Spokane Hoopfest 2008

I’m standing in the center of downtown Spokane, Washington on Main Ave. and Stevens St., and in every single direction that I look, I can only see basketball hoops for as far as my eye goes. I’m actually on my toes, but still can’t pick out an empty patch of pavement. Normally, I’d be in the midst of a relaxed Pacific city six hours east of Seattle and less than twenty miles from Idaho. But from June 28th-29th, Spokane, Washington transforms from a friendly town in the Northwest into the biggest 3-on-3 tournament (played loser’s out to 20 by 1′s and 2′s) on the globe, as 6,400 squads take over the streets for Spokane’s Hoopfest.

The Spokesman-Review Special Edition

The entire city literally shuts down and embraces Hoopfest in every way possible. Even the local paper, The Spokesman-Review publishes a special “Hoopfest” section, which takes 22 full pages to publish the names of each participant and the basket he/she needs to report to. I’ve scoured the list in search of current and former NBA players, as Dan Dickau and Adam Morrison often make appearances in the town of their alma mater. I definitely haven’t seen Dickau, but there was some long-haired dude smoking a cigarette underneath a bridge who could very well have been Morrison.

Once each team gets to their respective basket, it’s a sight to behold. While Nike outfits all participants with some sick gear (which I’m trying to get my hands on), people come decked out in team jerseys, tee-shirts and full-on uniforms. Team Larry Johnson gets some love for creativity, and of course for supporting LJ: each member of the team had a different Grandmama jersey on – one UNLV, one Charlotte, one New York.

I’ve never seen so many Brandon Roy jerseys in one place. There’s at least one kid rocking a Blazers 7 on every block. Even if Spokane counts as Gonzaga Bulldog country, there’s no love lost for a former Huskie. In fact, four Washington State Cougars whose campus is about 75 miles away in Pullman, were warmly welcomed to Nike Center Court, where they watched the “elite” division in action. PG Taylor Rochestie, C Aron Baynes, F Caleb Forrest, and F Daven Harmeling judged the Slam Dunk competition, which should have gone to a 5-7 kid who had the cojones to drag a bench onto the court and used one of his friends’ backs as a launching pad.

Dream Team Stockton with the kiss!

Some “elite” teams are fun to watch, but the real draw of Hoopfest is the quantity, not the quality of competition. Everyone who loves to hoop within 500 miles of the event comes out.

As action continues into today’s championship round, I’d put money on a group of former Boise State Broncos, including their starting two and three from ’07-08 – Matt Bauscher and Tyler Tiedeman who drove from about six hours away. They’ve hammered the comp 40-14 in two games.

Even for the winners, the prizes at Hoopfest aren’t the reason that people come out. It’s nothing more than a trophy and winning tee-shirts. But even so, the event has drawn around 30,000 participants and supposedly 170,000 more spectators for the love of the game.