Canada's Other Game: Basketball from Naismith to Nash

by Brian I. Daly

Overview

The story of Canada’s other game from its invention by a Canadian to its current struggle for popularity.

Basketball, the only major world sport undeniably invented by a Canadian, has ironically failed to win Canadians’ hearts more than a century after its creation. James Naismith’s brainchild is a popular recreational pastime in his homeland, but players with bigger dreams had better take their talents south of the border. Canadian hoops has languished in the seemingly eternal shadow of hockey, with its cannibalization of air time, advertising dollars, and corporate capital.

Faced with limited opportunities at home, as many as 50 teenagers flock to U.S. prep schools and colleges every year to chase their dreams of college stardom and, much less likely, a shot at glory in the NBA. Against all odds, a skinny kid from Victoria named Steve Nash managed to reach the pinnacle of the sport, with a whirling-dervish style that earned him two MVP awards in the world’s greatest league.

Today, a new generation of Canadians stand poised to follow in Nash’s path. But will their success spark a renaissance back home? This book chronicles basketball’s struggle to overcome its history as a poor cousin in a hockey-mad nation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781459706354
Publisher:	Dundurn Press
Publication date:	09/09/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	296
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Brian I. Daly's basketball articles have been published by The Canadian Press, the Toronto Sun, and Le Journal de Montreal. In 2003 he launched QHoops.net, one of the first dedicated basketball websites in Canada. Daly was also a player at the university, community college, and high school levels. He lives in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec.

Brian I. Daly's basketball articles have been published by The Canadian Press, the Toronto Sun, and Le Journal de Montreal. In 2003 he launched QHoops.net, one of the first dedicated basketball websites in Canada. Brian was also a player at the university, community college, and high school levels. He lives in Vaudreuil-Dorion, Quebec.

Table of Contents

Contents

Act One: Beginnings
1 Y the Game was Created
2 Seeds are Sewn
3 Taking Root
4 Grads School the World
5 Opening Night

Act Two: A Tale of Two Jacks
6 California Dreams
7 Olympian Effort

Act Three: Growing Pains
8 Minor Pro
9 Homegrown
10 Loose Balls

Act Four: Reclaiming the Game
11 Thinking Big
12 Vin-sanity
13 Captain Canada
14 On the Cusp

Editorial Reviews

11/11/2013
This first book from Montreal journalist Daly tells the story of Canadian basketball, full of players who "would have been household names had they reached similar status in the United States" but who have remained almost anonymous in their own hockey-crazed country. Surveying the Canadian game from its creation by James Naismith at a YMCA in Springfield, Mass., using peach baskets, all the way to its future stars such as Andrew Wiggins, the book aims to remedy the general lack of knowledge of Canadian hoops. Daly hits the right shots, from the 1936 silver medal team at the Olympics, to the nearly unbeatable touring women's squad, the Edmonton Grads (502 wins against 20 losses from 1915-1940), and up to Steve Nash of today's Los Angeles Lakers. Aiming to educate and entertain, Daly keeps the narrative moving and doesn't get bogged down in statistics or game summaries. If anything, the book cries out for a companion work of biographies and career summaries to fully illuminate the successes (and failures) of Canadian players and teams. With Toronto's Anthony Bennett chosen #1 overall in the 2013 NBA draft, the status of Canadian hoopsters is on the rise, and this is necessary background reading. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

With Toronto’s Anthony Bennett chosen #1 overall in the 2013 NBA draft, the status of Canadian hoopsters is on the rise, and this is necessary background reading.

From the Publisher