A Long Way from A "Sissy's" Game

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Above, old-school Peterborough High boys' team; below, '92-'93 Cougars experiencing the tension of the game.

Fun Friday facts…from an old state tournament program:

  • When basketball was invented in 1892, it was supposed to be a non-contact sport. 
  • Considered a “sissy’s” game by many, “many a fight was required to prove manhood.”
  • A soccer ball was one of the first balls used.
  • Backboards were added to prevent spectators from interfering with the ball.
  • Today’s starting five began with a starting nine.
  • In the earliest days, three fouls gave an automatic point to the opponent, and running with the ball or double-dribbling counted as a foul.
  • For many years, a foul shot specialist came off the bench to take the shots.
  • The first game ever played ended in a 2-2 tie. The second was 2-0.
  • In New Hampshire, girls played interscholastically before the boys.


Some things, thankfully, never change…


“Basketball is a provoker of stirring emotions. Its action is rapid and its intense moments are many. A short lifetime of elations and depressions are experienced in a long hour. Hoop hysteria is like recurrent malaria, year after year.” 

(from NH High School Basketball 50th Anniversary program, 1972)


Pictured above: The old-school 1933 Peterborough High boys’ basketball team (front, from left): Kenneth Bishop, Dusty Gautreau, George Hafeli, Verne Tuttle and Eddie Blanchette. Back row (from left): Manager Peasley, Robert Fortier, Sandy Thomas, Clifford Davidson and Coach John Clark.


Pictured below, members of the 1992-’93 Cougars feeling some of those “intense moments” during a state tournament game.


#highschoolbasketball

#newhampshire

#historymatters

#rollcougs

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