[USMA:29483] Re: basketball and metrics

[Mighty Chimp]

Per Bill Hooper:   I looked up the rules of basketball in the FIBA site (International Federation of Basketball). ALL it's rules regarding dimensions of the playing field and equipment etc. were given in metric. (Strangely I could not find the distances of fouls lines or any other marking on the court floor. I must have missed something.) Here are some of the dimensions I found. There were many more. All were totally metric. Court size (minimums): length 32000 mm, width 19000 mm Size of Backboards: width 1800 mm, height 1050 mm Height of Backboard above floor: 3050 mm Position of goal rim above bottom of backboard: 150 mm Length of goal netting: 450 mm Basket diameter 450 to 457 mm Rigidity of rim: should be able to withstand a force of 1000 N without     permanently being bent more than 2% Rigidity of backboard: Shall be rigid enough so that, when placed horizontally     (and supported in a particular way) that a "weight" of 50 kg shall not cause a     deformation of more than 3 mm   This means the FIBA court is 32 m x 19 m, which is 5 m longer then the US court and 1 m wider.   Euric   ----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Long To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, 2004-04-09 14:43 Subject: basketball and metrics Hi,   It took some doing, but I found USA Basketball's web site and a breakdown of dimensions used by the FIBA (basketball's international governing body, which would use Olympic specs), NBA and NCAA.   http://www.usabasketball.com/rules/rules.html   Hope this helps.   Jim Long Victorville -----Original Message----- From: Mighty Chimp <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Apr 9, 2004 9:43 AM To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [USMA:29477] Re: metric in sports Whatever happened to the 100 m x 60 m football field proposed for Canada in the 1970s?  Is it used anywhere today?   What about baseball in Japan?  Would the perfect square be laid out as 27.432 m or rounded to either 27 m or 28 m or maybe even 30 m?   If I'm not mistaken, basketball is an olympic sport.  What are the official olympic field dimensions that the olympic rules would specify?   Why original question was meant to find out if American sports, when played in hard core metric countries, use exact conversions of American units or take liberties and use rounded metric units.   Euric   ----- Original Message ----- From: Jim Long To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, 2004-04-09 12:27 Subject: Re: [USMA:29474] metric in sports Hello,   American baseball, football and basketball dimensions are not standardized in metric. The sports were designed with non-metric dimensions (feet, etc.) in mind and have remained consistent in that respect since their inventions -- for the most part. Three-point lines in basketball have varied in placement over the years and it's easy to find slight-to-moderate variations on court size at high school and (occasionally) collegiate levels.   How basketball courts are laid out outside North America I do not know, except that there, as here, the basket is 10 feet high.   Metric conversions are easy enough.   Major League Baseball stadiums in Toronto and Montreal both display outfield dimensions in metric as well as the other, but they are designed as they are in America. I would imagine that ballparks outside North America make metric dimensions more prominent in their display, but they, too, are based on the perfect square -- 90 feet from first base to second, etc.   Every other sport is laid out with Olympic measurements, track and field most noteably. Metric dimensions rule these sports in the States at virtually every level, even youth sports; it's rare nowadays to find a 440-yard oval for a high school track meet, but 400-meter ovals dominate.   Hope this helps.   Jim Long Veteran sportswriter (among other silly things) -----Original Message----- From: Mighty Chimp <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Apr 9, 2004 7:25 AM To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [USMA:29474] metric in sports Re: The olympics are metric! Posted By: Euuric Date: Friday, 9 April 2004, at 8:15 a.m. In Response To: Re: The olympics are metric! (Jeff) > Hey Euric, what about basketball? > The court is 94 FEET long, the basket is 10 > FEET high, the three point line is 25 FEET > out, and the free throw line is 10 FEET out. > And the United States wins every year bitch! That may be the size of the courts in the US, but not elsewhere. > And then there is baseball. american baseball is not an Olympic sport. If it was, the size of the field would be metricated to conform to IOC standards. > It is 90 FEET btween each base, 60 FEET from > the pitcher's mound to home plate, and the > the fence is about 300 FEET out. > And don't forget football. > The field is 100 YARDS or 300 FEET long, and > the goalposts are 10 FEET high. > I think I've made my point- not everything > in the Olympics is metric.   Does anyone know if any of these  sports have a metric version of their dimensions?  I do not mean a soft conversion.  I mean an actual metric playing field.  Like football