I think this is an entirely different game today.
Posted on 06/19/2004 6:56:42 AM PDT by qam1
The sting of a red rubber dodgeball, the shame of being the first struck out, the rapture in being the last player standing.
Though nostalgic Baby Boomers and a subsequent generation might recall sensations such as these, children in Palm Beach and Martin County schools might not have the chance.
"Not as long as I can help it," said Kevin Sterling, program planner for physical education for Palm Beach County grades K-12. "It's an extremely aggressive, dangerous game."
Dodgeball is not officially banned in Martin County, according to Delores Calloway, the director of school improvement and curriculum for the Martin County School District. But it has been banned in Palm Beach County schools for about 10 to 15 years, Sterling said.
Sterling said he cannot recall any serious injuries resulting from the game in Palm Beach County, but he said there have been many minor injuries. And he thinks dodgeball is an unhealthy form of physical education.
"I think it definitely has a negative effect on the self-esteem. We can do much more productive things," he said.
At Hidden Oaks Middle School in Stuart, the days of dodgeball ended three years ago. But Principal Jenny Lambdin said the kids might be missing out.
"I know when I grew up we played it on the playground, and I always had fun, but... I know times have changed," she said. "I think that there are certain students that maybe other kids like to pick on; they might just throw the ball to hit them.... They don't have a lot of sensitivity sometimes."
Sandra Brown has been principal at Belvedere Elementary School in West Palm Beach for three years and says no balls have been -- or will be -- dodged under her watch.
"I prefer not to have anything thrown at children," she said, adding that the physical education curriculum has many ball-handling activities for children to prepare them for sports such as baseball and basketball.
But organizations such as the International Dodge-Ball Federation are working to bring dodgeball back into the mainstream and back on the playgrounds.
After learning about IDBF online, Larry Self of New Smyrna Beach, 55, was so nostalgic for his dodgeball days at Davidson High School in Mobile, Ala., that he agreed to work full time as the federation's Florida commissioner without pay.
"It was exciting, and it had a thrill element to it that other sports didn't seem to have. It was this excitement, and the fear of being put out," he said. "You really wanted to be the last one standing."
New equipment and strictly sanctioned rule books are making for safer play, and Self plans to meet with public school officials and city parks and recreation departments in an attempt to bring the childhood pastime America loves to hate back into mainstream children's sports.
"(The new balls have) a fabric cover and only weigh 2 to 3 pounds, so you can throw it hard and hit somebody with it, and it's not going to leave any abrasions or anything like that," Self said. "We want to eliminate any fears about the way it was played in the past."
Oh, for God's sake...
Imagine a dodgeball game where every ball in the school inventory is used. Each team then launches simultaneous broadsides against the enemy. Defeat was a random, impersonal, and often painful event. You never knew if there was a red rubber ball out there with your name on it.
The ISTQ council voted today to rename one of America's favorite pastimes."Smear the Queer," an incredibly fun game in which hordes chase down and tackle any person who has the ball, has been around since the gay old days of this country. The game, which involves manhandling your opponent and wrestling them to the ground, hasn't changed much throughout the years.
"For years, many a youth have played the game, chasing down the Queer. Of course, with Queer meaning the person who is different, the person who has the ball. Everyone wants his ball, so the best way for them to gain control of his ball is to smear him," stated council member John Conway.
"We were concerned that the game's name may be insensitive to those who are Queer. We don't want our children to grow up thinking it is okay to smear a Queer. Queers deserve the same amount of respect as the rest of us."
The council voted on "Smear the Tranny" since the transgendered community has yet to become a force to reckon with.
http://www.thewiredpress.com/archives/briefs/smearqueer.html
The wimpification of America's school. Who puts jerks like this into positions of authority???
My pretty bride always had a strong leg for a little girl, and literally KO'd the PE teacher in a game of dodgeball. Teach dared her to kick it hard at her. BOOM...in the forehead...down and out and to the hospital. LOL in retro.
Thanks for reminding us what the social engineering idiots are teaching our young skulls full of mush. We need to keep our eye on the condemners of dodge ball.
What doesn't kill ya will make you stronger.
Here is a person with serious "issues." Why is a "program planner" required? Where I grew up, some baseballs/softballs/basketballs/volleyballs/footballs and room to play were all that was required to fill every recess with fun and to make every day special. I think Kevin needs more fiber in his diet--and a new job.
Let the kids play!
You and me. When was the last time you knew who the different candidates for the school board were and what they stood for?
You rarely read about them in the papers or hear about them on the news but they are the ones who decide who is hired and who is fired. They install the jerks and the good guys who will be teaching the children in your area.
Someone once said, "All politics are local." That is especially true in the case of the schools.
A small local gym is threatened with extinction by a gleaming sports and fitness palace unless a group of social rejects can rise to victory in the ultimate dodgeball competition.
We played 5 ball dodgeball in HS. I used to dread dodgeball until I realized I was the best defensive player on our team. I was the rabbit. I so small and quick that the opposing team would expend all their ammo trying to hit me. Our offensive would then come in for a mass attack and wipe out half of their team all at once.
Breathing can kill outlaw breathing!!!
Don't speak for me. I follow local elections very carefully, everything from town council, school board, even the beer board.
Man, I loved dodgeball!
Then you are in the minority and I salute you.
The beer board? Is that anything like the liquor board?
Sort of, except the liquor board regulates liquor and the beer board regulates beer.
< /smart_ass>
At my junior high, you can actually play dodgeball in the gym. We have foam balls so no ninnies can complain, and you can also get people on your team back in if you hit the backboard on the other end. In elementary, tho, all of the competitive games either had impossible-to-count scores or impossible ways to win.
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