Why Are Asissts Called "DIMES"?

<table id=cafe_editor_main_table_color bgColor='' cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0 width=100%><tr><td id=cafe_editor_main_table class=text>  NBA, Streetball...에서 어시스트를 흔히들 Dime, Dropping a dime...이라고 표현합니다... 이 말의 어원에 대해서 ESPN Magazine에 실린 글인데요... 나름대로 재밌네요... 해석은 현재 배부름과 귀차니즘에 빠져서 패스하고 (사실은 허접한 영어 실력 -_-;) 내일 눈 뜨는 즉시 시도해보겠습니다...   출처: ESPN Magazine / Publication:ESP; Date:Jun 6, 2005; Section:The Jump; Page:42<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> ANSWER GUY <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> WHY ARE ASSISTS CALLED DIMES? <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Rocking the mike of inquiry with the metered erudition of thinkery. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Marty Blake, director of scouting, NBA: I have no idea where that came from. Sounds pretty hip-hop. Have you tried Puff Daddy? You mean P. Diddy? Him, too. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Matt Zeysing, assistant curator, Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: We have no information on its origin, but I always thought it was commonly used in playground basketball. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Word? Dee Brown, ESPN analyst: Dime is street. To dime somebody means you're giving them something. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Brother can you spare a dime? Exactly. But what about inflation? <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Michael Curry, forward, Indiana Pacers:  When a pass leads to a basket, it's a perfect connection, like a perfect 10. And a dime is 10 cents. I can dig it. So why don't they call hockey assists dimes? <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Eric Zweig, managing editor, Total Hockey:  Beats me. Sometimes they're referred to as helpers, but there's nothing clever about that. I'll say. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Dan Diamond, editor, Total Hockey:  We also call them setups. Fresh! But the expression‎ “drop a dime” means to turn somebody in to the police. It refers to using a dime at a pay phone. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> What's a pay phone? Something we had back in ye olden days. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Hmmm. But if dropping a dime means ratting somebody out, why is it used for a helpful thing like an assist? <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> Scoop Jackson, columnist, ESPN.com:  Hard to say. But I do know that dime started on the playgrounds in the mid-1970s. Dropping a dime was common slang for snitching on someone, but how or why it was applied to hoops is anybody's guess. It probably just sounded fly. True that. So how did it get to the NBA? It might have started with Walt Frazier. How so? He turned passing into high art, and he wore No. 10, maybe that's the connection. I'm down with that. Trouble is, things that come out of the street sometimes don't have any rhyme or reason to them. <o:p></o:p> <o:p> </o:p> That's for shizzle.<o:p></o:p>  </tr></td></table>