Obviously, this summer has been a "golden season" of sorts for the sporting world, the likes of which only come around every four summers or so. It started with the NBA playoffs and then went on to include the Euro 2008 Championship in soccer, a baseball playoff race that's heating up, and of course the thus far fantastic Beijing Olympics.
But in my last column this summer, I don't want to talk about any of that. I want to talk about an activity that occurred in summers long ago on sun-drenched playgrounds of our youth. I want to talk about four square.
You all know what I'm referring to, right? The game where there are four squares, one rubber ball and four people? The game where you'd try to advance through the squares to the position of king by effectively getting other people eliminated from squares above you in hierarchy? Ringing bells?
I love to think back to those elementary school days before playgrounds became fortresses of safety and there was such a thing as a "playground rule." I like to think back to the days when a large rubber ball could be hurled at opponents from close range with impunity.
I remember the various rules that eventually became etched in my mind forever. Some of my favorites include the "bus stop," where the king places the ball in the middle of the court and the last player to place their hand on the ball is eliminated. Another is the "cherry bomb," where a player would slam the ball hard into the ground and watching it fly high into the air to an almost certain elimination for the person's who job it is to retrieve the cruel play. Other classic moves include "black magic," "poison," "slams" and "whips."
And who can forget the phenomenon in four square known as "war?" When two players cannot decide on who should be out, a one-point, two-box one-on-one match occurs to decide who is eliminated. It can't get much more intense than that.
Where has four square gone? Global, as it turns out. Britain, Australia, Germany, Canada and South Africa all have their own forms of four square. I was delighted to stumble across the website for The International 4-Square League (www.4squareleague.com), and apparently there are world championships held every January or February in Brighton, Maine, for adults around the globe. For you enthusiasts out there, the next world championship is being held on February 28, 2009.
I classified four square earlier as an "activity," but why not go a little further and formally classify it a sport. The game requires impeccable hand-eye coordination, ingenuity, deception (if you pull of a no-look "snake eyes" shot), foot speed, instincts and guts. Furthermore, the game on playgrounds across the country has helped mold millions of American children into the fine people they are today, not unlike more traditional sports that foster self-confidence and a healthy competitiveness. It has all the trademarks of America's favorite sports: fast-pace and competitive action centered around the projection of rubberized spheres.
I'm feeling bold, so let's take this a step further. I've already detailed how the game is international in appeal and how elementary school children and investment banker adults alike are drawn to the four square court. As we turn on the television and watch one of the 302 events of this year's Beijing Olympics, why can't we discuss making four square the 303rd event?
Give me three good reasons why not, and I'll drop the subject. But consider this: if synchronized swimming, roque (who's ever heard of roque?), and tug of war have all been Olympic sports, why can't four square become one? In 1904, the lone Olympic year that roque appeared in, the United States was the only country to field a team. Four square can't be any more of a failure than that!
Not to mention the fact that the United States would likely kick other countries around in four square. In this year's four square world championship, the Americans took home first place in the women's competition, the men's and women's senior competition and the team competition. With China threatening our Summer Olympic dominance, why not leave another few medals up for grabs that the United States would likely get?
It really is little wonder why the game has been so popular for so many, and why I am still nostalgic for the day when four square was the highlight of my school day. While seemingly all our childhood innocence has been swept away by the passage of time (and puberty), long lost in the age of commercialized sex and alcoholic revelry, four square remains -- a game that molds children into men and women. A game that I will always think back on fondly when I remember summers past.
