Quote:
Originally Posted by steve B
Ok, Hockey I get, but Basketball and Football?
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It's simple... no Canadian James Naismith, no basketball.
Regarding football, the early game played by US colleges resembled European association football (soccer) which included it's rules, with only Harvard adopting the ability to carry the ball instead of just kicking it, something only seen in rugby during the era.
Harvard famously played a two-game series against Montreal's McGill in 1874, with this the very first games of what would become modern football (the first game was played under the Harvard "Boston rules", the second one was played under McGill rules, and is the first rugby-style football game played in the United States). The Canadians also used a more oblong-shaped ball akin to a modern football, while Harvard still used basically a round "soccer" ball.
Additional important aspects were taken from the Canadian game....
"Harvard quickly took a liking to the rugby game, and its use of the try which, until that time, was not used in American football. The try would later evolve into the score known as the touchdown"
So again, without Canada, there would likely be no Hockey, basketball OR "American" football as we know them.