James Naismith Google Doodle ...

[BillyMac]

James Naismith, the Canadian-American who invented the game of basketball, was celebrated with a Google Doodle today.



That's Mark T. DeNucci, Sr. climbing up the ladder, he was the umpire that day.

[Kansas Ref]

Didn't the Indians of Aztec first invented our game?

[BillyMac]

Mark T. DeNucci, Sr. invented the rule where they decapitate the losers by the point spread.

Originally Posted by Kansas Ref

Didn't the Indians of Aztec first invented our game?

Captives were often shown in Maya art, and it is assumed that these captives were sacrificed after losing a rigged ritual ballgame. Rather than nearly nude and sometimes battered captives, however, the ballcourts at El Tajín and Chichen Itza show the sacrifice of practiced ballplayers, perhaps the captain of a team. Decapitation is particularly associated with the ballgame, severed heads are featured in much Late Classic ballgame art and appear repeatedly in the Popol Vuh. There has been speculation that the heads and skulls were used as balls.