Outdoor basketball has several advantages, but its disadvantages are also many. One of its strong points is that instead of having to look at bare gymnasium walls, you are surrounded by the outdoors. This helps greatly at night, for it’s a simple matter to look up at the stars, aim for some particular star, and shoot… Swish!
The sky can be a distraction, however. One day I was playing basketball in our driveway at home when my brother ran up beside me and shouted, “Hey look! There’s Halley’s Comet!” Having thrown me off guard, he stole the ball and went in for two easy points. I didn’t stop to think that Halley’s Comet won’t be visible until 1986.
There is something about outdoor basketball which makes it very action-packed. I think that this “something” is having only one basket. This is very common in driveways where the basket is attached to the garage. It forces us to play half-court ball. Consequently, we have twice as much action for the amount of space involved. Of course we can play half-court basketball indoors, but it simply isn’t logical to use only one basket when two are available.
It is great to play basketball “under the sun” because of the fresh air. Also, you are free from the noise reverberated off the gym walls indoors. It’s excruciating to yell across a gym to find out the score and never be heard.
Of course, outdoor basketball has its disadvantages. First of all, have you ever tried to play in six inches of snow? I tried it once, and the result was a basketball snowman and frozen fingers.
At about four in the afternoon, if you’re facing west to shoot, another difficulty arises: the sun blocks vision. You just have to shoot with faith that the basket will catch the ball.
The wind is an important factor too. If you try to shoot in a twenty-mile wind, the ball may curve away from the basket. Curve balls are beautiful in baseball, but they can be a serious detriment to basketball.
There is an easy way to identify someone who has just finished playing basketball “under the sun.” His hands will be a CHOCOLATE MESS! He can wash his hands, I’ll admit, but in the meantime it’s smearing all over his body. Oftentimes he wil require a good bath and a change of clothes.
How is this “chocolate mess” formed? It’s very simple. Even a cemented area such as a driveway will be covered with wind-blown topsoil, mud washed in the last rainstorm, and even meteoric dust. This gets on the basketball and eventually forms a film of dust on the player’s hands. This sounds absurd, but it happens to me every time. But I don’t mind. If I did, I would just eat the M&M’s of indoor basketball and avoid the “chocolate mess.”