Naturally, Friday big day for Hall too
Enshrinement anticipated in Massachusetts and beyond
A less obvious question might be, ‘‘Is the pope Catholic?’’
Mike Brooslin, the curator at the Basketball Hall of Fame, answers, ‘‘Uh, yeah,’’ when asked if interest in this year’s induction ceremony is heightened by the name at the top of the Class of ’98, Larry Bird.
‘‘Naturally so,’’ Brooslin adds.
The home of the Hall, and the birthplace of the sport itself, is Springfield, Mass., just a two-hour drive on the Massachusetts Turnpike from Boston, where Bird acquired the nickname ‘‘Legend.’’ But Brooslin says the buzz surrounding the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies on Oct. 2 is more than regional.
‘‘It’s not just locally [based],’’ Brooslin says.
Bird’s name is as synonymous with ‘‘basketball’’ as is the game’s inventor, Dr. James Naismith, Springfield’s own. People in Bird’s hometown of French Lick, and Terre Haute, where he wrote college basketball’s greatest Cinderella story, can claim the first few miles of his path to the Hall of Fame. Then there are the fans in Boston, where he added three more NBA championship banners to the Celtics’ collection. And anyone else on the planet who might have missed his artistry caught the last glimpses of it when he played a cameo role on the United States’ first Olympic Dream Team in 1992.
So far, 1,200 people have purchased tickets to the Hall of Fame Enshrinement Dinner in the Sprinfield Civic Center, and 6,000 more have paid to see the induction ceremony. Those numbers, Brooslin says, are up and could grow.
There are other big names on the list announced in June . . . former Harlem Globetrotter ballhandling magician Marques Haynes and an early-era Celtics standout Arnie Risen, along with coaches Lenny Wilkens, Alex Hannum, Jody Conradt and Aleksandar Nikolic of Yugoslavia.
But Bird, obviously, is the big ticket, with three NBA Most Valuable Player awards (1984, ’85 and ’86) and College Player of the Year awards in 1979 as an Indiana State Sycamore on his resume. And his Hall of Fame treatment will indeed seem special.
A decade ago, famed sculptor Armand LaMontagne carved a wooden statue of Bird for the New England Sports Museum at Boston. The piece, made from an 1,800-pound block of wood, took the artist more than 2,000 to complete. Now, a bronze casting of LaMontagne’s original has been made, and will become part of Bird’s display at the Hall of Fame.
‘‘That will be unveiled at the enshrinement on [October 2],’’ Brooslin explained.
Over the years, the Hall has acquired some Bird memorabilia that will go into his personal display on the building’s third floor. The ball he used to score his 20,000th career point is there, as are uniforms from his Celtics and Dream Team days, and a piece of the court at Springs Valley High School, where it all began.
As of yet, Brooslin said, there are no Bird artifacts from his days at ISU. However, each inductee is asked to send the Hall some memorabilia before the enshrinement, and Bird’s package may indeed include some Sycamore memories.
‘‘A lot of it depends on what [the inductees] have saved,’’ Brooslin said. ‘‘I’m sure at some point we’ll get something [ISU related].’’
That would be Brooslin’s preference. ‘‘I’m greedy. I always want more artifacts.’’
The Hall does have a touch of ISU’s dream season now. One of the facilities many interactive videos is from the famed 1979 NCAA finals clash between Bird’s Sycamores and Magic Johnson’s Michigan State Spartans. Johnson and MSU, of course, won that game 75-64 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Such modern technology is a source of pride for the Basketball Hall of Fame, Brooslin said. The Hall became a computerized wonderland after it moved from its humble birthplace at Springfield College to an $11.5-million facility in 1985.
There are touch-screen videos at the displays of the Hall’s displays. There’s also a competitive shootout area, along with devices to test a visitors’ jumping skills and hang time. They can match their footprints and handprints with those of the Hall of Famers.
The Basketball Hall prefers not to compete with the aura surrounding Baseball’s shrine at Cooperstown, N.Y. Springfield wants a different approach.
‘‘We don’t necessarily want the nostalgic atmosphere. We don’t look at our mission as a mausoleum,’’ Brooslin said. ‘‘Our objective is to entertain and educate.
‘‘We use the [historical] information, but we try to use it in an entertaining method.’’
The enshrinement ceremonies are usually entertaining too, said Brooslin, a Springfield native who has been curator since 1987. Each inductee is asked to speak for approximately five minutes, though that timespan occasionally is stretched. For their fans in attendance, a few extra minutes at the microphone may be a crowd-pleaser.
And Bird will have his supporters.
‘‘All of them seem to bring their own cheering sections,’’ Brooslin said. ‘‘But, no question, Larry is one of the bigger names we’ve had in a while.’’