Does Blair Park have the Best Court in Urbana Champaign?
For a long time, Blair Park didn't have a basketball court. Construction only finished a couple months ago, and I haven't played on it much, but it really isn't that great. That's unfortunate for me because I live quite close to Blair Park, so having a good court near me would be pretty helpful. After giving it a chance, I'd still rather play on the hoop I have on my garage (maybe I'll make a post on my makeshift court someday).
This is the picture of the court in the concept plan from 2019. The actual court is pretty close to what they envisioned so it's good for reference. I'm just going to rattle off all the things I don't like about this court, so here we go.
This is the picture of the court in the concept plan from 2019. The actual court is pretty close to what they envisioned so it's good for reference. I'm just going to rattle off all the things I don't like about this court, so here we go.
- There isn't much space beyond the 3-point line. It's fine enough to shoot threes, but if you want to play with others, you don't have enough space to move around.
- There isn't any fence or wall to stop the ball if it bounces away. This is pretty common for outdoor courts but it still gets pretty annoying. Another part of this problem is that the court is placed directly next to a playground. The playground has one of those zip line swings, which children really love. So every time your ball goes bouncing toward the playground you have to run to get it before it collides with a child on the zipline.
- The court uses a double rim. If you don't know, double rims are pretty much what they sound like. Instead of one metal rim, there are two. This is usually done so the rims can last longer. Double rims are a lot stiffer than single rims, so it becomes a lot harder to make a shot on a double rim. You have to either get a swish (making a shot without the ball even touching the rim) or get really close to it to make shots on this rim. The double rim also makes my 2nd grievance with it worse, because the ball has a much higher tendency to go bouncing off at a kid.
- There are no lights at Blair Park, so playing at night is pretty much impossible.
- Lastly, there aren't many trees or buildings in the court's area to give shade. This isn't as much of a negative as my other points are, but I think it's still worth mentioning. On a hot day, the shade will be dearly missed, so I recommend going to somewhere shadier if you get bothered by the heat.
Even with all of that said, the court still has some good things to offer. It does have the correct markings of the paint, free throw line, and 3-point line if you care about that. The court is fairly new, and I haven't noticed anything off about the rim or the ground. Basically, the court has the bare minimum and not much more. It's fine to play at, but I'm trying to find the best court in Urbana Champaign, and the Blair Park court just doesn't cut it.
Ranking:
This is the only post I've made about a court so far so there isn't really a point in having a ranking, but whatever.
- Blair Park


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