Kansas State History
Third Page
Obviously, a game in which it was illegal to carry
the ball would be much, much safer. Safety wasn't first among Naismith's
original rules, but it was third.
Rule No. 1: The ball may be thrown in any direction.
Rule No. 2: The ball may be batted in any direction, but never with
the fist.
Rule No. 3: A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw
it from the spot on which he catches it.
Further, check out Rule No. 5 and its anti-football connotation: No
shouldering, holding, pushing, tripping or striking in any way the person
of an opponent shall be allowed.
What Naismith seemed to be saying was that physical exertion transcended
physical destruction in competitive sport.
But were basketball players regarded as sissies in those days, men
without the courage to play football? Perhaps. If so, though, the
derision probably was dropped as dribbling was introduced and a metal
hoop replaced the basket.
Surely the skills required to dribble a ball and shoot it through a
horizontal hoop 10 feet off the ground overcame the perception basketball
was a game for fops, dandies and Little Lord Fauntleroys.
As a matter of fact, basketball wasn't Naismith's first attempt at
devising something to reduce or prevent injury. Boxed ears suffered
while playing football in the 1880s prompted Naismith to design and
wear a cloth headgear, an innovation then but a necessity now.
Thus Dr. James A. Naismith is recognized as the inventor of the football
helmet as well as the game of basketball - neither of which, incidentally,
he ever patented.
Kansas
State History
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