Basketball: Finals to Beginnings
Tonight begins the NBA Finals between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers, the third consecutive Finals between the two teams, the first time that has happened in NBA history. As you're enjoying the historic nature of it all, let's go back even further to basketball's origins and the first game ever played. In 1891, the United States was in the throes of the Second Industrial Revolution but the Progressives were making noise about supporting workers over company profits. President Benjamin Harrison signed anti-monopoly legislation and tried (but failed) to advance voting rights for African Americans. But in winter time Massachusetts, James Naismith had more immediate concerns. His class at the Springfield YMCA was rowdy and cabin-fevered due to the cold weather outside. Dr. Luther Gulick, his boss at the YMCA, told him to create an "athletic distraction" to burn off the boys' energy. So Naismith went to work. He didn't wan...