By Jeff Burbrink
Extension Educator, Purdue Extension Elkhart County

GOSHEN — Like a lot of people in Indiana, I enjoy the drama of the basketball season this time of the year.  Conference titles, tourneys, high school match ups, college games: you name it and I try to follow it. It is hard being a Boilermaker in a state where the people are collectively called Hoosiers, but somehow, I will manage.

I learned early in my extension career to put certain dates on my calendar months in advance. Never, ever schedule anything on the evening of the Purdue/IU basketball game in our state! If you like organizing a meeting that nobody attends, try scheduling the meeting on a high school sectional night or the opening rounds of the NCAA tourney. Live and learn!

Agricultural people are particularly obsessed with the basketball season. I believe it must be a state law that all farmsteads must have a basketball hoop somewhere on premises. My dad installed one in our farm shop, complete with hinges and a pully system to raise and lower the backboard when a tractor was pulled indoors. The rafters served as a challenge: a successful three pointer required a lofty floater shot. And of course, the windows needed bars to protect from the occasional errant pass.

Where would basketball be without agriculture? The ball and shoes are made from leather, the nets and uniforms are often composed of a blend of cotton fiber. The floor is hardwood maple. The paints used for the foul line have soybean components in them. The tickets are made from paper.  And the food consumed during the game, well, that goes without saying.

Even the hoop has an ag connection. When James Naismith invented the game, he used peach baskets as the original target. He eventually decided to remove the bottom of the basket so they didn’t need ladders to retrieve the ball.

When an athlete is injured, the bandages are composed of fibers and corn dextrose. The salves and lotions use gelatins and fats from livestock byproducts. The pain relievers use carriers derived from starch. Yes, agricultural influences permeate the sport.

Even advertisers have figured out the importance of basketball to farmers. From insurance to seed to equipment, you cannot watch a game without seeing numerous ads targeted to the agricultural audience.

There’s another important part of the basketball-agriculture connection. Basketball has a way of unifying rural communities. Farmers and neighbors sit together to watch their kids and support their community. I am sure James Naismith would never have dreamed the impact of this game on the rural society.