THOUGHTS OF A SEPTUAGENARIAN. As I sit here two and a half months from starting my 72nd trip on this rock around the big yellow thing in the sky, I contemplate what has happened to the game of basketball. Some may say it's evolved and I will disagree. I would argue that it's devolved and here's why.

Let me take you back to my early years in the mid 1960s through the 1970s when I started playing and coaching hoops. The game was drastically different then to what we see today on a fist full of major level so let me elaborate.

First, walking was a violation. Back in the day, if you caught a pass you were coached to come down in what was called a jump stop which was landing on both feet simultaneously so that way you could use either foot as your pivot foot. If you caught the basketball and one foot came down first that was designated a your pivot foot. Today, almost on every play a player receiving ball lands one foot before the other and takes that extra step with no penalty. Players get a running start with the rock and that is a distinct advantage.

Second, palming was a violation and, for the people in their 20s or earlier, you have no idea what I'm referring to because it is rarely called so let me explain. 60 years ago, if while dribbling you got your hand on the side or under the ball and you carried it the whistle blew and you were called for palming. Today, it happens almost every time a player uses their dribble. They get their hand on the side or under the ball and, literally, run with the leather sphere. Ask any defender if this is an unfair advantage and you'll get a spontaneous ya think?

Third, back when hoops was a lot less physical than it is today, contact on a shooter was a foul. If you hit the guy trying to score it was whistled and someone was heading to the charity stripe. Today, it's a matter of how much contact the referees are going to allow a defender to inflict on a defenseless offensive player trying to make a move to make a basket.

Fourth, the game, in my humble opinion, has turned into football in BVDs. They say basketball is a contact sport and football is a collision sport but that gap is closing. The physicality that is being permitted in today's game is frightening. It is no longer a game of skill and finesse but one that is starting to depend way too much on brute force.

Finally, and this is the big one, we had no three point line. A layup two feet from the basket was worth just as much as a 20 foot jump shot. Not so today. Seeing players, especially in the NBA, passing up a sure deuce to pitch it out for an attempt at a triple, is truly painful for a septuagenarian like me to watch.

Sadly, that game I remember playing and coaching is gone just like the typewriter that's been replaced by the word processer. The tilt is now a survival of the fittest long range shooting contest. I ask you, is that what you want to see on the hardwood?

Call me old. Call me a dinosaur. You may like that type of game but it's not me because, being a basketball purist, it's really tough to watch.

Book it Dano!