{"id":2569,"date":"2020-04-28T23:07:33","date_gmt":"2020-04-29T04:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/?p=2569"},"modified":"2020-04-28T23:07:33","modified_gmt":"2020-04-29T04:07:33","slug":"state-of-indiana-shuts-down-hoops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/2020\/04\/28\/state-of-indiana-shuts-down-hoops\/","title":{"rendered":"State of Indiana shuts down hoops"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Basketball is a symbol in the state of Indiana. Hoosiers worship their high school, college and professional teams like it is its own religion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even with social distancing rules in effect, that hasn\u2019t stopped local Hoosiers from meeting up at local parks and playing a little five on five. In retaliation, the state had its own response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

State parks, like Garfield Park on the southside, and even the outdoor courts at the University of Indianapolis, have used two two-by-fours to deter possible ballers. By placing one board above the rim and one below and nailing them together, park officials have effectively sent home those looking to play basketball to pass their time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Garfield Park on the south side of Indianapolis has boarded up their rims in an attempt to send any hopeful hoopers home.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For park goers, this has been a relief in a time where large crowds can cause a lot of stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor as much as I do enjoy seeing young people getting out and playing sports, it is also quite a relief for me to walk around the trail and not have to worry about their health or mine,\u201d Laurie Irwin said, who frequents Garfield Park to get exercise during the quarantine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The basketball court is located on the northwest side of Garfield Park, away from the main foot traffic and bike paths. But, one trail does circle around the rims, winding up toward the conservatory.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Luckily for millenials looking to keep their distance, yet pass the time, not all public hoops have been shut down. For Evan Beretta, a current sophomore at Xavier University who\u2019s home during the quarantine, some parks have kept their hoops open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI have a park right across the street from me,\u201d Beretta said. \u201cNot very many people go there, and the basketball goal is behind the outfield of the baseball diamond. It\u2019s never crowded anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The University of Indianapolis has followed the Indy Parks directive of boarding up rims. Beretta and his friends would gather here some days for hours of pickup games.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Being able to go and shoot baskets has been a stress reliever for the college student. He\u2019s been balancing his schoolwork, his job during quarantine, and his responsibilities that have followed him home from school. Being able to take to the court every once and a while has been an outlet of stress that has built up around him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m kind of nervous that one day I\u2019m going to walk over to the park and find that the goal has met the same fate as other parks around the city,\u201d Beretta said. \u201cBut for now, I\u2019m just going to try and get over there as much as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an article published in the Indy Star, Indy Parks spokeswoman Ronnetta Spalding claimed that \u201cIndy Parks does not track attendance on its outdoor courts.\u201d  Instead, it seems that the closing of basketball in Indiana was just a precautionary measure. (Read more from that statement here – https:\/\/www.indystar.com\/story\/news\/local\/2020\/04\/01\/coronavirus-indiana-basketball-courts-closed-hoops-blocked\/5102726002\/<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, a new question arises – how are Hoosiers getting their basketball fix? The answer is simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m playing NBA 2K20 on my PS4,\u201d high school senior Liam Irwin said. \u201cIf I can\u2019t play outside with my friends, at least we can play online together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
This goal stands in the Irwin’s front yard, and though there are no boards over the rim, the common complaint remains that the sun gets in the eyes of the shooter, blocking a clear sightline to the rim.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Though the atmosphere and ability of each player is different online than in real life, the joy of playing the game all Hoosiers love is no different. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI mean if they close down my goal, I guess I\u2019ll have to turn to 2K,\u201d Beretta said. \u201cI would just hate to waste such nice days inside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until the park system closes down all public goals, expect Hoosiers to be doing what they know best – taking to the court, all looking to be the next pick-up Reggie Miller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Though six goals stand alone on a rainy day, these are some of the few goals on the south side of Indianapolis that still allow the ball to go through. It is still common to see larger gatherings here as millennials struggle to find things to keep them occupied.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Basketball is a symbol in the state of Indiana. Hoosiers worship their high school, college and professional teams like it is its own religion.  Even with social distancing rules in effect, that hasn\u2019t stopped local Hoosiers from meeting up at local parks and playing a little five on five. In retaliation, the state had its own response. State parks, like Garfield Park on the southside, and even the outdoor courts at the University of Indianapolis, have used two two-by-fours to deter possible ballers. By placing one board above the rim and one below and nailing them together, park officials have effectively sent home those looking to play basketball to pass their time. For park goers, this has been a relief in a time where large crowds can cause a lot of stress. \u201cFor as much as I do enjoy seeing young people getting out and playing sports, it is also quite a relief for me to walk around the trail and not have to worry about their health or mine,\u201d Laurie Irwin said, who frequents Garfield Park to get exercise during the quarantine. Luckily for millenials looking to keep their distance, yet pass the time, not all public hoops have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":289,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/289"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2569"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2576,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2569\/revisions\/2576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/com.bradley.edu\/newslab\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}