I am not trying to be mean, but I would like to compare and contrast two different basketball experiences I had.
The first was when I was a 4th or 5th grader (really through high school) when I lived in Lynden, Washington going to the basketball games there. The 2nd was when I went to a basketball game (actually a few) at my hometown of Caledonia, Michigan.
I will try to not exaggerate anything as this comes from memory. Although i did recently see a live stream of a game in Lynden and it was the exact same thing, so I am quite sure of my accuracy. The basketball facility/gym wasn't overly large at LC (Lynden Christian High School). It did have a balcony but it wasn't huge. This doesn't apply to every single year, as some years when the team isn't as good, not as many students or adults went, but when basketball clicked, it was electric. If you didn't go early enough to watch the JV game before, you could forget about getting a seat. It was mostly standing room only, especially when we played our rivals from across town from Lynden High School.
The quality was good and the crowd was into it big time. I mean into it like I distinctly remember coming home from games and my ears would be ringing--that's how loud it was in there. The student sections were active (mostly classy) and full. We had a full complement of cheerleaders also. The one side of the gym had a stage that the pep band filled up and they played great every year. This was exciting to be a part of. The whole town loved it no matter whose side you were on. It was everything that a basketball game should be.
Because my younger son Lincoln played for the Caledonia basketball club, they would invite him and all the boys to attend one of their games each year for free. So I didn't really know any of the kids that played, but I went with him for the experience. First let me say that Cal has a really nice gymnasium. It has two large bleachers on either side and a third large one on one of the ends. Very, very nice facility from what I can see. I admit my sample size is somewhat small here but I don't think it is now any different.
The student section was almost non-existent. From what I heard, the school administration was very brutal to any kids that did anything other than sit quietly and maybe clap if there was a good play. But anything more than that you were faced with reprimand. That kind of keeps kids away from the game and is stupid as shit. I mean, you can't let everything go obviously, but they were being way too harsh. Now from what I have heard, they have relaxed things a little and some of the students actually go to the games now so that is good. When I did some students, they weren't particularly into the game, but really no one else was either. The noise level at these games was not very loud. by far the most noise being heard in the gym was the sneakers on the gym floor as the players moved.
I think one of the games, there was a small four person band that played the first half a little bit. I am not super sure, but the last few times I went there was no band at all. They would play music over the PA system a little bit. OK, I am not a professional but I have played music for my older son's hockey games and let me tell you the music they played was straight horrible. They played the same four songs and repeated them and the songs were lame. To my knowledge, there are no cheerleaders for Cal basketball games. if there are, i have never seen them.
Please don't get me wrong. I want the kids and the school to do well, but with kind of environment and the history of losing that this team has had (which is long from what I understand), I can understand why a kid growing up here with college ambitions would go somewhere else.
It's really too bad. i don't know which version of basketball is more common in the country, but I can say one is a lot more fun than the other.
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