Frazz by Jef Mallett for February 17, 2016

He should be able to make this trek with his eyes closed by now.

Billions and billions of years ago…I had a gym teacher that you would never make that challenge to. For two reasons:1) You wouldn’t have been able to keep up with him.2) He didn’t send you to the principle, he took care of his own business. Ouch!

We had a game in HS gym called “Butches’ Murder.” By the time I got to HS in the 60’s it had been toned down to where there actually a couple rules. Mats were laid out on the gym floor with a medicine ball in the middle. The object was for your team to get the ball off the mat on the other teams side. Oh rules. You had to stay on your knees. That was it. If one person got a bloody nose pretty much everyone got some blood on them. Oh, I said it had been toned down. It’s my understanding that at one time there were no mats.

Most of the time, we went outside for gym to play soccer. During deer season they kept us in. Didn’t want anyone getting shot.

Our school had banned dodgeball some years before, so we played trench-ball. No real difference, but this was Illinois, after all.

Dodge ball – My daughter’s church youth group played it co-ed. Once, there was one cheerleader left, versus three big husky guys. They unloaded on her, she did an airborne split and dodged all three balls. She was declared the winner.

Our coach said we didn’t have to play dodge ball if we didn’t want to. We could run the bleachers while the others played. Most people played.

I could dodge, but I threw like a girl. Actually broke my index finger blocking a ball from someone who actually could throw, when we were the last two guys standing.

And how many of you heroes now work for the geeks you bashed with the battle ball? How many of them still make you pay in subtle ways?

Really, Caulfield - I am disappointed in you. Coach H gives you an opening by declaring “Pull Ups Day” and you don’t come back with something about depends? You should be going to the principal.

At my high school in the 60’s PE depended on which coach you had. WE spent a lot of time playing soccer with very few rules (or out own devising), rain or shine.

They have something called “ga-ga ball” now. It’s like dodgeball in a pit and the kids at my kids’ school all fight for their day to get to play at recess..I think humans must like tossing things and trying to keep from being hit.

Since when do 3rd graders have a “coach” an PE?