Go ahead!...ask us anything!

[Willow]

Bonnyrigg...BMWs? Sorry, it does not compute.
I understand that a lot of people have done well and still choose to live in those wonderful working class suburbs, mainly because it where they were brought up. Good on them for sticking it out...I guess.
Isnt it interesting that a BMW parked in the driveway of a house in Bonnyrigg makes you think they are rorting the system but the same model BMW parked in front of a house in Rose Bay attracts no such suspicion?
Sorry mate, you walked into that one.

 

[Cronulla_Mania]

Mate, the original dole comment was a joke

But there is a difference. People in Rose Bay would be more of a chance of being geunine as there is always the chance that they worked hard to get where they are. A person living in GOVERNMENT HOUSING in Bonnyrigg is very unlikely to have 'made it in the world'...I dunno, its just one of those things u have to see. When u see the folk that inhabit such residences, you may catch my drift a bit more. Perhaps they have 'alterior sources' of income apart from government rorting

Moffo.

 

This message has been deleted by the manager or assistant manager.

 

[Willow]

Moffo:
You turncoat conservative brown nosing country party right wing patsy self righteous royalist nouveau riche snob!
Come the revolution, you and your type will be the first against the wall.

 

[imported_Jackal]

Two questions whichI have money waged on-
1. Who or from where was the game of Basketball invented--derived?
2. What is the oldest sports stadium in the world?
Please help!

 

[imported_Outlaw]

1. Who or from where was the game of Basketball invented--derived?

Wasn't the game invented by a guy by the name of Jimmy Nathan from the USor something? I remember reading about it sometime ago now.

 

[El Duque]

James A. Naismith

 

[imported_kier]

I find theorigins of BB interesting for two reasons;

1. It was the first attempt to create ateam game speciffically to be played indoors, (Naismith was a teacher in Massachustts at the time - outdoor sport was impossible during winter).

2. It was the first time a team sport had beendeliberatly constructed from first principles, rather than from an evolution of uncodified games/sports over time.

Naismith sat down in 1891 and came up, from scratch, with a set of rules to to match his/his students needs.

He did. however, study many other sports past and present in researching his rules though. It seems almost certain that the ancient Mayan and Aztec games which required getting a ball through a wall mounted hoop would have influenced his choice of the baskets as a goal. He also prefered the use of a high target as it meant accuracy rather than strength was the main feature of scoring - and essential factor for an indoor sport.

The only rule of BB that does not come from Naismith's origional 13 rules is dribbling. Origionally the players were not allowed to move.In 1895 this was still the case and so,when american Dr Toles taught the students of a London Physical Training College the rules of "basketball" they game theybegan playingevolved into the sport of netball.

 

[imported_kier]

Also, Naismith was Canadian.

 

[ex-manager]

Naismith, James (1861-1939), Canadian-American teacher of physical education, recognized as the inventor of the sport of basketball. He was born in Almonte, Ontario, Canada, and educated at McGill University and Presbyterian College in Montreal. He taught physical education from 1887 to 1890 at McGill University, and from 1890 to 1895 at the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) Training School (now Springfield College) in Springfield, Massachusetts. In 1891, aided by the American physical-education specialist Luther Halsey Gulick, he invented basketball as an indoor sport. Naismith developed the game as an activity for his students during the harsh winter months. He was director of physical education at the Young Men's Christian Association in Denver (1895-1898) and at the University of Kansas (1898-1937). As one of the most significant contributors to the sport of basketball, Naismith was voted to the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959. Officially called the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame, the institution was named in his honour and is located in Springfield.

 

[CanadianSteve]

Yes, Naismith was Canadian. Don't forget that.

 

[CanadianSteve]

Also, the brilliance of Dr. Naismith's invention was that he decided to put the goals above the floor to eliminate rough play. He asked a custodian for 2 boxes, but all the man could find were 2 peach baskets. He nailed them up on the balcony of the gym, which happened to be 10 feet high. The baskets have been at that height ever since. The original baskets had bottoms, and they had to climb a ladder to get the ball out after every score. The first game was very low-scoring. But soon they cut the bottoms out of the baskets.

It's interesting that basketball and, I believe, volleyball have definite starting points where they were invented, where baseball, soccer, rugby and others evolved over time and have no definite starting point. Or at least their starting points are hard to trace.

 

[CyberKev]

Willow wrote:

Kev, when were you driving cabs? In the early 80s, if I took home $100 after a 12 hour shift (3pm - 3am), I could livelive a king for a week....I think the doles was about $60 - 80 per week back then. And yes, we had no tax file number,no GST and cash was the all the go.
...ahh, those were the days.

I drove cabs in Ballarat between 1990 & 1999 (inclusive). I drove a range of shifts, with -- shall we say -- an appropraite range of success. On saturday nights I'd usually make $200+ for myself for a 12 hour shift, Friday nights $100+ for a ten hour, but Sunday days and early week nights I sometimes struggled to keep pace with what we derisively called 'The Kennett Youth Wage' ($3.50 per hour)... What can I say, I hated the game but it paid the bills and helped to put me through uni. And I was revered for a time as the driver who got the fare to Sydney ($950)... I did the 2000km roundtrip inside of 24 hours one memorable April day in 1994. Not something I'd like to do overly often though.

I had to drop-off at Penrith and I had no change (I'd used it all on fuel) to reimburse the woman for her $1000 bank cheque. It was 1.30am and I drove around Penrith until I found a local cabbie who escorted me to a shopping centre ATM. I would have given anything for a photo of my face when he said "don't worry, son, just stick tight behind me!"Then he grabbed this large metal weapon and bustled me down an alleyway that was being otherwise occupied by two brawling gangs. The ATM was slower than an old hag's Corona (or at least it seemed that way) and I was, as ever, surreally reminded of a quote from a TV comedy... In this case -

"What sort of a society are we living in when we can't freely wave bundles of cash in the faces of total strangers?!" [Dick Solomon, 'Third Rock from the Sun']

Suffice to say I escaped unscathed, although I did nearly clean-up another cabbie in my haste to get the flock out of there...

You've gotta love good old Western Sydney.
CyberKev

 

[imported_Hazy]

Why go to all that trouble? She could have given you a fifty dollar tip.....

 

[imported_eels fan...]

Kev...
Ok, call me stupid or nosey or whatever you like but I have to ask 1) Why did she have a $1000 bank cheque at hand & 2) Why did she need a cab to Sydney as opposed to a plane, train or Greyhound? Or was this a ummm, speccy type trip? (nudge-nudge, wink-wink, sniff-sniff)

 

[CyberKev]

Eels_Fan

Nothing of the sort, mate... She was heading-up on the spur of the moment to see her daughter, which was fair enough given that she had extreme emphysema and only had a couple of months to live. This was also the reason why she didn't take a plane, as it would've taken time to organise the flight (accounting for her oxygen woes). I'm not surprised by the emphysema given the ferocity with which she ploughed through the Benson & Hedges all the way up there!!! The bank cheque made her feel more comfortable than carrying cash, I guess.

CyberKev

 

[Cronulla_Mania]

NBA only started in 1948 if memory serves. Were there other comps in the US/Overseas before this??

As for the oldest stadium in the world, i don't know if you would call it a stadium but Lords would have to pretty old, wouldn' it???

In Australia?? Sydney Cricket Ground im guessing

Moffo.

 

[Willow]

Sydney Cricket Ground is the oldest 'stadium' in Australia. But there is some debate about this because the RAS ground next door is making claims that it had some sort of activity prior to the SCG coming into being. Personally, I think the SCG is older.
It was originally used as a marching ground for the British occupation forces in the 1800s. Before it was apparently a dumping ground for broken bricks. One story I've heard suggests that this made for good drainage and led to it being selected for cricket.

The first recognised cricket match ever played in Australia was oncrown land now known as Hyde Park. This was before the SCG and therefore should get a guernsey.
According to history, cricket was a popular sport in the1800s and citizens used to gather at Hyde Park and drinkon the walkway in front of the hotels which lined what is now known as Elizabeth Street.
It became tradition for batsmen to give thepatrons a sporting chance of catching the ball as they lofted the (then) under arm deliveries towards the drinking tables.

 

[ozbash]

under arm ay ???

why did i know that?

 

[Willow]

yep, thats right Tony but back then the Kiwis were learning how to block. At least one mob have managed to break an old habit.