How Some Things Change

I was first shooting baskets in grade school and playing with girls from my private school where I was taught to dribble and run, which was- dare I admit it- 60 years ago.  We were challenged not to hit our foot with the ball or trip over our feet after we reached the end of the court and tried to make a basket.  At the free throw line we lobbed it in, with two hands, underhand, and hoped it reached the hoop.  Then in High School we went to games, and saw what the game looked like played by young men.  I can't recall watching a lot of basketball on TV, but then not many sports were on TV.  My family however watched important shows, like "The Ed Sullivan Show", "The Sid Ceasar Show", "The MidWestern Hayride", and other family shows.  On Saturdays the children watched mostly cowboys and Indians.  If sports were broadcast, we did not seem to be a family that watched them. 
I attended University basketball games when the Bearcats won the games all the time.  The Big O, Oscar Robertson, and the rest of the players made baskets and ran up and down the court like it was child's play, finessing baskets, jumping and turning with ease and smooth plays that reminded you of a ballet dancer in very short shorts and numbered short sleeved tops.  We were awed and left games breathless when our team had won, aware how difficult it had been to just run and dribble down the court without anyone on our heels!
Watching my own children get involved with sports has shown me how much basketball has evolved.  The children that are now in their twenties played basketball and had problems with the rules of the game.  They played with the kids on the street, and then when they wanted to "do street rules" the coach would say, "Don't start with that street basketball here."  Two of my sons had clashes with coaches immediately, and dropped out of the sport.  I watched and saw that many players also had anger issues, and would not be able to deal with that on the court.  I also saw that some parents had problems from the sidelines, and it was not always pleasant sitting and hearing their comments.
Here I am, a lot older, and watching basketball is so different again.  It is as if the the parents take over the game and battle through their children.  Sometimes I feel scared for the referees, if they are not completely accurate on each call, they are shouted down and some parents are sent out of the game.

Today's basketball game was very close, the teams working so hard to eke points out, running at breakneck speed back and forth end to end across the court.  The physicality of the game is unbelievable, I wonder how this ever happened.  Did the street game and the original game   mix it up, and now we have a combination?  They throw themselves at each other, reach and fall, it is scary.  It is almost more physical than football.
 As an inexperienced observer, a Ballet Mom, I see contact, a lot of it, and less finesse, less amazing leaps of coordination. The moves I see emphasize force and power. Just comparing the stature of the players from my day to today makes one realize how things have changed.   I guess we can see some art in any activity, and right now it seems that the pendulum has swung away from the finesse and beauty of the sport.   If all we admire is the size and power of the athlete, not the beauty or form of the total experience, no longer seeing its  artistic "performance", we lose some of its value, some of its beauty, and that makes it less wonderful to all the audience and participants.  After all, the score is quickly forgotten, the artistic impact is not.