(no subject)
let me fill you all in at the glory that is CARLETON. FREE BEER!
the ultimate tradition has yet again been completed, that being the sport of rotblatt. the history of rotblatt is quite amazing, though unfortunately i do not know dates. it was named after a white sox pitcher, who in his professional career, never pitched. as the story comes from my parents, the game used to be intramural (i hope i spelled that right). the men's division was rotblatt, the women's was wombat (origin of name unknown to me). the principle of the game, softball with beer. in my parents' days, the beer was not as prevalent, yet still a part of the game. i think every player used to need a bottle, for they had no cans, of beer and a glove. when the ball came flying, the decision came down to the ball, or the beer. that is the lore i have picked up from the parents, and their days of 1970's college life.
yet the oh so more recent traditions, which unfortunately are not still around, involve a much higher amount of drinking. the batter, using one hand, for the other has a beer, must hit the ball and run to the base without dripping, for if he drips, he must do a kegstand (i must say at this point that there is a keg at every base). i think if he even ran, he must chug the beer, for this was a game of NO effort. the game goes on for as many innings as the age of the school. this is what i think to be of the rotblatt tradition of the past decade.
recently however, the man has been sticking it to us royally. the rules of the game have been enforced and effort has been included. the beer is still present (in large amounts) yet no chugging, no kegstands. it starts at 6:00 in the morning and runs till about 5:30. people run to bases, hit the ball with one hand, throw and catch all one handed (in theory). there were many out there who blatantly disobeyed the "rules" and had no beer. needless to say, it was a muddy and happy day for those who played (and those who didn't, because i was unfortunately just a drunken spectator, but next year...)
correction to a post of mine...the school does not pay for it, but the "tradition" is sponsored by local businesses. we had this year 138 innings. urban legend (it could be true) ESPN came to carleton to interview those involved with the longest running IM game. once they figured out it was a binge-fest, they abandoned the report and got drunk instead.
the ultimate tradition has yet again been completed, that being the sport of rotblatt. the history of rotblatt is quite amazing, though unfortunately i do not know dates. it was named after a white sox pitcher, who in his professional career, never pitched. as the story comes from my parents, the game used to be intramural (i hope i spelled that right). the men's division was rotblatt, the women's was wombat (origin of name unknown to me). the principle of the game, softball with beer. in my parents' days, the beer was not as prevalent, yet still a part of the game. i think every player used to need a bottle, for they had no cans, of beer and a glove. when the ball came flying, the decision came down to the ball, or the beer. that is the lore i have picked up from the parents, and their days of 1970's college life.
yet the oh so more recent traditions, which unfortunately are not still around, involve a much higher amount of drinking. the batter, using one hand, for the other has a beer, must hit the ball and run to the base without dripping, for if he drips, he must do a kegstand (i must say at this point that there is a keg at every base). i think if he even ran, he must chug the beer, for this was a game of NO effort. the game goes on for as many innings as the age of the school. this is what i think to be of the rotblatt tradition of the past decade.
recently however, the man has been sticking it to us royally. the rules of the game have been enforced and effort has been included. the beer is still present (in large amounts) yet no chugging, no kegstands. it starts at 6:00 in the morning and runs till about 5:30. people run to bases, hit the ball with one hand, throw and catch all one handed (in theory). there were many out there who blatantly disobeyed the "rules" and had no beer. needless to say, it was a muddy and happy day for those who played (and those who didn't, because i was unfortunately just a drunken spectator, but next year...)
correction to a post of mine...the school does not pay for it, but the "tradition" is sponsored by local businesses. we had this year 138 innings. urban legend (it could be true) ESPN came to carleton to interview those involved with the longest running IM game. once they figured out it was a binge-fest, they abandoned the report and got drunk instead.