Was This Dodgeball?

June 22, 2004 1:54 PM

The number one movie last week was a comedy about dodgeball that has a lot of people my age waxing nostalgic about elementary school. There also seems to be a new televised Extreme Dodgeball "league". There's just one problem: None of these people are playing or talking about the game I remember as "dodgeball" from my childhood.

In the small Southern town where I grew up, dodgeball was played outside, in a circle, and was rather more vicious than the game seen in the movie (think medieval stonings). The game in the movie more closely resembles another game we played called "warball", which was played indoors, but had somewhat more complex rules than the game in the movie and involved multiple balls in play simultaneously. Is this just a regional thing?

posted by jjg to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (46 answers total)

I haven't seen the movie, but the version went like this.

Split the class into 2 teams. One team lines up approximately the distance of the free throw line. The other team lines up against the gym wall. The people at the free throw line each have one of those red inflatable rubber kickballs and whip them at the people against the wall. You're supposed to dodge when you're standing at the wall, but I tended to stand there and wait to get hit so I could be out early.
posted by pieoverdone at 1:59 PM on June 22, 2004

Probably. Up here in New England we played "Bombardment" which improved upon normal dodgeball in some ways (two teams, boundary lines, catching the ball took the thrower out) and ruined it in others (no hitting in the head).

On preview: pieoverdone's described what we called "Bombardment."
posted by yerfatma at 2:02 PM on June 22, 2004

My elementary lined up about 30 balls along the middle court line and had the two teams stand against opposite walls. When the teacher blew the whistle, everyone ran screaming towards the middle of the gym and tried to scoop as many balls on 'their side.' We then threw the balls until there was no one left unhit or all of the balls were on the other side. I agree with piroverdone, though - it sucked and I tried to get hit early on so I could go stand against the wall.
posted by dual_action at 2:07 PM on June 22, 2004

Sorry, that's pieoverdone
posted by dual_action at 2:08 PM on June 22, 2004

jjg: You're not crazy -- when I was in grade school (suburban New Jersey, mid-to-late 80s) we played both the hitters-stand-around-a-big-circle variety and the two-halves-of-the-gym variety. The most horrifying circle variation I remember involved all of the hittees in the middle of the circle having to hold onto each other like a conga line -- you were out if you got hit OR if you let go of the person in front of you.

Now when will someone make a movie about Parachute, the greatest gym class activity evah?
posted by bcwinters at 2:09 PM on June 22, 2004

Variation #2 "Burn Ball"
2 teams, each side of a gym. (or half a gym)
Lots of the red balls (volt)
If you're hit, you're out. But pick up dead balls to throw at the other side.

I remember there was something called dodgeball. But it wasn't the stoning you describe.
posted by Goofyy at 2:10 PM on June 22, 2004

we played Bombardment too (Cambridge, MA) - I can still feel the sting of that red rubber ball bouncing off my face...
posted by soplerfo at 2:21 PM on June 22, 2004

I've only ever played the circle kind, and it was always free flowing, you just kept throwing at the ppl in the circle until only one was left.
posted by corpse at 2:23 PM on June 22, 2004

Here in Toronto it went like this:

-- split class into two halves.
-- each half gets half the gym with the middle line (basketball center line) being the dividing line you couldn't step over.
-- there were three balls which you threw at the other team to try and hit them
-- if you hit them, they were "out"
-- if they caught the ball in their hands (without using the rest of their body), the thrower was out.
-- if you had a ball in your hand, you could use it as a shield so if someone whipped a ball at you, you could bounce it off the one in your hand. you basically wanted to keep the ball in your half so another teammate could get it.
-- if you tried the shield trick and dropped your ball, you were out.
-- when you are "out" you would have to stand on the "outer rim" (between the basketball outer boundary line and the wall) of your opponent's half of the gym. from there, you would try and get balls and bean your opponent (so, essentially, you're beaning people from all sides).
-- last team with a player standing wins.

I haven't seen the movie but if they're playing by any other rules, well, they're wrong. My childhood dodgeball rules trump anyone else's. Stamped it, aced it, double locked it.
posted by dobbs at 2:29 PM on June 22, 2004

Response by poster: Here's warball in a nutshell:
- Two teams on a basketball court. Center line is a boundary that no player can cross (except as indicated below).
- Game starts with big pile of red balls in the center circle. Teams start at the back under the hoop. Each team has one "captain" who must scramble to the center at the whistle to pull balls over to their side.
- Any ball can be thrown by any player at any time. None of this "you guys throw, you guys get whacked" business. Every player plays offense and defense simultaneously.
- Hitting a player anywhere (including the head) puts them out. Catching a thrown ball puts the thrower out.
- When indicated by the referee, the boundary line moves to the 1/3 point on one side of the court or the other for short periods. In other words, one team suddenly finds its freedom of movement greatly expanded (or restricted). As you might imagine, this conveys a substantial advantage to one team. At the time, I thought these moves happened at regular time intervals; in retrospect, it seems more likely that it was at the referee's discretion.
- Team with the last player standing wins.

While warball was more "team deathmatch", dodgeball was pretty much "ritualized punishment". The game corpse describes is like what I recall, with the addition that once you were out, you joined the outer circle to help peg your former teammates. All that the kids inside the circle could do was serve as targets.
posted by jjg at 2:49 PM on June 22, 2004

My rules (in Minnesota) were like dobbs - except if you were on the outer rim and beaned an opponent, you got to go back to your side. So if you were out, teammates still in play would try to get you the ball by lobbing it over the other team.
posted by lbergstr at 2:52 PM on June 22, 2004

I learned it like Dobbs did. Canadian style byotches.

Kind of embarassed to admit it here, but saw it & loved it.
posted by Quartermass at 2:53 PM on June 22, 2004

like dobbs but without the catching = thrower out thing.
posted by juv3nal at 3:01 PM on June 22, 2004

Played german dodge ball. Anyone else?
Catching the ball was the way a small stature person could prevail over the stronger ones.
posted by thomcatspike at 3:12 PM on June 22, 2004

I played dodgeball much like dual_action, except on the furthest boundaries under the hoop was either a small traffic cone or a bowling pin. The free throw line was the furthest the other team could go. If the other team knocked down the cone/pin in the opponents territory, their team could return. Eliminate the other team and you win.

Sometimes catching the ball returned the team also, in addition to putting out the thrower.

One of the fun variations I played was Medicball. No pin or cone, but two people on each team were "medics." When a player was hit the dropped to the floor. The medics could grab the downed players and run them (some teachers insisted that you dragged them, or pulled them on one of those little boards with wheels on them) to safety. If a medic was hit, the other medic could save them. If both medics are hit, you're screwed. I just graduated high school, so these are pretty recent.
posted by ALongDecember at 3:31 PM on June 22, 2004

holy crap, bcwinters, you are me. I was just going to write that exact same post. I'm gonna go get us a glass of orange juice, cause we sure are thirsty.
posted by jeb at 3:32 PM on June 22, 2004

Played german dodge ball . . . a small stature person could prevail over the stronger ones.

Like Hitler, you mean?
posted by yerfatma at 3:33 PM on June 22, 2004

Huh. NYC, late '70s:

Two teams, either side of the gym. One ball. If you caught it, the thrower was out and went to "jail" behind the other team. If you were in jail and you caught the ball you were back in.

No crying.
posted by nicwolff at 4:08 PM on June 22, 2004

Also played with Dobb-style rules. Must be a Canadian thing. God those were the days. Almost as much fun as making digs in volleyball.
posted by smcniven at 4:09 PM on June 22, 2004

Up here in New England also... we played dodgeball when we were little, the whole people-in-a-circle way and we played it outside. When I went to high school, we only played bombardment inside on the basketball courts. I was singularly famous for breaking both my middle fingers playing bombardment over two consecutive weeks necessitating two splints and much hilarity.
posted by jessamyn at 4:15 PM on June 22, 2004

Played both in a circle (dodgeball) and German dodge ball, which was Bombardment. California. 1985-1991 or so.
posted by dame at 4:18 PM on June 22, 2004

Here in michigan (Just outside Detroit) I learned the same way Dobbs did. We Played a variation called "rim dodge." We had a discussion about it here. The basic rules:

    "Played on a basketball court indoors, the twist was you could throw at the other team or at the other team's hoop, always staying behind half court. If someone on your team hit the rim a player from your team could reenter the game. If you made a basket everyone on your team who was knocked out could come back in. The rim/backboard were in play though, so you could still get out if someone caught your throw in the air. At the elementary/middle school level it worked great, because most kids had a hard time hitting the rim from half court or beyond with a big rubber ball. After that it became a little too easy, and finishing a game became like finishing the card game War. It lasted forever."
posted by adamkempa at 5:09 PM on June 22, 2004

In Seattle in the 70s, the circle thing was "Dodgeball" and the other variation we played was "Soak 'em" -- with tons and tons of balls, two teams, and people just throwing them at anyone they could see on the other side of the court. Caught balls meant the thrower was out. It was much less evil than Dodgeball because everyone was throwing at anyone else, and it wasn't a "single out the geeks" situation. I loved Soak 'em; hated Dodgeball.
posted by litlnemo at 5:27 PM on June 22, 2004

Back in the day [late 70s/early 80s in Redding CA] we'd play Bombardment. In elementary school it was the PE activity on rainy days and we'd play it in the tetrahedral multipurpose room. In Jr. High we'd sometimes play it outside on the tennis court [asphalt surface, net made of chain link fencing material]. The addition of the net allowed people to take cover but only temporarily since someone could rush the net and beam the kid with a ball.

We also had a game played with just a few of the voit utility balls and it involved trying to beam the opponent [it was every man for himself --the girls would be in using the gym playing basketball or gymnastics or something] by bouncing the ball off the wall first. I don't remember what we called that game though. I didn't like it as much as bombardment.
posted by birdherder at 5:43 PM on June 22, 2004

The Best By Far version is Last Man Standing. It goes thus:

2 teams. Standard gymnasium. Four zones: the standard half-half split, plus a four-foot line paralleling the wall behind each team that served as the "out" area for the opposing team.

When you get hit, you go behind the other team. You get back onto your own team by nailing one of their players from behind.

The last man standing has a heck of a job trying to dodge the balls coming from both directions.

Best Game of Tag is a varient of Capture the Flag. Thus:

Two teams. Standard gymnasium. Four zones: standard middle-split, plus two mats at opposing corners to serve as jail. Three traffic cones per side, set up equidistant along, say, the basketball freethrow line.

Objective: to steal the other team's cones without being tagged. There or back. Generally requires a rule re: guarding the cones, ie) only one person may guard.

If tagged, go to jail. Jailmates can be rescued from jail by a team member making it to them untagged; they walk back hand-in-hand, safe but unable to fetch a cone until they've got back to their side. Referee can occasionally shout "Jailbreak" if the teams become wildly unbalanced. Jailmates may daisy-chain toward own team's side, so long as at least one jailmate is anchored to the jail.

First team with all the cones wins.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:03 PM on June 22, 2004

I remember setting up high jump mats, hockey nets, buckets, and the like in the field to create a war-like setting more conducive to strategy. Because the obstacles made hiding from both sides possible, a prisoner variant was created where you could rescue captured team members if you made it to the other side.

THAT was fun, and it was the only sport I was any good at.
posted by sleslie at 6:07 PM on June 22, 2004

Oh, and the best-ever game of tag, now unfortunately illegal to play due to the shocking injury rate: Pirates!

This is when your half-mad ex-pat Brit teacher has you set up the trampoline near the climbing ropes, with a springboard and vault aligned with it, a bench on the opposite side of the ropes, crashpads beyond that and near the vault, and all the small, hard mats spread hell and gone around the gym.

A few people are "it." Everyone else is not it. The floor is filled with sharks, so you can't step on it. Go crazy.

There's nothing so fun as being a grade six kid leaping from mat to springboard to vault to tramp to leeeeaaap to the rope, swing past the bench, crash on the crashpad, whip 'round, leaaaap to the rope, skinny up it, go four across while 30' up in the air, slide down when someone else gets it swinging, back to the tramp, leap of the tramp and onto a distant crashmat, etcetera.

It's surprising no one was injured. Well, badly injured.

Ah, those were the days, when kids were allowed to be kids.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:08 PM on June 22, 2004

You people are freaks. Traditional dodgeball is played against a wall. There is one thrower. If a dodger catches the ball, they are the new thrower, and the game starts over. Thrower keeps hitting people with the ball until one remains, who becomes the new thrower.

(I loved dodgeball. I was a great dodger, but a shitty thrower.)

We also played a game called buttball. This involved a bunch of kids with a tennis ball, who would throw it against the ground so that it would then ricochet off the wall. Then everyone tries to catch it, but if you touch the ball without catching it, you have to run like hell to tag the wall as fast as you can - everyone is trying to take the ball and throw it (directly) at the wall so it hits before you do. If they succeed, you have to bend over at the wall, with your butt facing the other kids, where one by one they get a shot at nailing you in the butt with the tennis ball. They have to stand behind an agreed-upon line, and you don't dodge. This was an elementary-school level sport only. One can imagine highschoolers going insane with this, especially if they grabbed a lacrosse ball or something.

Bombardment was played at my middle school with large nerf balls.

The last time I played duck-duck-goose was in high school gym class, on the floor-exercise carpet in the gymnastics gym. With the rosin embedded in the carpet granting their feet incredible sticking power, runners were inclined at about a 60-degree angle when whipping around the circle. It was wicked fun.

That day we also tried Red Rover, but some girl got clotheslined really bad so we had to stop. Definitely a younger-kid sport.
posted by beth at 6:59 PM on June 22, 2004

Growing up in Kalamazoo, we had several variations of Dodgeball, all with different names:

1) Scatter-ball - Everyman for himself, one ball, in a large circle or any somewhat enclosed or demarcated area on playground / yard / gym / etc. We would use anyball we could get our hands on. The thrower was allowed no more than two steps and then has to throw at any one he chooses, who can subsequently dodge or attempt to catch. This always got very interesting and acrobatic as close range attacks were a big part of the game.

2) Artillery - Like warball ( jjg) and dodgeball ( dobbs ) mentioned above, in a gym, two sides. Putting spin and curve on those big rubbery red balls was a huge factor in this game. Those who could throw fast with spin dominated the game.


3) Wall-Ball - Last man standing, one throwing about 20-30 from kids who are pinned against a wall. Those against the wall can attempt a catch and win the right to throw, or dodge until your the last man standing. Once its down to a thrower and one man, a hit or catch determines the winner.
posted by jasondigitized at 6:59 PM on June 22, 2004

We had ALongDecember's version (Bombardment, 2 sides of a basketball court, anyone throws, etc.), with bowling pins (3 per side) and the medics at the same time. I think only one person could hold a ball, to block throws towards the bowling pins. The medics had to drag you on little plastic things with wheels. I always liked that game, despite being a geek.
posted by whatnotever at 7:50 PM on June 22, 2004

whatnotever, what are those little plastic things with wheels called? Gym dollys?
posted by ALongDecember at 8:02 PM on June 22, 2004

We played the pieoverdone version but with the catching and putting the thrower out rule. My freshman year gym was run by evil senior aids rather than an adult teacher (God knows where he went during class) and we used volleyballs on each other. It was kind of fun, even though it hurt like hell when you got hit, especially when you got hit by the evil senior aids. I sometimes wonder if "Lord of the Flies" was written in partial memory of dodgeball.
posted by caddis at 8:10 PM on June 22, 2004

In my elementary days, I played "Crackabout", which was similar to beth's description of dodgeball. Played outdoors, the game required two walled areas of the school courtyard, along with whatever trees were growing nearby.

The only safe zones were the sandboxes and other playground equipment. Being "safe" meant not playing.

There was one ball, and as many as 20 or even 30+ kids could play, depending on morning/noon recess. The ball would be kicked in the air, and people would scramble to try to catch the ball or run. dropping the catched ball spelled an instant out, naturally. 1-3 outs would figure, again depending upon the available number of kids and allotted recess time.

Teams could be formed, with a maximum of 3 or 4, yet only one kid could become victor, via an elimination round. (Due to this provision, false alliances were the general order of things - and in fact, were often encouraged.) The thrower would remain in one spot, with a 360 degree pivot margin. The thrower could take three steps, but only on a "freeze" call; only one such call was permitted during the time the ball was held. There was no time limit on the freeze, or even holding the ball, though a quick killshot was considered optimal for gameplay.

If a ball was caught, an out was counted upon the thrower.
If the ball hit the wall, and bounced into anyone, it was considered a "riccochet", and an out was counted. Truly adept players would stay close to a wall or tree, and if uncertain of catching the ball, would rely upon ducking. With luck, the riccochet would "out" the thrower; otherwise, the thrower could catch the ball, "outing" the other player, call freeze due to regaining the right to do so, and inch closer with their three paces. [Or not. Part of the tension/excitement was the suspense and unpredictabality of the game. The thrower might've decided to stalk another kid instead, while savoring another occasion to "crack" that lucky dodger.Or perhaps expect their "teammate" to finish the job, though passed balls (bounced between teammates) could always be intercepted by running players or lead to a teammate's betrayal.]

At the start a the new game, the prior "winner" would kick the ball, with the intent of trying to catch the kick him/herself. Usually, however, that kid would be shoved aside, and/or targeted for an out.

Children got hurt playing that game. They bruised, bled, and cussed like shipwrecked sailors. But through it all, they laughed, dusted themselves off, and kept playing, just as kids would. Those were some damn good times.
posted by Smart Dalek at 8:26 PM on June 22, 2004

We played several sick and twisted versions where I grew up in Canada ('80s), with countless combinations of zones and props (scooters, mats, ropes) involved. "Dodgeball" on its own was the circle thing. others included "dr dodgeball" (sounds about like medicball described above), "king's court" (gym split in half, bla bla..), and "humiliation" (me, standing in the middle of the circle, by sheer luck the last one left, torn between trying and failing to jump and dodge as all my classmates targetted me or just giving up.. well.. yeah.. that was just regular dodgeball I guess)

Damn, I hated gym class.
posted by jheiz at 8:36 PM on June 22, 2004

We played dodge ball with two teams split on either side of the gym (actually, in later years we played in the wrestling room, which had padded floors and walls that allowed for exciting pre-Matrix mid-air throws and dodges in slow motion.) I've never heard of this ring variation.

Beth's buttball is the game I remember as wall ball.

We also played a game known as Bolt ball, named for the gym teacher we had in high school, Coach Bolt. (Also my driver's ed instructor, who often used our lesson times to have me drive him to the bank.) Think ultimate frisbee, played with a soccer ball that you could throw or kick, but couldn't simply carry. You had to either dribble it like a basketball or along the ground like a soccer ball. Think there were two ways to score, too... either kicking/completing a pass across a goal line or kicking through goal posts.
posted by emelenjr at 8:48 PM on June 22, 2004

we played a few variations in Norway, but the one i remember the most is just as five fresh fish describes.

we also played a fun but much safer game where you split the class into two teams just like dodgeball, but neither team can be in the center zone, only in their own zone (think ice hockey). on the center line you place a medicine ball (those giant heavy things). then each team throws "dodgeball balls" at the big medicine ball, trying to make it roll into the other team's zone. one team might harbor a lot of the balls and syncronize an attack where balls are thrown at the medicine ball in rapid succession to try and build up momentum... does this weird game sound familiar to anyone? does it have a name?
posted by edlundart at 8:56 PM on June 22, 2004

BUCK BUCK NUMBER ONE!!

Had to get that out. Actually played it once, straight off the Bill Cosby album, drunk, with adults. It hurts.

Back to dodgeball - didn't they ban that game in schools because it was too violent? Because, you know, the real world is a field of daisies, and kids should be prepared for that.

I remember discussing last night's episode of the A-Team along the back wall of dodgeball games.

Speaking of violent gym games, how about Snake Pit? Bunch of kids lie down on the center line, everyone has to run and jump over them. Whoever gets tagged (the "snakes" have to stay on their stomachs) becomes a snake too. When there's only one person left, the snakes get to leave the center line and slither across the squeaky gym after them.

*shudder*
posted by gottabefunky at 9:12 PM on June 22, 2004

My childhood ritualized carnage included the full-gym team ball and the big circle fish-in-a-barrel hunt. We also had the most gruesome version, Soldier, which was "against the wall" style dodgeball where limbs could be shot off by the ball. If you lost your legs, you couldn't move, leaving you hapless prey for the shooters' face shots. Catching the ball did nothing except cost you the use of your hands.

If you wanted to stop, you had to die, so slowpokes and fatties like me would "suicide" by picking a ball up and hitting ourselves in the head.

This is suburban Maryland, mid to late 80s.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 5:08 AM on June 23, 2004

I remember 3.5 dodgeball variants from my youth.

The first was the gym in half one with two teams whipping balls at each other until one side was all out. The people who were out stood behind their opponents, and while they couldn't throw people out, they could catch the balls and return them to their team mates on the other side of the gym. Sometimes there was a capture the flag aspect of this, as well, depending on who the teacher was in any given year.

The second was murder ball, which we played in a big circle outside. This is the one that resulted in the now permanent relocation of a piece of one of my front teeth into my lower lip.

The third was wall ball which was like S&M dodgeball. We played it with a soccer ball up against the outside gym wall. In order, everyone took turns kicking the ball up against the wall. If the ball stopped before you kicked it on your turn, or if you missed the wall, you ended up against the wall. Once up against the wall, it was the player's objective to *miss* you, because if they hit you, then you and they traded places. It meant that once you ended up against the wall, you were constantly trying to avoid the hard drilled shots, while lobbing yourself in front of the soft pansy shots that would get you off the wall without undue violence.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:39 AM on June 23, 2004

At camp we used to play a game called "moose ball," which was similar to dodgeball. It was played inside, in kind of a "rink" that we made out of benches knocked over on their sides and arranged in a large circle. Every person started with one hand on a bench, and 3 balls (sometimes the red bouncy ones, sometimes vollyballs, soccer balls, etc.) were in the center. You weren't allowed to pick up the balls...you could only smack them with your fist. And you couldn't touch the ball twice in a row without the ball hitting off either a bench or another player. To get someone out you had to hit someone on the leg below the knee. So if someone smacks it at you, you can block it away with your hands. You just can't get hit on the feet or legs. It was much more interesting than dodgeball, a lot of scrambling around and keeping track of where all three balls were.

Good times.
posted by mfbridges at 6:48 AM on June 23, 2004

while they couldn't throw people out, they could catch the balls and return them to their team mates on the other side of the gym.
We played when you were out, you could throw them out too. Which made the game fast pace with the one's not out be agile on their feet.
posted by thomcatspike at 12:04 PM on June 23, 2004

Central Arkansas, mid to late 80's.

The game we called "dodgeball" was as described by beth. One thrower, everyone else against the wall, you're out if you get hit. Last man standing becomes the new thrower. This could be very vicious.

We also played "bombardment" as described by lots of folks. I'd love to play a game like that today - it was great exercise, rewarded agility, and involved team strategy. I never knew the circle version.

We called the tennis ball/one hand catch/get pegged in the butt by everyone if you screw up game "buns up."
posted by mbd1mbd1 at 12:30 PM on June 23, 2004

ALongDecember: these plastic things with wheels?

We called them "turtles," and someone on that thread offers up "flying turtles." Slow and boring as hell when propelled correctly (butt on seat, feet on handles), a speedy and dangerous thrill when used incorrectly (crouched on seat, one foot pushing off the ground). I saw one broken arm and countless floor burns from those things as a day camp counselor.
posted by mbd1mbd1 at 12:39 PM on June 23, 2004

Our variant was called prisonball.
Field: indoor basketball court
equipment: 2 basketball-size rubber balls
The rules: each side got a ball to start. No player can cross the center line for any reason, if they do they go to prison alongside the wall. Play proceeds by throwing the ball at the other team. If you get hit by a ball before it touches the ground, you go to prison.
If you catch the ball, or deflect the ball and a teammate catches it before it hits the ground, then you remain in play and the person in front of the prison line on your team can reenter play. The person who threw the ball is not out, but suffers excruciating shame for having thrown a catchable ball.

Extra notes
The prison was usually organized in a FIFO scheme, and it was illegal to reorganize the line so as to prioritize good players. Prisoners can retrieve balls that come into the prison but cannot throw them. Players can hold onto a ball for a few seconds to organize a dual-strike but cannot tarry excessively.

Optional rules
Since we played this on a basketball court, if a team makes a basket (from behind the halfcourt line) then any player in prison is freed. Since players often tried to catch failed baskets, it was a popular strategy for a team with both balls for one player to attempt a basket, and the other to bean whoever tried to catch it while they were looking up.
posted by spatula at 1:33 PM on June 23, 2004

same rules as dobbs and lbergstr but, like spatula we called it prison ball.
I'd love to play that now. We never played either wall or circle dodgeball (my school was small, less than 40 students total so grudges would have been messy).
We did play "smear the queer" (pardon my french) a few times. This is played outside, one person has the ball and tries to take it across the goal line, everyone else tries to stop him and take the ball. Whoever gets it then attempts the same thing. Given that this results in a pounding for whoever is holding the ball, in retrospect I have no idea why we tried to get it.

Madison WI, late '80s
posted by Octaviuz at 5:36 PM on June 23, 2004

Wow. I had no idea there were so many variations. We played a version I haven't seen mentioned here yet. Two teams, one "in" and one "out" at all times. The out team split into two groups who would stand facing each other about fifteen to twenty feet apart. The in team stood between them. The out team threw a single ball back and forth, trying to hit the in team. A hit meant you had to stand on the sidelines until the round was over. If you caught a ball before it touched the ground, you got an extra life, meaning you could be hit and remain in. When the in team was reduced to one, that person had to catch a ball in the next ten throws. If they succeeded, they could tag another teammate in. If they failed, the round was over and the teams switched. This could also be played in an every man for himself manner, in which case you got to go in if you got someone else out.
posted by Nothing at 6:21 PM on June 23, 2004