Old School PE Recaps

What a great way to start Season 9 of Old School PE in Newport as 30 people came ready to play.  We saw many familiar faces along with quite a few first timers.  I got the call for the Commish duties to start the season off.  I had several games planned unsure of the attendance we may have seen due to the many other activities going on that evening. But as always, we had a great turnout.

I started the evening off with a simple relay game of “Scooter Grab and Go”.  5 “teams” played, traveling down the gym on their scooters, picking up items and traveling back.  Folks got pretty creative where they carried the items (Right Erin, you so crazy!).  I thought I heard a couple of “you want us to ride on that”?

Then onto another mini team game.  Not sure what to call this one, so if you have any suggestions, let me know.  “Team Circle Race” is about what I have for now, so we’ll go with that.  Quite fun to watch the teams work together to move the ball down the court and back.  As the races went on, teams got a little more daring and well, many had to go and fetch the ball they were kicking.

And then we moved to backboard dodgeball.  Always a fun game, and the new folks were definitely ready to play.  With 15 players a side, people were moving in and out of the game quickly.

There were a few looks of confusion as I setup for the next game.  I placed two boxing gloves on the center line of the gym so we can play “Steal the Glove”.  It did seem however that some folks thought you were going to have to run to the middle of the gym, put on a glove and well you know the rest.  Nope, sorry, we don’t promote that at Old School PE although I do see a lot of spouses thinking of it during dodgeball.  Sending out 2 sets of runners to grab the gloves was great, 3 sets was hilarious.

It was now time for some floor hockey. Large net, dodgeball and 5 on 5 made for some fun play.  Of course we finished the nite with a great game of SBasketball.

So Season 9 started off with a bang and we look forward to the next 7 nights of the spring season.

Next week’s Commish: Chris the Barrel.

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Our biggest turnout yet this season, 30 people showed up ready to play.  I got the call to be Commish and I was ready for a fun nite.  We played a variety of games including clothes relay, scooter relay, mattball, fortball, floor hockey, sbasketball, and ending with rock, paper, scissors.

So on to some random thoughts about the evening….

1.  Sgt Slaughter.  What do you exactly call that “catch” you made in mattball?  Is that the roll up the face, stop at the top?  I’m not sure you could ever do that again.  Or want to.

2.  I think Kristie wanted me to let her use the gloves from the clothes relay during floor hockey.  I thought I heard something about husband, gonna drop him if he comes near me with the puck…not sure.  I could have heard wrong.

3.  Kirk, when you kick the ball to yourself off a wall, the key to completing the “transaction” is to catch the ball.  Letting it go thru your legs doesn’t really accomplish much.

4.  Nice action during the scooter relay. Getting close to a mini roller derby.  Ok not really, but definitely fun to watch.

5.  Ryan, you’re looking svelte.

6.  Glen was a little bothered by my calling of “time” during hockey.  Like it was my fault he didn’t get up the court fast enough.  Take the shot man.

7.  Ok, now 5 burpees.  When I say down you say one. Ready? Down. 1. Down. 1. Down. 1. Down. 1. Down. 1.  Umm, when do we say 2?

8.  TIME!  (ok what did you just drop?)

9.  You guys were true sports, letting me finish the great night with rock, paper, scissors.  Of course for the record, the Paulinator crushed her opponent.  No contest.

Our last Commish for the season…Hillary.  See you there!

24 people showed up for a nite of Old School PE in Newport lead by original Old Schooler Erin.  We played a wide variety of games this night including musical balls, coneball, barrel ball, ultimate pigskin and finished with floor hockey.

A few thoughts about the evening…..

1.  There was a great energy in the gym.  Players were fired up and ready to go!  That always makes for a fun nite.

2.  No Touching!

3.  So Crazy Erin brings back barrell ball for one night.  It was a lot of fun playing this again and I think everyone held back around the “goal”.  We may play this game more.

4.  Yeah nice job by Josh and I during ultimate pigskin…NOT.  It was more like Mike Grossman throwing to Josh OchoStinko.

5.  Hey Sgt Slaughter….”Outta My Way!”

6.  Brad, you making anyone proud?

Well great job by Erin and another fun night of Old School PE in the books.  We only have two nights left this season.  Hope you can join us.

And finally, this week’s Commish…Yours truly.

What a great nite for newcomer and first time Commish Keri.  She lead the 16 of us in elbow tag, a game involving hula hoops and bean bags, floor hockey and ending the night with backboard dodgeball.

So on to my usual ramblings, musings, and general silliness:

1.  Great to see the Dynamic Duo of Paula and Kristi return.  This was most evident during floor hockey where they defended their team’s goal with the usual force that we have all come to expect.

2.  I liked the hula hoop game.  Lots of “strategy” and running around.  Since this game doesn’t have an official name, I will now call it:  Hula Guard and Steal.

3.  Play of the Evening had to be the very last one with the great catch by Jason during dodgeball.

4.  Glen definitely had the keys to tonight’s Old School.  Literally,  we wouldn’t have gotten in the building without him.  Oh yeah and nice job during hockey too.

5.  Tonight’s MVP had to be Kristi during dodgeball.  Twice her team let her down, leaving her out there on the court to defend their honor by herself.  And she came thru both times.

6.  Missed you in floor hockey Ryan.  How’s the taffy?

7.  Nice wheels out there during elbow tag Paula.  Pretty quick for a 29 year old.

Thanks Keri for keeping us entertained and having a fun night.  Next up for Commish duty: Jeremy.  

On a night of firsts, 20 people survived the Commish team of Chris and Tyler as they had the crew running from the start.  The usually comfy Old School warmups were pushed aside for more robust exercises and stretches.  Then on to the games.  We did some sprint races, then some clothes relays, 3 legged relays, shoe relays.  Then rock, tree, bridge.  Whew.  I’m winded just writing about it.  We ended the night with floor hockey and spasketball.  

So here are some random thoughts about the night:

1.  I really liked all the different stretches we did in the beginning of the nite.  They were the kind of stretches a physical therapist would be proud of and a local football coach could learn from.

2.  Rock, paper, scissors or rock, tree, bridge was interesting.  People running like crazy.  I think someone got tagged in the head while acting like a rock.  Sounded like it might have stung a little.  So you see, rocks do have feelings too.

3.  I haven’t been able to write this in a while, but Erin YOU SO CRAZY!

4.  Ummm, sorry Ryan, I ummm, ahhh, ummm, didn’t see you?  

5.  Ok run to the center of the court, cross overs to the outside, run to the other end, cross overs back to the middle, then backwards to the center of the court, cross overs to the outside of the court then backwards to where you started. Next person in line goes. You get that?

6.  Pinnies are nice, but field hockey socks are even better.  Huh(?) you say.  Join us next week for more.

So join us this week as newcomer Keri leads us in Old School PE games.

16 people joined us for the first nite of our 9th Season in Newport, NH. Led by the gritty veteran PJ, it was apparent early on that lots of running and action were in store for the evening.

After getting the crew rounded up we participated in the standard Old School PE warmup. PJ thought he would get us moving right away as the first game involved running and burpees. 50 burpees per team to be exact. Onto scooter races we went. It was quite entertaining as it was more of a demolition derby at times then it was a race. Of course what else would you expect?

A modification to the traditional Russian Baseball was next. This version, nicknamed Cyclopes, only allowed throwing the ball from one side of the gym. This lead to much higher scoring and a lot of fun. Since the NHL started the night before, it was only fitting we played floor hockey. Lots of great plays, defense and exercise. With only 2 subs per side, you definitely got a good sweat going. We finished the nite with Spasketball. It was a perfect game to end a nite that focused on laughs as much as it was about exercise.

So a few random thoughts about the evening:

1. Nice to see some new faces for our first nite out. Always great when folks jump right in and play. Hope they weren’t too sore on Sunday.

2. I like the Cyclopes version of Russian Baseball better then the original. I think most that played did as well.

3. We had a quick Sgt Slaughter sighting. It was hypnotic.

4. Speaking of hips, mine is quite sore thanks to PJ thinking I was a tackling dummy. Well 1 out of 2 ain’t bad.

5. We had someone named Bubbles at our evening event. For those of you that didn’t make it to Old School, could you say the same?

Next week we will have another 1st when it comes to the Commish: Chris and Tyler. A father/son Commish Combo. Should be a blast. Hope to see you there.

25 Old Schoolers swarmed over the Common as the Swiss Commish decided to start the night outside with some Ultimate Frisbee. It was a beautiful nite to play outside and the players got right into the game.  After an hour on the Common it was back to the Rec for the nite.  We played a great game of floor hockey and finished the night with a little Spastic Ball.

So onto some random thoughts, musings and general goofiness:

1.  Ryan mentioned he planned on not sweating tonite, but after a brief struggle with a pinnie, which ended up being worn around his neck, I thought we would need to call for oxygen.  And a couple of towels.

2.  Hey Erin, so did they get dirty?  You so crazy!!!

3.  Kristie again proved who the athlete in her house is.  3 great scores during Frisbee and a force during Floor Hockey.

4.  Hey Sgt Slaughter, sorry about your head.  I thought I saw a fly.

5.  Brandi had her trash talking shorts on tonite.  Didn’t help her, but it was fun.

6.  Tyler was on fire during Hockey.  Nice goals.  Mike D had a beauty as well.  Starting to look like some pro games out there.  Well until the Sarge gets the puck.

7.  Nice long distance basket for Josh during Spastic Ball.  Not to be out done, Kristie came right back and drained one from far away as well.  Tonite, she was on fire!

8.  Great hustle out there by Eugenious.  I think it goes without saying, the whole Old School gang wishes you and Christie all the best as you await your new arrival.

9.  The play of the nite didn’t happen during a game. I think it was Jason A. scaling the wrestling mat to retrieve a ball.  Awesome.

10. Good work first time Commish Leon.  We sure burned some calories tonite!

For our last nite of the season our Commish will be newcomer Eastman.  I think that’s his name.  That’s what was on his shirt.

What another great weather nite for Old School PE to start outside.  Rookie Commish and ravishingly fashionable Chad started the evening by leading the players to the field for kickball.  As the night started we had 24 people ready to kick, run, score and play frisbee.  Yes frisbee.  The frisbee was flying around the field during the game which was fun until of course Jason decided it was best to use his head to provide the frisbee with some deceleration trauma.  We did have some great moments out there as PJ had two home runs, Dave got his first taste of infield dirt and I think Roxanne peed on second base.  That was before she took one in the kitchen.

Back to the Rec Center for the rest of the nite.  Now 28 people were warmed up and excited for more.  I’m really not sure what to call the next game we played.  Operation Chaos maybe?  This game was a combo of mattball, wiffleball and dodgeball.  It was as confusing as any game we played, yet at the same time there was a lot of laughter.  Not sure what that means but it was like watching me trying to figure out a Rubik’s cube.

After the chaos, it was time for a little blob tag.  Always a fun game and the confinements of the gym make it fast and interesting.  Of course even with Ryan doing his best Spiderman impression he still got blobbed.

Want to burn some calories?  Play elbow tag for 15-20 minutes.  That’s what we did and it was quite the workout.  This is one we don’t play that often but the exercise is great.

The nite finished with a fun game of Spastic ball.  Another great energy game.  Shannon has taken over the territory of hanging in front of the opposing goal.  Still didn’t help her come close to our all time leader: The Paulinator.

Well that’s all for this week.  Hope to see you at the next Old School PE!

Our next Commish: Leon (pronounced Lan.  He’s from Sweden. Yah).  Only 2 nites left!

Ah, warm temperatures, Little League baseball players, winds that would easily take off a toupee and fling it like a frisbee. Must be nearing the end of April. 18 people showed up to play, and we kicked off our first warm night of Old School with a Dizzy Izzy relay. The A team and the B team faced off on opposite sides of the field and raced to the bats in the middle, where they had to spin their bodies around the bat 10 times and then try (notice I say try) to get back to their team and tag the next person. This presented quite a bit of dizziness (duh) and confusion, and even a few spills, most of them coming from Lori (it’s okay, you weren’t the only one). In the end, the A team led by Shannon was victorious.

After everyone recovered from the lightheadedness, we marked off a large (well, maybe small) square of territory and moved on to a little blob tag, with the Sparks commish team serving as the blob. Initially the blob grew steadily, but as it got larger, we had to work out a few kinks (namely the blob going in two different directions), but then…the blob got smart and started picking out prey to corner! In the end, the blob prevailed AND got quite a workout in the process.

Next we had a little Power Ball planned; unfortunately we saw that the tennis courts were occupied. No sweat, Boone says, we just go tell them we’re with the Parks Dept. and make ‘em move. So our hero of the night swooped in and (very nicely) asked the players to move a few courts down so we could play. Now having two courts to ourselves, we decided to switch it up a bit and split the teams up, rather than play one big game. Not only did we have our original teams, but now we had the Other A Team and the Other B Team.

For our first round, the Others squared off on one court and the Originals on the other. The Other As started the game off with a bang when Commish Jennifer lobbed the ball directly at teammate Spengler’s head (it might be becoming tradition for you to have some sort of head injury each week). We discovered how interesting Power Ball can be when the winds are around 30 mph and had to rethink our game plan. The Others switched sides after 7 brutal points scored by the upwind Other Bs. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the wind that was hindering us on this particular night, and we ended up losing, as did our sister A Team. Round 2 was a face-off of the winners and losers from both games. Our head injury of this game was suffered by Trish, as she took a Spengler serve right to the eyeglasses. Things picked up for the A Team from then on, and they ended up easily defeating the Other As (now newly minted the Biggest Losers).

On the other court, the Other Bs had “solid teamplay” (as relayed by Commish Jeremy) and smoothly defeated the B Team. Spengler was determined to show he was a winner at something and wowed everyone when he hurdled the tennis net.

And then it was off to our final game of the night: wiffleball! We reconvened into our original A and B Teams and had a perfect 9 player lineup for each. The A Team took the first at-bat and showed that they had come to play. Credit must be given to Steve for his amazing fielding skills, and to Brandon for his…gymnastics? We would have really appreciated seeing you backflip your way down the third base line. Suk, catcher for the A Team, was aptly renamed Molina, and the A Team fought their way to victory in the sudden death extra inning.

All in all, it was a great evening filled with lots of laughter and fun (and quite a bit of sweat too).

By the end of the evening 20 people came together and had a great nite lead by veteran Commish Jason.  With another warm spring evening, we started the nite playing kickball at the local ball field, then back to the Rec Center for Gladiator, Floor Hockey and Spastic Ball.

For those that were there and wondering what the heck I was doing between and during games, I was making some updates on Twitter.  Follow us at: http://twitter.com/oldschoolpe

So in no particular order, here’s some thoughts about the nite:

1.  Gladiator was fun and fast and followed last week as it was “capture the noodle” instead of the flag.  Ok I’ll stop there.

2.  Sorry Cara, I hit you with the ball, where?

3.  PJ was a mad man in net during floor hockey, but Erin’s still the crazy one.

4.  Kickball was great.  Outdoors, nice breeze, blue sky.  Doesn’t get much better.

5.  Speaking of kickball, Heath apparently has cat like reflexes when it comes to catching a jar of pears but for some reason that doesn’t translate well to a kickball.  Maybe cause he doesn’t plan on eating the ball.  Let’s hope.

6.  Instead of a “play of the evening” (POE), I think we had a “sight of the evening”.  For those that were there early, you had the opportunity to see Josh cruising on his moped.  Now I got nothing against mopeds, but to me it looked like someone who is 6 foot tall wearing a pair of pants designed for someone 5 foot tall.  I don’t know, I’m just saying.

7.  So apparently during Gladiator you can’t run with the ball or you are out.  Nor can you talk back to the Commish.  Right Chad?

8.  It was great to see John Michael out on the field of play tonite.

9.  Using a tennis ball for floor hockey was fun.  Still didn’t help Sgt. Slaughter tho.

Great job Jason.  Next week’s Commish: Chad (see #7).