THIS AINT THE PLAYGROUND ANYMORE

Ok, so ever since my last post, (which by the way I was told that I needed to read it and follow my own suggestions) I have been trying to figure out just what game it is that comes after the playground games that men seem so fond of playing. I have been observing several of the fellas in my life lately… guys like my brothers, my friends, my girl friends’ husbands, and even men I don’t even know. What I found was that most post-playground games are slightly more complicated and require far more equipment than just a ball. Some games require things like a net, or a bat, or a car… or maybe some other type of toy (you know, like a power tool or something.) And some games actually necessitate a strong team to start the game or keep it going.
Let’s start with what looks like a volleyball game. Bump, Set, Spike… well at least that is what my recent experiences have looked like. The volleyball game usually occurs in two situations.

First scenario: Single girl’s friend decides she wants to set her friend up with her husband’s or boyfriend’s friend. Single girl stands blindly on one side of the volleyball net while her friend, her friend’s husband or boyfriend, and new potential date are all on the other side. It goes something like this… Friend hits the ball into play to her boyfriend/husband, the setter, who then must get the ball precisely to the exact right place for the new date guy to spike it over the net. If he likes this new mysterious girl, he hits the ball with just enough strength to get it across the net and into her hands. If not, pretty much he either deliberately hits the ball into the net so it hits the ground never making it across the net, or if a little of that dodgeball mentality is still in him, he spikes it across the net, slamming it down either directly on the ground or right in the girl’s face. In this case, the guy determines whether the game actually begins or not. If he does begin the game, the girl then gets to decide whether it becomes a true “volley” ball game or if she is not so interested and doesn’t want to play, then she can hit the ball back into the net or simply let it hit the floor and walk off…GAME OVER

Scenario #2: Guy initiates the game. For some reason he can’t get the ball over the net by himself. Not always, but usually it has to do with proximity. He’s just too far away from the girl so he needs some friends to help with the setting etc. to get the ball over the obstacle (the net in the case of volleyball) and into the single girl’s hands. Since the guy is the one to actually initiate the game, after the ball has successfully crossed over the net, once again, it is up to the girl to decide if she wants to hit the ball back across so that the game can continue.

Now, if either of these scenarios turn into a real game, what typically happens is that it becomes less of a team sport with the friends dropping out of play. The game may now begin to look a little more like another game that I have observed being played. This would be the game of badminton or if both players are more “type A” kind of players then it looks more like tennis.
Both badminton and tennis can have either 2 or 4 players, but remember, if there are only 2 players, it is necessary that there is one on each side of the net. If not and both players are on the same side of the net then you do not have a game, you have… a friend.

It seems as though I have had a great deal of practice with volleyball, badminton, and tennis lately. And while they are typically less painful than that darn dodgeball game, there is still usually a winner and a loser. And as we all know, losing is not any fun! So you ask, are these three the only kind of post playground games that exist? Certainly not! I have just scratched the surface here… there is definitely more to come!