors, fascinated by his quest, often personally escort him around their stadium. He's the part owner of a minor-league baseball team, the Kane County Cougars, so, in season, he usually goes to a minor league game at night.

He also loves opera; so, while traveling on the pigskin path, he seeks that out too. During his final climb to the college football summit - Washington State, Idaho, Boise, Nevada-Reno, San Jose State, Fresno State - Wessels diverted to Denver and saw five operas. Yes, Buckle Down, Winsocki one day, Un Bel Di the next.

For the record, he thinks Ohio State - saw it in '89 - has the most impressive stadium, while Ole Miss - 2005 - seemed "the neatest."

Now that the long journey has ended, Wessels says "I'm taking a rest for awhile," but he does admit sometimes to a hankering to visit all the existing minor league baseball parks. He has, after all, a head start on that, and with only another couple hundred or so to go, Wessels should be able to knock that off by, oh, the mid 21st century. Not to mention, on the side, hear a lot more Carmens and Aidas, Rigolettos and La Traviatas.

Published Aug 24, 2011

FRANK DEFORD

Frank Deford is among the most versatile of American writers. His work has appeared in virtually every medium, including print, where he has written eloquently for Sports Illustrated since 1962. Deford is currently the magazine's Senior Contributing Writer and contributes a weekly column to SI.com. Deford can be heard as a commentator each week on Morning Edition. On television he is a regular correspondent on the HBO show Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel. He is the author of 15 books, and his latest,The Enitled, a novel about celebrity, sex and baseball, was published in 2007 to exceptional reviews. He and Red Smith are the only writers with multiple features in The Best American Sports Writing of the Century. Editor David Halberstam selected Deford's 1981 Sports Illustrated profile on Bobby Knight (The Rabbit Hunter) and his 1985 SI profile of boxer Billy Conn (The Boxer and the Blonde) for that prestigious anthology. For Deford the comparison is meaningful. "Red Smith was the finest columnist, and I mean not just sports columnist," Deford told Powell's Books in 2007. "I've always said that Red is like Vermeer, with those tiny, priceless pieces. Five hundred words, perfectly chosen, crafted. Best literary columnist, in any newspaper, that I've ever seen." Deford was elected to the National Association of Sportscasters and Sportswriters Hall of Fame. Six times at Sports Illustrated Deford was voted by his peers as U.S. Sportswriter of The Year. The American Journalism Review has likewise cited him as the nation's finest sportswriter, and twice he was voted Magazine Writer of The Year by the Washington Journalism Review. Deford has also been presented with the National Magazine Award for profiles; a Christopher Award; and journalism honor awards from the University of Missouri and Northeastern University; and he has received many honorary degrees. The Sporting News has described Deford as "the most influential sports voice among members of the print media," and the magazine GQ has called him, simply, "The world's greatest sportswriter." In broadcast, Deford has won a Cable Ace award, an Emmy and a George Foster Peabody Award for his television work. In 2005 ESPN presented a television biography of Deford's life and work, You Write Better Than You Play. Deford has spoken at well over a hundred colleges, as well as at forums, conventions and on cruise ships around the world. He served as the editor-in-chief of The National Sports Daily in its brief but celebrated existence. Deford also wrote Sports Illustrated's first Point After column, in 1986. Two of Deford's books, the novel, Everybody's All-American, and Alex: The Life Of A Child, his memoir about his daughter who died of cystic fibrosis, have been made into movies. Two of his original screenplays have also been filmed. For 16 years Deford served as national chairman of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and he remains chairman emeritus. He resides in Westport, CT, with his wife, Carol. They have two grown children – a son, Christian, and a daughter, Scarlet. A native of Baltimore, Deford is a graduate of Princeton University, where he has taught American Studies.