It has been a long time since I’ve had to spend any time sitting in the bleachers. Sure, I sat in the metal bleachers while my kids took water polo this summer–for a couple hours at a time. And I sat in some high school gym bleachers on and off six months ago during a robotics competition, but this weekend was too much! Friday night the junior high was hosting a Jail Ball Tournament, which is really a slightly jazzed up version of regular dodgeball (more on that later), and Saturday, I attended a robotics competition all day, with nowhere to sit but bleachers. (Outside I had the option of a metal bench and some brick steps.) I wish this hadn’t been an issue for me…oh, but it was. I was only about halfway in, and my rear was totally useless–I may as well have been sitting on bare bones. It was excrutiating, and I’m still hurting today. I think I’m going to need to invest in one of those stadium seats before too long…

Anyway, back to the dodgeball… I have to admit, when my son told me about his Jailball Tournament, I was a little skeptical. He’s been ‘drafted’ by a team he didn’t really know because he had a ‘quality.’ There was a long explanation of the ‘quality,’ and then I didn’t ever see it exhibited during the games. Curious.  But anyway, he was drafted, and every team member had to pay $5 to participate. He couldn’t tell me what the money was going towards, and it sort of sounded like a scam.

When we arrived Friday night, I asked the lady charging $1 for spectator tickets if it was a fundraiser, and she said, “I guess you could call it that.” Huh? Nonetheless, I trudged in to sit in the stands and see what this was all about. Turns out it was awesome! Waaay more exciting than most sports I’ve watched. Basically there were twenty teams of ten kids each, and they played to fill in one of those bracket charts like they use for the Final Four. Can you tell I’m not a huge sports fan?? When the clock started, two teams, each strategically positioned on either side of the half court line of the school’s basketball court, had three minutes to hit as many kids as possible on the opposite team and put them in ‘jail,’ which was behind the basket of the opposing team. In order to get out of jail, a locked-up team mate had to catch a dodgeball in the air that had been thrown by a free team mate from across the court.   Another quirk…when the timer ran down to the last minute, a team could throw one of two yellow dodgeballs and hit the opposite basketball backboard.  If that happened, everyone got out of jail in one fell swoop.  Whoever had fewer players in jail at the end of the three minutes won. 

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I know, I’m not making it sound all that interesting or thrilling…or addictive.  But it so was!!  They cranked up the music for each round–they played Journey twice!!–and the intensity was crazy!  Some of these kids could have been in The Matrix!  Seriously–their dodging was that good!  What made it so cool was that a team made up of mostly bulky football team 8th graders could be routed in the final seconds by a mostly 6th grade (slightly scrawny) team, with one really good throw.  It was a wild way to spend a Friday night.  I think I might have missed my calling though.  I think I was meant to be a professional dodgeball referee, wielding a whistle.  I can picture it now…

As always, I offer you a little peak at a few of this year’s display quilts from the 2011 Houston International Quilt Show.

It was as crowded as ever this year, and the quilts were very…interesting. Interesting as in, ‘what would ever possess someone to create a quilt from this subject matter?’ and ‘what could they possibly plan on doing with it?’ As always though, the craftsmanship displayed was incredible. Enjoy!