Goodbye Greynolds Gym

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username123

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I was saddend to see that demolition has begun on Greynolds Gym. I understand that what will be built there will benefit Barberton, but I hate to see it go. Some of you younger people may not understand what that gym means to us oldtimers, but many of my best memories as a youth and young adult are from Greynolds Gym. Mark and Marty Bodnar, Carter Scott, Weigand, Brabson, Bidlingmyer, Alvin and Kenny Robertson, Bronze Simpson, Ray Hubbard, Mike Soyars, Jim Graham, The Armbrusters, Denny Liddle, Jack Jr., Tron Jenkins, Germano, Richard Sims, "Sky" Walker and Jack Greynolds himself.

And, let us not forget the girls who displayed their own style of Magic for years. Kim Knowels, Gloria Blanks, Deanne Klein, Amy Weaver, Kelly Stacey, Megan Koster, Sue Logsdon, Pam Paddy, Carrie Canning, Jackie Lamonica and Coach Jeff Janiga.

To all of the above and all the rest who played there, I want to say thank you for the memories. Some of the things that I will always remember are beating Hoban by over 100 points, the brawl that broke out with St. Vincent St. Mary and the win over St. Ignatius my junior year.

RIP Jack, you and your Gym will live forever in our hearts.
 
 
If ever a place defined "home court advantage" it was Greynolds Gymnasium. What a great place to watch a game...unless you were the opposing team or an official. When it is said that the fans were "on top of you" it was almost a literal phrase. Those in the front row could actually extend an arm and touch a player on the sideline. And, of course, the officials got the full brunt of Coach Greynolds', um, commentary more often because he was so close to within earshot.

I loved that place and I'm not from Barberton. There is a touch of sadness in hearing that it is gone.
 
What really gets me angry is that a group of us wanted to take the floor, backboards and some seats. Of course we were not permitted to do so and it is now all in the dump!
 
Are you serious? Man, there was some real forward thinking there. How stupid. Can you imagine the fund-raiser that could have been? I would have offered people who had long-term season tickets a chance to buy their seat for like $150-$200. Parts of the floor could have been auctioned off, same as the rims and the backboards. I wonder if any of the uniforms from those seasons survived? It could have made the school system or some charity a few thousand bucks at least. I know I would have tried to get something...maybe that off-balance chair and rickety table Sharkey always set me up with when I used to work in the media. I'm sure it's still there on the stage somewhere. That's a shame. For the city of Barberton, they would have literally been selling pieces of history.
 
We were actually going to install this stuff into a sports bar near the football stadium. The sports bar may still happen, but it would have been a heck of alot better with all this stuff. They wouldnt even let us take down the letters that read "Greynolds Gymnasium" that hung on an outside wall.
 
That's ridiculous. They missed a great opportunity to show some community awareness about what those team and that coach meant to Barberton and they literally buried it without ceremony. What a shame.
 
You know, alot of people jump all over me because I have negative things to say about certain coaches and administrators. This is exactly the kind of stuff that I complain about. They have torn down Central High School and Greynolds Gym, now they want to tear down Sharkey Stadium. They will tear down the football stadium over my dead body!!!

If it wasnt for me and the group of people I am with, Barberton would still have Tim Flossie, open enrollment and Pam Davis. We have put up with alot of crap from the current administration, but the line in the sand will be drawn around Sharkey Stadium.
 
frecriss said:
You know, alot of people jump all over me because I have negative things to say about certain coaches and administrators. This is exactly the kind of stuff that I complain about. They have torn down Central High School and Greynolds Gym, now they want to tear down Sharkey Stadium. They will tear down the football stadium over my dead body!!!

If it wasnt for me and the group of people I am with, Barberton would still have Tim Flossie, open enrollment and Pam Davis. We have put up with alot of crap from the current administration, but the line in the sand will be drawn around Sharkey Stadium.
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why couldnt the line in the sand be drawn with greynolds gym... ive heard more grownups that went to barberton talk about Greynolds and Barberton Basketball way more then Barberton Football
 
kvzepp said:
why couldnt the line in the sand be drawn with greynolds gym... ive heard more grownups that went to barberton talk about Greynolds and Barberton Basketball way more then Barberton Football
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It depends on how old the grownups are. Overall, Basketball did not surpass football here until the mid 90's. Barberton won the state basketball championship during my freshman year, but football was still the top sport in town. I know during my senior year we felt we had the best football team in the state, we just didnt have the playoff sytem to prove it. If I remember correctly, we finished second in the region which was not enough to qualify for the playoffs at that time. There is much more history and tradition in Sharkey stadium than there was in Greynolds Gym, we just need to start bringing that history and tradition back to life.

Also, frecriss made his point to the administration, and they are now looking into making the repairs to Sharkey Stadium rather than tearing it down.
 
OLDMAGICIAN said:
It depends on how old the grownups are. Overall, Basketball did not surpass football here until the mid 90's. Barberton won the state basketball championship during my freshman year, but football was still the top sport in town. I know during my senior year we felt we had the best football team in the state, we just didnt have the playoff sytem to prove it. If I remember correctly, we finished second in the region which was not enough to qualify for the playoffs at that time. There is much more history and tradition in Sharkey stadium than there was in Greynolds Gym, we just need to start bringing that history and tradition back to life.

Also, frecriss made his point to the administration, and they are now looking into making the repairs to Sharkey Stadium rather than tearing it down.
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I disagree. I feel that Barberton basketball has been the top sport ever since we won the state title.

There are alot of great memories on that football field, but there was MAGIC made in Greynolds gym.

I do hope that the tradition of Barberton football returns someday.
 
purpleprincess said:
I disagree. I feel that Barberton basketball has been the top sport ever since we won the state title.

There are alot of great memories on that football field, but there was MAGIC made in Greynolds gym.

I do hope that the tradition of Barberton football returns someday.
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Alot of people feel that way but it really is not true. Contrary to popular belief, Barberton is and always has been a football town. When you look at legendary players, teams and coaches, football beats basketball by a landslide. The reason for the basketball belief is that basketball has remained good while football has been in a decade long depression.
 
My senior year (1991) I played basketball for Akron Springfield. We had the pleasure of playing the Magics twice that year. When we played at Barberton, they beat us by 98 points. It was the worst athletic event that I ever played in up to that point, and after. Simpson, Bidlingmyer, Jenkins, Morgan, Germano (who I still talk to all the time). It was sick. I thought the gym was going to collapse. The crowd was going nuts...literally hanging from the balcony. They wanted to win by 100!! And almost did. Toughest place and toughest game I ever played in.
I did block a shot of Bronze Simpson's though. I think it pissed him off, because he dunked on me later in the game:Ohno:
 
That was a great team. I dont remember that game, but I think we did beat Hoban by 100 or something close to that when the Bodnars played. All those guys you mentioned played college ball but I cant remember where Germano played.
Simpson-Gannon
Bidlingmyer-Sienna
Jenkins-Akron
Morgan-Rio Grande

I thought that team was the best in the state but St. Joe got us in the tournament.

Blocking a shot by Bronze Simpson is something to proud of, that didnt happen much.
 
OLDMAGICIAN said:
Alot of people feel that way but it really is not true. Contrary to popular belief, Barberton is and always has been a football town. When you look at legendary players, teams and coaches, football beats basketball by a landslide. The reason for the basketball belief is that basketball has remained good while football has been in a decade long depression.
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I was born and raised in Barberton, still live here, and I just don't see it!
Even when the basketball teams have an off year, they still bring out the fans in droves.
There is a passion in Barberton basketball. I have yet to see that with football. Don't get me wrong, though- I would LOVE to see that with the football program.

Maybe I'm wrong, but all I know is that when I tell someone I'm from Barberton, two things come up in our conversation, Barberton chicken (lol) and Magics basketball. Everyone has a story of a game they witnessed.
 
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tallmadge H2 dad said:
My senior year (1991) I played basketball for Akron Springfield. We had the pleasure of playing the Magics twice that year. When we played at Barberton, they beat us by 98 points. It was the worst athletic event that I ever played in up to that point, and after. Simpson, Bidlingmyer, Jenkins, Morgan, Germano (who I still talk to all the time). It was sick. I thought the gym was going to collapse. The crowd was going nuts...literally hanging from the balcony. They wanted to win by 100!! And almost did. Toughest place and toughest game I ever played in.
I did block a shot of Bronze Simpson's though. I think it pissed him off, because he dunked on me later in the game:Ohno:[/QUOTE

That gym always felt like it was 100 degrees on game night!
There was and never will be anything like it.
I love our new gym, but nothing will ever compare!!!
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purpleprincess said:
I was born and raised in Barberton, still live here, and I just don't see it!
Even when the basketball teams have an off year, they still bring out the fans in droves.
There is a passion in Barberton basketball. I have yet to see that with football. Don't get me wrong, though- I would LOVE to see that with the football program.
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Again, that is because Football has not been good for a decade and basketball has remained good. Believe me, I was in high school during the height of the Basketball craze in the 70's. According to my dad and grandfather, Barberton was rabid with football in 30's-60's, I saw it for myself in the 70's and 80's. The craziest I ever saw Barberton fans was at the Rubber Bowl after beating Massillon in 1977.
 
Let me bring something to this discussion. I have known oldmagician my entire life and feel as if I know purpleprincess. The fact that you dont agree on this is simply because of the differance in age(oldmagician has 11 or 12 years on you princess). Through the 60's, football was obviously much better than basketball. In the 70's, Basketball caught football and it was equal. In the 80's and much of the 90's it was still pretty close, but over the last 10 years Basketball clearly has the edge. Overall, as oldmagician said, when you stack up players,coaches and teams, football will win by a fairly wide margin.
 
I'm sure that has something to do with it.
Like I said before, I would LOVE for the tradition to return to Barberton football. There's nothing like a high school football game on a chilly Friday night.
 
Football or basketball is special to those who love it the most. Just as individual teams and coaches are fan favorites. Still YOUR team will always be the best ever. Magic fans of the 70's had both and loved both. The stadium(& rubber bowl /about 22,000 people0 were always packed with loud backers. We were simply the best. Had the current system been in use in the 70/80's we would have been in the playoffs like 6 or 8 times. only one team went to the playoffs in those years. People lined up all night to get basketball tickets. The football end zone bleachers were full with 10 deep SRO. ALL stadium seats were reserved and sold out. We had more ticket requests than we had seats in the gym and yes we would love to get back to that again.
 
frecriss said:
What really gets me angry is that a group of us wanted to take the floor, backboards and some seats. Of course we were not permitted to do so and it is now all in the dump!
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Frecriss, Did you order some of the seats and floor? I saw them at the boys game; pretty cool stuff if you have a connection with the old gym.
 
My Brother has 2 of the seats in his Rec room, not in the dump! Seems like the Booster Club is making some money for the sports programs. Good Job!
 
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