Streetball - 🏀 Miami vs NYC Streetball

What to know: A little bit of an unconventional piece to round out the trifecta today, but it’s something I was thinking about today and thought if not in the stump, then where else.

Rules are rules, right? If we’re playing baseball, it doesn’t matter what city, state, or country we are in, there’s not much variation in the rules. If we’re playing soccer, a goal is a goal, offsides is offsides, it’s not rocket science.

For all my basketball fans out there, I’ll tell you what I haven’t sat down to think about it, but isn’t it so wild how many different variations of rules there are? Game to 11, or 15, or 21. 2s and 3s or 1s and 2s (always 1s and 2s). Take back everything or put up airballs (always take back everything). I mean the list goes on and on.

Something occurred today that absolutely baffled me, and I just had to get it off my chest. Made a trip down south and am in Miami, and it’s a different pick-up basketball culture down here. Everything was going fine until someone drove to the basket and called “and-one”! (Emphatically as you usually would do). He missed the shot and then everybody stopped. They then waited for the ball to be checked to them.

The guy didn’t call foul, he called and-one. Any sane person in a pick-up game knows that those are two different calls. If you call foul, great, no basket, and you get the ball back. If you call and-one it’s more of just a statement call saying ‘look you fouled me and I’m still gonna score.’ If you don’t score, nothing happens; the play keeps moving along.

When I tell you I was shocked to see that call…I was shocked.

But this got me thinking even more: how is it possible that there are so many different rules and variations the way I laid out in the beginning? There’s no other sport like it, I don’t think there’s anything like it. And then when you get the player refs who can’t make a call to save their life it gets even worse.

Anyway, just wanted to get that off my chest. Thank for being part of my Thursday Soap Box, let me know if I’m the crazy one or if that rule is crazy!

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