Interview with Philadelphia Inquirer writer
Mel Greenberg

First, what sparked your interest in women's basketball?
I came from a frenzied background in basketball in Philadelphia, especially with the men's Big Five in the late 1960s and being a manger at Temple, which won the NIT in New York my senior year.

There was no particularly spark, just evolvement off of that. Dick Weiss, the well-known Dickie Hoops in the men's game now with the New York Daily News, took me to an Immaculata game one afternoon in the early 1970s.(I had already started at The Inquirer, but not in sports). It was the game I knew (the rules had changed), only women were playing it. Then when Jay Searcy arrived at The Inquirer to become the sports editor, he had been doing a women's column at the New York Times, and Immaculata had been hot stuff. It was still early Title IX days, in a sense, so he wanted to get more women's BB into the paper and asked me continue after what he was doing in New York. Having recalled what I saw a few years earlier, I accepted the deal, enthusiastically.

Did you intend to make women's basketball your beat as a sportswriter?
Back then, just getting into a major paper in any capacity was plenty. I didn't think of sports, per se, because the beat people were in those jobs for a lifetime. (I started in 1969 at the paper to give you a time sense). I actually began as an editorial assistant on the business page, but the time schedule allowed me to slowly slip into sports.

In 1976 you created what is now the AP Women's Basketball Poll at the suggestion of your then editor at the Philadelphia Inquirer, Jay Searcy (see Mad Seasons "Media Glare" chapter). Did you expect that it would become as significant as it has? Or that you would now have multiple polls to compete with?
Well, Jay thought it would become signficant. I knew two years later when the Sports Information Directors at their convention implored AP to start running the poll. The AP was not ready for full-blown coverage (although what was discussed all eventually happened and more). But the phrase, "This will turn the lights on the scoreboard for women" was uttered from their side of the lunch table.

I didn't worry about other polls because, technology what it wasn't, information availability what it wasn't, how many were out there willing to put in the work to make sure a poll would have integrity. But once USA Today came along, seeing what was occuring on the men's side, I knew sooner or later an second poll would start. And without regard to that, I was already thinking that as soon as enough writers get involved, another poll, maybe spinoff, was possible.

Why did you decide to start your own blog (www.womhoops.blogspot.com)?
The blog is a result of newspaper management looking to enhance their product in the 21st century through ways beyond print. In today's world (it wasn't always like that), as they looked around in terms of which writers could draw traffic, I entered into their gunsights. So it was their idea. But once I saw the flexibility it gave me, especially when print space became scarce, and the way readers of the blog from as far away as overseas began to respond, and knowing I could add kernels of special information to the knowledge base, besides entertain at times, I embraced it.

How has the internet affected sports and sports journalism? How about women's basketball specifically?
In the way, I just spoke about the blog, it has enhanced it, although not always in a positive manner in general. But in the women's game, a way was found to provide information that couldn't always make print in a timely fashion, if at all.

You’re the longest tenured beatwriter for the sport (with nicknames such as “The Guru” and “The Godfather”). Can you talk about some of the changes in the coverage of women's basketball over the years. Are your colleagues and readers taking the sport more seriously now?
In the early days, it was plenty to just get a short story and results out there. But as TV came along and teams and personalities became more known, the demand began for more in-depth quality pieces. With ESPN and other places developing web sites, an opportunity occurred for what was then a few knowledgable writers to gain new outlets and even make a few dollars.

How many sports editors have you worked under? Did they generally support your coverage of women’s basketball, or did you have to push some editors more than others?
Two sports editors, one now deceased, before Jay came. The other is now publisher of the Lexington paper in Kentucky and we talk from time to time. Jay is now retired in Knoxville, believe it or not. After Jay, the poll was notorious enough that even after the ballot-counting stopped here in 1995, the reputation acquired was respected. None were negative. Some were more proactive. Dwyer embraced being the host paper of the Women's Final Four in 2000. Jim Jenks, our current editor, came from ESPN research and upon arrving here used the "Guru" phrase in his introduction. And there have been situations that even if sports wasn't on board at a given moment, mangement elsewhere higher up the ladder in the newsroom was and therefore had an influence from the other side of the fence, so to speak.

Take us back to the first women's basketball championship you covered.
Penn State in 1975 -- AIAW. That had a lot of coverage for its time, because Penn State always drew attention and since many of the powers were in the East. But that was my first inkling at what a poll would do because in my preview, I mentioned several upset possibilities and did my own top 20, which was so reflected in the opening round that when I got up there for the second round, I was stunned to be approached by writers and radio times that wanted to interview me.

Now contrast that with 2006 in Boston.
But, to continue the flow. It palls with Boston that had several hundred writers. Of course, as the ringmaster of the Philly finals in 2000, with Rutgers, Geno, Tennessee, and Penn State in the mix, we set the record with over 700 credentialed media.

You've witnessed the AIAW, the growth of the NCAA, and three professional women's basketball leagues. Can you talk about the evolution of the game.
That's a Title IX thing. When I was writing about scholarships coming about, I noted the real story of the future would come out of the grade, junior, and high schools, were opportunities would produce enough quality athletes that freshmen would be pushing seniors eventually and we begane to see some of that.

How did the "Mel Greenberg Media Award" (started in 1991) come about?
N.C. State coach Kay Yow, then AIAW president, Penn State coach Rene Portland, and Illinois coach Theresa Grentz (then at Rutgers), would be best to get their side of it since I know they were among the ringleaders. I think there was a thought process that because some other media types had gotten some previous honors from AIAW, my "fan club" began to formulate ideas to do proper justice. When the media award was created as just that, everyone kept saying I was a cinch to get it. But of course, their big surprise was the permanent naming of the award.

You've been acting as sort of a mentor for a burgeoning sportswriter, Kate Burkholder, who also contributes to your blog. How did this partnership come about?
Fate. She's from our area, introduced herself one night at a Rutgers game. A week later, I had to check something I missed, went to the Rutgers paper, found it, and because the story was so well written (I could even hear my own voice in her copy), I sent her a complimentary note. She called me back and asked me to keep an eye on her work. Events then dominoed with me inviting her to the Final Four and figuring that there was enough independency in my blog that I could find a way to allow her to put her talent on display beyond her local collegiate audience. Obviously, I must have seen something special to entice people who are interviewing me to bring her name up for discussion.

How much time do you spend - either from a professional standpoint or just as a fan - keeping up with what's going in women's basketball? Do you have any type of routine you follow?
In the internet world these days, there are several quality blogs, such as yours, to take quick peaks at what's happening, and some of my groupie friends always email items they think I need to know. There's also my vast SID network and other writers who email back and forth. So that ongoing flow allows me to learn most things within 24 hours if not quicker because there are other jobs I do here, such as work the desk two nights a week, and also help cover the Drexel men. I told the coach he's my sensitivity training project for the paper.

Probably one of the most frequent complaints you hear from fans is their desire for more media coverage of women's basketball. What's your perspective on the quality and quantity of coverage?
Well, again, I think the internet has enabled that hurdle to be overcome. But, of course, the sport has its fans among many who don't much spend time on computers. Certainly, there are a large number of upper middle-agers and senior citizens who are in that situation. The biggest problem with print is the shrinking newshole these days, so things really have to be newsworthy. That's why blogs among mainstream writers have been encouraged by management. In the summer, for example, I will do more extensive game stories in the WNBA on the blog written in the same manner as if the copy would be heading for print. But, of course, to tie back to an earlier discussion, the blog does allow some departure from traditional reports to talk to the reader.

Fans often see media as being the sole culprit in regards to coverage, but teams (both college and pro) often hinder themselves, don't they?
That is correct. I know of more than several situations where media pursued stories and ran into un-returned phone calls, especially in the early WNBA years. Also, coaches might crave media attention for the sport, but in these days where fair coverage also means at times investigating bad situations (such as the recent Kansas City Star report on Kansas State), there might be some stonewalling or lack of honesty. Also, there are times, routine "team" rules will limit access for even the normalest of feature stories.

When people look back at your career covering sports - and women's basketball in particular, what would you want them to say your "legacy" is?
That's an intriguing question at this point in time. I think we could go back to the beginning. To start the poll meant to build a coverage base that would sustain a weekly vote with integrity predicated on the best knowledge available. So, it was the journalism, and not any x and o savy, that went into original formula.

Furthermore, in doing the earliest stories to prepare for my first national tournament, even though I had my own "Mel Greenberg," a gentleman named Ed Jaworski, who was the Queens media director back in the day, it still took hours to get the simplest information, which you could now do in the middle of the night on the internet.

So, in that regard, my very first thought in movning ahead was, `Ok, I'm going to do this for all the writers who will come after me so in years to come, none of them will have to through all this to produce a story."

In the process of developing the ground for them, it also opened more opportunities for overall coverage of the sport. Being ranked in the poll meant schools had to hire PR people to focus on the sport within the athletic department. As teams got ranked, their own local newspapers began covering there games and giving them better coverage.

And, none of your questions allowed this answer, but, initially, the leadership of AIAW, trying to build a new model, returned the following item on a position paper when I approached them with the concept. "Women should not get involved with newspaper games such as polls that will lead to the evils of men's athletics."

So the fact that newspaper games also inspired more schools to make a commitment, in some cases to keep up with their traditional rivals, or make new ones, the competition base grew to create a truly national perspective of the sport. That's at least me stepping outside of me to cover me to answer your question. That might be a nice question to ask others such as coaches, writers, etc., especially later on if the news warrants.

In the last several years, national awards from the SIDs, the basketball writers, the coaches, and others, allowed them all to say thank you in their own way, by making me the first media person covering a woman's sport, to receive them. Each one has been touching in its own way.

Maybe Theresa Grentz put it best a long, long time ago in a galaxy, far, far away, after the first week of the first poll. Prior to them, it would be weeks, if not months, to get scores from around the country.

When the voting board got the list of scores the very first weekend, including a few surprising upsets, Theresa remarked, "Congratulations. You've brought us all together."

Will we ever see a Mel Greenberg book?
I think I just wrote you one. :) Do you mean about me? Who knows? By me. I have a few ideas about a year-by-year history with the polls, and what happened, and the breakthroughs, that would be different than some similar ones that have been published. So, we'll see.