Peter Gay: One historic night at AHS | Columns | thesunchronicle.com – The Sun Chronicle
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Do you have any plans tomorrow night? Would you like to be a part of local sports history?
If you answered no to the first question and yes to the second, please join me at Attleboro High School tomorrow night for the first varsity basketball games in the new home of the Blue Bombardiers.
I’m honored to be serving as the public address announcer for tomorrow night’s Mansfield at Attleboro basketball doubleheader. The girls team will open the night at 5 p.m., followed by the boys team at 7 p.m.
Finding a seat for games like tomorrow night’s would have been difficult in the old AHS gym and might be the case again tomorrow night. The new facility seats 600 more people (1,800) than the Bombardiers’ former home, however, so there should be plenty of room for you to be a witness to this historic event.
While I’m on the subject of history, hats off to the students on Rathbun Willard Drive who were responsible for the rebranding of the school’s Eagle mascot. The addition of a helmet, goggles and bombardier jacket is a tribute to the brave men who risked their lives to defeat the Axis powers in World War II.
I would like to take the bombardier moniker to another level by providing a nickname for the new gymnasium.
Big Springs, Texas, is home to Hangar 25, a museum housed in a World War II airplane hangar that was built during the Army Air Corps Bombardier School days. The hangar includes a briefing room that was used by the bombardiers, pilots and their instructors.
Think of how the world might be different if not for the lessons learned in that hangar.
How about naming the new gym “The Hangar,” “Hangar 22” (22 in recognition of the year the new school opened) or something similar. Player introductions would begin with, “Welcome to The Hangar (or Hangar 22) at Attleboro High School, home of the Blue Bombardiers.”
I’d even be willing to donate a plaque for the entrance explaining the name.
One final thought on the Bombardiers: While doing research for this column, I discovered the possible origin of the name. It comes from the French word for “bomb thrower” and is similar in meaning to “grenadier,” according to Wikipedia.
I’ll see you tomorrow night!
Cage the Bulldogs
It was still a college competing in Division 2 athletics when I graduated from Bryant in 1981. The school on Douglas Pike over the border in Smithfield, is now a university and its sports teams now compete in Division 1.
I’m proud of the school’s growth and the team’s participation in the “First Four” of last year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament. I was less than impressed, however, when my alma mater embarrassed Division 3 opponent Thomas College of Waterville, Maine by a score of 147-39.
Why is Bryant even scheduling a school two divisions lower?
I can’t imagine a Notre Dame or Clemson hosting a school like Wheaton College. Another question that needs to be answered by the coaching staff is why the team was allowed to score 73 points in the second half after putting 74 on the scoreboard in the first 20 minutes.
A sad sign of the times
I would have never attempted to take Route 1 from downtown North Attleboro to the BJ’s Wholesale Club in South Attleboro years ago two weeks before Christmas, opting instead for Interstates 295 and 95 to the Route 1 exit.
It was a thought I had Saturday just before noon as I cruised past the Emerald Square Mall without even tapping my brakes.
There were only a few cars spread out across the vast parking lot. It seems like yesterday when North Attleboro police officers were needed to help with traffic and spaces were so scarce employees had to be bused in from the site of the former Witschi’s Arena.
I’m not sure what the new owners are doing — if anything — to boost business, but it’s not working!
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