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James Naismith Signature (PSA MINT 9)
Presented is the cut, rare signature of James Naismith, an amazing individual who actually invented the game of basketball. Unlike baseball, football, and ice hockey, sports that gradually developed from other sports, basketball was a sport that was invented, at a specific time and place, in order to fulfill a need. Naismith was born in Canada and received his undergraduate education at Montreal's Megill University. He became an instructor at the International YMCA's Training School of Springfield, Massachusetts. In the winter of 1891, Luther Gulick, the head of physical education and Naismith's boss at the YMCA Training School, was having a problem keeping the students focused and occupied during the long, New England winter when they could not play baseball and football outdoors and were confined to long hours in the gymnasium, where they quickly became bored by exercises and sought the invigoration of a competitive team sport. Gulick tasked young James Naismith to invent a game that would: be played indoors; not require much room; not be "too rough." Naismith was given only 14 days to invent the game, and he fulfilled his obligation, inventing basketball. Not wanting the injuries caused by hard baseballs or hockey pucks, Naismith selected a soft soccer ball for use as an implement to score goals. In trying to avoid injuries near a goal, Naismith decided to put the goals up high. Originally, he asked the YMCA janitor for two boxes, but the janitor came back with two peach baskets and Naismith had his goals. They were hung at a height of ten feet, from the bottom of the running track that encircled the gymnasium. At first, Naismith's new rules, for the sport of "Basket Ball," prohibited running with the ball in any manner. Later, dribbling was allowed. In Naismith's first scrimmage game at the Springfield YMCA, there were two black eyes, a separated shoulder, and a player knocked unconscious. From there, the game became safer. Soon, the game caught on and spread fast as YMCAs, both in the United States and internationally, introduced the new game. The James A. Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is located in Springfield, Massachusetts, as an honor to Naismith and the Springfield YMCA. Naismith went on to found the basketball program at the University of Kansas, and his former player, Phog Allen, eventually coached the Kansas University team and coached Adolph Rupp and Dean Smith - who carried on the coaching tree started by Naismith. What makes the 1.6x2" cut signature so wonderfully appropriate is that Naismith's beautiful, black fountain ink signature is on a piece of paper with the YMCA return address of the Paris branch of the organization, where Naismith also worked. This rare Naismith signature has been encapsulated and PSA/DNA certified "AUTO GRADE ONLY MINT 9." The offering represents a fine opportunity to possess the signature of the man who fulfilled his mission to create a new game, in a better way than anyone's imagination could have fathomed at the time. Here is the chance to own the gorgeous, scarce signature of the man who invented basketball.
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