Gotta Love a Gimmick - Basketball Penalty Box

In Game 1 today versus the Chicago Bulls, Paul Pierce had a chance to win the game with 2 seconds left in regulation. All he had to do was hit his second free throw after he had already hit the first to tie. Simple right? Nope, Pierce missed, the game went into overtime, and the Derrick Rose led Bulls came out on top. Fiddlesticks.

So what to do at a time like this as a Celtics fan? Well, I realized I have a related gimmick, so I'll post that. Apparently Chattanooga Central High and McCallie School, both of Tennessee, were supposed to face off in a basketball game in 1953. Only instead of using free throws when players were fouled, the game was to use penalty boxes, as in hockey, thanks to the approval of some dude named A.F. Bridges. There would be different penalty times for different fouls, as well as power play situations where the penalized team was down a man. It was truly weird stuff, but also quite innovative.

Only I can't actually find record of the game being played. One Chattanooga Central site has record of every win and loss from the 1953 season, and McCallie is not listed. Granted, this sounded like an exhibition game that wouldn't have counted towards anything, but you'd think record of it would exist somewhere. Regardless, I'll keep looking for more information on it, and if any of you readers out there have some, could you please share, as I'd love to see how the game turned out!

Posted in: Baseketball,Gotta Love a Gimmick,Paul Pierce,Penalty Box