Sunday, March 23, 2008

A Few Last Baskets







Aside from attending the last official basketball at Robertson Memorial Field House, I, my husband, John, and son, Luke, have had a couple other opportunities to grace the raised hardwood floor on Maplewood. About a month ago, our friend, Mick Kenny, invited us to come watch the St. Mark's 6th graders he coaches play the 5th graders on the Hilltop. Afterwards, we got to shoot around. Luke, at age 4, couldn't get the ball to the basket without an assist from one of the adults. But he's a pretty good dribbler. During John's basketball career at Bradley in the mid-70's, he was a shooting specialist, and he hasn't lost his touch: he made 7 3-pointers in a row.

Our other excursion to the Field House was today, on Easter Sunday. We were killing time, driving around, waiting for an Easter egg hunt to start. My sister pulled into the Field House parking lot, and lo and behold, one of the doors was open. Despite the ominous warnings about trespassing taped to the door, and with trepidation, we entered the Bradley shrine.

The floor was lit and the scoreboard read 79-79. All the theater seats were gone and many of the red bleachers had been neatly excised from their moorings. My son, two nieces, and one nephew had fun running up and down the stairs, which had seemed so steep to me as a child, and across the wooden floor. I looked up at the box where countless games had been broadcast by WMBD and WIRL. My brother's girlfriend marveled that she'd never before seen an arena like this. My brother-in-law speculated about how loud it must have been in there, with the roar of the crowd bouncing off the steel beams supporting the ceiling. An orange water dispenser stood by the scorers' table. On the table was a sheet dated March 22, 2008 from the men's Bradley practice. Here's the drill:

11:00-11:15 Stretch
11.15-11:25 Fastbreak Sequence
11:25-11:35 Big/Small Shooting
11:35-11:45 One Man Down
11:45-11:55 Big/Small breakdown- "D"
11:55-12:05 5 Minute Scrimmage
12:05-12:10 Free Throws
12:10-12:20 5 Minute Scrimmage
12:20-12:30 Shooting

I hope that the Bradley men win on Monday against Ohio University and that this isn't the last of their practices at the Field House.

The Field House is musty and old. It was created from recycled materials. Except for the Papa John's pizza signs above the bleacher sides of the stadium, it lacks the advertising that is ubiquitous in other arenas. It honored A.J. Robertson at a time when naming rights weren't purchased by corporations.

There is something a little bit holy about the Field House

1 comment:

Kismet said...

Someone from Peoria.com left me a message saying the doctor that used to take care of the kids from Guardian Angel lived in your home. My mother was there from 1929 until about 1936 or 1937.

I am not sure why, but he/she believes you may have records from that time. Is this true?

Thank you....