Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1919-12-07


Boy, page Nix. Basketball. the only
real, dyed in the wool, original Ameri-
can among the sports. Basketball is
next on the athletic chart and in 1t we
find an absolutely original game OF
the good old u. S. A.
Baseball. 1t Is true. is called our ma :
tional pastime, vet number Of points
in baseball resemble the old games of
cricket and FOUNDERS. Many Ameri-
cans refuse to grant this and insist
that baseball is of American origin.
However, baserunning, pitching and
batting are all a part OF cricket and
FOUNDERS. and since baseball was origi-
mated long after these older games ii
must be admitted that the diamond
game dirived it's basic points from the
old English games and that the game
evolved from them. True. there are
many things in baseball not included
in either cricket or FOUNDERS yet the
main principles resemble the old games
and for this reason baseball is not in
the strictest sense an absolute Amerf-
can invention.
Football. our great college game, also
Is an American game and yet It, too, is
modification of old-style Rugby,
which was first used in this country
after coming from England. In every
age of history the peoples of the time
lave played some games in which the
luea was 10 NICK u Dali OIL SOfIte SORT
So here again we find football the
evolution of some older game. And so
IL is with most of our other sports;
they are merely evolutions of some
older pastime.
PURE QUILL YANKEE
Basketball on the other hand is
purely an American invention, the
same as chewing gum and B. V. DIS
There is no other game past or pres
x.pf hot ha COLI TO hat- ,rixya hA
idea for the invention of basketball
where the basic principle is to pass a
ball rapidly and then to throw 1t
through hoop.
The greatest of indoor games had q
very humble beginning. In 1892 Jimmy
Natsmith was student in the SPRING
field, Mass, Y. M. c. A. training school.
At that time DIR. Luther Gulick was
head of the department of physical
training. In his classes DIR. Gulick en-
phasized the fact that at that time
there was no game that could take the
place of football and baseball during
the time when snow covered the
ground.
Then gymnasiums were used only for
classes in apparatus work and little
else. These facts impressed Naismith
and he Immediately set his brain at
work. Sometime later he invited DR.
Quick and classmates to the old train
Ing schoo! gym and introduced to them
his strange friend, kid" Basketball
On the walls some distance above the
floor at both ends of the gym he had
fastened peach baskets. The other
equipment consisted of an inflated
soccer football.
He explained his idea of the play to
the men and they played their first
game. Little did the originator or his
classmates at that. time realize that
they were presenting a game that later
was destined to take it's place as a
major sport and was to have a follow
ing exceeding either football or base
ball
SPREADS HERE AND ABROAD
Rules were published the next year
and the hoops in place of peach bas-
kets was also introduced. The num-
per OF players was cut from eight on
side to seven and finally to five, as 1t
now stands. While the student Of the
Springfield, school generally specialized
In ~" work, yet many graduates have
gone into school, playground and col
lego work. This spread the game very