Basketball: The Beginning Poem by Hm. Nes

What the Springfield 'Y' needs most, 'they' say,
Is good old athletic distraction
For the rowdy boys stuck inside all day
By the weather. So the 'Y' took action:

Their Canadian teacher was told to design
An inside game, 'fair to all' but 'not rough'
Then they gave him an impossible deadline:
'Two weeks or lose your job! ' they said. 'It's enough.'

The teacher chose to use a soft soccer ball,
So the boys wouldn't get hurt if they got hit,
And he fixed peach baskets high up on the wall
To reduce all rough contact, which 'they' deemed unfit

The rules stated:
1. Only pass the ball-
2. No dribbling or batting, to be safe, and
3. Running the ball? Not allowed, lest a fall
Should cause a boy's limbs to be chafed
4. The goals are not okay to guard,
For the game is not meant for the tall,
But rather to be easy and fair to all, not hard-
Mr. Naismith's brand-new game: ‘Basket Ball'