Junkyard Sports: The Blog

Blogger no more

2007-05-08T05:34:00.000-07:00

The new Junkyard Sports Community has its own weblog technology. You can subscribe to the feed here, should you so desire. Hence, Junkyard Sports-wise, Blogger has become redundantified.

The Junkyard Sports Community

2007-05-07T05:59:00.000-07:00

If you happened to travel to a month or two into the future, and, for some reason known only to you, found yourself at a newsstand, perusing the then current copy of Family Fun magazine, you would probably remark to yourself, saying: "why, isn't that Bernie's picture? and aren't those Junkyard Sports they're talking about? and isn't this a lovely, informative, nay, even stimulating article?"

"Ah," you might further say to yourself in future retrospect, "that explains why Bernie and webmistress Julie Wolpers were working so feverishly on the Junkyard Sports website. Why, of course," you continue surmisingly, "that's precisely why what was once known only as the Junkyard Sports site has become the 'Junkyard Sports Community' - so accessible, so filled with information and invitations to online community participation. Because, don't you see, all those Family Funsters, becoming so profoundly enthused by that very lovely, very well-illustrated article, will be veritably driven to satisfy their deservedly desperate need for resources and opportunities to bring Junkyard Sports to the day-to-day lives of their fun-seeking families, to their neighborhoods, schools, and places of work and play."

And, lo, once again, you would prove to have been uncannily insightful. And even lo-er, there's no reason for you to have to wait for the future to come to pass, because the Junkyard Sports Community is both here and now, in the truly gifted, virtual present of it all.

Go ye, therefore to the Junkyard Sports Community website. Peruse. Participate. The future is but a click away.

The invention of Trekking

2007-04-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

In his article on IPFrontLine, Donald Grant Kelly reports on the invention of a new sport, called "Trekking." The inventor, Phil Stebler, drew his inspiration from a training exercise he saw in a Marine camp boot training film where, he explains: "teams mastered coordination and collaboration by "walking" with feet positioned on parallel rails. Short ropes attached to the rails enabled team members to lift each rail in unison, moving it forward in a synchronized walking motion. Forward progress depends upon strength, timing and perfect cooperation."

This very same exercise actually made its way into the New Games repertoire via Stewart Brand in his efforts to introduce what he called "soft war." We played it for the fun of it. And it has propagated hither and yon (see, for example, these Team Traks). Stebler has apparently taken both the fun and the spirit of it one step beyond with his new sport. Kelly explains: "the ropes are eliminated and the rails, or Trekkers as he calls them, are equipped with multiple foot-bindings accommodating more than one person. For indoor competition, Trekkers are provided with carpeted lower surfaces. Forward movement is accomplished as players lift the foot bindings and press them forward, much like cross-country skiing. Excitement is ratcheted up by Phil Stebler's special features. He interconnects front/rear ends of the skis to form ski "chains" and adds parallel players sharing common skis with their partners."

I spoke with Mr. Stebler about his invention. He explained that by eliminating the ropes, players can gain more stability - holding on to the shoulders of the player in front; and that when fewer players want to give it a try, there are no extra ropes to worry about. Stebler has explored many variations of his device. He's added a hook-and-eye system so it is possible to join Trekkers together for larger groups. He's even found a way to use two sets of Trekkers in parallel, mixing two teams together so that one team uses Trekkers 1 and 3 while the other uses 2 and 4. All to bring both collaboration and hilarity to the most serious enterprises of developing teamwork and promoting fitness.

Finger Jousting

2007-04-24T15:35:00.000-07:00

Finger Jousting"...is a sport where two consenting players square off in an attempt to prod their opponent with their lancing (right) index finger before the opposing player can. The competitors must keep their right hands locked in an arm wrestling fashion and not use their legs or latent (left) arm in an offensive manner. The competitors are known as jousters, and the act of touching the other person’s body with the index finger is known as lancing. A player can lance anywhere except the lancing (right) arm."

Finger Jousting? Could it be just a jest, this jousting-with-the-finger concept? A jest? Surely, you joke. How could anything as challenging and artful and demanding of physical prowess and as contest-worthy to lead to the establishment of the World Finger Jousting Federation be taken as anything but or else? Verily, one could, having perused and pondered the patently Pseudo History of Finger Jousting, conclude that it is little more than a laughable lark, a prank, a juvenile josh. And yet, at heart, there is a clear smackage of something fun and physically sportlike and worthy of patently public approbation.

Feather Bowling

2007-04-16T15:03:00.000-07:00

They call it "Feather Bowling." And, contrary to the conclusion to which you've probably already leaped, there is no bowling of feathers. Rather, there's bowling of something looking remarkably like wooden cheese rounds. Considering that the game comes to us from Belgium, the cheese-round-likeness of the balls is all but self-explanatory.

The feather? That's the thing stuck into the ground near the end of the alley. The goal? To roll your wooden cheese round so that it stops as close as possible to the feather, in a bocce- or horseshoe-like manner.

The alley. Ah, the alley. Not flat, as you might assume from previous bowling experiences. But concave. Curved, don't you know, so that it becomes quite possible to roll your wooden cheese rounds up and down and around in a most remarkably strategic manner.

Not impressed? Take a look at these clips.

FreezeTagBasketball (invented by Phil Anker & David Fisher)

2007-03-27T04:22:00.000-07:00

"You see, FreezeTagBasketball (invented by Phil Anker & Dave Fisher) combines basketball and freeze tag. Each team has an 'IT.' The IT can tag people on the opposing team to freeze them, or tag people on ITs own team to unfreeze them. Everybody becomes unfrozen when a point is made. The ITs can make points and everything else everyone else does. The rest of the game is played just like basketball."

"But," you ask, "won't people just stay away from the ITs? Why not give the ITs the ball and let them make points?"

"Certainly," the designers respond, "ITs have an offensive advantage, but don't let that fool you. ITs can freeze each other, and once frozen cannot unfreeze themselves. So if an IT is given the ball, other players might stay away, but the opposing IT would go for the freeze. If your team's IT is frozen, you can see how you would have an obvious disadvantage. The opposing IT could freeze your entire team, and unfreeze all of the opposing players. Bad news for you."

FreezeTagBasketball is what I, Bernie DeKoven, author of Junkyard Sports (as soon to be seen in Family Fun Magazine), registrar of the registered trademark Junkyard Sports®, host of Junkyard Sports, the Blog, call a Junkyard Sport - even though it doesn't (but certainly could) involve the using of junk. What it does involve is the putting together of a sport and a game in such an ingenious way as to create a new sport. A new, fun sport. A new, fun sport good enough to be played very, very hard; and new enough to be really fun, and stay really fun, for anyone who really wants to play.

My Junkmasterly blessings on you, Phil Anker and David Fisher. Play on!

Maze Zing

2007-03-20T14:03:00.000-07:00

Maze Zing mazes are made of real objects. Exactly like the Gone Fishin' maze in this illustration, actually made out of actual fish hooks. Fish hooks!

Created by Jeff Montayne, these mazes are testimonies to the man's playfulness, patience, and ability to scrounge. He explains:

"The mazes were set up for the picture and then taken apart immediately after. Most of the objects in the mazes were purchased through Internet auctions and from local stores. I am looking forward to hunting through yard sales for items as I continue to create more intriguing mazes. I got the idea for creating the mazes one Saturday while reading books with my little cousins, Kayleigh and Taryn. We exhausted our collection of picture puzzle books and began searching the house for items to make our own picture puzzles...Using my digital equipment, I spent a Saturday building and photographing four picture puzzles to entertain Kayleigh and Taryn. I didn’t want to recreate what someone else had already done, so I began experimenting with my own styles. The four pictures I created kept the kids amused for a while but I quickly learned that my work would never be finished. They wanted more and more. Thus, Maze Zing was born."

The mazes in Maze Zing represent many small, but brilliant contributions to the World Maze. Montayne's discovery that little bits of stuff can make great mazes, that different stuff has different properties which lends itself to different kinds of mazes, that the digital camera makes temporary things permanent...each and all opened new doors for maze play. And Montayne's willingness to be guided by his cousins' playfulness demonstrates once again how children can lead us into new forms of art and play, and how love can make it so much worth doing.

from Bernie DeKoven, funsmith

QuadBall

2007-03-12T09:36:00.000-07:00

QuadBall is a sport based on the theories of a brilliant and devoted physical educator named Muska Mosston. Dr. Mosston is the author of the Slanty Line theory that I describe with such enthusiasm in my article on Fun and Flow.

I quote from the site:

"Observing a boy shooting hoops, Muska noticed the consistency where the ball hit the front of the goal rim. He walked over to the goal and pulled on it until it slanted down about 20°. The boy’s next three shots went right through the goal. Muska realized that slanting the goal 20° significantly increased a shorter student’s chances of making the goal.

"QuadBall is based on that 'Slanted Rim' theory developed by the late Dr. Muska Mosston. It's designed to create an environment prone to 'inclusion,' where every child has an opportunity for skill development through experimentation."

And it looks like fun, too.

Volotennis

2007-03-05T15:56:00.000-08:00

Volotennis "is a sport that blends elements from paddle tennis and badminton." So, already we know we're talking Junkyard - it's a sport built out of other sports. And, well, sure, you need special equipment, though clearly you could use not so special equipment. A wiffle ball, even a Baggyball would most potentially do. And for paddles, well, there's the, of course, recommended Pick-a-Paddle, but clearly one could use, let's see, shoes perhaps, feet maybe, boxlids probably.

Volo, should you wonder: "The root 'volo' comes from the Latin word (volatus) for 'flight.' In volotennis, the ball is usually struck while still in flight, (i.e. before it bounces)." Ah. Of course. Still in flight. As in badminton. With Paddle Tennis. Furthermore, "volotennis can be played indoors or outdoors on any surface (concrete, asphalt, grass, sand, wood, etc.)." Again ah. A sport for many surfaces.

"The sport of volotennis was invented on the 4th of July, 2002 in Lafayette, California, USA. The sport's creators are Paul Loscavio, Nancy Loscavio, Steve Cornacchia, Kelly Cornacchia, Ray Ginochio, and Tom Schulting."

Thank you to each and all. You have brought a little more fun into the world.

Double Ball

2007-02-28T06:57:00.000-08:00

Years ago, when I was writing for Games magazine, I proposed that we do an article on what I called "Two Balls Tied Together." We actually got as far as doing a photo session for the article, but, ultimately, it got killed. I suppose because of the semi-salacious significance of what I was calling the game. And perhaps also because the game didn't seem to be "real." Nobody we knew of was actually playing it. Even though it was clearly fun. And most definitely playworthy. There weren't any Two-Balls-Tied-Together Leagues or clubs, even.

Recently, maybe 20 years later, I heard from a company called Yazoo. These Yazoos were in fact marketing their own patented version of something remarkably similar to TBTT (Two Balls...etc.). Coming to me as it did in this enlightened age of the Internet, I gleefully Googled for evidence of this game elsewhere. And behold, it was, in truth, a game called Double Ball, played by our Native American brothers o so many years ago, as further explicated here.

There's something to be learned here about the nature of new sports, and timing, and naming, and patents and stuff.

When you figure it out, please let me know.

Newmindspace

2007-02-20T04:59:00.000-08:00

Newmindspace promotes "...interactive public art, creative cultural interventions and urban bliss dissemination based in New York and Toronto." Many are the events conducted by Newmindspace in the names of art and fun. There's Bubblebattle as depicted, and, for perhaps just one other example, Urban Capture the Flag:

"Capture the Flag is a massive, adrenaline-pumping, urban game played on the streets of downtown Toronto. Two teams hide flags in their territory and attempt to capture the enemy flag using subways, streetcars, bicycles, longboards or their own two feet. Join us as we dash through the Financial District, evade the enemy, hide behind Toronto's skyscrapers, travel through the PATH and score a point."

Many are the events, and many the stories (some of which inspire, some of which engender ire). All of which help define a play-art form which, crazy as it may be, redefines art, play, and the world we live in.

You can download the instructions for conducting a game of Capture the Flag in your very own urb.

Ringette

2007-02-13T20:11:00.000-08:00

According to the The International Ringette Association:

Ringette is a Canadian game that was first introduced in 1963 in North Bay, Ontario. Developed originally for girls, Ringette is a fast-paced team sport on ice in which players use a straight stick to pass, carry, and shoot a rubber ring to score goals.

Ringette is played on a rink and there are five players plus goalie on the ice at the same time from each team. Ringette is fun and fast, it has no body contact and there is a need to cooperate to be able to move from one side to another.

Again and again, I'm finding new sports that emphasize a gentler, more cooperative, and yet physically and mentally engaging interaction. I think there's a message here.

According to Ringette Canada:

The growth has continued internationally with the formation of associations in the U.S.A., Finland, Sweden, Russia, and France. In addition, Ringette Canada has been instrumental in demonstrating the game in the Netherlands, Switzerland, West Germany, along with New Zealand, Australia and Japan.

Yup, definitely a message. One that is clearly being listened to. Very carefully.

Pickleball

2007-02-06T05:11:00.000-08:00

According to Pickleball.com, "The mini-tennis game called Pickle-Ball was created during the summer of 1965 on Bainbridge Island - a short ferry ride from Seattle, WA. The original purpose of the game was to provide a sport for the entire family, according to co-inventors U.S. Congressman Joel Pritchard, William Bell, and Barney McCallum."

Wikipedia calls Pickleball "a combination of ping pong, tennis, and badminton." Already, I like this game - junkly in its very essence, combining elements of other sports to create a new, more accessible sport. Again, according to Wikipedia, "Pickleball's small court also allows younger players or those with varying degrees of mobility and paraplegics to participate in a way that the larger court of tennis sometimes prohibits....Pickleball is designed to keep everyone in play. There's a no-volley zone close to the net to prevent overcompetitive players from smashing their way to one-sidedness. Pickleball is a game of shot placement and patience, not brute power or strength. Once the ball has hit the ground on both sides of the net, the volley can continue as in badminton, with the ball constantly in the air."

funfinding by Bill Harris

Asphip - Spinning Top Boomerang Bowling Tennis

2007-01-23T05:22:00.000-08:00

Asphip includes both the Asphip Looper and the Wandering Disks. Both are attempts to introduce objects with different physical properties into traditional ball sports.

The "distinctive and primary element in Asphip Looper is this unique ball that's similar to a top in that it spins on a shaft. The ball is round and has two shafts, one at the top and one at the bottom. The racket is used to hit and spin the ball. This racket like those used in some other sports has a grip and palm. The palm is filled with a sponge material so that it flexes when it comes in contact with the ball." The Looper, of course, travels best on the specially smoothed surfaces of an Asphip Court. And, once you have an Asphip Court, you might as well also have a set of Wandering Disks and play a combination of shuffleboard and tic tac toe with pucks on wheels. Pucks on wheels!

It makes you think. What other wonderfully mechanical things do we have that we could have fun with, get involved with, get completely, physically engaged with, make sports out of? New kinds of balls and pucks with new properties that invite play. Not that easy. Not that small of an accomplishment, this Asphip thing. Something to get interested in, very, very interested in.

Shotgun Golf

2007-01-22T08:02:00.000-08:00

ESPN.com: Shotgun Golf as described by Hunter S. Thompson to Bill Murray:

"Shotgun Golf was invented in the ominous summer of 2004 AD, right here at the Owl Farm in Woody Creek, Colo. The first game was played between me and Sheriff Bob Braudis, on the ancient Bomb & Shooting Range of the Woody Creek Rod & Gun Club. It was witnessed by many members and other invited guests, and filmed for historical purposes by Dr. Thompson on Super-Beta videotape.

The game consists of one golfer, one shooter and a field judge. The purpose of the game is to shoot your opponent's high-flying golf ball out of the air with a finely-tuned 12-gauge shotgun, thus preventing him (your opponent) from lofting a 9-iron approach shot onto a distant 'green' and making a 'hole in one.' Points are scored by blasting your opponent's shiny new Titleist out of the air and causing his shot to fail miserably. That earns you two points.

But if you miss and your enemy holes out, he (or she) wins two points when his ball hits and stays on the green.

And after that, you trade places and equipment, and move on to round 2."

For those of us seeking a less, shall we say, junkly challenge, there's of course Schmerltz Frisbee Golf, which would, similarly of course, be played with a, well, flying disc-like Frisbee-like thing (like a paper plate), and, as hitherto implied, a Schmerltz.

Junk, art, and fun

2007-01-21T05:05:00.000-08:00

I'm thinking there's something inherently fun about the junk-art connection. I'm thinking that if you, in your virtual way, toured the Brian Jungen Gallery you'd come up with virtually the same conclusion. Nike art. How, well, artistic. And how, let's see, how
clever, how effective, how well-crafted, how unique, how ecologically sensitive, how commercially potent, how politically relevant, how, hmm, fun.

And perhaps even more spectacularly artistic and funny, his Plastic Chair Whale Skeleton.

So what I'm beginning to conclude is this: the junk-art connection is a big one, it connects this part of our brain with that part, this part of our culture with that, truth with beauty with profound silliness. Look for it. Nurture it. Enjoy it.

funscouting by neatorama.

Junk Art from Shari Elf

2007-01-16T19:13:00.000-08:00

Shari Elf describes her "Junk Art" as being created from "95% trash, made from stuff I find on the ground, at yard sales and thrift stores, broken stuff and stuff my friends send me."

What she doesn't need to tell us is that her art is refreshingly childlike and welcoming. No pretensions or aspirations to finding her place in the art world. Just simple fun that comes from the heart.

You look at it, and you think "I could do this, too." And you'd be right. And that's the whole point.

Shari's art is an invitation, directly to your own, personal, childlike, artlike skills.

Visit with her a while, and be inspired.

Funspotting by Everlasting Blort

from Bernie DeKoven, funsmith

Ringo

2007-01-10T04:54:00.000-08:00

Apparently, Ringo is like volleyball, played with a ring. The inventor, Wlodzimier Stryzewski, was, at the time, captain of "the Polish épée fencing team for the Academic World Championships 1959 in Turin." He explains: "in my childhood I and a small friend played catch with a tyre which had come off a pram, which we would throw over the tops of horse-drawn carriages driven a long the main road of Sochaczew, my home town. Oh yes! The field can symbolize my body. The tyre – is my sword. There shall be no time limit between the catching and the throwing, so I never know when my opponent will begin his attack and in which direction, as in any fighting game."

I read on: "First, you have to throw the ring from the spot where you caught it, second – when throwing at least one foot must touch the ground. You may only leap when catching, never when throwing. Otherwise the defending party would have no chance at all and the entire game would be senseless. But why? – He demanded. Because it’s my game and my rules – I said."

Stryzewski has made it his game ever since, and has brought to it a vision and passion that borders on pure zeal.

"Ringo is a very simple game," he writes, "even though challenging, a fighting sport combining maximum effort of the soul and body with all the natural human movement: run, turnover, jump, catch, throw, bend. To be a Ringo champion you need forecast ability of the chess player, tactic and reflection of a fencer, with power of a boxer, flexibility of a ballet dancer, jumping ability of a volleyball player, speed of a sprinter, and precision of an archer, intellectual link with partners like a bridge player, space imagination as a pilot and endurance of a marathon runner. With a focus to make Ringo an Olympic sport America Ringo Association will be bringing closer the dream of the families around the world to participate in the Olympic games participating in the family category where parents with their children will play other families of the world in the spirit of friendship and peace."

Families. Cool.

from Junkyard Sports: The Blog

Socci

2006-12-03T20:13:00.000-08:00

Socci "is an individual fitness activity, social game, and a competitive sport ...combining elements of soccer, basketball, and hackysack." A sport after my own junkyard-inspired heart - creating by combining some of the must fun parts of other sports. Like soccer and hackysack, Socci is played without using hands. Like basketball, no physical

The Socci goal is perhaps the most innovative aspect of the sport. It is low, round, and free-standing - so a goal can be scored from all sides. This makes defending the goal much more challenging, and more interesting for players and audience alike. The inventor sees Socci as "the ultimate soccer training game." I see it as a new sport. Better than soccer, because it is faster paced. The goals are closer together, so players have to shift from offense to defense suddenly and often. There is more opportunity to score, and more opportunities for fun. Though I'm certain a good Socci player masters many soccer-related skills, the value of Socci is not in its soccer- or hackysack-likeness, but in the fun.

Need more evidence? See especially the first two recommended alternate games:

"Trash Socci - If you're dying to play Socci, a trash can will do. Just count one point for hitting the "can" and two for putting it in.

"Circle Socci - Even if you can't get a can, just draw a circle. Count one point for rolling into the circle and two for dropping it into the circle."

TsegBall

2006-11-27T05:23:00.000-08:00

TsegBall (pronounced seg-ball) "is a combination of basketball, volleyball, handball, rugby and hopscotch." Again we see how new sports can be built from old. Again we find a sport that is designed to be "non contact." And again, we see that along with all this renewal, we are being given sports that reduce "the amount of injury prevalent in most contact sports while removing the physical intimidation factor on the court. Second, TsegBall's design allows for co-educational teams. By removing the violence aspect, men and women are able to play together on the same team--a feature not common in many of today's more popular sports."

Here's more from the site: "team sport designed for use in schools, recreation and fitness centers, rehabilitation clinics and even the military. The game is easy to play and allows men and women to compete on the same team. Because it is a co-ed sport, the rules are designed to prevent any bodily contact. Men and women can enjoy the game together without the risk of injury prevalent in most contact sports. The game emphasizes good strategy rather than physical prowess and generates a lot of creativity. There is no jumping and players can only use their hands, so they've got to rely on quick thinking and fast reflexes in order to win."

Funderbirds, etc.

2006-11-24T10:33:00.000-08:00

This 24-page, illustrated and PDF'd booklet describes how to make and play Featherball. Yes, yes, it's a shuttlecock, all right, familiar to all those who've ever played or wondered about badminton. Yet badminton itself is only one of a vast, international panoplay of shuttlecockish pastimes.
there's "Funderbirds," for example, a non-competitive game, similar to the perhaps far more familiar game of Peteca (which you, of course, might know better as Indiaca), only played without a net or court, like the bimillenially-played, Southeast Asian game of Chapteh but not like Jianzi, except no one is eliminated.

It is but one of many instructively playful resources awaiting those who download from it from Teamwork and Teamplay available to the connected many through the expertise, good will and generosity of Jim Cain, Ph.D.

funscouting by Roger Greenaway, author of the provocative and appropriately playful piece Reviewing for Fun.

from Bernie DeKoven's FunLog

Junkyard Jacks

2006-11-21T06:47:00.000-08:00

There's an older version of the game of Jacks, called Fivestones. It's Jacks, all right, but played with, well, stones. Five of them.

Sure, sure, everyone remembers Tali, the Fivestones-like game Roman kids and gods purportedly played, with, well, goat knuckles. (And beautiful goat knuckles they were.) But it's the stones version to which we need pay the majority of our collective attention. Because it's played, see, with stones. In other words, junk. The very kind of junk upon which Junkyard Sports is so amusingly built. Found junk. Free junk. Everyday, all around you junk.

It's Junkyard Jacks, is what it is. And it you can't find rocks, bottle caps will do, and if you can't find bottle caps, coins would certainly do, and if you can't find coins, God bless you. In fact, if you can't play Jacks, you can change the rules to exactly the Jacks-like game you play best. Like, maybe, One Jack. Or Horizontal (no throwing) Jacks. Or, for the Post-Apocalympic-minded, Three-Handed Jacks.

from Bernie DeKoven's FunLog

Hanet Ball

2006-11-07T20:23:00.000-08:00

Hanet Ball? According to this press clip, Hanet Ball, invented by Fritz J. Valdeus, is played:

"...with two circular goals called 'pengoals' on opposite ends of a court, teams compete with seven players on each side, including a goalkeeper who stands inside the goal, which looks like a playpen. The remaining players use a pint-sized ball that must be bounce-passed to a teammate and players shoot at the opponent's pengoal from outside a circle surrounding the pengoal area.

"Anybody that can bounce-pass a ball and catch it can play Hanet Ball," Valdeus, 30, said. "That's how basic it is. But there's a lot more things involved than just a bounce pass. There's more than 40 different ways to pass the ball, but they all require a bounce."

The movement looks similar to movements in basketball. Players are allowed to hold the ball for five seconds or four steps. Fouls can result in two free shots at the pengoal, similar to a penalty kick in soccer or free throw in basketball. Games are divided into four 13-minute quarters.

This was about the clearest description of the sport itself that I could find. And yes, it seems to be very, very much in the same spirit as that of the just-previously-blogged sport of Socci.

But before we rush to judgment about which is what, I'd like to direct your attention to the passion that fuels the invention of a new sport, as revealed on a sidebar in the front page of the Hanet Ball Website:

Welcome to HANET BALL - The sport that brighten even light into your path. I, Fritz J. Valdeus personally welcome you on HANET BALL online, the sport that every one in Palm Beach & Broward County are talking about. The sport that excites and alternates the ways you exercise.

"The sport that brighten even light into your path." Whatever that means, it reveals something of the passion, the reach of the vision, the genuine nobility of the spirit that envisioned it into being. It's far more than someone trying to sell new sports equipment. It's someone trying to bring something new into the world - sports for fun, sports that more people can play, sports that are created to celebrate the human body, spirit and community.

About Junkyard Sports

2006-11-07T16:26:00.000-08:00

I had the good fortune to meet Dr. Juico a few weeks ago. We discussed how Junkyard Sports could provide an opportunity for people in the Philippines to celebrate their own culture, and perhaps be encouraged to become more involved in athletics. He recently published this article. I quote enthusiastically:

Junkyard Sports emphasizes fun and creativity, teamwork and leadership, inclusion (as opposed to exclusion and exclusivity) and adaptability, compassion and acceptance, humor, playfulness and community. The activities are designed not only to engage mind and body but also to help participants develop the arts of collaboration and effective teambuilding, acquire leadership, and experience the power and practicality of using problem solving and the scientific method.

The Preface to "Junkyard Sports" states that "Junkyard Sports" is a play on a TV series called Junkyard Wars. Like junkyard sports, Junkyard Wars is a team effort, requiring ingenuity and collaboration in the use of found materials. The similarity stops there. Junkyard sports are not wars or even competitions, and the purpose is not to build machines but to build community.

As one goes over the book, one realizes that it is a collection of ideas for new, fun and challenging invitations to sports. For example, when looking in the baseball section of the book, you will see a baseball-like demonstration game played with a tennis racket for a bat, a beach ball for a ball, five traffic cone bases, and the batter sitting on a gym scooter.

Each demonstration game really is a collection of innovative principles — ideas that can be used to create other demonstration games. Borrowing the gym-scooter idea, one suddenly has a new way to play soccer or basketball. Every demonstration game gets refined as it is played. In refining the demonstration game, players create a new demonstration game, which in turn results in the creation of another and another.

Cardboard Box Maze

2006-11-06T07:46:00.000-08:00

It's a maze made out of cardboard boxes. Constructed, according to the terse description, "out of cardboard boxes, duct tape, and 300 bolts. The maze spans two rooms and a hallway." (See this for a larger, annotated image.) Cardboard-box-maze-making being a minor passion of my son and his family, I cannot but applaud the joyous absurdity of the abovementioned.

Bolts? Cardboard box bolts? Yeah, like these.

Thanks for the find, Boing Boing

from Bernie DeKoven's FunLog