King of the Courts

While the satisfaction of training, the camaraderie of teamwork, and the unadulterated glory of DHAs compel many students to participate in Varsity sports on campus, other less polished athletes yearn for the simpler pleasures only fufilled in the pick-up game. Luckily for ballers at the college, a wide variety of venues can be found for impromptu contests any day of the week.

Malkin Athletic Center

The Breakdown: To imagine the pick-up basketball scene at the MAC, first picture the premiere streetball courts of a Brooklyn or a Venice Beach. Now replace the hard-nosed, dog-eat-dog competitors with that kid in your Spanish section. Then replace the legions of fans with a handful of medical school students playing badminton. Even though the level of play isn’t always up to snuff, most students agree that the intensity at the MAC makes it a superior locale. “For true believers,” says MAC enthusiast William H. Frank ’06, “the MAC is the mecca of Harvard pick-up. When everyone is together it reaches religious levels of intensity.” Despite recently breaking his nose at the MAC, Frank can’t wait to get wait to get back on the court, a testament to this game’s draw.

Overall Rating: 5 Stars

Hemenway Gymnasium

The Breakdown: Don’t think you can handle the heart-pumping pace of the MAC? The law school gym, Hemenway, offers a slightly less competitive option. Though it will be closing soon for major renovations, serious “law types” decked out in rec-specs and headbands flock to the open court on weekday afternoons. The decrepit gym with bars on the windows and crusty red pads lining the walls gives this game an old-school ambiance. Given the frequency of cheap fouls and grumbling, arguments arise consistently, and battling a prosecutor-in-training never ends well. “There’s not a whole lot of athleticism here,” says D. Allen Floyd II, a law student and Hemenway regular, “but some guys who come in here have played college ball and have real solid fundamentals.”

Overall Rating: 3 Stars

Mather Outdoor Courts

The Breakdown: Though bodily injury is a common aspect of the pick-up game, physical harm is inevitable at the outdoor courts behind Mather House . “The wrong kind of people congregate there,” says Dunster resident Aaron F. Alexander-Bloch ’06. As the stomping grounds for Cambridge high school students as well as teams of ornery 30 year-olds eager to prove themselves against the younger set, the players here all-too-often tend to feel that their manhood is at stake. Bloch recalls numerous occasions when he had to leave court to avoid a fight. “We’ve never had a good experience there. It always ends badly.”

Overall Rating: 1 Star