Never has the bounce of a basketball sounded so clear, and so loud.
I had my first true experience with the empty gymnasiums that will host high school basketball games at some area schools on Wednesday. I was covering the Sacred Heart-Holy Cross boys basketball game at Alumni Hall for The Republican-American. It was the season opener for both teams.
No fans were allowed inside Alumni Hall. There’s a chance that Wednesday’s game is the last season opener at Alumni Hall. Sacred Heart High will close at the end of this school year, though there are some out there in the community who are trying to save it.
When I walked into the gym, there was no music playing. All I heard were human voices and the sounds that you hear in basketball but take for granted when there are 800-plus fans in attendance. Those sounds include the squeaking of sneakers, the bouncing of the ball, and the sound of it going through the net or making contact with the rim. In the close confines of Alumni Hall, it was as if the sounds were even louder.
At one point during the game, I stood in front of the wall on the Union Street side of the gymnasium. That’s normally where the team benches are, but with no fans and the need to socially distance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the chairs for the players and coaches took the place of open bleachers on the opposite side. As I was watching the action, I could hear sirens outside the building. That is the first, and only time, I have heard sirens outside of Alumni Hall while at a game. Again, every noise is amplified when there are no fans.
It was a weird experience, but for at least some of, if not all of the winter basketball season, it’s the new normal.
