Y BASKETBALL......it was golden

     Perfect memories of the older than old Boone R.R. YMCA thanks to Jerry Bravard.

     Jerry wrote, "While attending Boone Junior College in the early 60's, I rented a room (I think there were seven) on the top floor of that building for $1 a day. Each room was approximately 8 x 10 and furnished with a bed, dresser and desk. The noise and commotion of the Y either honed your ability to concentrate on your studies or you moved out. We shared a common kitchen, however, our culinary skills were limited to heating TV dinners, which were new to the market at that time. A real treat was to get a bag of Slim's hamburgers and a Boyds malt to take back to our room."

     He went on, "the most enduring memory was the basketball that took place in that old gym. After the Y activities ended (9 p.m. I think), the younger kids would vacate and the place was ours. The old jocks...Jerry Cooper, Larry McAnally, Tim Croxen, Steve Shaler, Dick Musser, Steve Vinson, Mike Newbold (Silk), Larry Meyers and myself, to mention a few, would show up."

     Jerry gave a great description of the gym. "It was quite a gem. It was so small, the free throw circles overlapped the center circle. The side and end lines were only a few inches from the concrete wall. A padded mat was hung on the wall behind the baskets in an attempt to soften any blows when you drove in for a layup. The court was so small that five man teams were a dangerous exercise. Three on three was much better. When a player tired, a sub would step in without any disruption of play. Play was self regulated. We developed an honor system whereby either the offensive player or defensive player could call for a foul. The "no blood, no foul" rule was the standard. Games, oftentimes, continued until 12 or 1 a.m. or until no one could walk. A lot of good times were had at the old Y."

     Ron Hopkins, BSH-59, wrote, "I probably spent almost as much of the late 50's at that old Y as I did at the Bide-A-Wee, though the nuns didn't really approve of either entertainment venue. I mostly played basketball and can almost, literally, hear that access buzzer you mentioned. I also enjoyed Grid, Lindy's Root Beer and Bubble Up from the five-cent pop machine, and a ping pong game that involved two tables placed end-to-end and required players to run from one end to the other between shots. Interestingly, my graduate school mentor in Iowa City was from Chicago, worked for the Chicago Northwestern as a young man and had spent many layover nights in the luxury accomodations at that old Boone Y."

     I, the Kornerman, recall the time guys of my era gathered in that old gym for some pretty intense basketball games. Some real rivalries were developed. The team I was a part of was named the Kell Stars and I guess I can say that some of my earliest sports writing efforts were due to this experience. I remember writing pre-game stories with starting lineups and so forth and, of course, a post game summary of each game with highlights and scoring details. The proof of the importance of this competition can be explained by one particular thing I recall. We sent to some Des Moines outfit a pattern for the making of a special Kell Star patch, which was proudly worn by our players. It has long disappeared but I remember that I had one in my possession for a long time. All of the team members had nick names......Jim Brunner was "Slim Jim," of course, and Lloyd Courter was "the Rotund Rocket." Yes, Lloyd was short and pretty chunky (I'm being kind) when he was in his teens. I've forgotten what we called Charlie Hancock, Gary Grosnickle and others. At this time, I don't even remember if I was "Big Mo" or something else. By the way, I did still have some of the writeups I did for these games but I couldn't put a finger on any right now. I do recall sending some of them to Grosnickle a couple years ago to, hopefully, spur some happy memories.

K-----K

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