One of Canada's early athletic greats, Lionel Conacher (AKA the Big Train) could also be viewed as an exercise in irony. Involved (quite successfully) in a number of sports, the biggest of which were Football and Hockey, but also winning championships in baseball, wrestling, boxing, and lacrosse, Conacher was a sort of athletic superhero. Seriously. Think about it. Not that most athletes aren't physically capable all round, but most have some area upon which they concentrate with laser focus.
Interesting note, he is also one of two athletes to have his name both on the Grey Cup and the Stanley Cup.
Another interesting note, following his athletic career, Conacher became involved in politics as a Liberal MP for Bracondale and later Trinity.
Another interesting note: Conacher died of a heart attack while playing softball in 1954. He was born in 1902. Think about that now. This athlete, this great athlete died young. Of a heart attack. While playing softball. Tell me you don't see the irony there?
And yet, in some ways it is perfectly logical. The brightest flame burns half as long, as they say. Maybe he pushed himself too hard, tried to do too much, and his body just plain crapped out on him. So I guess, that raises the question: is it worth it to do as much as you possibly can in your youth, and risk burning out by middle age; or is it better to take it slow, pace yourself, achieve big things and little things in good time, and die at a ripe old age.
I don't really have the answer here. Both have their own appeal. Its too late for me to do the former, anyway, so I suppose I shall pursue the latter. Slow down, take life at life's pace. No pushing, no rushing.
After all, we all wind up at the same place, eventually.
During my life, I have heard three separate places lay claim to the invention of the sport of Basketball, and do so with conviction. The source of this confusion lies with this guy:
James Naismith, who is considered the father of the sport.
Canadians will remember this video being played on the CBC (do they still do the heritage moments?) which features a rather cranky seeming Naismith explaining the game to a bunch of kind of derpy looking americans;
The reason Naismith features here as a Canadian is because he is one. Born in Ontario and educated at McGill, where he obtained his BA in phys-ed, anyone looking into this guy will soon come to realize that, although born a Canadian, the sport really wasn't invented here. Sure, it was rattling around in Naismith's head for years before he made it into a real game, but it wasn't as though he came from McGill with the handbook of Basketball fully formed in his McGill school sweater pocket. That's right, this Canadian heritage moment is just another government lie, boys and girls. Moving on.
Naismith moved on too, to Springfield Massachusetts, where he taught at the local YMCA (I suppose that explains the levels of derp in the above video), and it was there that the game became fully fledged, and started to catch on, spreading through YMCA networks like wildfire. WILDFIRE, I SAY. Okay, so probably nothing spread much like wildfire in 1892, (except for wildfires) but you get the idea. It seems that Naismith did not stay in Springfield long, moving on to Denver where he pursued a medical degree. However, Springfield Mass. is the home of the basketball hall of fame:
Which features an appropriately gigantic basketball, so I think you could very validly make the argument that Springfield is the home of the sport.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
After getting his medical degree, Naismith moved to Lawrence Kansas, where he taught at the University of Kansas for many years. KU's basketball program began in 1898, shortly after Naismith arrived on campus. Apart from training up the Phog, Naismith was, reportedly, a pretty shitty coach. HOWEVER, basketball caught on like crazy insane in Kansas (seriously, you should go there), and so that state, having possessed Naismith for longer than anyone, has also laid claim to the invention of the sport, or to being its "home" (I'm not sure which).
ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!
Anyway, basically, you can blame Naismith and all of his moving around for the confusion about where Basketball comes from. For me, I'd go with Springfield . . .but then, the CBC *did* put a lot of effort into that well done history minute, so I might have to rethink that . . .
