… say don’t you remember … I’m your pal … buddy can you spare a dime …
The NBA All-star game is on this weekend, thankfully, not in L.A. Last year when it was here, I tried going to a pub to see the band Buchanan play and stupidly forgot my wallet, which meant I only had $15 in my pocket. Usually, that would get me in the parking lot ($8) and in the door ($6), with a whole dollar to my name, and no beer in my hand! The joys of capitalism fell upon me, however, when I arrived at the usual parking lot to find their going price jacked up to $20. Needless to say, with no street parking to be found, it was a short night.
That’s all kind of irrelevant, but I figured I’d throw it in anyway. My real question is this: why do basketball people call assists, “dimes”? I’ve thought about how it might have come to be, but haven’t come up with anything that might border on being valid. I know, I hear you yelling, “Google is your friend”, but that would just ruin the mystery.
Making nicknames for things, and abbreviating words is pretty common in the sports world, but basketball has some doozies. I remember once hearing someone say that a player hit the three pee jay in two oh tee for the double ewe. Just seems like a waste of thought to me. Oh, translation for those who preferred the sandbox to sports in school — he hit a three point jump shot in double overtime to win the game.
Of course, if I had had some more dimes, nickels, washingtons, jacksons, or even benjamins in my pocket last year, I could have seen the band play.