Basketball is no longer a non-contact sport

The News & Observer is reporting this morning that Duke basketball player Nolan Smith is out of the lineup indefinitely as a result of a concussion suffered in a game. Smith is not the first basketball player to suffer a brain injury this year. UNC All-America Tyler Hansbrough suffered a concussion in a game and missed practice as a result. Oklahoma star Blake Griffin suffered a concussion in a game against Texas and is still out of the lineup, the last I read.

Does this strike anyone (besides me) as contrary to the basic rules of the game Dr. Naismith invented?

Basketball was intended to be a "non-contact" sport, one in which skills, not brawn, would prevail. Fouls would be called for the act of placing your hands on an opposing player to impede his progress or interfere with his actions. The ball could be slapped away, but a foul would be called if you slapped a player's hands or forearm instead of the ball. It was a finesse and tactics game, at least into the 1960s. Since then, basketball has become more and more violent.

In college basketball today, opposing centers routinely push, shove, knee, grab, pull, elbow and swat at each other to gain position near the basket. Shoulders and elbows are used by offensive players to gain operating space against a defender. Defensive players push, lean against, grab and shove ball carriers. The flagrancy of these tactics has grown in recent years. In some games, television commentators praise the officials for "letting them play" instead of calling fouls for the mayhem beneath the basket.

Sooner or later, someone's going to get hurt. Oops! Someone already has. A number of people have. Basketball isn't like football, where concussions are to be expected by the physical violence and speed of the game. Football players wear protective helmets and pads. Basketball players don't because basketball is supposed to be a non-contact sport. This year's concussions are just the latest evidence of a game that has gotten out of hand and could easily lead to tragedy.

NCAA officials, college coaches and game officials had better rein in the violence before basketball turns into hockey without the skates.