Basketball’s Birthday Owes A Debt To Soccer, Ducks And Rocks

Today is the 123rd birthday of basketball, a game that owes a debt to cold northern winters, soccer, ducks and rocks.

A McGill University Athletic Director moved from Montreal, Canada to Springfield, Massachusetts in 1891 to work at the local YMCA. Dr. James Naismith, likely cold and bored, wanted a way to forget the frigid outdoors, so called upon a game from his childhood for entertainment, with his own spin.

Two winters later, with a soccer ball and inspiration from a game largely lost in time, Naismith invented a new way to play Duck-on-a-Rock, with peach baskets.

"Each player is provided with a stone called a “duck ” about the size of a baseball. A large rock or post is chosen as the duck rock and twenty-five feet from it a throwing line is drawn. On this duck rock one player places his duck and stands by it as guard. This guard is selected at the outset by all of the players throwing their ducks at the duck rock from the throwing line."

The post is the standard the object is thrown at. We already have mentions of a guard, “rock,” as a basketball is sometimes referred to as, and a throwing line — think free throw line, although this line is closer to today’s three-point line.

"The other players stand behind the throwing line and take turns in throwing at the guards duck on the rock with their stones trying to knock it from the rock. After each throw a player must recover his own duck and run back home beyond the throwing line. Should he be tagged by the guard while trying to do this he must change places with the guard."

Change of possession!

"The guard may not tag any player unless his own duck be on the rock. Before he may chase the thrower he must therefore pick up his own duck and replace it should it have been knocked off. This replacing gives the thrower an opportunity to recover his own duck and run home but should the duck not have been displaced from the duck rock the thrower may have to wait either at a safe distance or with his foot on his own duck if he can get to it until some other thrower has displaced the duck on the rock and so engaged the time and attention of the guard."

Out of bounds play.

"Several players may thus be waiting at once to recover their ducks some of them near the duck rock with a foot on their ducks others at a distance."

That sounds an awful lot like the bench.

Read the full rules for Duck-on-a-Rock here, from Database Of Games. It looks like a fun game to play. It’s a shame it’s been largely lost in time.

Naismith brought that lucky pair of peach baskets inside the Springfield YMCA gym in the winter of 1893, put ’em up, and started tossing a soccer ball at them. In barely five years, the very first basketball game was officially played.

"The first ever college basketball game was played on January 18, 1896, when the University of Iowa invited student athletes from the new University of Chicago for an experimental game. Final score: Chicago 15, Iowa 12, a bit different from the hundred-point scores of today.-About.com"

It would take another five years for the baskets to be replaced with hoops (glad the name basketball caught on before hoopsketball could) when Naismith would write the first ever official rule book consisting of 13 rules.

1. The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.
2. The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands, but never with the fist.
3. A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowance to be made for a man running at good speed.
4. The ball must be held by the hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it.
5. No shouldering, holding, pushing, striking or tripping in any way of an opponent. The first infringement of this rule by any person shall count as a foul; the second shall disqualify him until the next goal is made or, if there was evident intent to injure the person, for the whole of the game. No substitution shall be allowed.
6. A foul is striking at the ball with the fist, violations of Rules 3 and 4 and such as described in Rule 5.
7. If either side makes three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without the opponents in the meantime making a foul).
8. A goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the grounds into the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do no touch or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on the edges, and the opponent moves the basket, it shall count as a goal.
9. When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field and played by the first person touching it. In case of dispute the umpire shall throw it straight into the field. The thrower-in is allowed five seconds. If he holds it longer, it shall go to the opponent. If any side persists in delaying the game, the umpire shall call a foul on them.
10. The umpire shall be the judge of the men and shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have been made. He shall have power to disqualify men according to Rule 5.
11. The referee shall be judge of the ball and shall decide when the ball is in play, in bounds, to which side it belongs, and shall keep the time. He shall decide when a goal has been made and keep account of the goals, with any other duties that are usually performed by a referee.
12. The time shall be two fifteen-minute halves, with five minutes rest between.
13. The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winner.

Soccer balls were used until 1929 when the first form of the modern basketball was introduced.

Happy Born Day, basketball. Thank you for the game, Dr. Naismith, a welcome distraction from monotony and cold days.