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Does anyone care for basketball? Pro or college? I understand it's the only major sport that invented in the USA.


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God bless,
Perry
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Well, baseball was invented in the USA, though derived in part from other games from elsewhere. Basketball is regarded as a wholly novel American invention, yes.

I used to follow basketball with more interest than I do now.

I never played to any significant degree, but it was a big sport in its season where I grew up and I was a scorekeeper/manager for my high school team.

I enjoy precision in basketball. We did not have a lot of tall players and the type of game they can play. We had a coach who had lived and breathed basketball most waking moments since childhood in the city. He emphasized defense, passing, transition, playmaking, etc...

I find I cannot watch the NBA or major college men's basketball (haven't for years). The players have outgrown the court (or at least the height of the rim). Worse, the product is barely lip service to the game as written - Don't let the requirement to dribble get in the way of a flashy five-step layup. There's little strategy, especially on routine defense and transition - just let the other team get off a shot, you'll eventually get the ball back one way or the other and head down the other end of the court where the other team will be as indifferent.

There's some stuff, some great moves, that are spectacular to watch - on a playground, in a highlight reel, or a slamdunk contest - but often they unfortunately don't make for a very good game.

I actually like watching women's basketball once in a while. (To a greater degree than the men) they're still in proportion to the court, still doing things like dribbling, etc...

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Rob

On the other hand, Naismith's Peach Basket was probably considerably larger in circumference that the modern basketball goal.

Of course, Naismith was Canadian in origin, so perhaps it is not quite accurate to regard it as a completely American invention.

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In Christ,

Jim B

I will consider your position if stated with firm, well-thought-out, quiet reasoning. Hateful diatribe, ad hominem attacks and shouted rhetoric don't impress.

Interestingly, I found one source which said the opening of the peach baskets he used was 15" in diameter, and the current regulation rim is 18" in diameter.

If true, I gotta say I probably wouldn't have guessed that the peach basket rims were smaller.

I did know that the regulation rim is big enough to push two regulation balls through it side-by-side. Our coach ran a basketball day camp one summer and a visiting pro demonstrated that fact by picking up some child and lifting him to the rim so he could stuff two balls through.

...which leads me to a caveat about a ubiquitous carnival game. The hoop at the "three shots for $1" basketball game at many carnivals is decidedly smaller than would be found above a regulation court.

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Rob

I don’t know, Rob. If This Picture accurately represents the basket he used, it sure looks bigger.

And you have to consider that he first used a soccer ball — Soccer Ball size versus basketball size

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In Christ,

Jim B

I will consider your position if stated with firm, well-thought-out, quiet reasoning. Hateful diatribe, ad hominem attacks and shouted rhetoric don't impress.

Perry,



What about American football? What about Baseball? What about Volleyball? What about Rodeo?

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James Daly

"It is the Lord." (Jn 21:7)

James, I think what was meant was that basketball is the only major sport that had its origins in America.

The first three you cite are based on sports of European (or, at least, foreign) origin.

And even though rodeo as a sport was, indeed, invented by Buffalo Bill Cody for his Wild West Show, even rodeo was not an original American idea. History of Rodeo


And I'm not at all sure you'd get universal agreement even in America that rodeo is a major sport.

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In Christ,

Jim B

I will consider your position if stated with firm, well-thought-out, quiet reasoning. Hateful diatribe, ad hominem attacks and shouted rhetoric don't impress.

Jim,



It is in rural Australia. There's quite a kerfuffle here at the moment because the usual suspects (animal rights people) want it made illegal.

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James Daly

"It is the Lord." (Jn 21:7)

I always looked upon Basketball as that annoying interlude between Football and Baseball.

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Bob C

I only watch NCAA or NBA when the local university or NBA team is doing well, and I like March Madness. Otherwise, the only level of basketball I care to watch consistently is Catholic Youth League and high school.

I'm missing the NHL more than I thought I would right now.

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Dean
Most people's sense of history goes back to breakfast time - Benjamin Netanyahu

I'm with you there, Dean ... I love to watch March Madness and have cheered for the Kentucky Wildcats since I was a little tyke growing up in Kentucky. I bleed Big Blue Nation!

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God bless,
Perry
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