Sports Widow Warning: Beware of the Second Bounce in Superball
September 4, 2006 6:15 AM | 0 Comments
Every year, I return to my hometown of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, over Labor Day Weekend, which coincides with my mother's birthday on September 4th. Motherhood, beer, brats, cheese, and a bunch of super-sized Bavarians, all against the backdrop of Lake Michigan, which frankly dwarfs Puget Sound in grandeur: What more could one ask for?
We always stay at the Astor Hotel, which is a grand 19th-Century hotel with a modest, rather redundant continental breakfast that our three children love. They love the independence of summoning an elevator and scampering down to "The Morning Room," adjacent to the lobby for bagels, doughnut holes and the occasional Kringel, which is a Bavarian delicacy. Ironically, the trip costs about $3,000 from Seattle, but the most memorable experience for our children was the playground at my alma mater - Atwater Elementary School. They are also fond of very basic, you-could-find-them-anywhere playground configurations throughout the city.
It was at one such basic playground configuration, Back Bay Park, which I now remember as Back Pain Park, that I engaged in a nearly lethal activity. While shopping with Grandma Joey (my mother) at Old Navy, all three kids nagged her for a 50-cent superball and, being the kind of acquiescent grandmother we've all known and loved, my mother submitted. The 3 balls were boinging all over Grand Avenue Mall, under garment racks, down escalators, and one even plopped into a guy's double-tall, skinny latte, but it was retrieved.
One of Back Bay Park's greatest features was the perfect 2-man superball court, a rectangular patch of pavement. Bryan and Austin were having a grand time playing superball, when I asked if I could join in. I hopped onto Bryan's side. It seemed so simple. Austin served the ball to me. The ball bounced toward me once, then twice, at which point I tried to catch it. But instead of the ball landing in my grasping hand, it viciously lunged toward my throat like the killer rabbit in the movie Monty Python and The Holy Grail. What's your favorite color? The superball nearly knocked me out, not to mention left a bruise akin to one of Dracula's victims on my neck. It did not compare, however, with the time I slipped down the escalators at Cleveland Park Metro in Washington, D.C., after a rain storm, which left a long-lasting, horrific bruise on my derriere.
So, here's what I have learned. On the second bounce, superballs will move erratically and forcefully toward the opponent. This means you must back up and respect the superball. Be the superball.
The Sports Widow Question: Have you ever played with a superball? If so, do you have any tips???
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