Culver Indiana Photography: Donkey Basketball
This evening, I went to the CCHS gym to watch and photograph donkey basketball. Having never seen this sport before, I really had no idea of what to expect. Even now after sitting through several games, I don’t think that I’ll do it justice to describe it. Donkey basketball is a hoot to watch as it is more about trying to get on and stay on the donkeys. Once on, trying to get them to move is quite a challenge. One of the best moments came in the beginning when I was checking my camera and the announcer came on the loud speaker and said quite loudly, “so-and-so is making a break for it”. I looked up to see a man with the basketball leading 7 other donkeys as he went toward the opposite end. Of course, he and the 7 other donkeys and riders were moving at the blinding pace that I could have past them had I been crawling along the ground. Things would progress at this rate until the man that cared for the donkeys would bang a stick against the ground and the animals would go nuts. Some would run, some would buck, and others reared. As I’m sure that you can see in the photos, I was not the only person laughing my butt off. If the whole event weren’t funny enough to begin with, add to it the fact that the “players” were Culver’s Police Cheif and an officer, our Town Manager, our Town Clerk, some firemen, teachers, coaches, our local newspaper reporter, and even some high school students.
I’ve posted some photos here. There are hundreds more at www.culverphotos.com/donkeybasketball. If you do visit the website, take notice of the photos of standalone donkeys. These photos came about whenever the donkeys threw their riders and managed to escape for a minute or two.