Today is the second annual Winter Games. In a few hours the house will be full of people bearing pies. To be allowed in you have to bring a pie, and there are 13 - 15 folks coming. We'll have a pie feast and then go outside and play in the snow -- sledding and maybe snow soccer and an as-yet-hazy event called the "chain drag" and a great game that Housemate invented last year called Ultimate Wiffle. (If the wintry mix storm currently predicted turns out to be more sleet or rain we're going roller skating I think.)
The rules of Ultimate Wiffle:
1) It is played in the snow.
2) The field has boundaries; if you go out of bounds with the ball or the bat it's a turnover.
3) There are goals (sleds) at either end of the field.
4) There is a referee whose word is law. Bribery and flattery of the ref is encouraged though. Its best if the ref keeps the dogs off the field.
5) You cannot throw the bat. You can run with the bat. A violation means a turnover.
6) You cannot run with the ball. You can throw the ball. A violation means a turnover.
7) If you tackle someone who has the ball or the bat they must turn it over.
8) One team starts with possession of the ball, and the other starts with possession of the bat. The objective is for one team to place (not throw) the ball AND the bat simultaneously into their goal. No score if just one of the items gets there -- you take it out of the goal and it goes back into play.
9) First team to five points wins.
Strategically, it's worth noting that snowballs look a lot like wiffle balls.
You can find the report on the Fall Games here and the medal count here. Now I'm off to make a pie. I'm thinking banana cream....
[UPDATE: Ultimate Wiffle can also be played on the sand beside angrily breaking waves on a raw grey freezing misty day. Also, each point takes a REALLY long time. So getting to five is ambitious. We gave up, winded and coated in sand and limping or tending to our various wounds, when Team Two had four points and Team One had two. It's a very tough game, especially when played on sand. It does warm you up though.]
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