OT: Decorative Painting of BB Courts.

[Kibitzer]

We are all accustomed to the decorative paint jobs that adorn college and pro BB courts. My favorite is one of the oldest:center court for the Celtics -- the leprechaun-like guy twirling a basketball, shamrocks all around. (BTW, the artist for this was Red Auerbach's brother! so you know he didn't get rich doing it.)

More recently, this art form has reached new levels. Not content with a center court emblem and the "paint" area painted, we have creatures all over the place.

Now, the NCAA arenas do the mid-court area elaborately, plus promotional flourishes off the court on the sides and at the ends. And they miraculously change it all overnight!

My questions for any of you:

How do they do it?

Who does it best? Worst?​

 

[UcMiami]

Unfortunately most of it is now plastic appliqué which changes the texture and water absorption/condensation properties of those areas of the floor - can't remember what game this year it was where players kept losing their footing - very dangerous, and then the adhesive started giving out as well so there was a little bit sticking up!

The home court art is generally below the clear coat surface so it doesn't cause a problem - the temporary stuff is a disaster waiting to happen!

 

[Kibitzer]

Unfortunately most of it is now plastic appliqué which changes the texture and water absorption/condensation properties of those areas of the floor - can't remember what game this year it was where players kept losing their footing - very dangerous, and then the adhesive started giving out as well so there was a little bit sticking up!

The home court art is generally below the clear coat surface so it doesn't cause a problem - the temporary stuff is a disaster waiting to happen!

IIRC, what happened was that the New York Life logo on the court (XL Center?) got unstuck and represented a danger to players.

I remain sincerely curious about all the temporary artistry, like "NCAA Regional logos," as in Bridgeport.

 

[Charliebball]

IIRC, what happened was that the New York Life logo on the court (XL Center?) got unstuck and represented a danger to players.

I remain sincerely curious about all the temporary artistry, like "NCAA Regional logos," as in Bridgeport.

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We are all accustomed to the decorative paint jobs that adorn college and pro BB courts. My favorite is one of the oldest:center court for the Celtics -- the leprechaun-like guy twirling a basketball, shamrocks all around. (BTW, the artist for this was Red Auerbach's brother! so you know he didn't get rich doing it.)

Slightly OT but interesting.......Found this article from 2013 with some information about the wild art on some basketball courts and exactly what happens to courts when the NCAA Tournament ends

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  Workers from Praters Athletic Flooring in Rossville, Ga., preparing the court for the Final Four.CreditWade Rackley for The New York Times
  
  The N.C.A.A. now owns nine courts for the opening rounds of the men’s tournament, each used for a week in March and then packed away. It orders five more courts for the four regionals and the Final Four — typical courts cost $100,000, the manufacturer said — which it then sells after the tournament. The Final Four court is first offered to the national champion.
  
  The N.C.A.A. women’s tournament, by contrast, has created Final Four courts with giant, colorful creations, meant to be remembered.
  
  “When you walk into that arena, you look around and think, ‘Wow,’ ” said Tina Krah, the director of the women’s basketball tournament. “ ‘No one else will play on this court.’ ”
  
  But when Baylor declined to buy the court after it won last year’s women’s title, the Mountain West Conference stepped in. Butterly, the associate commissioner, saw the floor in Denver and immediately was sold by what he called the “mountainscape” of the design.
  
  Like all the N.C.A.A. tournament floors, it was made by Connor Sport Court, based in Salt Lake City. The Mountain West asked for modifications to the design — lose the Final Four logo and stain in a Mountain West Conference logo instead, for example, and darken the perimeter.
  
  The Mountain West was simply riding a trend of conferences designing, and sometimes buying, basketball floors for their annual conference tournaments.
  
  “A lot of conferences have realized that they should brand the floor, not just use the venue,” said Gary Gray, the sales manager for Connor Sport Court. “The Mountain West used to just slap their own sticker on the floor, but everyone knew it was the Thomas & Mack Center.”
  
  Connor Sport Court, which has built the courts for at least six N.B.A. teams (including the Brooklyn Nets) and several dozen college programs, uses three companies to paint and stain the courts. This past week, this year’s Final Four court was being painted in Chattanooga, Tenn.
  
  But the Mountain West court was stained by United Services of Idaho Falls, Idaho. Run by Richard Matheson and four sons, a family of former dairy farmers, the business also did the work on the court at Oregon’s Matthew Knight Arena, which opened in 2011.
  
  It was not the first college basketball floor to use an intricate stained pattern — Colorado State, far ahead of its time, had a pair of rams’ horns,each the size of half the court, applied in 1998 — but it is the most famous.
  
  
  

 

[Kibitzer]

@Charliebball. Thanks. Now we all know the trick to the magic.