The End of an Era

 As I was going out and about today, I passed by Jones Hall.  I saw that they were starting to tear it down, so I went on the other side to see if the same was happening to Goddard.

And yes it was.  Goddard Hall is the hall that I stayed for three years of my time at Eastern Michigan University.  At the time, it was the Honors Dorm.  I also spent some other time there as it was the computing center.

Goddard Hall was constructed in 1955.  It was the same design as Jones Hall, King and Goodison Halls.  The architect was R.S. Gerganoff of Ypsilanti, Michigan.  Goddard Hall was named after Mary A. Goddard who was a botany professor at Eastern Michigan (then Michigan State Normal College) from 1900 to 1939.  Most of the rooms in the buildings were suites with a central living area and sleeping areas on either side.  Some of the rooms were just bedrooms but they were a pretty decent size.  Jones and Goddard held a total of 1,200 students.  In 1964, the computing center was opened in the basement of Goddard.  In the 1980s, both Jones and Goddard were made the honors dorms.

Due to the declining number of students living on campus and other issues, Goddard was closed in 2005.  It was decided fairly recently that they would be torn down.  I imagine the cost to update and mitigate asbestos would be too much.  This will become a green space for now.

While I'm sad that they are tearing Goddard down, I understand that time marches on.

Central Michigan Chippewas at Eastern Michigan Eagles - Baseball

 I love college sports and I think I would love to follow college baseball more but I live in a northern state.  College baseball usually starts in February.  Because it is winter in the northern areas, those teams tend to play their "home" games in southern locations.  This means that by the time the season are played at their actual homes, the season is almost half over.  

That shouldn't really matter.  But I decided to head to the game today.  Since I don't do a ton of baseball, I think I have some things to learn about shooting the game.  Anyway, this was my favorite picture from the game.  Sadly, Eastern Michigan lost.

Eastern Michigan Basketball Vs. Illinois State

 So I ended up going to the Eastern Michigan basketball game tonight.  It was the first basketball game I have been to in close to two years.  I had difficulties getting to a game last year because of COVID.  It seemed like every game I was thinking of going to was canceled.  I kind of missed taking basketball pictures.

At the end of the season last year, Rob Murphy left the team and became a general manager for a development league team in Detroit.  I will miss him.  He never seemed to be able to get over the hump of a MAC Championship but it seemed like his teams were always in contention.  Eastern Michigan ended up hiring Stan Heath.  He played on the Eastern Michigan team from 1984 to 1987 but I don't think he got all that man minutes.  He bounced around as an assistant coach and got a head coaching job at Kent State and led them to the NCAA tournament.  Then he got a job at Arkansas and led them to the NCAA Tournament.  Then he went to South Florida and he led them to the NCAA Tournament as well.  Then he became an assistant at Boston College and then a head coach for the development league team Lakeland Magic.  He led them to a championship.    I hope that he can bring some of that juju to Eastern Michigan.

This was my favorite picture from the game tonight.  For other pictures, go to Hustle Belt.  The Eagles won after two overtimes by a score of 103 to 98.

The Texas State Bobcats at Eastern Michigan Eagles

 Today was football day, so I couldn't get any ship pictures.  It looked like it was going to be nasty because it was raining this morning but it cleared right up around game time.

This was my favorite picture of the bunch.  You can go see the rest at Hustle Belt.  Eastern Michigan crushed the Bobcats by a final score of 59 to 21.

St. Francis Red Flash at Eastern Michigan Eagles

 So on Friday night I went to the Eastern Michigan game.  It was the first in person game for me since the pandemic began.  It was pretty cool to go to.  The crowd was decent for an Eastern game but not overwhelming.

I got there early enough to catch some of the practice.

As the practice was going on, this flight was leaving Detroit Metro and passing by the Stadium.  I think it was the flight to Amsterdam.

And then the band took the field.  I watched a few games last year and most of them didn't have the band.  And that seemed off.

And then the rest of the band took the field.

The drum major tried to back into the field but it didn't quite happen.

As I said, it was cool to see the band.

The ROTC color guard lining up for the Star Spangled Banner.

The band during the Star Spangled Banner.

They had the eagle again.

And the eagle's handler.

One more picture of the eagle.

The band as they were marching off the field.

I think this was the band during halftime.  They played a couple of Disney songs.

One more shot of the band.

I think this was my favorite of the game.  If you want to see more pictures, go to Hustle Belt.

the Water Tower From the Air

 So last night, I decided that  I wanted to get some pictures of the Water Tower from the air.

Even though I was shooting into the sun, I like this picture.

Boone Hall.

The other thing I like about the drone is that I can move it so that I'm not shooting into the sun.

A view of the tower.

I wanted to fly over campus a little bit.  The Pierce Building.

Sherzer Hall.

A shot of the water tower and Welch Hall.

Another shot of the water tower.

Another shot of the Welch Hall.

 I like the way the setting sun is hitting the road.

Northern Illinois at Eastern Michigan - In Pictures

With the basketball season winding down, I decided to go to the second half of the game tonight.  I got home late again, so I headed to the game after dinner.  When I arrived Eastern Michigan was leading by two.

 My shot of the game.  I don't remember if he missed it or not.

 The Northern Illinois coach, Mark Montgomery.  He used to play for Michigan State and so far his record is less than 500.

 Coach Murphy arguing with a ref.

 The Eastern Michigan cheerleaders.

Another shot of the Northern Illinois coach.

So anyways, as I looked up the box score, Eastern Michigan was leading by as many as 17 in the first half.  Northern Illinois closed the gap to 2 at the end of the half.  Even in the second half, Eastern Michigan was leading by as much as 9 points.  They gave up the game.  Of course, it didn't help that Eastern wasn't making their shots and Northern Illinois was but still.  This is game that Eastern Michigan had to win if they want to host the first game of the MAC Tournament (they have no chance for a bye game though).  Anyway, I'll be back on Saturday and hopefully Eastern Michigan will bounce back.

Kent State at Eastern Michigan Basketball - In Pictures

I was almost going to pass on going to the game tonight because I got home from work a little on the late side.  After I finished dinner, I decided to head over to the game so that I could catch the second half.  I arrived in time.  When I arrived, Eastern Michigan was up by two, so I thought it would be a close game.

 Coach Murphy giving some pointers to Boubacar Toure.

 The basketball band.

 The dance team.

 Rob Murphy laying out his strategy.

 Another picture from that session.

 Rob Murphy giving pointers to Noah Morgan.

 One of the Eastern Michigan cheerleaders.

Ever since my surgery, I have been spending less time under the basket.  I don't really want to have an ugly collision.  I try to get under the basket though because I like the pictures from there.  Usually there are people between me and the players, so it's not too bad.  Anyway, I was there at the right time.

Eastern Michigan would defeat Kent State by a score of 70 to 49.

Western Michigan at Eastern Michigan In Pictures

So I went to the Eastern Michigan basketball game today.  I was almost thinking of not going because it was so cold out but I ended up going and I'm glad I did.

 This is probably my favorite picture from the game.  If you want to see more, go to Hustle Belt where you can see the rest of my pictures.  Eastern Michigan would beat Western Michigan by a score of 69 to 51.

 The cheerleaders during one of the timeouts.

 The Eastern Michigan dance team doing a routine.  It was pretty cool to watch.

 I think the winds picked up during the game.  The flag was almost straight out.

Because I like the look of the Michigan flag.

The Eastern flag.

Eastern Michigan didn't start the MAC season well but it seems like the may be working some of the kinks out.  I hope it continues.