Looking back at the history of sports is always entertaining. For example, the dramatic shift in how basketball players wear their shorts today as opposed to forty years ago. Or, staying on the subject of basketball, how dribbling became synonymous with the game. Prior to 1901, basketball was intended to be a sport that revolved around passing the ball to your teammates. By exploiting a loophole in the act of bounce passing, players used dribbling to pass the ball to themselves while retaining their mobility.

Comparing modern basketball greats to their counterparts during the days of dribbling's infancy is akin to looking at the sporting equivalent of the ascent of man. The stances of early boxers also evoke a similar feeling among contemporary fans of the sweet science. However, the "old-timey" boxing stance might not be as silly as you imagine it to be. In the video linked above, Olympic boxing champion Tony Jeffries explains why the stance was used and why it was effective.

Source: Boing Boing

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