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| Andy "Thiccc Daddy" Brown |
Ha! Didn't see this coming, did you? I will admit that until fairly recently, I wouldn't have had it on my bingo card either.
A couple of Novembers ago, we went to see Judge John Hodgman perform live in Turners Falls, Massachusetts (see my post here). One of his "cases" was between two professional wrestlers based in a gym in, of all places, Easthampton, Mass., not too far from where our child goes to college. Before that moment, I had never even considered the possibility that "minor league" pro wrestling was a thing - though I suppose you have to work your way up, just like in any business. Since then, a couple of developments enhanced the family curiosity in pro wrestling. Our child discovered WWE and I discovered the comic book series Love & Rockets, which features the sport prominently in some of the Locas stories (see here).
So we made a plan to go. We invited my wife to join us but, not shockingly, she passed. So I headed down on my own this past weekend so the kid and I could go to GRIND's spring season opener, entitled "Brave New World."
It was... exactly what I expected. My own previous exposure to pro wrestling is limited. I grew up in the '80s when WrestleMania was born and the sport was achieving its first strong footholds in mainstream culture. I was introduced to amateur wrestling at around the same time and thought it was awesome. "Fake" wrestling held significantly less appeal. So even though going to GRIND was technically my idea, I still went in with considerable reservations.
It was camp. It was theatrical. It was violent. It was 100% staged and scripted. It was also 100% impressive and entertaining.
The space was small - a local VFW, not even a high school gym - and intimate. We were in what started as the back row (they eventually added folding chairs behind us) but never far from the action. I got nervous every time the wrestlers fell out of the ring (even though I know it was planned).
We got five matches in all: four duals, including a women's match, and a 3-on-3 tag team event. In as much as I like wrestling at all, I'm a sucker for tag teams. But the final, main event was the real treat: Perry Von Vicious, the reigning in-house champion, versus Andy Brown, aka Thiccc Daddy. Even though he was the out-of-town challenger (technically the "bad guy"), Thiccc Daddy first won over the crowd, then won the match and the championship belt with it (see top photo). He'll also be in GRIND's next event in March. I'm guessing there's a season-long drama planned.
 Mike Graca |
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Grind OGs vs. The Lost Boys
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| The victorious OGs |
Ridiculous? Check. Fun? Also check. Most importantly, the kid had a grand old time. Would I go again? Maybe. I don't know if we'll have time to go see GRIND again but there is Green Mountain Wrestling in Montpelier...
The following day, the kid had to work so I had the afternoon to myself. I perused the guidebook for something I could do that would be less appealing for the rest of my family and thus an ideal choice to explore on my own. And there it was: the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield.
I have passed the silver dome of the Hoops Hall many times on the highway though always on the way to somewhere else. And that is already one of the biggest selling points of this Hall: it's right off the Interstate. This stands in notable contrast with baseball's Hall in Cooperstown, New York - a lovely little hamlet but it's in the middle of nowhere. And the baseball Hall doesn't even have a proper parking lot. Plus basketball, unlike football, baseball, ice hockey or even rock 'n' roll, has a well-documented origin story. That story, along with many others, is well-preserved in Springfield.
Interestingly, the kid and I had just had a chat on the walk back from brunch - before I'd even concocted my Springfield plan - about the accessibility of museums. Accessibility for the disabled, of course, but also the literal separation between exhibit and observer. For the most part, you can't touch stuff. Regarding the first consideration, there are a lot of stairs at the Hoops Hall, but also a lot of elevators. Much of what is behind glass is at a relatively low eye-level so a person in a wheelchair would be able to see them easily.
Regarding the second consideration, the first thing you see when you get off the elevator at the beginning of the tour is a wall with brass (maybe copper?) basketballs on a wall with actual players' handprints on them. The idea is to see how your own hand measures up. Surprise, surprise, the average star basketball player's hand is enormous. Next, you walk around a ring to see how you measure up in height with NBA and WNBA players, beginning with Muggsy Bogues (one of my all-time favorite athletes) at 5'3" and ending with Yao Ming at 7'6". So even before you get to the other exhibits, you've established yourself in the physical world of the players.
Then the Wall of Honor, when you finally get to it near the end of the tour, is just a wall of names, no plaques. Instead of plaques, there are huge touch screens so you can easily find the stars you care the most about - again, a tactile experience. I found all of the Georgetown Hoyas and Washington Wizards (then the Bullets) greats.
The entire museum surrounds a basketball court, viewable from each level and completely open for people to shoot around with their friends, their kids, whomever. The Hall truly is built around the love of the game itself.
Best of all, the women's game is celebrated on equal footing. Every space of the Hall that honors men also honors women. They are not shoved away into a corner. For the moment, more of the "stuff" is for the men than for the women but it's obvious that's changing in a hurry. We're living in the Age of Caitlin Clark and the face of basketball is increasingly female. The Hall is doing its part to encourage that.
I do have one criticism: not enough books in the gift shop. I know there are books about basketball because I've read them and reviewed quite a lot of them here on The Squid. There were a few books. There should have been a lot more.
