TIDBITS

 Do you like basketball?  I sure do.  It was the very best sport to play when I was young.  It is an amazing example of the changes taking place in the human body.  

You must know that people are getting taller.  Not only are they taller, they can do things with those tall bodies that previous generations could not.  

When I was young, professional basketball players who played the guard position were barely 6'0" tall if that.  My idol, Oscar Robertson, was so great partly because he could do what guards did and he was 6'5" tall.  Now we have men over 7'0" tall doing the things only guards could previously do.  It is truly amazing. 

All these very tall athletes with the skills of short men have another trait.  Most are not Americans.  At one time, almost no foreign nationals played in the National Basketball Association (NBA).  Now, it is not an exaggeration to say that almost all the top players come from foreign countries.  It is really an international league. I think the impetus for this transformation dates to the inclusion of professional athletes in the Olympic Games.  Foreign countries are fielding better and better teams each year. The name needs to be changed to the International Basketball Association.  

We haven't seen this kind of change in baseball or football but, I do notice, that foreign born golfers are becoming more prevalent and effective; Asian women now dominate the LPGA.  Now, soccer or futbol, is another story - the same story in reverse.  Non-U.S. countries are probably on their way to seeing similar changes in their prime sport. Professional distance running has long been dominated by Africans; Skiing by Europeans and Marial arts by Asians.  Americans may have the upper hand in pickleball, I don't know.  Anyway, someday, it will be one big world - a big melting pot . . . some day.