Posted by
Ed Lilly on Wednesday, August 06, 2008 10:57:07 AM
Senator Barack Obama will be campaigning in my hometown today. Actually, there's probably a little bit of a dispute on that point, as he will be appearing at Concord High School's gymnasium, which I think is technically not located in the City of Elkhart. The Concord school system is separate from the Elkhart school system, and I don't think all of the land in the Concord area has been annexed into the city. In any event, the news stories are indicating that Sen. Obama is in Elkhart, so we'll all go along with that characterization for now.
As for the appearance itself, Sen. Obama will be at McCuen Gymnasium. In talking to my father, I understand the gym hold about 1,000 people. This would be a nice little rally in a town of about 45,000.
But Sen. Obama could have had a rally in an even bigger venue in Elkhart. North Side Gym holds approximately 7,000 people. This gym was built in 1954 and I believe it was one of the largest gyms in the state for high school basketball for a long time. The gym is actually located at one of the junior high schools (now called middle schools) in town, and both of the Elkhart high schools play their home basketball games there. As a young kid in the 1970s, I remember going to games on Friday and Saturday nights and the gym would be full. For sectional and regional games when the state basketball tourney started, the gym would be overflowing, and I can remember sitting in cramped corner bleachers in the upper level for many games, feeling like the whole gym would collapse under the stomping feet of the crowd.
Things have changed over the years with high school hoops in Indiana. It's now been over 10 years since a single team was crowned THE state champs at the end of the tournament. Now there are four class champions, depending on the size of the schools. There will never be another Milan Miracle, upon which the movie "Hoosiers" was loosely based.
And the crowds at Elkhart high school games are not what they used to be. I went to some of the games when I still lived in town after law school. North Side Gym was nowhere near full. A lot of the bleachers in the upper level weren't even rolled out for use.
I'm a little surprised that Sen. Obama apparently could not muster enough excitement in his campaign appearance to at least match the crowds at North Side Gym that I remember. I'm sure his campaign staff would not want to have him speak in a quarter full gym in a small town in Indiana. It wouldn't make for very good pictures. So the smaller venue at the newer school out in the suburbs will probably be just fine. It will be full with a cheering crowd, like it was when Sean Kemp played for Concord almost 20 years ago. I wonder if Kemp's name will come up in today's events? He's probably the most famous athlete to have attended the Concord schools. If someone on the campaign staff did their homework, it may not be a bad reference to make, at least to try to connect with local celebrity and former glory.