Frank Workman on sports: the end of an era

The end of an Era - By Frank Workman

Frank Workman
Photo by W. Pridemore

When the Shorewood girls basketball team defeated Ferndale 54-52 in a District 1 elimination game, not only was there a lot on the line for both teams, it marked the end of an era.

It was the final game played in the T-Birds gym.

If their new gym is anything like Shorecrest's, it will be a monumental improvement.

I've attended maybe fifty games in the Shorewood gym over the years.

To this day, my first thought every time I step inside the place is to recall  Bette Davis' most famous movie line  ---  "What a dump".

But I have warmed to the gym over time, and another hoary bromide comes to mind --- "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home".

Once you get past the dim lighting; the darkened floor (presumably from years of waxy yellow buildup); the drably colored walls; the leaky roof; and the odd configuration of the stands - instead of having one continuous set of bleachers on either side of the building, the stands are divided into fourths, with the best locations at half-court being completely empty (imagine a football stadium with no seats between the 45 yard line); once you get past the flaws, you realize the court is 94x50 feet, the basket is exactly ten feet off the ground, and isn't that all that really matters?

Thanks to a bond measure passed by We the People several years ago, our high schools are undergoing much-needed refurbishing.

New class rooms, a new cafeteria, new parking lots, and yes, a new gym, are nearing completion.  

They'll be newer, nicer, and better.

But before the movers come, Tuesday night offered one last chance for T-Birds and local hoops fans, coaches, and cognoscenti to convene and to capture in their memories, once and for all, what the 'old' Shorewood gym looked like, and to remember all the times they'd had there.

After all, it was the end of an era.