Approximately one hundred and eighteen years ago the game of basketball was invented.  With a crowd on hand Dr. James Naismith came out and talked about his life. However, this wasn’t the real Dr. Naismith. The man doing the impersonation was Robert Cheney, and it's something he does for fun.

"I did a lot of research. I went to Kansas, up to Canada-met with family members, and did a lot of reading at Springfield College. I grew up in Springfield, Massachusetts so I had a close connection."

Cheney likes to do this presentation because Naismith is a hero of his.  It also gives him the opportunity to share a message of Dr. Naismiths' that he would have hoped others would benefit from.

"We all have these opportunities, we all have ideas, don't give into rejection.  Try something new, experiment.  So there's something that goes beyond, it's just a performance, ideally, that's why I try to hit with that AHA experience, because I think this is everybody, everyday, coming up with ideas."

Cheney also talks about the sport Naismith invented in 1891. It’s a game that went from a small peach basket to what we currently see today. The game has become incredibly advanced, and is something Naismith probably wouldn’t be disappointed with.

"He felt that he accomplished his goal of making the world a little better than he found it."

And when the presentation is done, basketball fans of all ages have become a little more enlightened.

"It was excellent because I didn't know all of the things that had happened to him.  I looked up information in the encyclopedia and it didn't give all this information.  I learned a great deal.”

And some of that information might surprise basketball fans nowadays. Naismith had thirteen rules when he invented this game such as… “A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw from the spot he catches it and if either side makes three consecutive fouls, it shall count as a goal for the opponents."

These days, the game is very different.  Things have changed all the way down to the way we keep score.  Back when Dr. Naismith invented the game of basketball there was a simple scoring system.  Anytime the ball went through the hoop it was one bucket.  There were no two-pointers for inside the arc, one-point for a Free Throw, or even three-points for behind the arc.  It's changes like these that will keep the game of basketball evolving for many years to come.