Eastbrook (2,375) Built 1968
February 6, 2024: Madison-Grant vs Eastbrook (Boys)
February 6, 2024: Madison-Grant vs Eastbrook (Boys)
One of the coolest parts of writing these blogs has been interacting with people who have connections to different gyms or schools for a variety of reasons. Family ties, random memories, or past athletic glories imprint these places deep in the minds of Hoosiers across generations. They may be small things, but it's been fun to discuss them with people I know well and Facebook friends I haven't talked to in years. Driving to Eastbrook tonight I had a realization that hit me like a ton of bricks in the car. I hadn't realized when planning to visit Eastbrook today that I have one of these connections to it myself. I've actually been to Eastbrook before, though not into the gym. This school was the site of a 5K fundraiser that a group of friends and I put together when we were at IWU to honor a professor of ours who had just passed away to cancer. She left an indelible mark on each of our lives in the couple of years we got to know her. She was a shining example of servant leadership, and we wanted to show our gratitude in some way. The administration at Eastbrook where her sons attended high school were gracious enough to let us use the grounds for an event that was the most memorable moment in my entire college experience. I'll forever be grateful to them for that. Another gym, another connection point.
I had another weird feeling as I walked into the gym here that was very different from the one that hit me in the car, but it was strong all the same. It seemed like something was off, but it took me a good two minutes to realize what it was. The few pictures of the gym I had seen ahead of time showed two levels of long wooden bleachers. What I stood facing tonight were two levels of slightly shorter, black, plastic bleachers. Talk about a bummer. I found a spot on one of these generic pieces of garbage and took in the rest of my surroundings. As I mentioned, the gym features a pretty standard two level setup. There's a glass partition separating the sections. Above the very top rows of bleachers are "Eastbrook" and "Panthers" signage in big, block, red and black lettering. The whole gym is draped in the black and red, which is always a winner in my eyes. When the bleachers were replaced, they also put a big fencelike barrier at the top of the bleachers which partially covers up the nice painted lettering which is a shame. I just wish athletic directors or whoever is in charge would think this stuff through more. I don't get it.
Speaking of haphazardly covering things up, the athletic accomplishment banners along the far baseline wall from the entrance have the tops of them entirely cutoff by the HVAC system. You literally can't see what sport all the accolades are supposed to be honoring. The system does look new, which begs the question: Did they hang the banners first and then just not bother to adjust them when the HVAC system was put in? Or was it originally hung like this, remained this ways for years, and now everyone's too scared to bring it up? An interior designer I am not, but man alive it looks bad. That wall does at least have a nice Eastbrook panther mural on it to spruce it up a bit. The opposite baseline wall has the standard CIC conference flag which I've loved since the first time I saw it. It also has a small tribute to the four individual schools that were consolidated when Eastbrook was formed in the 60s. These are often my favorite features in a gym. This one is okay, but it's pretty small and gets lost on an otherwise big and bare wall. The gym floor design isn't one of the slick, modern ones you see more and more of today, and it's not really vintage either. It's not bad, but it feels kind of stuck between eras. There are a couple old concession stand windows in the corners upstairs that I assume are never used anymore. They're kind of uncommon for a gym seating well under 3,000 people. Out in the lobby are some great old pictures of past teams that encapsulate their time periods perfectly.
It's wild what kinds of thoughts and emotions get brought up when I go to different gyms. Sometimes they're personal, other times I feel like I can get a sense of what the heritage of a school means to the community, often it's just pure nostalgia for what basketball means in this state. Tonight's feelings were just overwhelming for a person and moment that meant so much to me at at a time when I really needed it. That moment had nothing to do with basketball, but basketball brought it all flooding back. Connections with these places and the people who have experienced them in some way usually aren't this strong, but they're all unique. I can't wait to keep encountering them myself on this journey and hearing from others who have a memory triggered from reading these blogs or seeing the pictures. I appreciate them all.
