In Class - Site Observation @ Ball Gym

In this in class assignment I have been asked to comb through my site observations at Ball Gym, where we have played most of our games in the West Side Basketball Association league, and filter the information into several categories, including sights, sounds, tastes shapes, etc.

SIGHT
The first thing you really see when you get to Ball Gymnasium is the exterior of the building itself. It has an older, somewhat castle like appearance. It is also surrounded by other campus buildings, and the many varieties of trees that the North Quad has to offer. There are steps leading up to the many sets of doors of the main entrance. When you go through this double set of doors, you find yourself looking at an entry way comprised of two sets of stairs on the far left and right of the entrance that both go up, and one larger and more centralized set of stairs that takes you down a level in the building. To get to the gym itself, the easiest route is taking the set of stairs on the far right, and then going to the doors straight ahead of you, and slightly to the right when you reach the top. The gym itself has many windows, all of which have been rigged up with protection against flying sports equipment. The bleachers are a blue plastic material, and rather uncomfortable if you ask me. The interior walls are a light yellow colored brick, but very smooth. The gym floor is a light tan wood, with a blue circle at mid-court, with a large white “B,” for Burris Laboratory School, in the middle of it. The gym itself appears to be worn an torn in its days of operation.

SOUND
The sounds of Ball Gym itself are much like the sounds you can find in any other gym here at Ball State, or in a high school in another town. During a game day, the sounds can be more interesting. You can hear fans clapping and cheering on their favorite teams, a ball bouncing on the hardwood, and many pairs of shuffling and squeaking tennis shoes. Every once and a while you can hear the ball either striking the rim, or tickling the interior of the net, causing a swooshing sound to emulate throughout the gym. On a day when there are no games taking place, you can find the gym to be dimly lit, mostly from the outside light pouring into the gated windows, and very little, if any sound resonating throughout the gym’s interior.

SMELL
The smells can vary from game to game, and day to day even. On a game day, you might smell the players, with their efforts on the court producing body odors, such as sweat, and deodorant being pushed to its limits. You can also smell the guy sitting next to you, with too much cologne, or the girl rooting on her boyfriend who is on the court playing, with clearly a bit too much Bath and Body spray for anyone to handle. You might smell the snack that the person 2 rows back decided to bring along to that particular days game. It all depends on the specific day that you are in attendance.

I hope I have given everyone a better grasp on what your surroundings and senses would be like if you were to ever attend a game at or even visit Ball Gymnasium. I have tried my best with my notes and personal experience to bring what I have collected to life, so even without ever being there, you can live it as well.