From Tree to Tipoff

[dirt_dobber]

Cool ESPN story "From Tree to Tipoff" chronicling the making of a basketball court - from harvesting the 500 Maple trees to milling the lumber to laying the floor.

From Tree to Tipoff
http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/18985386/from-tree-tipoff
From deep in a Michigan forest to University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona, the floor at this weekend's Men's Final Four has completed a cross-country journey, lasting nearly five months.
HOW MUCH WOOD IS USED TO MAKE THE FLOOR?
500
TREES HARVESTED
418
PANELS OF WOOD
10
MILES OF BOARDS

 

[dclassical]

Nice story, thank you for sharing!

 

[Backyard Imports]

That is pretty cool. I wonder what they do with it once the tournament is over? How cool would it be to get ahold of a section and install it into a space at home?

There is a guy who goes around and buys up the wood from the old skating rinks. It is also really cool but very expensive.

 

[1949 caddyman]

Thanks for posting this. They had some of the assembly shown on our local TV. Nice to see what it takes start to finish to make this happen. Didn't realize it was a brand new floor.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Anyone who has driven across the UP knows that they have a LOT of trees ! Most are probably over 100 years old, maybe 150.

 

[ctgoodman]

My son will love this he is a basketball nut.

 

[dirt_dobber]

I had no idea prior to this story how many board feet of lumber went
into a basketball court. I love working with maple.

 

[padroo]

This is for all you basketball people out there.

A lot of states love basketball but you usually hear about college and pro.

Question, what state and town has the largest high school field house? I think I know the answer.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Several year back, I saw an interesting video about a one man lumber operation. He lived in the far eastern part of the UP. He had a permit from the DNR to cut a limited amount of trees every year. He would only harvest white oak and maple, probably less than 100 per year. He did it like they did in the old days, in the middle of winter (logs skid much better on snow and ice). Come summer, he would cut them into boards and let them dry in a barn. He got LOTS of special orders !

 

[MrBalll]

Very neat article.
Always thought it would be more paint that 4.5 gallons.

 

[ssffnomad]

Usually NCAA teams play in a maximum size 20,000 seat Arena. This was done to play Championship weekend in a 70,000 seat football arena. Winning college has the opportunity to purchase Court.