“Shootin’ The Stars” November 26, 2024

Shootin’ the Stars: Technology is diluting the game-night experience

By Mike Beas, Excel H Sports

Ever notice how those pre-1995 photographs depicting the passion funneled into Indiana high school basketball fandom are linked by the same obvious omission?

Look really close . . . squint, zoom in or both, if you must.

That’s right. Not a single cell phone to be found.

I’ve been sitting in gymnasiums covering girls and boy’s games on the tightest of deadlines for over four decades now. I consider myself something of an authority on how the landscape has gradually changed in regard to atmospheric changes inside gymnasiums throughout the state.

Technology, for all the good it’s done society, badly dilutes the experience unless it’s the postseason, the final seconds are ticking off the clock and the game is either tied or the teams separated by the slimmest of margins.

If these ingredients aren’t present, kids for the most part are staring at their phones and generally clueless as to what is transpiring on the court.

Go ahead. Paint me as Mr. Get Off My Lawn Guy but just know this – game-night environments were 10-fold better when spectators of all ages contributed to that buffalo-headed nickel known as school spirit.

Nowadays, some parents and the majority of teenagers there to show support are disengaged. The latter are photographing or videoing themselves or one another so they can add these look-at-me nuggets to their social media platforms.

If they bother to show up at all.

Sadly, Hoosier Hysteria has morphed into Who’s Watching Me (or, Who’s Liking Me) Hysteria.

I’m not calling for the return of pep clubs, caravans of fan busses to road games, pom poms to pass out before tip-off or any other staples of bygone generations. But when the buttoned-down rectangle three inches in front of your face takes precedence over what your school mates are doing in an attempt to win a basketball game, well, that’s sad.

The same thing happens at all sporting venues, but this being Indiana, some of the spectators older than 40 are going to bite their lip simply because our state’s hoops environments used to be frenzied, verbal free-for-alls where student sections risked hoarseness attempting to one-up each other.

I see games now where five to 10 kids might show up in a futile attempt to form a student section. And though my hat goes off to them for being there to encourage their schoolmates, the intimidation meter doesn’t budge.

In most communities, games aren’t the social gatherings they used to be. Cell phones aside, there are simply more entertainment options out there. Teenagers have jobs, girls’ basketball games sometimes collide with the scheduling of boys’ games, and so on.

Thank goodness the popcorn remains tasty.

 POST-TURKEY DAY TOURNAMENTS: Now that the boys basketball season has officially tipped-off, there are a slate of enticing single-day tournaments to consider attending.

To me, there are two that stand out:

At Brownsburg on December 7, the Bulldogs roll out the purple carpet for the likes of Avon, Zionsville, Ben Davis, Lawrence North and Crispus Attucks. This six-game shindig includes Bedford North Lawrence facing Brownsburg, as well as the 8:15 p.m. finale as Greenfield-Central, led by Indiana Mr. Basketball candidate Braylon Mullins, goes up against defensive-minded Ben Davis.

At Southport on December 14: Hey, look, five of the Brownsburg tourney teams are back (Avon, Zionsville, Attucks, LN and Greenfield-Central). Now add the likes of Jeffersonville, New Palestine, Warren Central, Noblesville and Fishers to the mix, and, well, you get the idea.

Happy hooping, and pass the eggnog, please.