COURT OF HONOR
Blacktop refurbished, dedicated to slain player
NORWALK — As a kid, Michael Moody struck fear in the eyes of opposing defenders.
He was scrawnylooking kid, thin as a twig, with a quiet demeanor off the court. But defenses quickly learned looks could be deceiving as soon as he started draining shot after shot, barely breaking a sweat in the process. Whether he was playing pickup on the blacktops at Flax Hill Park or competing in Norwalk’s Biddy Basketball League on the hardwood at Ben Franklin School, shouts of “Moody for three” was a virtual guarantee.
Friends and family say Moody loved the game right up until the day he was fatally stabbed in August. That’s why, to honor his memory, they teamed up with Full Court Peace, a local nonprofit aimed at connecting communities through basketball, to repair a South Norwalk court and dedicate it to him.
The dilapidated court they settled on sits on a small hill behind the 146unit Meadow Gardens lowincome housing complex. The hardtop had no lines on it and was riddled with
cracks big enough to slip a small foot into, its edges shrouded by shrubbery. And it was perfect, Moody’s childhood friend Antoine Pettiford said.
“It represents South Norwalk. You know, nobody really knows about that court back there, and no one ever really cared for it. Now, it’ll be a place for communities to gather,” Pettiford said.
After all, Pettiford said, Moody made a name for himself on the courts of South Norwalk, so what better place is there for his name to live on than a basketball court.
“He grew up balling everywhere he could around Norwalk, you know. That’s his legacy. So 20 years from now, kids like him will be able to say, ‘Let’s go ball at Moody’s Court’ and it just kind of keeps that spirit alive,” Pettiford said.
On Saturday, Pettiford, Shawn Simmons — a former basketball teammate of Moody and Pettiford — and Moody’s older brother Thomas joined groups of highschoolers and middleschoolers from Wilton, Ridgefield, Weston and other surrounding communities to help refurbish the court.
Over the course of five hours, they painted freethrow lines, in festive orange and blue colors, on the court. They coldpatched the ominous cracks that could have ruined promising basketball careers with an illplaced cut. They trimmed away the overgrowth poking through the chainlinked fence and cleared the trash building at its edges.
In the next few weeks, the same people will be back out there to replace the aging hoops and ratty nets with brandnew ones. They also hope to get the city’s approval for a commemorative plaque with Moody’s name, to remind the next generation of ballers of one kid’s hooping prowess and the mark it left on the community.
“We just want to commemorate his life and his dedication to basketball, to inspire the next generations of kids like him and to remind everyone of the relationships this beautiful court can build,” said Mike Evans, founder of Full Court Peace.
Pettiford may never get to see his good friend, or watch him frustrate opponents on the court again, but seeing a basketball court in his honor is a close second, he said.
“Basketball was his life, man. He loved the game, and he was a beast at it,” he said. “This just, it means a lot, you know.”
In honor of Moody, Pettiford and other friends are hoping to organize a three-on three tournament on the newly finished court in October. And, fittingly, it will be called “Moody For Three.”