Thursday, September 20, 2007

Finding a good pick-up basketball game in Anchorage

I successfully arrived in Alaska last week (despite the best efforts of the bear crossing the Alaska highway right in front of me). My first order of business was to set-up my room, but close behind that task on my list of things to do was to find a place to play pick-up basketball.

This is the first time in years, possibly in my entire life, that I've needed to figure out the best place to play pick-up basketball without having access to a reliable source of information on the subject. Growing up, I always played with my friends at one of the local courts. In college, I just went to the school gym. After college, I was still living with my college roommates. We played at one of the local outdoor courts and occasionally sneaked into the some of the nearby college gyms (before they added the electronic swipe cards!). Then, when I went back to school, I played at the school gym again.

Here, in Anchorage, Alaska, I have no idea where the best place to play pick-up basketball is located. I was going to say that it isn't something you can just google, but apparently it is (as you can see here--[update: I googled "anchorage pick-up basketball"]). Kind of amazing that google books can take you directly to the page in Hoop Nation that talks about the best places to play pick-up basketball in Anchorage. Of course, I have no idea if the recommendations are good or not (for indoor they recommend the University of Alaska-Anchorage gym which is open to the public for a reasonable fee). For a general fitness membership, I've been told that The Alaska Club is really the only game in town. And since they also have a basketball gym (and tennis courts, squash courts, etc), I was just assuming I would join there. The only problem is that they require a year-long membership--so I want to get it in the next couple of days (since I'll only be here for another 11 months), but I'll also be stuck with it if it does turn out that University of Alaska-Anchorage really is the best place to play.

Take a look at the two websites and share you thoughts. Plus, how do you go about figuring out where to play basketball when you move to a new location? Any methods other than trial and error?

28 comments:

Unknown said...

Choosing between the college gym and the Alaska Club is a no-brainer if you go to the websites. The Alaska Club does not even feature basketball anywhere on their website. If the college gym is similarly convenient, it offers all of the benefits as the Alaska Club plus the fact that, being part of a college, there is a better chance of people hanging around the gym looking to get up a game. Lastly, the college probably has an organized league that you can join and the Alaska Club makes no mention of such a league.

Sam Cohen said...

I'm not sure that the U of A website really features basketball anymore than the Alaska Club website. From the one picture I could find, in fact, it looks like U of A has just one court (maybe two?) that also functions as a volleyball court. That doesn't make it worse than the Alaska Club, I'm just not sure what on the website makes it seem so much better in your mind. I think the point about college kids hanging around looking for a game is a good one. On the other hand, I find it highly unlikely that U of A has leagues for non-university folk to join. I know my college only had leagues for university affiliates, and I don't know of any colleges that had such leagues. Did yours? Most likely, I'm going to do the Alaska Club, but possibly check out the U of A gym on weekends when the runs would probably be the best.

Sam Cohen said...

Thinking more about your points--how does it change your thinking if I tell you the monthly rate at the Alaska Club is $65/month compared to $5/use for U of A? I realized I had never shared those numbers, and they're probably pretty relevant although I hadn't been breaking things down by cost per use until just now. Based on them, if I just use the treadmills 13 times a month, then the Alaska Club membership is worthwhile. If I felt like playing b-ball or using the pool at U of A, I could still do it and come out ahead as long as I went to the Alaska Club 13x per month in addition to the times I played at U of A. I think using the treadmill 13x a month sounds reasonable, but maybe I'm overestimating how often I'll go running. Thoughts?

Anonymous said...

if u hav any game i dare u to go uptown in fairview for the spring league. winter is spenard rec tues and sunday afternoon. wendler park is good run in the summer. there a place next to alaska club south. if u know how to ball these are good places to get into the anchorage basketball scene.

Sam Cohen said...

Thanks for the advice. For now, I'm playing indoors at Alaska Club west. Once we get back around to warm weather I'll check out your recs.

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