There is probably a definitive history of college sports in America that I have not yet read. ;) It's certainly an interesting topic.
I think big-time college football and basketball may be pure historical accidents. The sport of American football had its earliest success as an Ivy League college sport; back when the rules were being firmed up Harvard was the national champion. Wikipedia:
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, gameplay developments by college coaches such as Eddie Cochems, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Knute Rockne, and Glenn "Pop" Warner helped take advantage of the newly introduced forward pass. The popularity of collegiate football grew as it became the dominant version of the sport in the United States for the first half of the 20th century.
And basketball was literally invented by a school sports instructor as an indoor sport suitable for play in school gymnasiums:
... and the inventor immediately joined the University of Kansas.
So basketball and American football may have been born and raised in schools, which explains why they're historically tied to schools in their native land.
My impression is that the other big-time American college sports are late additions to an existing big-time college-sports system. For example, baseball grew up with a complete minor league system operating independently of colleges, and college baseball has only become big within the last few decades. And ice hockey is a regional college sport in the USA but in Canada, where they take it seriously, it's a club sport with a hockey team in every town larger than a critical size. (My impression is that the critical size may be as small as "six people". ;)
Comments
There is probably a definitive history of college sports in America that I have not yet read. ;) It's certainly an interesting topic.
I think big-time college football and basketball may be pure historical accidents. The sport of American football had its earliest success as an Ivy League college sport; back when the rules were being firmed up Harvard was the national champion. Wikipedia:
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, gameplay developments by college coaches such as Eddie Cochems, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Knute Rockne, and Glenn "Pop" Warner helped take advantage of the newly introduced forward pass. The popularity of collegiate football grew as it became the dominant version of the sport in the United States for the first half of the 20th century.
And basketball was literally invented by a school sports instructor as an indoor sport suitable for play in school gymnasiums:
http://www.kansasheritage.org/people/naismith.html
... and the inventor immediately joined the University of Kansas.
So basketball and American football may have been born and raised in schools, which explains why they're historically tied to schools in their native land.
My impression is that the other big-time American college sports are late additions to an existing big-time college-sports system. For example, baseball grew up with a complete minor league system operating independently of colleges, and college baseball has only become big within the last few decades. And ice hockey is a regional college sport in the USA but in Canada, where they take it seriously, it's a club sport with a hockey team in every town larger than a critical size. (My impression is that the critical size may be as small as "six people". ;)