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| The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
This morning's destination was the
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York was a huge disappointment to me so I entered basketball's Great Hall with my expectations held low. In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed the Basketball Hall of Fame. There were plentiful exhibits for all forms of basketball and reverence was paid to the greats of past and present without the kind of ESPNization that has tainted baseball's Great Hall.
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Shannon among the displays honoring
the Hall of Fame's inductees. |
The Hall itself is an eye-catching structure. In the center is a giant basketball-like sphere which houses two floors of exhibit space plus a functional full court. There is also a tower out front with a basketball sculpture at the top.
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A basketball from 1908. It has laces
like one would find on a football. |
The top floor of the Hall houses the displays for the inductees and some of their mementos. The middle floor holds the uniforms, basketballs, and other displays of historical interest. The ground floor is home to an extensive gift shop and a full basketball court on which the Hall's paid visitors can play as long as they like. The court on the ground floor was a stroke of genius. Even an old man like me was pumped up to grab a ball and shoot around for awhile. I wish I had taken photos of the school aged kids who were there so you could see the joy on their faces as they dribbled and shot around on a court beneath the space honoring the greats of the game.
