Rollerbat 2006
I am currently visiting my brother and his family in Oklahoma City. We just got finished playing a game that brought back fond memories of my childhoold. It's a game called Rollerbat. It has some pretty simple instructions.
You have a batter. He/She is responsible for hitting the ball whatever way they can. We were using a mini-basketball, but when we were kids it was played using a wiffle ball and bat. The ball is hit, you have 3 chances (strikes) to hit the ball before you are out. If you hit the ball and it is caught in the air without a bounce or richochet, the the batter is out and the one catching it is now the new batter. If the ball is caught otherwise, you have to stay where you caught the ball and roll it toward the bat, which has been laid down flat and facing toward the person doing the rolling. It is laid in such a way that the greatest amount of surface space is perpendicular to the direction of the ball.
If the ball is caught close to the bat (an arbitrary distance determined before the game), then then the bat is held upright so as to provide the least amount of surface space possible.
If the one doing the rolling is successful in hitting the bat with the ball, then they are the new batter.
Now the process by which the ball is caught reminds me alot of rugby. It's pretty much everyone for themselves. Alot of bumps and bruises were had this day.
It was very odd to play a game, as an adult, that used to cause my brother and I to beat each other with wiffle ball bats when we were younger.
1 comment:
There are several matters that you have glossed over in your rather lean and anti-septic description of "Rollerbat"
A. Its Roll - a - bat. "Rollerbat" as you have it listed seems to imply there would be some kinda roller skates involved. And possibly batting or in the very least something bat and/or guano related. While thats a cool sounding game(perhaps played by bulky Germanic wimmin with clubs|) i feel compelled to give you a B+ on memory retention. It neglects the robust history of the name of the game. Roll at a bat. Roll-a-bat.
B. The reason that when we were younger fights erupted was because the rules were looser when we were kids. Hitting a fly ball that clips the tops of the trees, careens of two buildings and get caught by someone is frustrating. As children the rules seem to perfectly accept running down the field with the bat, and beating the crap out of the catcher. Everything dies down and the game continued on. Which only enhanced play. The catcher is thinking....you know i'm going to run across the yard jump the steps, and hurdle the hedges to get that buttheads next pop fly. As a game it promotes athletics, tumbling, good cardio vascular health, and coping skills, as well as its own unique talents and skill parameters. ( hitting a ball that you plan to bounce off two houses, and drop behind the dog pool on the wet side...is not easy and requires highly tuned motor skills and a fair amount of the right stuff) The game on the other hand is not endorsed by the National Coalition of Parents In Support of Peacful Backyard Games Foundation L.L.C. So care should be exercised before launching yourself into a strict regime to make the Multi-National-Roll-a-Bat All-Star Olympic Try Outs in November. It'll be on E.S.P.N. 8 "The ocho" the whole month.
C. The game is flexible and has a multitude of applications limited only by the inventors mind. Example A: I throw a cold beer into the air. The Swedish Bikini and Oil Wrestling Diva squad tries to catch it. Oh the dilemna ! Will Svenka catch the hurtling beverage!? *gasp|* Drama ! Intrigue ! Action Romance ! Stay tuned for the next episode of Beerman all you beerfans. Same beertime....same beer channel. ! See and that is just off the top of my head. You could play Volley-bat. Soccer-bat. Xtreme Snoboardin-a-bat. Look for that in the X games. Also on "the Ocho".
D. This is too long and with my screen up to its highest resolution, i get this itty bitty box to type in. I feel like I'm trying to label the Constitution on the side of an asprin bottle with a No. 2 Pencil.
E. Typos and grammar mistakes free of charge. I look at my hands when i type not the screen and with the text window at that size, there is no way I'll go back and edit.
heh
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