fandomhigh | Entries tagged with sports

Gladio's transformation back to himself had been incredibly uneventful, happening overnight. Which made it a whole hell of a lot more difficult to actually get up and get to his class that morning, but, at the same time, after spending more than a week with his roots stuck in a pot, he was pretty eager to get out and get moving again.

And that was definitely going to be reflected in the activity for the class this week.

"Sorry about missing last week there," he started out, first and foremost, "but I was a plant again," he nodded to Nell grateful for all the extra care he'd gotten in that particular state thanks to her, "but, clearly, I got better. And I'm really feeling the need to stretch my muscles again, so today, we're going to doing one of my favorite outdoor activities . Today, I wanna teach you all about rock climbing."

So get ready for a good thorough breakdown of equipment, safety, and general tips before hitting those rocks and hopefully reaching some great heights!

Your arms were definitely going to hate you in the morning, though!

sword_chocobro

"Last week," Gladio began at the start of class, once again in the danger shop in some training space, although it was a little different than last week's, "we worked on fighting sports that focused on hand-to-hand combat and this week," he walked over to a stand filled with a bunch of fencing foils to pull one out, "we learn how to fight with..."

He paused, looked at the fencing foil, then smirked.

"Toothpicks, apparently."

Look, those of you who had seen his sword before would understand why he had a little bit of trouble actually classifying this little dinky thing as such. But he did grin a little at Jon, too ~~assuming he was there~~, since he knew fencing had come up at some point.

"We're going to learn about fencing today, and we're going to learn a few of the teminology, techniques, and basics together, and then, of course, you've got the option to sort of practice with each other, myself, of just go at a practice dummy to work on those things if that makes you more comfortable. So let's take a moment to stretch, and then gear up, and we'll get started."

sword_chocobro

"When it comes to sports around this place that involve my area of expertise," Gladio said, once everyone was gathered and ready to go in the danger shop, which was set up a bit like a dojo, "there are two that really stand out over the others, and we'll be covering one this week and the other one next week, and if you haven't figured out what this week's is by all the mats and everything yet, well...." He shrugged, as if it couldn't be helped, nor did it matter, because he was about to tell them, anyway, "it's martial arts. Specifically, karate, because there's a lot of different variations and versions of martial arts, but karate seems to be the most sort of broad, general, streamlined and most popular, so that felt like a good place to at least start for the purposes of this class, you know? Karate mostly involves learning a series of kicks and punches and other moves like throwing and joint locking. It's a type of hand-to-hand combat that developed in Japan in response to influence from Chinese martial artists and a ban against carrying swords."

There was a faint grunt, there, and a shake of his head. Sure, he knew that he couldn't just normally bring his sword everywhere here, either, it was still just a concept he didn't even want to think about.

"So, today, we're going to learn a few of the basics of karate, some of the techniques, and a little bit on the philosophy, and then we'll hit the mats and give it a try."

sword_chocobro

Class was back in the gym this week, and you were all pretty smart, so Gladio figured you'd have a pretty good idea of what was in store for you this week. But, in case you weren't, the basketball tucked under his arm should get you there before his words brought it around to confirmation.

"So last week," he reminded them, "we got to see a basketball game in action, and while we don't really have the numbers to pull off much of a basketball game, we can take some time to learn a little bit about some of the techniques and skills put to use in the sport to improve our understanding and ability to play it, and I actually find that a lot of these skills can also be put to use into things like combat, which is always a point of interest for me. In basketball, you need to be quick on your feet, have good hand-eye coordination, and be constantly aware of your surroundings. You also need precise style and a mindful target on your goals.

"We're going to be covering a few different basketball fundamentals today: mostly dribbling, passing, shooting, defending, lay-ups, and rebounding. And once we feel we're pretty comfortable with those, you can either practice them on your own for a bit, work a little with another student, or even pair up and play a game of....well, we called it Chocobo back home, but I guess here, it's just Horse, which I admit, makes for a much faster game! But we'll get into that in a bit. First, we gotta figure out what we're doing in the first place."

sword_chocobro

Due to various circumstances, Gladio was a bit late in getting Ignis one of his birthday presents, and he figured it was something he could tie easily into his class, too. In case anyone was wondering why there were two more extra chocobros with him when the class was meeting at the portalocity office for class that morning.

"Today," he informed them, "we're kind of going against the whole Let's Play Some Sports of the class title, and we're just going to go watch some sports. Specifically, we're going to head to a basketball game. Which we'll try ourselves next week, so if you're familiar with basketball already, great. Sit back and enjoy the game. And if you're not, well, try and pay attention and see if you can figure out some of the rules or if there's anything you can't figure out to ask about and hopefully have answered next week. But for now, let's head on out and get to see that game!"

And if anyone was wondering why Gladio thought going to watch a basketball game would be any sort of interest to Ignis, well....that had an awful lot to do with who was playing and where and the great accessibility technology they had embraced for their audience.

sword_chocobro

The class was back on the (fake) beach yet again, only this time, instead of a volleyball net, there was a series of different surfboards stuck into the sand and a collection of machines that might look a little familiar if you were a frequent user of the gym here on the island. Which should pretty much give you a good idea of what the class was working on today.

"Since we now know for a fact that we're going somewhere warm and beachy for the school trip next week," Gladio explained, perhaps unnecessarily, "there's one thing I'm really looking forward to, and that's doing some actual surfing in! So, naturally, it made sense to cover surfing this week in case any of you wanted to come join me in catching some waves while we're down in Barbados.

"So today, we're going to learn how to do it, a few techniques, and some general tips. We've got the surf trainers to start on, and if you want to stick with those, that's fine, but we've got a big fake ocean with a variety of different waves to work with if you wanted to venture out into the water, too. Whatever you're most comfortable with. But let's start with the basics..."

sword_chocobro

Gladio was absolutely still holding class that week. It'll be good for everyone, right, to let out a little bit of energy in a slightly different way than they might otherwise! And even though he was definitely going to be interrupted every once in a while the occasional bout of sneezing, he was definitely going ahead with the lesson, as everyone gathered on a court in the danger shop that made it pretty clear to anyone who'd seen it before what they were doing.

"Today," he said, "we're going to learn about tennis. Now, I don't know a whole lot about how to play tennis, so to brush up on the details, we're going to start class today by watching some examples of tennis matches and breaking it down from there."

You know. Video clips of tennis. The sport notorious for its suggestive grunting.

Look, if you hadn't realized by now that your teacher was an absolutely unapologetic and unrelenting troll, then that was on you, really.

"And then we'll see what we can do ourselves out on the court, whacking around those balls."

Seriously. Why would anyone cancel classes this week when they had opportunities like this right in front of them?

sword_chocobro

"Alright, guys," Gladio said with a grin, as he lead them into the danger shop, which was set up as a nice sunny tropical beach with possibly the nicest soft sand you ever did feel between your toes, "I don't know about you all, but I think we've had enough winter time sports for a while, don't you? I think it's time for...." He strode over to where a net was set up and bent over to pick up the ball that was waiting there as well, "...a little volleyball."

He gave the ball a little toss into the air, sending it toward the ~~most moddable~~ closest student, who just happened to be Eleanor, who thankfully had good enough reflexes to avoid getting hit, even if her catching of it was somewhat clumsy. Gladio grinned with an approving nod, and continued.

"And we've got the perfect amount of people for doubles teams, so we'll take a few moments to go over the rules. There's a cabana over there," he hitched his head to the side with a snort, "if you want to change into something more suited for beach volleyball, and then we'll get into a little bit of a mini-tournament."

sword_chocobro

As much as Gladio was enjoying taking everyone out to various places for their Sport of the Week, this week, he was keeping it local and just getting things going in the danger shop. Which might be good in case anyone really got kind of wild with it, although he didn't think that was going to be a problem. Still, the place was set up like your standard ice arena, all ready to go for....if you guessed where last week's ice skating lesson was leading...hockey.

Once everyone was laced up and ready to go, Gladio was going to get right into it in explaining the game and the basics of how to play. "And, obviously," he continued, "with a class this size, playing a game would be a little difficult, but we can work on some skills, so we're going to break it down into a few things: passing and receiving with each other, shooting goals, and blocking goals. So go grab a sick and let's get started with a little basic puck handling."

sword_chocobro

The students would have been advised to dress warmly again, because what better time to look into all sorts of winter sports than in the middle of winter, anyway? And there would be another trip through portalocity again, too, because why stick with the danger shop when there were lots of places out there in the world to learn about this sort of stuff and your instructor believed firmly in the educational value of actual bumps and bruises?

So welcome to the LeFrak Center in Brooklyn, everyone! And if you didn't pick up on what you were learning about today, well, don't worry, Gladio was going to get right into it, with his usual grin and eagerness to get started.

"Hey, guys," he said. "Today, we're learning ice skating, so let's take a moment to get everyone set up with some skates, and then, again, I'm having someone better trained than I am to teach you all the details. If you're new to skating, we've got someone to go over the basics, and if you kind of already know your thing, I got someone to teach you some more intermediate stuff, and if you're already past that? Well, good time to help out your classmates, then, right?"

He flashed them another grin and then nodded.

"Alright, let's get started, and when the lessons are done, we can just enjoy a little free skating here in this great park while we're here. And just keep in mind: this is actually going to be pretty helpful for what we'll be doing next week."

He was pretty sure it didn't take a big leap in logic to predict how, but guess they'll all find out next week!

sword_chocobro

A message had been sent out to the class to let them know that they'll probably want to dress nice and warm for today's class, which might already start getting some gears going in their heads about what they were doing, but even Gladio was bundled up when he had the class meet him at the portalocity office, so you know he was being serious about it!

He wasn't going to say where they were going quite yet, though, chuckling faintly as he lead them through the portal, and then gestured at the majestic snowy mountains around them as he announced, "Welcome to Whistler Blackcomb in British Columbia, guys, one of the biggest ski resorts on this continent, and particularly noteworthy for sports because it was here that the Winter Olympics of 2010 took place! But, since I'm pretty sure none of you are actually secretly Olympic level skiiers, we're heading on over the some bunny hills, where someone who's much better versed in this kind of thing than I am is going to give us a rundown on the basics of skiing and snowboarding so we can give it a try for ourselves! I'm personally a bigger fan of the latter one, but you'll want to give both a try and see what's better for yourself. And, hopefully, we'll still have some time at the end of it to enjoy some nice hot drinks at the lodge over there before heading back to the island."

He looked toward the lodge and the person approaching them with a grin and a lift of his chin. "Good. Here comes the instructor now. So pay attention; the sooner we get through the basics, the sooner we can get to the sports!"

Because that was the whole point, right?

sword_chocobro

"Hey, everyone," said Gladio, giving the class a nod once they gathered in the danger shop, which was set up like an outdoor sort of stadium, and taking a moment to roll his shoulders, stretch his arms, as if preparing for a long session of physical activity, even if he'd mostly just be there in the coaching position, "and welcome to Let's Play Some Sports. Where we're going to be...you guessed it...play some sports."

He grinned, because that sort of subtle comedy was the humor he really strived for.

"So today's class is going to focus on a sport that has a lot of little sports in it to give me an idea of your strengths and weakness and what you seem to enjoy or really not enjoy at all, and that's Track and Field. But before we get into that, let's get those introductions out of the way. Go ahead and tell me who you are, whether you wanted to be in this class or not," that, he said with a faint wry snort and a grin, "and what your favorite sport is, if you have one, and why. And if you don't have one, tell me why not, too. That'll help me decide what else we're going to explore in this class further down the line.

"So let's get warmed up and stretching while we do that," he said, now crossing one arm over his chest and pulling it close with the other, then switching arms, "so when we're finished, we can mostly get right into it."

brainfreediet.livejournal.com

While Flash kept an eye out for any Whalestorms or Crabvalanches when he decided to hold class outside today, it seemed like they were in the clear.

"Thanks for showing up and being part of this workshop the past couple months," Flash said. "Because of that, you and I are both going to get a reward; that's right, we're going to talk about football. Real football."

And then he launched into a passionate description of American football, its rules, major stars, the differences between Pro, College, Arena, and Canadian, and so much more. Honestly, it would be a chore for everyone involved for it to be transcribed. The real point here was that by the time he was done discussing it and taking any questions anyone might have, there were only ten minutes left in the class period.

"Sorry about that, I guess I got carried away. Well, there's still some time left. Why don't you grab a couple footballs and toss them around until the workshop ends?"

brainfreediet.livejournal.com

"Apparently there's a carnival in town, and that means one thing: games of skill that are probably unexpectedly rigged. You know, pitching games where bottles are glued down, ring tosses where the rings only barely fit over the thing if you're lucky," Flash said. "And maybe they'll even have pop-a-shot."

"And with that in mind, we're doing basketball today. It helps that it's on of the few classic sports that can be easily played one-on-one," Flash said. "We're doing one-on-one half-court. The rules are simple. That big arc is the three point line. If you start with the ball, you start out behind that. You try to score by putting the ball through the hoop. Inside the arc is two points, outside is three. If you score, you get the ball again. If your opponent takes the ball away with a rebound, they have to take it back behind the arc before they can score. If they just steal it from you - so it doesn't hit the backboard or the rim - they don't need to take it back and they can just try to score."

Flash went on to explain dribbling the ball, the travel rule, cautioned people not to foul, and showed how to shoot instead of just wildly throwing the ball up into the air.

And then it was game time.

"We've got two half-courts, five students. You and you, this court. You and you, this court. Loser of the first court goes to the second court, loser of the second court takes a breather, and you're out right now so you'll sub in for loser of the first court. We're playing to 11 each game. Get to it!"

brainfreediet.livejournal.com

Welcome back to the park. It was a beautiful day for baseball, why keep it indoors? If you were unfamiliar with the idea of a batting cage, the 12 foot long fiberglass and nylon netting structures probably looked bizarre, especially with the pitching machines just outside of them. But at least there were bats to use in case things got weird.

"Today we're going to be taking a look at one of the classic American sports, baseball," Flash said. "Before any of you were born, it was considered America's pastime for about a century. Then the players went on strike one year, didn't play their championship series, and football took over."

"It's a very simple game that gets really complicated really quickly. If you guys want, I can get into everything from ground rule doubles to the infield fly rule, but for today, I thought we'd keep it simple," Flash said. "There are four bases in the shape of a diamond. Nine defensive players on the field, including one at each base. One of the players is the pitcher, and they throw the ball to the catcher at home plate. And there's an offensive player there with a bat, trying to hit the ball into the field."

"If a fielder catches the ball before it hits anything like the ground or a wall, the batter is out. If they get the ball and throw it to first base before the batter gets there, the batter is out. If the batter gets there first, or can make it to any other base in order without being tagged, the batter is safe. Either way, the next batter comes up."

"There are three outs to an inning. If the batter swings and misses, or the ball goes through a specific area above home plate, or the batter hits the ball into foul territory, that's a strike. Three strikes and you're out. If the batter doesn't swing at a pitch outside the strike zone, that's a ball. Four balls and the batter gets to take a free base."

Flash explained things a little more before pointing at the batting cages. "We don't have enough people for a team, so we have a couple options. You can either go into the batting cage and see what you can do at the plate, or you can grab some gloves and play catch, throwing the ball up and back with a partner."

brainfreediet.livejournal.com

Hey, you were in the Danger Shop today. Why? Because it was easier to get somebody to program some air hockey tables than it was to order three of them. Also, cheaper.

"You guys know the four classical elements, right? Fire, water, air, earth," Flash said. If that seemed like a fancy thing for him to mention, then you failed to consider what kinds of cartoons he watched when he was young. The fifth element was Heart and it got you a pet monkey. The power is yours. "Well, hockey has three of those: Ice hockey, floor hockey, and air hockey. Unfortunately, we don't have the insurance to play fire hockey." Did that joke work? DID IT?

"It's the middle of summer, so we're not playing ice hockey," Flash said. "And we don't really have enough people to play a good game of floor hockey. But air hockey is one-on-one. The basic idea is that you take the paddle, hit the puck, get it into the goal. The other hockeys are pretty much the same thing at a larger scale. And with fewer air jets."

brainfreediet.livejournal.com

Class was back in the park today, and there was a large section of grass marked off with cones.

"I hope you're feeling good this morning, because you're going to be doing something a lot of people hated back when I was in gym class... You're going to run a mile today," Flash said. "We're going to be doing a couple sessions with track and field events, so why not go for a big one right off the bat?"

"For the record, the world records in the mile run are 3:43.13 for men and 4:12.56 for women. If anyone here has special powers, I'm sure you could break those marks. But this isn't really a regulation track, so it wouldn't set a record if you did, unfortunately."

"Before you get started, remember that the mile run is about endurance as much as it is about speed. Don't kill yourself sprinting at the start. Find a good pace and try to maintain it. And, obviously, you'll need to stretch out first to make sure you don't pull anything and have a terrible weekend because of it."

brainfreediet.livejournal.com

Class was meeting in the park today, and boy was it a scaled down version of a game today. Flash was standing in the middle of a patch of grass. A goal was marked on either end with cones and he was holding a round, black and white ball.

"Last week I mentioned my favorite sport is football. I was talking about what the rest of the world calls American football since they use that name for something else where you're constantly hitting a ball with your foot," Flash said. LIKE THAT MAKES ANY SENSE. "It's the most popular sport in the world, but here in America it's more like number five, so we just call it soccer. But since the finals of their World Cup is this weekend, we're going to play it."

"The simple rules are this. You kick the ball. You don't use your hands. You try to kick the ball into the goal which, in our case, is those cones," he said, pointing. "One person is the goalie and can use their hands to keep the ball from going in the goal. The more complicated rules involve penalties, cards for breaking the rules, and penalty kicks. But we're keeping it simple."

"Just like last week, we're going to practice a little first, then get right to a game."

brainfreediet.livejournal.com

It was the holiday celebrating the birth of this country and it was also Flash's first day of class. This hardly seemed fair. He was a veteran! Oh well, he'd get over it. He was doing class on the beach, after all, so it couldn't be that bad.

It certainly looked like he had his artificial legs on, but he was actually using the symbiote today. Because have you ever tried artificial legs or a wheelchair on sand? Nope, he was cheating.

"Morning, everyone. My name is Flash Thompson, but for as long as I'm teaching any kind of phys ed workshop or class, I'd prefer if you called me Coach. Blame it on playing too much football in high school if you need to, but I promise that's the most demanding thing I'll ask of you the next couple months."

"Well, that, plus giving it your all every day and having some fun with these games," Flash amended. "Since today's a pretty important holiday and there's going to be a beach party a little later anyway, we're just going to use the net that's already been set up and play some beach volleyball. And since we an odd number of people in this workshop, one of the teams gets me. But I'm not exactly the most mobile player around, so I promise it won't be too much of an advantage."

"I'm going to go over the rules, give you some time to practice bumping, and then we're just going to start playing. And when it's your first turn to serve, introduce yourself to the class. Name, what grade you're going into this fall, and what your favorite sport is."

cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com

The Danger Shop was set up like a park today . . . a very specifically sports-geared park, granted, and this was why nobody let Anders do landscape design. Near the Danger Shop's entrance was a fully-equipped locker room facility, because he was considerate like that. To one side was the baseball diamond, a pitching machine set up on the mound; a carefully-enclosed area made for a pretty snazzy roller-hockey rink on the other side. Between the two was the area where Anders (in his favorite, well-worn Caprica Buccaneers authentic licensed team jersey) was standing, at the center of a triangular court with panels set up at the corners and along the perimeter. He had a small black ball, about the size of a grapefruit or a miniature soccer ball, in one hand and was tossing it up and down, bouncing it off the pavement of the court or, occasionally, off one of the panels with some fancy jump-and-spin move.

"Man. Where'd the term go, huh?" he asked jovially as everyone assembled. "Looks like this is our final week. Never did get to cover Parrises Squares with you guys; couldn't frakkin' dig up any actual details on the damn thing. Sorry 'bout that. But since it's the final week, we might as well do something finals-ish. So here's the deal."

Anders gestured with the ball toward the other setups in the park. "Take swings at five pitches at the diamond, then run the basepaths once. Take five shots, more if you're feeling the groove, on goal on the hockey rink. Then everybody over here to the Pyramid court for a quick scrimmage and we're done." He crossed his arms, still palming the ball in one hand, and glanced around seriously. "Safety gear's set up at each station. Use it. Don't make me have to bust out the detention-hammer, y'got it, guys?"

He was about to tell everybody to go play ball when he realized what he'd forgotten, and grinned sheepishly. "Right, right. Pyramid. Lemme explain that one real quick." Which he did, including game footage played on the baseball diamond's scoreboard, concluding with an enthusiastic, "Favorite sport ever, man. Okay, get to it."

At the end of the period, just before dismissing everyone, Anders called them all to the center of the Pyramid court again. "Y'know, this whole class has been about practical uses for skills you pick up in sports. And maybe some of you used 'em a couple weeks ago. But that's not the only thing. It's not just about that, y'know? You can just play because it's fun. It's . . ."

He fell silent briefly, trying to come up with the words, then smiled, a distant expression in his eyes as he began to speak again in words that came with surprising ease. Almost as if he was remembering, somehow. "The perfect throw. Making the perfect catch, the perfect step, lock . . . perfection. That's what it's about. It's about those moments when you -- when you can feel the perfection of creation. The beauty of physics, the wonder of mathematics, you know? The elation -- action and reaction. And that's the kind of perfection I wanna be connected to."

Anders seemed to snap out of it after he trailed off, and shook his head. "Anyway. You've been a fantastic class, guys. Enjoy your break, all right?"

[OOC: The OCD. It has been achieved. Waiting is no longer required.]

cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com

When students entered the Danger Shop today they'd find what looked like a soccer pitch, only without the goals and surrounded by very high walls. Scattered all around the field were various pieces of athletic equipment: rackets and balls from sports both inter- and extra-galactic, bats, sticks, miscellaneous skis . . . was that a bodyboard? Yes. Yes, it was.

Well. That was what they looked like, anyway; upon closer inspection all of the implements strewn across the grass were made of Nerf foam. ~~Not nerf meat.~~ Except the megaphones; those were perfectly normal.

Anders stood at the center of the pitch with a manual in hand, paging through it and looking somewhat flustered. "Guys, this is not what I had in mind for today, but I can't get the frakkin' Danger Shop to fix it," he said, glaring at the page of the open manual. "I was going to show you Rollerball, not Brockian Ultra-Cricket, but this room's got a mind of its own today."

Or maybe it just hated him. Not that he had any idea why it would.

"This game kind of makes no sense, you guys, but it's what we're stuck with today," he continued, somewhat mortified by what he was about to have to say. "The rules, best I can tell . . . well, I'm not asking you to grow three extra unnecessary legs just for the sake of this class, so we're skipping straight ahead to the main part of this. Which is, basically, grab any of that stuff out there, swing it around, and if you hit someone, run away and apologize through one of those megaphones."

He threw his hands up. "I don't know. I really don't. Just don't actually hurt each other, okay?"

[OOC: The winning OCD shall be the first OCD that wins. ~~Please hold for it.~~ Who knows how that's determined, but who cares? It's up.]

cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com

Students had been ~~handwavily~~ notified to meet in the Danger Shop today, and when they arrived they'd find it set up to look like a Dave and Buster's for the proportionally-challenged and sports-obsessed: where you might find a foosball table and air hockey table, there were scaled down soccer and lacrosse pitches and an enclosed hockey rink; instead of a hoops-shooting arcade game there was a full size basketball court. (No bar, though. Don't get ideas, kids.) Anders was standing between the pitch and rink, between racks of equipment, looking positively gleeful about this whole thing.

"Situational awareness," Anders said once everyone had gathered, enunciating each syllable clearly. "Seems like every world, hell, almost every culture on just this one, has some kind of sport that involves putting a ball or somethin' into a goal as a team activity. Now you get different ways of doin' this depending on the sport. Sometimes you gotta a stick of some kind; sometimes you gotta use your hands; sometimes you gotta use anything but your hands. Sometimes you got somebody from the other team whose job it is just to stop you from getting that ball into the goal; sometimes it's just your own skill that stands between you and scoring."

He swept an arm at the playing surfaces around them. "These are all team sports. Your team has the ball or the puck or whatever? It's your job to pass the ball around to each other, keep it away from the other team, and get it into the goal. Your team defending? It's your job to break up the other team's play, get the ball away from them, keep them from scoring." He picked up a soccer ball and spun it between his fingertips, then tossed it into the air to try bouncing it off his head a few times. He wasn't very good at it. "So, situational awareness. Doesn't matter if you're on offense or defense, doesn't matter which of these sports or anything like 'em you're playing, in order to play effectively you need to be aware of where people are around you. Your teammates, the other team, everyone. You gotta be able to tell in a split second who's open to take that pass, if the other team's got someone moving up to cut off your pass, who's in position to score, where the weak spot in the defending team's formation is."

With a gesture to the racks of equipment -- balls, pucks, hockey and lacrosse sticks, skates, padding and safety gear -- he nodded to the students. "Go on, give 'em a spin. Try and team up at least two on two if you can. At the end of the period, like we did before, everybody back here and tell me one practical application for these skills in a non-sports situation, 'kay? Let's go."

[OOC: OCD up and good to go!]

cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com

Anders looked pretty out of it today; that was the side effect of getting stuck and then lost in Special Collections for a week, only to extricate himself a couple of hours before class.

"Guys, it's been a week," he said, even sounding pretty ragged. "I had big plans to show you another sport from Earth's future but, ah, the library foiled me on digging up any information on that one so I haven't had time to prep anything different. Sorry." He was still sure there was a frakkin' pterodactyl in there somewhere, or what he thought sounded like one anyway.

He indicated the A/V setup near the bleachers, and the balls and equipment laid out in the gym. "So you guys get a free day today. There's like five hundred sports channels that you can check out if you feel like making a movie day out of it instead of heading that way and having open gym day."

As for him, he was going to sit down on the bleachers, practically hugging a cooler of Gatorade all to himself.

[OOC: OCD ~~arriving at the station in 3, 2 . . .~~ is now at the station. Please watch your step from the platform onto the thread.]

weetinyreese.livejournal.com

Kyle was in no way in charge of the class today. Calvin was. Why was really anyone's guess. If, after Calvin's in-depth (which in Calvin-speak meant half-assed) explanation about how Calvinball worked on this particular day in this particular room at this particular moment, anyone was completely confused then that was perfectly understandable.

It didn't mean everyone couldn't play though. There was the standard Calvinball equipment in a haphazard pile on the floor, listed as follows: a volleyball (the Calvinball), a soccer ball, a croquet set, a badminton set, assorted flags, bags, signs, a hobby horse, a bucket of ice-cold water, a water balloon and a book on poetry.

There were enough eye masks to go around for everyone and they were an expected part of the equipment.

Really, it was a simple game to play, or so Calvin claimed, since you had to make up the rules as you went.

[OOC: You heard the completely modded with permission kid. The rules, they are made up! More examples of Calvinbaaaaaaaaaaaall!]

cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com

Students had been ~~handwavily~~ notified (via email, as well as via written notes on paper with the corners cut off) to meet in the Danger Shop today. Upon stepping through the doors, students would find themselves in the first-base dugout of a major league ballpark. The basepaths were neatly groomed, the chalk lines were fresh, the fountain in the outfield was bubbling away, and Anders, all decked out in full uniform (Fandom High colors with GREMLINS across the chest), was waving at them from the pitcher's mound. Sure, the school grounds or the park would have sufficed, but as if Anders wasn't going to go all out for his second favorite sport ever?

"Hey, everybody," he said, grinning like a kid in a candy store, "since the All-Star Game was yesterday I thought we'd cover baseball this week, so . . . since this is where the game was held this year, welcome to Angel Stadium. Pretty big, huh?"

( Wherein Sam Anders can ramble about sports. Who's surprised? )

He went on in that vein for a few more minutes, explaining the basics of play and the scoring . . . illustrating his points with video clips that came up on the giant scoreboards in the outfield. "Okay, enough of that. Time to get out there and play, maybe get a little dusty. There's gloves, bats, and balls over there in the dugout you guys came through on your way in." Anders's expression turned serious as he warned, "Do not let me catch you taking a bat up to home plate or running the basepaths without a batting helmet on. Anyone I see doing that gets detention. Now come on, plenty of room out there on the field, guys, so play ball!"

You could tell he'd just been waiting to say that.

"At the end of the period, everybody back here to the pitcher's mound, and I want you all to tell me at least one way you think you could use baseball skills in a non-game situation, 'kay?"

[OOC: ~~Please continue to do your part in staving off the possibly inevitable Cylon invasion by waiting for the OCD.~~ The Cylon invasion has been put off for another week, thank you.]

cantgetnorelief.livejournal.com

There were stations set up around the gym today, all of them with various types of sporting equipment arranged in a haphazard kind of display. The guy standing in the midcourt circle of the basketball court was six feet of messy brown hair and blue eyes in loose warmup pants and a Fandom High Gremlins t-shirt, bouncing a basketball idly as he waited for the students to show up. (He didn't really look that much older than them, especially with the way he was grinning.) As he kept an eye on the door, watching people trickle in, he seemed to be counting to himself.

"Hey, guys," he finally said once he was pretty sure everyone was present. "Welcome to Contact Sports. What're contact sports? That's pretty broad, actually. We're not just talking about sports where people get tackled or bodyslammed here. Those're collision sports. Anything where you might bump into other players, or have to hit a ball with a stick of some kind, that's a contact sport. I'm Sam Anders, or just Anders to you, Fandom High class of 2008, and someone was crazy enough to let me come back here and do this. This," he went on, executing a neat little crossover dribble, "is teaching you guys a little bit about a few different sports, maybe give you an appreciation for 'em or a new way to look at 'em. See, when I first got here, I was just a kid from the Colonies who didn't want to do anything more with my life than go pro as a Pyramid star. I'd been playing it all my life, dreaming about it, I had all the posters, the team jerseys, I could recite twenty years' worth of player stats at you, you name it."

He dribbled the ball between his legs, back and forth, then bounced it up high and caught it between both hands with a loud smack that echoed off the gym walls. "And then I got here. And a couple weeks into my first semester, way back in the day before we had anything fancy like the reserves you have now, we got hit by a zombie attack. I mean tons of 'em, man. So what? You're thinking this story ends with me taking out a dozen zombies or something?" Anders laughed, spun the basketball between his fingers, and went back to dribbling it. "No frakking way. When they flooded the school with hot water to take out the zombies, I was the freaked out guy who ended up stuck in a shelf in Special Collections and needed to be rescued. That was my first Fandom invasion. Not really a story you want to tell the press in an interview. Yeah, yeah, I know. What's that have to do with anything? That's what this class is about, see. It took me a while, but I figured out that everything I'd been practicing all my life wasn't useless in a place like this. Now, I'm not a really a fighter. I've picked some stuff up, but that's not who I am. Some of you, you're probably not fighters either. Maybe some of you are, I don't know. But you're here in Fandom, and you've probably gotten warned by now that the invasions happen."

Anders stopped dribbling the ball again, his expression turning serious. "I'm not here to tell you all to get out there on the front lines and fight next time it happens. What I am here to do, besides show you all a few new games to play, is give you a head start on what took me almost eighteen years to figure out in a way that made sense. They say sports build character; it's true. What're some of the things you can learn from it? Physical fitness. That's one thing. Another one's hand-eye coordination." He dribbled the basketball once, pivoted, and took a high arcing shot that rattled around the rim a couple of times before falling through the net. "Footwork. Balance. Reflexes. Being aware of who's around you, what they're doing, whether or not they're on your team. Teamwork. This is all stuff that's good for you just in terms of your physical health, makes you a better athlete. It translates to other things, too, and that's part of what we're gonna look at in this workshop."

He gestured at the gym stations. "For today, though, since I haven't really had time to get a syllabus together yet, we're gonna go with the old classic and do introductions. Name, grade, favorite sport if you have one, or one you're interested in. Why you're here if you're up to sharing that. Then you have the rest of this period to goof off and play with some of the gear we have here. Bonus points -- not that I'm keeping track today -- if you can come up with a few practical non-competitive uses for some of the skills in these games."

Clapping his hands then pointing at a student at random, Anders announced, "How about let's start with you?"

[OOC: OCD is up. No Cylon uprisings for you today.]

drgrissom.livejournal.com

Grissom is in a shockingly jovial mood. He's even rocking a costume and has candy (without bugs) for his students. Must have some good Halloween childhood memories buried somewhere.

Criminology

Here is the study guide for your midterm exam. [it will be an 'essay question', but feel free to study/stress]

To review, in class today I would like you to discuss one thing you have learned in this class so far, and how it either surprised you, or changed your mind in regards to a certain topic. If that is not the case in any aspect, why not?

Death and Dying

Discussion: Your homework was to Choose a death by suicide from Shakespeare's work, and share a short reaction to it. Please do so.

Your midterm exam will be on Wednesday! It will be an in-class essay, in a similar vein to the homework you are turning in. Using what you have learned in class, and moving on to our accidental death chapter, please analyze A Darwin Award Winner or Honourable Mention. You may bring in notes on one 3x5 index card.

Fandom High RPG

About the Game

---       Master Game Index
---       IC Community Tags
---       Thinking of Joining?
---       Application Information
---       Existing Character Directory

In-Character Comms

School and Grounds
---       Fandom High School
---       Staff Lounge
---       TA Lounge
---       Student Dorms

Around the Island
---       Fandom Town
---       Fandom Clinic

Communications
---       Radio News Recaps
---       Student Newspaper
---       IC Social Media Posts

Off-Island Travel
---       FH Trips

Once Upon a Time...
---       FH Wishverse AU

Out-of-Character Comms

---       Main OOC Comm
---       Plot Development
---       OOC-but-IC Fun

⚙

Disclaimer

Fandom High is a not-for-profit text-based game/group writing exercise, featuring fictional characters and settings from a variety of creators, used without permission but for entertainment purposes only.

Navigation

Fandom High School

Entries tagged with sports

Let's Play Some Sports!; Thursday, First Period [04/17].

Let's Play Some Sports!; Thursday, First Period [04/03].

Let's Play Some Sports!; Thursday, First Period [03/27].

Let's Play Some Sports!; Thursday, First Period [03/13].

Let's Play Some Sports!; Thursday, First Period [03/06].

Let's Play Some Sports!; Thursday, First Period [02/20].

Let's Play Some Sports!; Thursday, First Period [02/13].

Let's Play Some Sports! - Thursday, First Period [02/06].

Let's Play Some Sports!; Thursday, First Period [01/30].

Let's Play Some Sports!; Thursday, First Period [01/23].

Let's Play Some Sports!; Thursday, First Period [01/16].

Let's Play Some Sports!; Thursday, First Period [01/09].

Sports, Friday, Period 1, The Park

Sports, Friday, Period 1, The Gym

Sports, Friday, Period 1, The Park

Sports, Friday, Period 1, Danger Shop

Sports, Friday, Period 1

Sports, Friday, Period 1

Sports, Friday, Period 1

Contact Sports: Building Character (And Possibly...), Danger Shop, 6th Period [8/18]

Contact Sports: Building Character (And Possibly...), Danger Shop, 6th Period [8/11]

Contact Sports: Building Character (And Possibly...), Danger Shop, 6th Period [8/4]

Contact Sports: Building Character (And Possibly...), Gym, 6th Period [7/28]

Contact Sports: Building Character (And Possibly...), The Preserve, 6th Period [7/21]

Contact Sports: Building Character (And Possibly . . .), Danger Shop, 6th Period [7/14]

Contact Sports: Building Character (And Possibly . . .) - Gym, Wednesday, 6th Period (Class 1)

Soc 201 and 310: Criminology and Death & Dying (10/31)

Fandom High RPG

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