Old School PE Recaps

The last evening of an Old School PE season is always one that you wish would never end especially since we won’t start back up until Fall.  This “off-season” (May & June) we will have a few random Nites of Fun either on the Common or Meadow Park.  Those nights will help, but there’s just something about playing in the Rec with friends new and old, enjoying lots of laughs and some very memorable moments.  Tonite was no exception.

Eric had us running right away with a couple games of Knockout and then right into Sbasketball.  Jedi Dodgeball was next, a backboard dodgeball game followed and we finished the evening with a great game of Street Hockey.

Here’s my random thoughts about the night:

1.  We’ve moved from pinnies to yellow wristbands.  The feeling of putting an old pinnie on is gone but the smell remains.

2.  Excellent job in Knockout, Kelly.

3.  Overhead saying of the nite: “You ok?  Yeah.  Oh I wasn’t talking to you, I was asking the floor”.

4.  Who knew one team had three All-Star Goalies in Floor Hockey?  Great job Mike D, Kirk and Eric.

5.  Jedi Dodgeball.  Do or Do Not.  I think most voted Do Not.

6.  You know it’s a great Old School PE nite when Chris shows up with his tube socks.  I am thinking in the Fall we’ll have an “Old School PE best dressed” award.  One night only.  More to come.

7.  Look out, here’s comes Pistachio and the Ravioli Express.

8.  Mike D, there is no way I could do that again in 100 tries.  I should have yelled “two!!!”.

9.  Patches O’Fisherhan.

10.  Brenda and The Sarge go into a corner to fight for the puck.  Who comes out with it?

Great job Eric in leading us in our last nite of the season.  I would like to thank all those that came out and joined us this spring season.  We had a lot of new faces and we hope to see you in the fall.  Until then, keep checking your email and the Facebook Fan Page for upcoming events.

Fresh air, playing outside till the sun goes down and throwing a frisbee around with friends after a long winter always brings back great memories.  Tonite was no exception.  Jason, aka The Commish, had us start the evening on the Newport Common with some Ultimate Frisbee.  We then moved back to The Rec and continued the night with a game of modified wiffleball, fortball and knockout.  We finished the evening with a fun, fast and exciting game of Floor Hockey.

And now, as usually, my random, somewhat accurate thoughts about the evening:

1.   First night back after a year away, Eric makes an amazing catch in Frisbee.  Well done!

2.  Number one defender of the night?  The tree in the north east corner of the common.  Right Ryan?

3.  Brandi.  Animal.

4.  Animal or not, she still has a tough time with the high strikes.  Brandi:  Number of strikeouts: 2.  Number of dented bats: 1.

5.  Welcome Clay.  First pitch he ever sees at Old School PE goes for a home run.  First batter he ever pitches to strikes out.  Gives us one of the greatest dives in wiffleball/mattball ever.  The Newbie Trifectah.

6.  How long did it take you to recognize the knitted one?

7.  Nice 80’s tunes from The Commish’s personnel collection.  Flock of Seagulls?

8.  A wild yet controlled slide by Kirk.  One of finest I’ve seen.  Who knew what you can do once you hit 40.

9.  Nice catch Ryan during fortball.  One of this things is not like the others….

10.  Great defense Mike D in hockey.

11.  I really like Knockout.  Lots of fun and a great workout.

12.  Patches Award for the evening:  Kirk.

13.  Burpees, situps and pushups are good.  Stretches instead are much better and helpful.  Very helpful.

14.  Random Overheard Quote of the Nite:  “Oh no, it’s followed me”.
Great job tonite Jason., thanks!  Next week’s Commish: Eric.

Next Friday is our last night of the spring season.  Watch your email and the Facebook Fan Page for Random Nites of Fun in May on The Common or Meadow Park.

Even after 5 years of Old School PE, every nite still is unique and very fun.  Tonite was no exception as we were led by Bob, aka the knitted one.  After a slight change up in the starting exercises, focusing more on stretching, we moved quickly into Freeze Tag.  From Freeze tag onto to Mattball then Sbasketball.  We finished the evening with a fun game of Floor Hockey.

I thought I would change things up a little during the “warmup”.  Lots of groans as we bent to touch our toes and hold for five seconds (5 times).  Regardless of the pain, the effect was great.  We did some situps, jumping jacks and push-ups.  Thanks to all those that helped me count.  For some reason it was a challenge for me, but nothing we couldn’t overcome together.

Off to the goofiness……

1.  Freeze Tag was great, definitely a good way to warm up and get a little sweaty.  Not too much sliding tonite, but that’s ok at least it wasn’t Skin the Cat.

2.  Mike D with the tricky home run during mattball.  Well played.  Smart guy, smart shot.

3.  Joe, with limited defensive help, survived an onslaught of shots during hockey and kept his net clean.  Nice job.

4.  Thank you Heather.    Was it as fun for you as it was for me?

5.  Music during the nite.  I like it, second evening in a row.  Get ready for next week as the 80s will be alive and well at the Newport Rec.

6.  I missed Ryan although I hear he was out speedo and SPF90 shopping.

7.  Goofy Overheard Statement of the nite:  “That ball is pregnant now”.

8.  What a sad way for me to get thrown out during mattball.  I just couldn’t stop running no matter how I hard I tried as I watched what seemed to be in slow motion a large ball hit me.  I thought Ed summed it up best:  “It’s hard to stop the ravioli express”.

9.  No one channeled their inner Patches tonite during Coneball.  Fun games though.

10.  Missing the Bionic Woman and The Barrell.

11.  I liked the modification of Sbasketball with turning the nets around and forcing a bank shot off the wall to score.  Made for a very fun game.

12.  During Sbasketball our team played just like the Celtics.  Well except for the talent part, but we played just like them.

13.  Floor Hockey.  Big nets, big ball.  Fore!

14.  Speaking of big balls…playing Mattball with a large exercise ball was a blast.  Hard to ctach, fun to kick.

15.  It is just me or is Jeff slowly and quietly becoming an Old School PE star?

Awesome job Bob, you kept us laughing and running. Thank you.  Next week’s Commish: Jason.

And just so you are aware, it’s now been settled and thanks to all of you that voted.  The new name for Indoor Soccer Modified:  Sarge Ball.

16 people braved the “powerful blizzard” of April 1st, 2011 to take the court at the Newport Rec and have some fun.  Due to an unforeseen issue, our scheduled Commish couldn’t make it.  Long time Old Schooler Kirk took the call and lead us in a very enjoyable evening.  Focusing on simple and fun we started the night with Wiffle Ball.  From there we moved onto Ultimate Pigskin and Dodgeball.  We finished the night with a great game of Sbasketball.

A few random thoughts about the evening:

1.  How fitting with the start of baseball season we play wiffle ball.  And even more fitting, yet not surprising, The Sarge leads off with a stike out.

2.  Hey Joe, where ya going with those shorts on the ground.

3.  Nice to have the Bionic Woman back in attendance.

4.  If we were giving gold gloves in wiffle ball Heather wins unanimously.

5.  Love ultimate pigskin.  Great workout.  Missing the star of ultimate pigskin, Erin.  Crazy.

6.  Crystal was moving like she was doing Dance Dance Revolution during dodgeball.  Good stuff.  Can’t say the same for Joe and Ed.

7.  Kelly is an Old School PE star in the making.

8.  Thanks Jason for the addition of the 80’s tunes during Sbasketball.  We should do that more often.  Not sure what some of that other music was though.

9.  Best shot of the night: Jason during Sbaskeball.  Best Save: Heather on The Sarge,

10.  Brandi.  Still need to work on those high “fastballs”.  Great job during sbasketball and ultimate.

11.  Ryan called me Jay Cutler on a few on my throws during Ultimate and said, no more throws for you.  His next throw was reminiscent of another Ryan, Ryan Leaf.  Karma?  I think so.

Thanks again to Kirk for filling in and for Mike D for helping coordinate the effort.  Next Commish: Bob.  Of course the big question will be Bandana or Knit hat?  See you Friday nite!

Wow!  What a great nite at Old School PE.  23 people came to see what Sargent Slaughter, aka The Sarge, had in store for us.  We had Old Schoolers that have been with us since day one and some new faces.  New or old, it didn’t matter to The Sarge, you were going to have fun!  After warm-ups, we moved into a friendly game of Line Tag.    From there we moved to Cat and Mouse.  Since the matts were out, Fortball was next.  We finished the evening with Floor Hockey and a wild game of Indoor Soccer Modified (new name coming soon).

So here are my random, somewhat accurate, mostly goofy thoughts of the evening:

1.   Overheard during Line Tag:  “Do I tag people when they are standing?”

2.  The Paulinator is back!

3.  Ryan looked rather nimble tonite.  Must be that neatly trimmed parcel.

4.  5 years into Old School PE and our first game of Cat & Mouse. What took us so long?  Congrats to Maggie our first winner ever!  Very fun.

5.  Awesome catch during Fortball for newcomer Crystal.  Very impressive!

6.  Not to be outdone, newcomer Michelle had a nice catch to end Fortball for the nite!

7.  Nick, great defense tonite on the “blue line” during Floor Hockey.  Too bad it was against your own teammate.

8.  Mystery quote of the nite:  Who said “I got a big thumb”?

9.  Brandi had something to say at the end of the nite that most of us were thinking thru the whole nite.

10.  It was nice to finally get a “field goal” during Indoor Soccer Modified.  My field goal was pretty basic, straight forward.  Rob’s was pure genius.

11.  Maggie was a star in goal during Floor Hockey.  Easily the Vezina Trophy winner for the nite and quite possibly the season.

12.  Backboard Fortball was fun.  The modification that The Sarge added to the last game was, well it doesn’t matter.  I don’t think you’ll see that again.  It would be easy to name that game:  WTFortball.

Thanks for the fun night Sarge. Next week’s Commish?  Newcomer Tracy.  You’ll do great!  See you next week.

Always fun when Josh takes the helm, the 14 folks that braved the warm evening had a fun nite in store.  With a few new faces in the crowd, Josh had us jump right in with a game of mattball.  From there we moved onto backboard dodgeball and then right into Sbasketball.  We finished the evening with a great game of floor hockey.

As always, a few random, mostly incoherent thoughts about the evening:

1.  Welcome to mattball Rob and welcome to your first Bill Buckner moment.  We’ve all had one.

2.  I can remember it happening only one other time in mattball, the Sarge got one of his own players out with kick.  Nice direction.

3.  Ryan, the person standing in the “field” looking like a defender and helping your team is in fact on your team.  Next time try not to throw at your own teammates.

4.  I was all thumbs tonite.

5.  Overhead during a break….”I brought Wall Ball to Newport”.   Who was that?

6.  Maggie, for someone who doesn’t like soccer at all, you sure kicked a nice goal in during Sbasketball.

7.  Speaking of goals, best one of the nite: Jason during floor hockey from one end of the court to the other, right past swiss cheese….err I mean Josh.

8.  Many wondered….What happened to Mike D?  Did he forget that St. Pattys day was over?

9.  Pinnies smell.

Thanks again to Josh for a very fun and entertaining evening.  Next up on the Commish Duties: The Sarge.

A nice way to start the Spring Season and our 5th year with some of the original Old Schoolers and new faces.  It was definitely a nite filled with laughs, fun and a little exercise.  I had the Commish duties for the first nite out and did my best to keep the 17 of us moving.  We started the nite with The Name Game, then got right into it with Scooter Grab and Go.  Next up Freeze Tag and Coneball.  After a short break we got going with Floor Hockey and then Sbasketball.  We finished the evening with a friendly challenge of Rock Paper Scissors.

On to some random thoughts about the evening:

1.  Good to see Josh F. back and channeling his inner Patches O’Houlihan.

2.  Speaking of nice to see back, Kristie and the Paulinator.  Still a force to be reckoned with in Floor Hockey.

3.  Mike D. Rookie mistake in Coneball.  Always watch where you are.  Remember it’s the other team’s wiffleballs you need to knock over.

4.  Although we haven’t played it in a while, Mary B’s Name Game is one of my favorites.  What a fun way to remember names.  Do you remember who lifted a leg and clapped or waved or did the “Superstar” pose?

5.  The Paulinator looking like Adam Oates during Floor Hockey.

6.  What a great finish to Scooter Grab and Go.

7.  Jason, thanks for your help echo-explaining Coneball.  You will now be known as Ditto.

8.   Amazing, The Sarge playing defense during Floor Hockey.  Where’s the camera when you need it.

9.  It was great seeing the new faces joining us and hope you folks come back.  That’s if the smell of the pinnies don’t scare you away.

10.  Still no dunks during Sbasketball.  I thought it might by Ryan tonite, but no go.  Looks like I am just going to have to lace up the Chuck Taylors and go for it.

11.  Hey Sarge, I’d be careful short counting the face-off next time against Kristie.  Your shirt said what she was thinking.

Thanks again everyone for a fun evening.  Look forward to seeing you next week as our Commish for the evening with be Josh F.  Should be a blast!

What a great finish to Season 10 of Old School PE in Newport.  Rick, our Commish for the nite, started us out with a fun game of blob tag, then on to a monster game of floor hockey.  We then went to the “game of the week” from last week indoor soccer modified.  After, as it seemed we were done for the nite, Mandy, who wasn’t going to let the season end without another game, had us back on the court finishing up with backboard coneball.

Here is what I thought about the evening and the season in general (in no particular order):

1.  Without a doubt, Mandy wins the Old School PE spirit award for the evening and quite possibly the whole season.  It’s an understatement to say that if she’s not ready for the nite to be over, you better get your tuckus off the bench and be ready to play!

2.  Nice to have Ryan back for a nite.  Still playing well and neatly trimmed.

3.  Crazy One of the Season Award:  Erin.  You weren’t expecting anyone else were you?

4.  Nice job in net PJ during hockey.  Very Billy Smith-esque.

5.  One of the best parts about an Old School PE nite is the changing of rules or adjustments of a game during play.  Just like it was when we were kids on the playground.  Doesn’t get too much better.

6.  Indoor soccer modified will continue to evolve as a great game.  Tons of running, laughing and fun.  Thanks Sarge for the intro and Rick for keeping it going.

7.  For as many seasons as we have been playing mattball, it still seems we either need base coaches or signs at each matt that says…..DON’T STEP OFF!!!

8.  Important safety tip from your Uncle Mike…..make sure you stay hydrated and eat something after lunch before you decide to run around at Old School PE.

9.  The Paulinator.

10.  I miss Josh’s great Patches O’Houlihan dodgeball play impressions.

11.  If Mandy and Brad were competing in Old School PE’s version of Mini 1 on 1, my money would be on Mandy.

Thanks everyone for another great season of Old School PE in Newport.  We will be back in the spring of 2011.  Keep checking your email for the occasional Random Act of Fun notice that may happen during the winter months.

What do you get when you have a former Marine as the Commish?  You get sweaty. Really fast.  Sgt. Commish (aka The Sarge) has us moving right from the start with Sneaker Relay and Line Tag.   Then on to Backboard Coneball and a very unique modification to Russian Baseball.  Opposite Wiffleball was next and a great game of Floor Hockey.  With time still left, The Sarge has us play a very interesting game of indoor soccer (more on that below).  I’m sweating just thinking about all the running we did.  Oops, no wait sorry, too close to the fireplace.

Game of the evening:

Had a tough time deciding which game to describe here between Russian Baseball and Indoor Soccer.  Both had wild twists to them, but Indoor Soccer was just plan nuts.  Playing with regular Indoor Soccer rules, we used the very small Floor Hockey goals and a soft dodgeball as the game ball.  That was fine until The Sarge decided to add a twist: a team could score, by setting up in the small center circle of the gym, with a “field goal attempt”.  Yeah you read that right.  One player knelt down, placed 1 finger on top of the ball and another player of the same team tried to hit the opposing team backboard with a kick.  Let’s just say there were a lot more Scott Norwood moments then Adam Vinatieri moments.  It was hilarious and hope we do it again.

Some thoughts about the nite:

1.  The Sarge was in rare form, starting us out with 10 pushups and ready to make it 20.

2.  Nice mustache Chris.  Could be a winner in February.  You too Jason.

3.  If you think Russian Baseball is tough, try playing it with using paddles to hit a ball to hit the runners.

4.  I think Jason had an unassisted triple play in wiffle ball.  Well done!

5.  Oh yeah, Heath was there.

6.  Having the additional lines on the gym floor for paddle ball sure makes line tag a lot more interesting…..and tiring.

7.  I’m thankful that Sneaker Relay is always played at the beginning of the nite and not at the end.

On to next week:

A great job by The Sarge as the Commish.  His shirt said all that needs to be said about it.  The Commish duties for our last nite of the Fall 2010 season go to Rick.  Rick has been coming to Old School PE since we started and is truly a fan favorite.  Hope to see you there!

What a blast!  That’s how I would describe the Old School PE nite this week.  Keri did a great job keeping us having fun and running all nite.  The 14 players experienced the Rock, Tree, Bridge Race.  After that onto Crab Soccer, Russian Baseball and Sbasketball.  We finished the nite with a great game of Floor Hockey.

Now normally in this spot I put together some random thoughts about the nite. Things I observed, stuff that happened that made people laugh and some things that make absolutely no sense.  Instead I think I’ll write a more formal review of the evening, straight forward and factually correct.  Who do I think I’m trying to kid……on to the goofiness:

1.  I think being the tree is the best gig in the Rock, Tree, Bridge Race.  You get to stand there, wave your arms in the air like you don’t care….

2.  Playing crab soccer is much better in the beginning of the night instead of the end.  Sweaty players and a dirty floor are never a good combination.

3.  We’ve played some long Floor Hockey games in the past, but I think this was the longest.  What a great time and workout it was!

4.  Nice goal Brad to finish the night.  Mandy taught you well.

5.  Looks like Chris will be wearing those high socks for a while.  Ouch!

6.  Erin, you still so crazy!

7.  Great job out there tonite Sherry!

8.  Hey Sarge, do we need to make the nets bigger????

9.  Whoop!

Again thanks to Keri for a fun evening.  Next up on the Commish Duties: Sgt Slaughter.