POISON! Back to Zero, My Friend
July 2, 2009 10:34 PM Subscribe
BasketballFilter: History of the games "21" and "Utah"?
I grew up in Indiana, where we played 21 as THE playground basketball game-- basically every person for himself, free throws after making a shot (and, if three consecutive free throws are made, the scorer gets the ball at the top of the key), play until someone scores 21 points. I've played 21, with a variety of different rules (i.e. if you don't hit 21 exactly you go back to 14 on your next made basket; two-handed tips send the shooter back to 0, and a one-handed tip knocks him out of the game; etc.), all over the country.
But when I moved to NYC, everyone seemed to play Utah: every person for himself, three-pointers after making a shot (or free throws, but the ball can't touch the backboard, or else it's a live ball), play to 100, each basket worth 5 points.
I wondered if anyone knew some good books/links about the histories of 21, Utah, or any other every-player-for-himself playground basketball games (excluding HORSE, although I'd welcome any links about that, although I imagine they're easy to find). I'd imagine that there are tons of regional variations on 21, Utah being one of them, but it just now struck me that I totally don't know the game's lineage.
Any help?
I grew up in Indiana, where we played 21 as THE playground basketball game-- basically every person for himself, free throws after making a shot (and, if three consecutive free throws are made, the scorer gets the ball at the top of the key), play until someone scores 21 points. I've played 21, with a variety of different rules (i.e. if you don't hit 21 exactly you go back to 14 on your next made basket; two-handed tips send the shooter back to 0, and a one-handed tip knocks him out of the game; etc.), all over the country.
But when I moved to NYC, everyone seemed to play Utah: every person for himself, three-pointers after making a shot (or free throws, but the ball can't touch the backboard, or else it's a live ball), play to 100, each basket worth 5 points.
I wondered if anyone knew some good books/links about the histories of 21, Utah, or any other every-player-for-himself playground basketball games (excluding HORSE, although I'd welcome any links about that, although I imagine they're easy to find). I'd imagine that there are tons of regional variations on 21, Utah being one of them, but it just now struck me that I totally don't know the game's lineage.
Any help?
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by drjimmy11 at 10:42 PM on July 2, 2009