A History Lesson by GAME OVER

On January 15, 1891, the 13 Rules of Basketball was first published, thus publicly creating the game that we all play. Dr. James Naismith created the game for his unruly physical education class that was stuck inside in the cold Massachusetts winter. The game originally called for nine men aside and shooting into a peach basket set 10 feet high.

The game has evolved quite a bit over the past 119 years. Unlike America's other two "popular" sports of baseball and football, this game is truly American in origin (Baseball from foundations of Rounders, and Football has beginnings of Rugby). It is arguably the second most played and watched sport in the world, behind soccer.

The game can be played anywhere and by anyone, the only required access is to a ball and a hoop. For those of us that know, an empty garbage can in the schoolyard also makes a good substitute basket. Careers of all kinds have been created and devoted to the game, from players to coaches, architects that design arenas to vendors that sell popcorn, colleges that build cash-cow programs to NCAA office pools, from television contracts that go into the billions of dollars to licensors that sell authentic uniforms to the masses. To the very existence of this web site. It can all be traced back 119 years ago this week. Thankfully Naismith was a physical education teacher and not a dance instructor.

Mark Wald, GAME OVER.