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leisure
Martin Altstaedten / KANSAI
A group of Lawrence residents plays a pick-up basketball game in Buford M. Watson Park next to the Municipal Pool at 741 Kentucky. Pick-up basketball has gained popularity in recent years.
Kansan staff writer
The ART of pick-up
By Kevin Hoffmann Kansan staff writer
Arms flail, sweat pours and obscenities are grunted as players race back and forth across the pavement, yelling, "Gimme the ball! Gimme the ball!"
This scene is becoming a fixture around the country as pick-up basketball has gained popularity. Advertisers hoping to cash in on the trend have used pick-up basketball games to sell everything from footwear to automobiles. The sport has even inspired a motion picture, "White Men Can't Jump."
"I'd say it's pretty big," said Ken Louis, a Lawrence resident who graduated from the University two years ago. "Tons of people from around here are always playing."
Pick-up games usually are played in gymnasiums, playgrounds and neighborhood courts. Teams are formed with those interested in playing, and winning teams stay on the court until defeated. The term "pick-up" comes from the players who wait courtside to be "picked up" by a team.
Louis said he had been playing in pick-up games for three years.
"It's different from when you get a game together with your buddies," he said. "With your buddies it's more relaxed. In pick-up games you have to prove yourself."
Pick-up basketball has gained a reputation for being physical and competitive. Unlike traditional team basketball, there are no referees, and fools are called
Ken Louis Lawrence resident
"In pick-up games you have to prove yourself."
"I like it because of the motion," he said. "It's always really alive out there."
sparingly.
Louis said pick-up basketball provided a different kind of recreation and fitness than traditional basketball.
"There's plenty of trash talking that goes on out there. I even do it every now and then," he said. "But, it's all in fun. I don't think anybody takes it too seriously."
Louis said he thought the game had developed it's own subculture. One of the most recognizable trademarks of this subculture is the constant heckling that can be heard among pick-up players.
"That's part of the game," he said.
Clint Povich, an Omaha, Neb., graduate student who plays regularly, said the trash talking didn't bother him.
Povich said another trademark of pick-up basketball was that it often developed regulars, much like a bingo parlor would.
"It seems like a lot of people play, but then you have the people you see all the time," he said.
Povich said what surprised him the most was the teamwork that occurred on the court.
I don't know if it's because people around here are used to Roy Williams or not," he said. "But, people around here are unselfish."
Louis said he also noticed the teamwork in pick-up games.
"Growing up, I think most people are chuckers, but out there everybody seems to work together," he said.
There are many places to play pick-up basketball in the Lawrence area. Louis said his favorite place was Buford M. Watson Park, better known as the "train park," which is next to the Municipal Pool at 741 Kentucky.
"It's a big court that you can run five-on-five," he said.
Louis said how he did in pick-up basketball games often dictated his mood of the rest of his day.
"I if play well, then I have a good day," he said. "But,
if I play bad, then I have a really bad day."
Povich said that, win or lose, pick-up basketball was fun.
"I like the competition," he said. "Even though it seems like I'm always on the losing team."
Povich said that one of the biggest benefits of pickup basketball was that it provided a recreational outlet for young people.
"It's better than having all those guys going out and joining a gang or something," he said.
$ \textcircled{3} $ HOLCOM RECREATION CENTER
2700 W. 27th St.
2700 W. 27th St.
This indoor facility can offer either one or two courts, depending on gym setup.
The courts are small, but it is easy to go too. The rims are fair. Free play time is 11:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, 1 - 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 - 6 p.m. Sunday.
ROBINSON CENTER
On campus at Naismith Drive and Sunnyside Avenue
The second floor offers six large courts with excellent rims. Games are available when classes are not in session.
session. A KUID is required.
COMMUNITY BUILDING
115 W. 11th St.
123.9 W. 12th St.
There are indoor courts in the school to the public. The courts are small but have good rims. Basketballs can be checked out. Free play time is 1:30 - 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 2:30 - 6 p.m. on Saturday.
People and places at the University of Kansas.
WHOLESOME FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT
Los Angeles talk-show host Joe Crummy has begun offering for sale a 30-minute video of his recent brain surgery. The tape, made by St. Vincent Medical Center Staff, includes interviews with Crummy's doctors and Crummy's station colleagues and costs $22.50.
THE CONTINUING CRISIS
—The Lebanon Daily News in Pennsylvania reported in March that an ear-piercing establishment at the local mall had pierced the ears of an 11-month-old girl who was brought in by her 16-year-old mother but had refused to do the mother's. The proprietor explained that the daughter had her mother's permission, but that he couldn't do the mother's ears because she was under 18 and thus need HER mother's permission.
—In Alhambra, Calif., in March, Robert C. Lewis, 52, was jailed for four days without possibility of bail after his unlicensed labrador-shepherd dog chased a cat into the street. In Clearwater, Fla., two weeks later, Michael C. Diana, 24, also was jailed after being convicted by a jury of publishing obscene comic books on a photocopy machine.
—The Washington Post reported in September that at the third annual Fairfax County Gluestest in Virginia, "Slippery" beat out 49 other slugs in the Tour de Slug race. Also featured at the festival: Slug face-painting, the slime toss and the official drink—green "Slimeade." A 12-year-old boy demonstrated his skill at flicking his tongue in and out of his mouth with his slug, Mickey, attached. He said that despite washing Mickey several times with soap beforehand, "the slime still sticks to your teeth. I've still got some slime from yesterday."
—According to the prosecutor at his gang-related murder trial in September in Milwaukee, Antonio Mendez, 18, told police at the time of his arrest, "You know, this is going to wreck my whole summer. I'm not going to be able to go to Summerfest. It's not like (the 15-year-old victim) was the president or anything. She's just a girl."
—In September, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in Washington announced that it had issued 60 citations and $90,000 in fines for unsafe workplace conditions at the Federal Building in Kansas City, Mo., which is the regional OSHA office.
—Recently, University of Massachusetts Profes
See WIERD, Page 10.
.