College BB players were once called Cagers: In the early days (70's) of listening to Cawood, he would use this term often)
today cager is:
a popular word among motorcyclists and bicyclists for four wheeled motor vehicle drivers. The term is often used in a derogative sense, because the car body effectively forms a cage, isolating the said driver from having to interact with other road users. The term was coined by motorcyclists.
The old the source went like this:
"Cagers": the rules said an out-of-bounds ball belonged to the first team to touch it after it crossed the line. Naturally, this sent both squads into elbow-throwing stampedes to claim possession. Naturally, this resulted in bruised and battered spectators. Naturally, the spectators fought back. Pre-1914 basketball was a free-for-all -- players trampling fans, fans lobbing vegetables. A wire cage around basketball courts was the solution until one night some official sat bolt upright in bed and yelled, "Hey, Madge, wake up! I've got it! Howzabout we save on the chickenwire and just change the rules!" Backboards date from this era too. They kept missed shots from beaning fans, who often didn't like giving the ball back."
another quote:
Basketball at one time was referred to as the “Cage Game” and players’ “Cagers”. This was a result of wire mesh (chicken wire) or chain-link fencing being hung around the entire court in an effort to make the game go faster by eliminating all the out of bounds delays. However, in reality, it served more as a barrier to protect the players and rowdy spectators from each other, as well as from the objects being thrown onto the court. The wire cage actually resulted in additional rough play with players body checking each other into the wire mesh as in hockey. Players often received cuts, bruises, and even incurred infections from the rusting wire mesh. Although, the use of cages were abandoned by 1933, the term "Cagers" is still used today.
In 1913, the out of bounds rule was changed to the current rule of the team causing or touching the ball last when it goes out of bounds loses possession. This rule change was a major impact in reducing the physical play that was common place in the early games."
And we think College BB is strange today.
Edit: here is a pic I found of a game set up:
another or 2:
The last pic was: The first basketball "cage" was in
Trenton's Masonic Temple design.
By the 1920s, the cage had been phased out of the game. Still, headline writers fell in love with the word as a synonym for basketball, and players are sometimes still called "cagers."