FEELIING PEACHY

Feeling Peachy in March

 

It's not peach season, at least not anywhere close to where I live. In fact, peaches are definitely out of season here, meaning the ones I buy at the local grocery store these days are sad representations of the juicy, aromatic fresh fruits that will arrive in a few short months. They're more expensive right now too. But somehow, I can't resist picking a few out of the basket in the produce aisle and mulling over not only the fruit, but also the significance of its traditional container this time of year.

Over a hundred years ago, a janitor at the School for Christian Workers in Springfield, Mass., was on a mission. His assistance had been solicited by the school's athletic director; they needed to find several boxes for a new indoor game the director had concocted for his 18 students. Alas, suitable boxes were nowhere to be found. Instead, the janitor presented two empty peach baskets to the athletic director. They nailed the baskets to railings in the gymnasium, and the rest, as they say, is history -- basketball history, that is.

The humble peach basket, devoid of its usual cargo, became instrumental in the first "basket ball" game ever played. Dr. James Naismith, the athletic director charged with developing a new game by the chairman of his physical education department in 1891, settled on the secondhand baskets as goals. The baskets presented a few problems -- mainly, that the janitor had to keep bringing out a ladder whenever anyone scored, so the soccer ball they used could be retrieved and put back into play. Legend has it that they eventually poked a hole in the bottom of the basket just wide enough for a broom handle or a stick to poke through in order to pop the ball out more easily.

From that innocuous beginning, basketball has grown dramatically in popularity. Its influence can be felt this month in particular, the NCAA Division I college tournament populary known as "March Madness". Whether you played pickup games in a barn when you were a child, donned a uniform for your high school team or cheered them to victory back in the 1940s or '50s, or simply shot a few hoops with your children or grandchildren in the driveway, you have a resourceful janitor to thank.