The TRAVELER'S JOURNAL: March twentieth, where March madness maniacs come to gawk.

This is the season of roundball frenzy. Basketball history is being made on high school, college and professional courts across the country, but it's being preserved in a city 90 miles west of Boston, Springfield, Massachusetts. It was here in 1893, that a young YMCA instructor, James Naismith, devised the first rules of the game. For over two decades, Springfield has also been home to the Basketball Hall of Fame.

Since its exhibits try to document all levels of the game, from high school, through college to professional, the Basketball Hall of Fame is more encompassing than its counterparts for baseball and football. In the honors court, fans will see plaques commemorating the lives of hundreds of great players, coaches and other individuals who have played key roles in the game.

But the hall holds many other attractions. The history of basketball is chronicled in a range of intelligent exhibits and interactive displays. In photo and film, the scholastic sections capture the intensity of classic high school, college and Olympic games. And there's professional memorabilia aplenty, from Bob Laniers' bronzed, size 22 basketball shoes to the uniform Wilt Chamberlain wore the night he scored 100 points.

A host of action-packed videos, a shoot-out hall and other hands-on activities insure that anyone who loves basketball will leave with a sweaty brow and a joyful heart. The Hall is open from ten to five every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.

FMI For information and directions to the Basketball Hall of Fame call: 413-781-6500 or www.hoophall.com.