Touring the Naismith Memorial Basketball HOF!

Hey guys, Drew back here! A couple weeks ago, my family went on a trip to Massachusetts to check out a few colleges. It's getting to be that time where college is a big mark on my radar, and I'm now looking at 5 schools I'm planning on applying to! At the moment, my interest lies in the Sport Management field, and my goal is to work for ESPN or MLB or something similar. Anyway, 2 of the schools we visited happened to be really closeby to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame! I convinced my parents to check it out, and we ended up doing just that.

The top floor was definitely neat. The building is a round shape, obviously resembling a basketball, and the inductees all have photos hanging on the wall that wraps all the way around. I'm not going to lie, it seemed a little subpar compared to the Baseball Hall of Fame I saw just prior to this, but it definitely looked really cool.

The main floor was filled with these little spots in which you could compare your foot size to some of the NBA's greats. This is my size 12 shoe inside Shaq's 23! I've got quite a lot of catching up to do.

With the Hall being closer to Boston than any other major sports town, Larry Bird has a central figure at the Hall. I made sure to benefit my Knicks by swatting the ball out of Bird's hands.

The museum did beat the Baseball Hall of Fame's in its numerous interactive experiences. Here you can see my wingspan compared to current great Kevin Durant's! There were displays where you could test your jump, places where you could relive famous basketball moments by broadcasting them yourself, and the entire first floor was a court that showed the evolution of basketball over time. It was definitely more child friendly than the Baseball HOF.

Of course, they did incorporate some of the typical exhibits you would normally see at a place of this kind. Here is the display of the Miami Heat's 2012-13 title run, which includes the legendary Larry O'Brien trophy! 

You can't have a Basketball Hall of Fame without the G.O.A.T., Michael Jordan! Many of Jordan's legendary moments were captured throughout the museum, including many of his retro Jordan shoes that have current high schoolers oogling all over. I don't see the "let's spend $400 on a pair of kicks" thing myself, but I would wear them if they were cheaper!

Also, the extravagance and flair of "The Worm", Dennis Rodman was one of the cooler displays in the museum. Rodman had just recently been elected into the Hall, which gives hope to guys like JR Smith of today! 

Lastly, I'll leave you with a nice signed Shaq shoe! I remember getting a cheaper pair of Shaq's for rec league basketball when I was little. I was the coolest kid on the court. Just kidding, my foot was just too wide for the Jordan's at the time. Shaq should be earning a permanent spot in the Hall relatively soon!

Well, there it is, the Basketball Hall of Fame all summed up to one post! While it wasn't much compared to the Baseball Hall, it was definitely cool and worth a look for any NBA or College Basketball fans!

See Ya!

Revisiting Baseball's Hallowed Hall

Hey guys, Drew back here! William has soared past me with this trip recap, however I've still got quite a bit to post. I'm not used to being as busy as I am but I'm trying to contribute to the blogosphere whenever I get around to it. With that said, here is my recap of our most recent visit to the Hall of Fame.

We originally went into the Hall before we went to the Induction Ceremony to get our tickets and hands stamped. We figured that after the Induction, many people would be checking out the museum, so rather than wait in line, we got stamped and returned later on, walking through the line like VIP members!

For any of you new to the Hall, normally the first thing you'll see in the Hall is their short little introduction video. If you aren't in the museum mood, this will change that. It's a nice beginning to the Hall, but I won't spoil it any more for any of you interested in checking it out for yourself.

After the intro, you're told to start from the very beginning of history in the Hall, but I don't quite understand why you wouldn't. The earliest stuff is in my opinion the most interesting in all of the museum, especially since I had already been there in the past. There are a lot of unique pieces in the earlier displays, while some of the later displays contain more jerseys/hats/equipment/etc. 

Babe Ruth's exhibit is one of the coolest in all of the Museum! The Hall owns many of The Babe's classic memorabilia, and it is almost overwhelming to see it all in the same place and take it all for what it is. However, they own his last ever autograph (above) along with some jerseys and bats from memorable moments.

When I visited the Hall... I had still not seen 42. They had a small display featuring some of the movie memorabilia, and I wish I could've enjoyed it more. However, the night we returned to my house we got to watch it, and as far as I'm concerned we all really enjoyed it.

Hate the Yankees all you want, but when you go to the Hall of Fame you need to expect to see some of their classic memorabilia. Being a Yankees fan, there was an awful lot of incredible memorabilia I got a chance to feast my eyes on.

The Pirates have been a lot of fun to watch in 2013, and I've gained more appreciation for the organization by the day (well, everyone but Bill Mazeroski). I hope to see them win the NL Central and compete throughout the playoffs. Having them as a second favorite team should add some excitement in October when the Yankees most likely won't (and probably shouldn't) be playing.

The first time I went to the Hall with my Dad in 2009, this Hank Aaron "Chasing the Dream" exhibit had been in construction. I remember they were working on the displays while we walked by, and we got to see one of Hank's game used bats outside of the glass. They did a really nice job paying tribute to Hammerin' Hank, and I found it interesting that the MLB records displays were right next to it...

William and I's teams don't seem to share much in common. Both the Orioles and Yankees have been around for a while, and both have their share of incredible players, but otherwise they don't have a lot to relate to. Well.. except for the "Iron" connection between Gehrig and Ripken, the "Most Consecutive Games Played" record, which Ripken now owns obviously. The Hall did a nice job showing off some cool pieces surrounding the hallowed record.

Even Eddie Gaedel's classic "1/8" jersey was on display! Gaedel, the legendary midget who had one at bat for Bill Veeck's St. Louis Browns in 1951, owns the highest On Base Percentage in MLB history (although he only registered one at bat)! His uniform was next to current MLB'er Jon Rauch's jersey, the tallest player to ever take the field in the Majors.

When I went in Spring 2009, this sucker wasn't in the World Series ring display, because it hadn't been won yet. The 2009 World Series has been the only Yankee World Series I've associated myself with throughout my life because I was far too young to understand their late 90's run. So, it was really neat to get to see one of the rings up close!

"Sipping from your cup til' it runneth over, holy grail". Justin Timberlake couldn't pay tribute to the 1909 T-206 Wagner any better. Whenever you're in a room with that card, you could almost taste the aura surrounding it. Simply put, it's the greatest baseball card ever created, and is a lot of the reason why we all still are able to collect today.

Also since our first trip, I began to start the 1961 Topps set! I'm now a little over halfway done with the set (including the high numbers), but I've really started to question whether I should bother with the high numbers or not. Of the 12 cards on display, I own 7, which isn't too bad considering I haven't focused on the set in a while.

William and I really enjoyed getting to see the Hall together this year. It was a great experience, and I'm glad I was able to see it with someone who appreciates it even more than I do. However, I have a little bit more from the Hall I'd like to share with you all, which I'm planning on getting to tomorrow.

See Ya!