Our very own Dr. Naismith

Q had an eventful Sunday: eating pancakes for breakfast, going grocery shopping with Dad, and then coming home to spend a few hours refining the rules to his own game. For anyone who doesn't know, James Naismith is credited with creating a popular game, too. Maybe Q's game will catch on, and we can license the whole deal and then live a relaxed life on the profits. Even though I sincerely doubt there will be any money involved with this game, it did bring a lot of entertainment, especially while watching him play and being recruited to play with him.

Needed to play:
A ball, the bouncier the better, but any will do. 1 is preferred, but up to 6 various balls of differing bounciness and size were utilized.
Soft foam long things that can be swung and jiggled, one per player.
A box, or five

Playing surface needed:
Hard enough for ball to bounce, but with enough obstacles for it to ricochet around and possibly get stuck or temporarily lost.

Players:
From 1 to 3. Q made it work with 1 but he recruited until he had 3 consistently.

The play:
From a sitting position swing the foam jiggly thingy around until the ball is encouraged to move in any direction. When the ball is out of reach, one player is assigned to retrieve it and restart play. It seemed that this was a steady position which Q, as captain and game creator, claimed for himself--in fact, he shrieked if another tried to go get the ball.

Q, seen here retrieving the ball.

Q, getting set to restart. Notice the squatting position which happens before he sits.

I liked this shot because it caught some of the action, the bouncy green ball in the background. Additional skill is needed if the cabinets on the playing field are left open, causing the ball to bounce inside of them.

Ready to retrieve, again.

Quin's battle cry.
"Come on, lets play round 48."

Lucky for the other players, a break was needed for lunch and a nap. After a long morning round, everyone was ready for the respite and this way, some of us can think about our strategy.