Pioneers of basketball The Mayans, the prophecy, the ball game!

If the prophecy is true the world would be coming to an end today. So far so good all i can say is make sure you go play a hard game and leave it all on the court. Hopefully you win and will be saved by the Mayan gods, it could change everything! just kidding

When i talk to my Mayans ancestor friends from Guatemala they laugh and say that they just ran out of space on the wall. Apparently they have been partying every night for the last week. Let's celebrate life and the toast to the originators of the game we love !

The ball game was invented approximately 3000 years ago and is very sacred to the Mayans. It was an extension of their religion.The game may have been a reenactment of the Mayan myth of the Hero Twins. In the myth, the Hero Twins had to battle the gods of death from the underworld by playing a ball game. In the story the Twins win and they rise into the heavens to be the sun and the moon.The ball is believed to represent the moon and the sun and the court represents the earth. The ball was kept in the air, just as the sun and the moon were always in the sky.Many warriors and Kings played the game fiercely. In some cases the loser would be killed, and would have their heads displayed in front of the court. The high priest would use the skull of the losing team’s captain as the core of a new ball. The Aztecs collected the skulls of the losers in a skull rack and used their blood to "feed the gods." It’s no wonder that players were very motivated to win. In that case it's go hard or go to the sky...

The game was a combination of basketball, volley ball, and soccer. Two teams of two to eleven players would play the game. They would try and get a rubber ball through a small hoop that was about twenty-seven feet off of the ground. The players would have to keep the ball in motion using parts of their bodies like hips, thighs and forearms, but the use of hands and feet was not allowed.

The ball was very hard to get through the hoop. Because of this, when a player successfully got the ball through a hoop, the spectators would have to give him their clothing and jewelry. As a result, once the ball went through the hoop the spectators would run away to avoid giving the player a reward.

Here is an example of the Mayan Ball Game being played.

If you ever get a chance, go visit Tikal and all the amazing ruins that the Mayans built in the middle of the jungle 1000's of years ago.

Here are some photos