I love this basketball court. It is in the neighborhood just beside my own in Buffalo — a neighborhood called Black Rock. From one angle, you can see many trees lining a beautiful river that bike paths follow in parallel. From another, there are wonderfully graffiti-ed buildings and the dual steeples of a Catholic church.

Just behind the court (and not shown in the drawing) is a hill that leads to Buffalo’s largest grocery store (Wegmans). The hill barely keeps the store at bay from becoming a complete eyesore, and it lends the court an air of secrecy and privacy. Buffalo has many other basketball courts displayed more prominently in its larger parks that people use far more. This one remains my favorite if only because it is a hidden gem that seems to only be used by the residents of the Black Rock neighborhood.

On a note only somewhat related to this actual court, if you look closely at the backboard, the word “bcuz” is spray painted there. Someone (or a group of someones) go around Buffalo and graffiti stuff with this word and sometimes with a few words like “bcuz I don’t care about your guardrail.” The idea being they are spray painting stuff just for the sake of spray painting stuff. I happen to love it, and one can find that graffiti almost everywhere.

Check out this post to learn how to contribute to the My Stomping Grounds image collection.

 Buy a canvas print of this drawing.