There seems to be a fine line, a three-point line, between pushing the envelope and pushing a revolution. In 1991, five freshmen from the University of Michigan brashly stepped over that line redefining the world of college basketball as we knew it and in the process, revolutionized the relationship between style and sport. These men were "fresh" in more ways than one, causing an entire nation to dub them fabulous. They brought a hip and a hop to a game that was previously flat. Anyone following college basketball loved or hated to love the "Fab Five," evincing that either way five things were on people's minds or television screens. Whether you were a kid begging your mom to take you to a sporting goods store, like I was, to "get those black Nike socks" for your next game, or an adult watching through squinting eyes as five pairs of extra large shorts and swagger loomed over your favorite team's home court, you were full of awe.
Chris Webber, Jimmy King, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, and Ray Johnson manifested a transformation of style through oversized attitude and clothing. Since then, it seems to me that whoever got a chance to know these guys from the stands or sofa has been aching for a taste of that envelope that they pushed back in the early nineties. Every kid whose favorite show was Saved by the Bell and whoever seriously competed in basketball wants to be the one who pulls his shorts down past his hips when his mom told him to pull up before his game and play so well that he receives no verbal assault on the way back to the car. I'm left wondering what these five guys were really about, and why they decided to revolutionize the attitude of the game they played. After all, they seemed to plan the revolution on a whimor...
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...r's infamous timeout. Like a Shakespearean tragedy the Fab Five's climax came at the end and same forces that caused them to rise caused them to fall.
Once upon a line, these five freshmen were just thatfive players that displayed their unique unified attitudes through alley oops and baggy shorts. These five were the first to acknowledge the worth of transferring another aspect of that street game onto the polished college court. Arguably, this transplant of dress and style was only possible because of their superior play, and like some transplants, was susceptible to the normal disease of media attention and hype characteristic of any organized sport. Ultimately, only their cleverly alliterated nickname remains on the line they crossed all those years ago. Freshman-status, long shorts, black socks, cocky attitude. What did it matter? They were the "Fab Five."
In 1991 in the Crisler Center Arena of Michigan University a revolution of culture rebellion had begun. The Fab Five or formally known as Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, and Ray Jackson. Some might say they were the best thing to happen to basketball but to some they were everything that was wrong with college basketball. In my opinion they were more than just people playing basketball. The Fab Five transformed the way basketball is played and how it is viewed.
In spring of 1991, the University of Michigan signed what was arguably the best recruiting class in the history of college basketball. Coach Steve Fisher signed five of the nation's top prospects - Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson. Webber and Rose were childhood friends from Detroit who turned into McDonald's All Americans. The 6'9" power forward, Webber, was regarded as the number one player in the nation. Rose was a tall guard standing 6'7", who played like a young Magic Johnson. Howard, another McDonald's All American, was a multi-talented forward from Chicago. Texas natives King and Jackson capped off the Fab Five Freshman. While Jackson was an incredible defensive player, King was a super athletic guard [Wieberg].
In 1924 a young Jewish man named Abe Saperstein was chosen to coach an African American semi pro basketball team called the Giles Post American Legion Quintet. Little did he know that with this position he would eventually revolutionize the game of basketball and help to initiate integration throughout the country, while establishing himself as an unknown and unconventional hero. Saperstein was a masterful promoter and businessman who would build the most well known sports franchise in history. He was also a visionary who knew the immense impact that African Americans could have on the game of basketball and was determined to force integration throughout the game of basketball. By forming his own successful African American team, Saperstein pioneered the integration of the National Basketball Association, and changed the way the game of basketball was played.
Although many youngsters fail in the NBA, there are a few high school players who have had, or do have a successful career in the NBA. Some of these are, Moses Malone, Kobe Bryant, Tracey McGrady, and this year’s most valu...
In the 1970’s basketball in Nova Scotia was starting to gain popularity and in the minor system, the community YMCA and the Halifax Martyrs started basketball programs that provided children with an opportunity to play. At the high school level the Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation took control of administering interscholastic athletics in 1971 and made many changes which improved the league. One of the improvements was to change the provincial format to qualify eight teams instead of just four, which allowed for more excitement as underdog schools had a chance to upset higher ranked t...
The game of basketball along with football and soccer is one of the most prominent sports in the United States and the World. It’s played at every level from 5 & under to the professional athletes in the NBA and overseas. Every team is made up of virtually the same elements; the guards, big men and coaches. Basketball is not a sport where you can focus solely on yourself, but the focus should be on the team. The sport is very public and easy to see, however there are many things that occur behind closed doors when no one is looking.
Throughout the country young men and women are losing their priority for an education. To attend a university should be a highly cherished privilege, and it should be an even greater honor to play athletics for the university. Therefore, the writer supports the decision that the “student” comes before “athlete” in student-athlete. Playing for pay should be considered a job for “professionals”. In the rulebook, the NCAA views college athletes as armatures. This statement sums it up best. When athletes go to college, not all of them go in with the mindset that athletics is going to be their future job....
College basketball has gone from amateur competition to multi-million dollar tournaments and will continue to get larger and larger. The student-athlete is no longer a student and has become more and more of an athlete. Admissions are loosened and deals are made in order to get the best basketball players in the land. Athletes who are not students are criticized when they leave for the pros even though they are probably doing the right thing by not perpetuating the myth of academics and athletics. College basketball has become a multi-million dollar industry whether schools will admit it or not and the student athlete is the one getting played.
Abstract: Basketball players who enter the NBA early are not ready for the NBA. Early entry into the NBA by high school and college basketball players has had a negative affect on the college basketball program, the NBA, and the players themselves. Each year the number of early entries in the NBA rises more and more. In 1997, 47 basketball players entered the NBA draft early, and the number has risen since then. The college basketball program is drained of talent due to players leaving early. The high school players that go directly into the NBA are hurting the college program because they never contribute to the college program at all. The NBA now has to deal with a higher level of immaturity and disrespect by young players. College basketball players obtain a certain amount of respect and maturity in college. The players suffer by not grasping the concept of learning due to lack of education. Many analysts say that entering the NBA before finishing a four-year program is entering too early. The NBA commissioner, David Stern, has begun to work on ways to encourage players to go to and stay in college.
Status and prowess that inherently came from playing competitive sports and recreation also came out of convenience. As sports and recreation became integral in American everyday life, there was a problem in the north. It became too cold to play baseball and football outside, but it was wasn’t possible to play these sports inside as it just resulted in injuries to players and the facilities where they attempted to play them. Therefore, basketball was invented as a game where you couldn’t run with the ball and scoring was upright in hopes to decrease the amount of violence but also provide men with recreation in the winter. Soon, basketball just like cycling, football, prize fighting and baseball became a competitive sport and turned into a business where status and prowess become the significant. There were handbooks written to guide people to play and watch basketball and prove its status as a serious sport; “physical judgment is required and cultivated in handling the ball, receiving it from one of your own side, and eluding an opponents” (Naismith 5). Basketball, just like other sports required prowess, physical fitness and understanding of the game in order to defeat the
Who knew basketball would evolve into this? It just may be the greatest event in sports history.
Basketball Needs to Be Fixed Professional and college basketball have become very popular in the hearts and minds of many Americans. Millions of dollars a year are spent on apparel, tickets, and television, all generated by people's love for basketball. But in the last couple of years, both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and college basketball have lost a substantial amount of their competition and have received much criticism for it. At the heart of this problem is a single cause, greed. The game of basketball has become all about money, instead of the game and its fans.
Vecsey, G. (2009, August 10). Pioneering Knick Relives The Cheers Of Long Ago. The New York Times. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/sports/basketball/11vecsey.html?hp
In the documentary, “30 for 30: There’s No Place Like Home”, there is a very debatable subject. The documentary was created by Josh Swade who is an intense KU fan. He had a quest to obtain James Naismith’s original rules of basketball and bring them back to Kansas University. In the end, he completed his mission. This was the disputable topic that while many people thought it was unworthy, others thought it was honorable. Nevertheless, this historic document does not belong at KU for many reasons. Furthermore, without Josh Swade’s help and persistent personality, this document would not be at KU. The negatives undoubtedly outweigh the positives in having this document at Kansas University.
Growing up, Krzyzewski belonged to a group of neighborhood sidekicks tagged The Columbos, in which they could always be found taking part in playground basketball. ‘Mickey’, as he was known in this fraternity, had long been interested in sports but street ball with The Columbos is where he first learned to love the game. (Hines-Brigger, n.d.)