Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[Wardonkey]

Hot Rice should be an Olympic sport.

[Geo the Sarge]

Changing the subject just for a moment, have any of you ever played a game called "Hot Rice" and if so, can you please post a brief description.

This one?

Hot Rice
The name of a schoolyard game, played apparently only in Royal Park Middle School in NW Leeds. It involved any number of participants from about ten upwards.

At the start of the game all players stand in a circle with their feet touching the persons toes on either side, but leaving a small gap between their heels. A tennis ball is then bounced in the middle of the circle to the rhyme 'Hot rice, bounce twice, once twice, hot rice' then the ball is left to run free. Using their feet like pinball flippers the players attempt to knock it through the legs of another player. Once this happens that person is 'on'.

All other players would then scatter. The person who is 'on' would then try and catch the other players by either striking them below the knee with the ball or tagging them with the ball. Any person caught becomes part of the 'on' team. Players not 'on' can pick up the ball but only with their fingertips, it must not touch the palms of their hands or they become 'on'.

Once all players have been caught, the game starts again. The person who was first caught in the preceding game becomes 'queenie' in the next game. This unenviable position means that if the ball passes out of the circle between two players rather than the legs of one player it is 'one bad egg for queenie', then 'two bad eggs for queenie', a third 'bad egg' means that person is 'on'.

Geo

[Wardonkey]

We played the same game as kids with a few subtle, but important, variations.

I was at Beckett's Park Middle school at the time which is a couple of miles away from Royal Park.

[RED-DOG]

Changing the subject just for a moment, have any of you ever played a game called "Hot Rice" and if so, can you please post a brief description.

This one?

Hot Rice
The name of a schoolyard game, played apparently only in Royal Park Middle School in NW Leeds. It involved any number of participants from about ten upwards.

At the start of the game all players stand in a circle with their feet touching the persons toes on either side, but leaving a small gap between their heels. A tennis ball is then bounced in the middle of the circle to the rhyme 'Hot rice, bounce twice, once twice, hot rice' then the ball is left to run free. Using their feet like pinball flippers the players attempt to knock it through the legs of another player. Once this happens that person is 'on'.

All other players would then scatter. The person who is 'on' would then try and catch the other players by either striking them below the knee with the ball or tagging them with the ball. Any person caught becomes part of the 'on' team. Players not 'on' can pick up the ball but only with their fingertips, it must not touch the palms of their hands or they become 'on'.

Once all players have been caught, the game starts again. The person who was first caught in the preceding game becomes 'queenie' in the next game. This unenviable position means that if the ball passes out of the circle between two players rather than the legs of one player it is 'one bad egg for queenie', then 'two bad eggs for queenie', a third 'bad egg' means that person is 'on'.

Geo

Yep. That's the one. Did you play it Geo?

[RED-DOG]

We played the same game as kids with a few subtle, but important, variations.

I was at Beckett's Park Middle school at the time which is a couple of miles away from Royal Park.

We played it too, also with variations. Subtle, and yet surprisingly painful variations..

[Nakor]

Was introduced by a northerner in sleepy Norfolk.
Words were very different and was indeed the game that taught me to Swear.

Luckily I learnt quickly, it was banned within days if I remember rightly.

Memories of 12 kids shouting "bastard bounce" and something slightly worse when you got someone "on".

[Geo the Sarge]

We played the same game as kids with a few subtle, but important, variations.

I was at Beckett's Park Middle school at the time which is a couple of miles away from Royal Park.

We played it too, also with variations. Subtle, and yet surprisingly painful variations..

Yes Red, we played it, can't remember what we called it though, wasn't hot rice. I vaguely remember playing it with a golf ball at one time!!

At Xmas/New Year past, Tricia and I had the boys gobsmacked reminiscing (sp?) on the games we used to play, they thought we were at the wind up. Wonder if it's worth a thread of it's own?

For starters:

"Dead man falling" or Best man falls.
British Bulldogs
(Hands up!!) Kick the can
Chinese Laundrymen

I was actually very good at some of the girlie games too (omg, can't believe I'm saying this)

"Elastics " was one of my favs, remember the girls locking all the rubber bands together?

Oh my dear, memories memories. Got to go out shortly for a poker league game. Over the next couple of days will think of these and describe any you haven't heard of.

I think we all played variations of these games but had different titles for them.

Geo

[Wardonkey]

The start of our game was exactly as described by Geo.

The target area was anywhere below the waist.

Players who were ‘on’ were not allowed to move with the ball unless two players had contact with the ball. The first player ‘on’ could move until there was another player ‘on’.

Players not ‘on’ could use their hands and arms to defend, but were not allowed to catch the ball or pick it up in any way.

We didn’t do any of that ‘queenie’ stuff.

Carlos Pannel was nearly as good as me.

[kinboshi]

British Bulldog and Red Rover were two of our playground favourites.  That and 34-a-side football with a tennis ball.

[Wardonkey]

We played the same game as kids with a few subtle, but important, variations.

I was at Beckett's Park Middle school at the time which is a couple of miles away from Royal Park.

We played it too, also with variations. Subtle, and yet surprisingly painful variations..

I think we've had this conversation before, you used bricks or something instead of a tennis ball?

[Geo the Sarge]

British Bulldog and Red Rover were two of our playground favourites.  That and 34-a-side football with a tennis ball.

Good shout with the Red Rover Dan,

Kerby!!---------now that was a grreat game.

I've done some notes on these and will post up tonight.

Geo

[Geo the Sarge]

Had a look online for info on some of the older games which led to some fun looking at various links, unfortunately couldn't find all the games I have mentioned but will attempt to describe:

Kerby:
Two players and a football (or similar) was all that was required to play this.

We’d find a spot on the street with a decent kerb to the pavement on both sides of the street. First player would throw the ball in an attempt to hit the angle of the kerb on the opposite side and make the ball return to them.

If they were successful then they gained a point and another throw. If the ball returned in the air and they caught it they then moved to the middle of the road to have an easier attempt of hitting the kerb and successfully making the ball return.

If the ball didn’t hit the kerb and return then possession passed to the opponent...rinse, repeat. We would usually play first to 21 points.

Nowadays it would be more difficult to find a decent spot to play as most roads quiet enough to play on would have little kerb available due to the amount of cars parked either side.

When I was younger there were few cars in the street and you could play for ages without having to stop to allow cars to pass.

[Geo the Sarge]

One for the ladies.

I used to love playing "Elastics"

Truth be told it was only to try to get closer to the girls and thought it may compensate for my ugliness ( [ ] it worked)

Found a nice link where the ladies replying can explain the game much better than I can..........England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales...weeeeeeeee.

 I also enjoyed reading about these ladies reminiscing about the game:

http://maf.mcq.org/jeux/jouets/vignettes/en/jd_mcq_elastique_153.php

[Geo the Sarge]

Red Rover, as mentioned by Dan:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Rover

Rules

Players on a team hold hands, forming a line. The leader of a team will call a player from the opposing team. That player must try and break through two players' hands (a link) to stay on their own team. If the player is not able to break through the link, that team will gain control of that player. Before a player would try to break the link, the link would normally say "Red Rover, Red Rover, we call (player's name) over!" or some similar variation (such as "send (player's name) right over" or "send (player's name) on over"). Typically, the weaker players are chosen first to increase the chance of taking them.

When only one player is left on a team, they must try and break through a link. If they do not succeed, the opposing team wins. Otherwise, they are able to get a player back for their team.

Origins

The origin of the name, Red Rover, and its usage in association with this game is not clear.

Red Rover appears to have been used as a name for boats in the 18th and 19th centuries. It is possible the name of the game derives from the name of such a boat, or from the shuttling motion of a ship across a river.

The first US Navy Nurse Corps hospital ship was named The Red Rover, and thus it's also possible that the name is reminiscent of aid being given to both sides of a conflict.

Makes me think that the "Red Rover, Red Rover, send (persons name) over" and the fact that the players form a chain that this may even relate to the transferring of patients to the hospital ship with the "chain" possibly imitating some early form of Bosuns chair, thoughts anyone?

[Geo the Sarge]

British Bulldogs:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Bulldogs_(game)



Rules

As is usual with children's games, the particular rules applied vary from location to location, but with the same principle. The playing area consists of a main playing area, with two 'home' areas on opposing sides (similar to the touchdown areas used in rugby or American football). The home areas are the width of the playing area and are usually marked by a line or some other marker.

Each game of bulldogs consists of a sequence of rounds, and it is usual to play a number of games back-to-back with different bulldogs each time. The game is initiated with a single player (or sometimes two or more players) selection may be determined by various means, but a common one is by all players standing in a circle with their legs apart, a tennis ball is bounced in the centre whoever's legs the ball goes through is "it".   (Can't remember this being the case) The objective for the non-bulldog players is to run from one home area to the other whilst avoiding the bulldogs in the middle.

Each round is usually initiated by the bulldogs chanting and goading, often, one of the bulldogs names a player to be the first to attempt the run from one end to another, and the bulldogs then attempt to 'catch' the player. As players are caught and turned into Bulldogs if they are clung to for the duration of the Bulldog exclaiming, "British Bulldog; one, two, three!" — having not reached the other side. If the player successfully enters the opposing home area without being caught, they are considered 'safe' and may not be caught by the bulldogs. Players are also safe while they remain in their original home area, although there are sometimes rules for how long they may remain there. If they are caught, they become a bulldog themselves.

Once the player has reached home or been caught, all the other non-bulldog players must immediately attempt to cross the playing area themselves, with the same rules applying (this period of the game sometimes being called a 'rush' or 'bullrush'). The bulldogs may catch any number of players in a single rush, all of whom become bulldogs. The round is then repeated in the opposite direction until all players have become bulldogs.

'Winning'

The aim of the game for the bulldogs is to catch all the players as quickly as possible, whilst the aim for the other players is to stay uncaught for as long as possible with the last player to be caught is usually considered the winner. In some variations, non-bulldogs become bulldogs if they go off a boundary, such as a line and they can be pushed off by bulldogs.

Background

The game is normally played by children and offers an interesting means of letting off energy and involves rugged physical contact. It appeals to competitive spirits but at the same time produces ad-hoc team activity with all the "losers" endeavouring to bring the "non-losers" to the ground. Parents tend to deplore the game since it results in muddied and even torn clothes, bruises, bloody noses, knees and elbows and sometimes tears (when played on tarmac) but both boys and girls participate in it.

As a game of physical contact that results in a mêlée of people attempting to drag others down to the ground, Bullrush bears some similarity to a rugby scrum which may explain the presence of the game amongst children in a nation beloved of the sport of rugby.