New England Trip, Day Three: Hall of Fame and Pumpkins

Saturday, October 11, 2008

I'm really grateful my cousin could spend any time with me considering that his job requires a lot of his time and dedication. Case in point: He had to spend this particular Saturday morning participating in his school's open house. He is the head of the school's science department. He supervises fifteen to sixteen teachers. And, of course, part of his duties at this boarding school is to perform the PR work and market the school to potential students and parents.


So, while he was extolling the finer points of the school to perspective student candidates, his son and I explored a garden nursery that featured a pumpkin display of caricatures with pumpkin heads. Some displays included Dorothy and friends from The Wizard of Oz, the three little pigs, Cinderella and her carriage, and, my favorite, Batman.

BTW, it should be noted that during several drives on this trip, I spotted several pumpkin farms along the highways. The color of the pumpkins combined with the color of the fall leaves made for some stunning scenery.

After our visit to the pumpkin exhibit, the son and I met my cousin and had lunch at the school's dining hall. We then proceeded down I-91 to Springfield, Massachusetts and The Basketball Hall of Fame.

The Hall of Fame is structured on three levels. After paying your admission, they place you on an elevator, lift you to the third floor where the Enshrinees are displayed. In an awkward coincidence, they were playing a video of Roy Williams during his acceptance speech. I spent a good forty minutes on this level looking for anything related to Kansas/Big 8/Big 12 history. I do need to note that when I found the display for Dean Smith, the display said he was born in "Bemporia" Kansas, not Emporia, KS. Ooops!

A walk down to the second level reveals the museum and interactive exhibits. On a blue-screen device, you can play one-on-one against a basketball Hall of Famer. There is a display that discusses diagrams of some of the more famous offensive plays in basketball including the Princeton backdoor play, the Kansas/Carolina secondary break, or Phil Jackson/Tex Winter's famous triangle offense. There was also an exhibit featuring the history of the Harlem Globetrotters and one display featuring a Globetrotter's dunk on a twelve-foot goal.

A walk down another flight of stairs takes you to the Hall of Fame basketball court where you can attempt to shoot three-pointers and free-throws and also shoot basketballs at peach baskets and every type of basketball goal that has come with the game's evolution. Fun stuff.

After a quick visit to the HOF gift shop, we drove to Northampton, MA where we had dinner at a local brewery where my cousin's son quizzed me about my knowledge of college team nicknames.