Hoop Dreams at the Levien Underground

For a moment, let’s take a step into the not-so-distant-past. Let’s set the Wayback Machine for circa September 23, 2007. Around that time, Columbia was preparing for the arrival of some guy who was going to speak…what was his name…oh yeah, that Ahmadinejad fellow, right. Well, on the night of the day that I mentioned earlier, a big difference between Mr. Ahmadinejad and yours truly was highlighted on 114th street. The highlighted difference was that, according to the men of Pi Kappa Alpha, “Ahmadinejad is not a baller,” and I, on the other hand, am.
Now, I’m not a baller in the way that people like Rip Hamilton, Kobe Bryant, Sue Bird, Joe Bova, and others are ballers. Rather, I am a baller in the way that about 97 percent of people age 18 and older and ballers—they play basketball and range in skill from diamonds in the rough to rhinestones.
I would put myself closer to the latter end, as the prospect of a career in the NBA—or even the TBL (Turkish Basketball League) for that matter—is quickly slipping away. If I’m going to be able to make it anywhere with my basketball prowess, I’m going to have to practice. Luckily for me, there is ample competition available and at close proximity in Dodge Fitness Center.
That’s right, I said Dodge Fitness Center. As in, the place that you’ve been meaning to go to since you added 15 pounds freshman year, but have found a bevy of reasons to avoid. For those of you still confused, it’s that cave that you see athletes descending into near Pupin. In case you don’t know, Dodge isn’t just a place for varsity athletes, meatheads, and spectators; it’s actually the consistent site of competitive pick-up basketball on a nightly basis.
Whenever I am in the mood to make it rain—which is fairly often—I call some buddies and head over to Dodge to see what kind of ballin’ is going on. Earlier in the semester, we ran into problems in securing a place to play, as for the first couple of weeks, the schedules for the availability of the Levien and University gyms were not posted online, which led to a crapshoot of sorts when heading over to the gym. If the gyms were not available for recreation, then there was no ballin’ to be had. This angered some of the regular ballers, and on one occasion, a few of them approached a DFC employee in hopes of getting a court somehow or getting regular gym time, to no avail.
However, this problem was remedied, as recently, the schedules have been posted online, which makes it a lot easier for people to know when to expect that the gym will be available for the purpose of ballin’.
Usually, there is at least one open court on a daily basis between 8 pm and closing time at 12 am. This is prime time for pick-up games, as Columbia students of all different levels and even residents of the Morningside area come together to compete in some really hardcore games.
Anyone who balls knows the regulars, if not by name at least by their game. Any night you go to the gym, if there’s a game to be had, you’re sure to find at least two or three guys there that you’ve played with or played against before. You don’t know their names and they don’t know yours, but there is a common understanding that can be noticed in their greeting or reply to your greeting, “Sup man,” with the accompanying head nod.
From there, you had better know to call next, or else it’s going to be a long wait before you hit the court. Sometimes, when there is only one gym open, it is feasible that a person can wait upwards of an hour just to get on the court for a single game. If you’re going to wait that long, you’d better have a good team. Without a good team, 11 points will seem like nothing, and you’ll be by the wayside almost as soon as you can say, “Ball’s in.”
For all the hardcore competition, one might expect some issues to arise in the heat of the game. In all my ball-playin’ days, I am proud to say that the people I have met on the court have been some of the nicer people that I have met on campus. Considering that competition is high, it’s nice to see that people respect foul calls, allow anyone, regardless of skill, to play, and treat people respectfully on the court. In the end, everyone is just trying to have fun, and people understand that, which creates an environment of enjoyable basketball.
The venue for all of this, Dodge, is the best place for Columbia students and Morningside residents to play basketball, especially during the winter. Despite the fact they do not constitute an “organized club,” people who play pick-up basketball comprise one of the biggest groups—outside of varsity athletes—of people that frequent Dodge, according to my own calculations. Dodge does a good job allowing recreation time for people to play games, and if it can continue to post gym schedules online and maintain consistent hours for recreation during Ivy basketball season, then I foresee some continued, enjoyable, competitive ballin’ in the future.