Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Indiana's game

Indiana has long claimed basketball as their very own game. Oh, sure, it was invented in Massachusetts, but that's just a trivial accident. Would Gene Hackman star in a film called Bay Staters? Hardly. Indiana is basketball's true home and we all know it.

Want proof? Check out this map from the Atlas of American Sports, tracking collegiate basketball players per capita from 1958-1988, by county of origin:


Okay, it's 20 years old now, but look at that Hoosier dominance! Yeah, baby!

By comparison, here's the same mapping of collegiate football players, showing a preponderance of southerners, who labor under the delusion that any other game could be better than basketball :

(Sorry for the blur - I only had my phone camera with me)

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