quote and observation

Quote: I asked a couple people if they voted yesterday for the Oshkosh mayor and city councilmen.

Mike Manders said, "I don't vote." His girl friend added, "He didn't even vote in the presidential election."

Another quote I got was from a student named Jessica. She said, "I don't give a shit about Oshkosh. I had other things to do. I worked out. It was a beautiful day; maybe if it were raining I would vote.

Observation: I observed people playing basketball and working out in the Albee Hall gym for 15 minutes.

At first there were a guy (Mike Manders) and a girl (Nikki Fence) playing basketball together. I mainly focused on observing Manders while he played ball with Fence. He was wearing a white T-shirt and red shorts with black trim along the bottom and up the sides of the outer seam. His boxer shorts were hanging approximately an inch or two out of his shorts. He had on green basketball shoes with white on the bottoms. He also wore a yellow a Lance Armstrong bracelet on his right arm. His hair was blondish-brown and was spiked up. His face was a little red when I first sat down to observe him, and he seemed a little uneasy. While he was playing, he seemed like a good ball player and was a natural with his shots.

While he was shooting hoops with his friend he would shoot with his right hand. They were using the hoop that was on the left side of the court. He tried to make some hard shots. He stood back to make a three-pointer and was successful, and then his friend (the girl who was wearing a white shirt and blue jeans with long brown hair) would try and shoot. They would take turns shooting the ball usually with the girl trying to make the same shot as Manders. He stood halfway between the left and right sides of the court and stood backwards and took a shot. He made it. His girl friend than tried to make a shot and was successful. He remarked, “There it is.”

At this point in time, another boy walked into Albee and began practicing at the hoop next to the couple. He was wearing a bright orange T-shirt and black shorts. Manders knew the guy who had just come in and asked him if anyone else was coming. The guy replied, “I hope so.” This boy practiced shooting by himself while I was there.

Manders took the ball out to the foul line and threw it hard on the ground to try and make a bounce shot which he did make. He grabbed the ball and pretended to throw it at the girl. For his next “trick shot” he stood behind the basketball far off to my left, next to the bleachers and transportable soccer goals. He shot first and missed. He rebounded the ball and tried the shot again but was unsuccessful. He than went to the basketball hoop that is near the rear door of Albee’s court (the doors facing the library). This hoop was not lowered down, but he shot and made a basket. His girl friend tried to make the same shot.

He than went out in middle of the court (from the left and right side of the court) and tried to shoot backwards towards the hoop he originally was playing at. He missed this shot. His girl friend than was trying to shoot while he itched his right leg and than bit his finger nails. He continued to watch her with his hands on his hips. Manders than stole the ball from Fence and began dribbling around her in a flirtatious manner. He aimed and shot and made a basket. The girl than had the ball and was trying to get to the hoop, but he was blocking her shots and was playfully putting his arms around her while they both laughed.

Another man that was in Albee was working out on the opposite side of the court from where I was sitting. He had on a white T-shirt and blue shorts. His hair was white. I would glance at him sometimes. He began his workout with doing a grapevine down one of the lines of the court. He would go down and back. He than would walk in small circles. Next he skipped down the line and back, and than he walked circles again. He skipped down the line again, but this time he would touch his elbows to his knees, which looked very awkward and made me chuckle. The last time I glanced at him, he was at one of the hoops at the center (facing Algoma Blvd.) and was doing line touches. He would run up, touch the line, run to the side, touch the line, run back, touch the line, run to the other side and touch the line. He basically was moving in a square box and did this three times.