Posted on 06/18/2019 9:27:55 PM PDT by GuavaCheesePuff
Much has been made about the fact that the Toronto Raptors won the first major league championship for a Canadian team since the Toronto Blue Jays won their second World Series in 1993 and the Montreal Canadiens won the last Stanley Cup for a Canadian team earlier that same year.
The suggestion is that somehow NBA basketball will somehow become more popular in Canada than NHL hockey or major league baseball.
(Excerpt) Read more at princegeorgecitizen.com ...
Basketball from the youngest ages and up is a great sport for cold climates.
“Basketball from the youngest ages and up is a great sport for cold climates.”
That’s one of the reasons James Naismith invented it.
Naismith was Canadian by birth. Lived a lot of his life in the USA and may have become a citizen.
Already hearing Hockey being demonized in Canada as a game for “Rich White People”.
Yes, he became a citizen. It may have been when he was in Kansas.
“North America or Western Europe.” What a nice way to say not diverse. “The Raptors had players from six different countries.” The most recent Maple Leafs’ roster, though with a bigger roster, have players born in seven nations at last check. Hockey is an expensive sport to play. It is played on a unique surface, ice.
And most of the rules he created are still used to this day.
Is there a shortage of ice in Canada?
Shortage? No if the discussion includes outdoor ponds where there are countless stories of basic skating for youngsters but rink availability and playing within the confines of structure is different. Eventually practice and skill can be formed on a pond but the rigors of the game ultimately gets played in traditional settings. Hockey equipment can be expensive, too.
IIRC Naismith had a friend who invented the rules for volleyball at about the same time. William Morgan.
“I guess those students in the late 1800s were rowdy as Hell.”
They were rowdy enough in that era that Teddy Roosevelt threatened to outlaw football if they didn’t do something to stop the deaths on the field.
We owe the forward pass, among other innovations, to Teddy’s threat. Fans may not know that college football is much older than the pro game, and was incredibly rough at one point.
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