All-Star Weekend

This Sunday in Ball Gymnasium, the West Side Basketball Association will be hosting their annual “All-Star Weekend.” Starting somewhere around 1pm, there will be a slam dunk contest, a 3-pt shooting competition, and will be followed shortly after by the Red Division vs. Blue Division All-Star Game featuring the best players both leagues have to offer, as voted by their teammates.

I will be doing the announcing for all the events, and I must admit I am very excited and proud to have been chosen for this small honor.

I will also be providing a variety of music suitable to the surroundings, including oldies, hip hop, rock, etcetera. Basically, not only and I providing commentary during the game, I will also be playing the DJ role to entertain fans as well.

If you have nothing better to do this Sunday afternoon besides waiting for the Ball State Cardinals Women’s Basketball team to play in the big dance, then come out and have an enjoyable afternoon watching some of your neighbors, perhaps, play in the West Side Basketball Association’s All-Star Weekend.

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.

In-Class: Recalling a Sense of Place - Switzerland

If I could chose one place that strikes my mind as visually vivid, with intriguing sounds, and natural aromas that filled the air, It would be Switzerland.

In the spring of 2006, I toured Europe with the Indiana Ambassadors of Music with about 100 other musicians, choir members, and chaperones. While in Europe, we toured 7 countries and had 3 musical performances. Everyone had their favorite place they enjoyed visiting, but my choice wasn’t the popular destinations, such as London or Paris. However, my favorite place was the quiet and majestic Switzerland.

I remember vividly riding down the road in our motor coach and playing games on my PSP, when we rolled up on the Swiss Alps. I couldn’t help but stop playing to take in the scenery outside my window. There were rolling hills, behind which were breathtaking peaks capped with a snowy white glaze. Their texture looked jagged and harsh, but their figure against the bright blue sky was a sight to behold nevertheless.

I also remember stepping out of the coach and breathing in some of the freshest air I think I have ever inhaled in my life up until now. The air was so fresh and pure, you could almost taste it. It was like walking into a paradise of sorts, one which I will never forget.

I also remember hearing the sounds of the locals, some with thick accents due to the French influence, and others sounded quite normal. I also remember the sounds of the man who blew on his Alphorn. It reminded me of the Riccola commercials.

Switzerland is by far my favorite place in the world I have discovered by far. I would love to get the chance to visit it at least once more in my life.

The Team Shower

You have all heard about it if you are in my class, but for those of you who aren’t, I hope you find this to be quite entertaining.

The team shower tradition started after our first victory of the season last semester. We all came back relatively sweaty and or disgusting, and thought a bit of refreshing was due. Therefore, we all decided to bring a CD down to the 2nd floor bathroom in Elliott Hall and all take a shower together, in different stalls of course. This tradition carried on to every game prior to that, and even carried on to the last game we played this past Sunday.

We have moved on from a CD player to an Ipod dock and a team play list that includes music such as Kiss by a Rose by Seal, and Du Hast by Rammstein and Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing, among others. It is played at a relatively loud level, but nothing too loud as to keep from disturbing the fellow hall members.

Other random things that take place during the “Team Shower” period include random pranks, towel theft and impromptu karaoke. All in all it is good for us to begin to relax after a stressful game, and this fun and cleansing activity helps us to do just that.

Leaky roof leads to Relocation, which leads to Victory, which leads to a Playoff Berth.

Today brought a few disappointments, which fortunately led to excitement and celebration afterwards.

We were scheduled to play our last regular season game today at Ball Gymnasium at approximately 3 this past afternoon. Upon arriving at the game sight, the game prior to ours was delayed due to a puddle that apparently formed during game play. It was determined that the puddle had formed from an active roof leak in Ball Gym. After considering the options which included playing half court, until another leak was found on the opposite side of the basketball court, and rescheduling the games, which would have had negative consequences towards the “playoff scene, the officials and league organizers decided to relocate the remaining games for the day to Irving Gym number 2.

The game we were supposed to begin at 3 o’clock today just got underway at 3:40, but in the end Team OC pulled off a big win against division rival “Pritti Bois.” The last 5 minutes of the game was decided when Off Constantly went on a 10-0 run with 3 minutes to go. The final margin of victory was around 12 points, which also gave Elliott Hall’s only basketball team it’s first playoff berth in WBA basketball.

We play our first elimination game tomorrow at 4 o’clock in Ball Gym. (Hopefully they fixed the leaks…) If we win both playoff games tomorrow we will be in the championship game in Worthern Arena next weekend. The games will be the toughest that we have faced all season. Anyone is welcome to come support their favorite team, just come out to watch and waste away an afternoon free of charge. More updates and “Meet the Team” interviews will be coming soon.

Busy Weekend

This weekend is jam packed with WBA basketball. Today at 3 we are taking on the Pritti Bois in our last regular season game at Ball Gymnasium. This could also be our last game if we happen to lose. Winning today, is essential.

Our current record as of right now is 4-3. With a 5-3 record, playoffs are basically guaranteed, however, 4-4 is a completely different story. There is a possibility for a 3 way tie for 3rd place in our division, which is where the problem begins. Only the top 4 teams from the red and blue division move on to the playoffs, so somebody would have to end their season early. If we win, however, we could avoid this problem altogether and make life much more easy for everybody, so lets do work.

If indeed we do win this afternoon, playoffs begin early tomorrow. There will be a game on the hour, every hour. We will have to win 2 games tomorrow to make it to the championship game in Worthern Arena in a few weeks to come. This is the ultimate goal in our minds, well, at least mine.

My family and their stories...

My family enjoys to tell stories of recent and distant events, whether they were funny or scary my family enjoys telling them all.
Some stories are all about the family itself, including past holidays and what went right and of course what went wrong. They also enjoy talking about places they have gone, such as their trips to New York, or even just to Indiana state parks. They enjoy telling them all.
Even short trips to shopping malls are laden with humorous stories from who they saw to what they saw on sale. My family finds something in everything to tell a story about, its just the kind of people we are.