Naismith's game

• Published in: The Berkshire eagle
• Main Author: Sass, Samuel
• Format: Newspaper Article
• Language: English
• Published: Pittsfield, Mass New England Newspapers, Inc 20.01.2006
• ISSN: 0895-8793

I was lucky to be assigned to Dr. [James Naismith]'s section. The class of 30 young men may have been interested in sex but standing in front of them was the man who had invented basketball, a game that had high priority among sports on the Jayhawk campus. It was inevitable that conversation would turn to the game's origins. Students asked questions and Naismith was willing to tolerate these digressions from the purpose of the course he was supposed to teach. Naismith first considered bringing outdoor games such as soccer and lacrosse inside, but these games "proved too physical and cumbersome." He recalled a childhood game that required "finesse and accuracy," and used that as a model for his new game. Naismith devised 13 rules to be followed and 12 of these are still basic in basketball. In 1898 James Naismith joined the staff of the University of Kansas in the unusual combination of associate professor and chapel director. In 1909 he was promoted to professor and university physician, and in 1917 he became professor of physical education, a post he held until his retirement in 1937. If the title of "chapel director" sounds strange in the case of a physical education expert, it's because Naismith was the possessor of a most unusual combination of academic degrees. He had a degree in philosophy from McGill University, one in religion from Presbyterian College in Montreal, and a medical degree from the University of Colorado.