TOPIC: Re: Any truth to the rumor...

And then the Zombie Hitler was eaten by the giant tarasque!

<br />And then the Zombie Hitler was eaten by the giant tarasque!<br />

<br /><br />Good.  I hated that guy!

<br />Hmmm...since you are from MA, I would guess basketball and volleyball.<br /><br />The third was "synchronized corduroy fire-starting".<br />

<br /><br />DING DING DING!<br /><br />The basketball and volleyball part, anyway!    Basketball was invented in Springfield, MA, and Volleyball was invented just a couple cities over in Holyoke, MA.  (I think there is some uncertainty re: basketball).

Well the Mayan's had a game that resembled basketball.

Yeah, the game wherein they had to use their elbows and/or knees to hit a ball through a vertical hoop, right?<br />

yah I though basketball was canadian in origin.

<br />Yeah, the game wherein they had to use their elbows and/or knees to hit a ball through a vertical hoop, right?<br /><br />

<br /><br />sounds more like soccer / rugby

It was played in a round-ish court with 2 hoops, one at each end and to score points you got the ball threw the hoop. I'm not sure about the rest and I seem to remember there being something about severed heads.<br /><br />And yes the hoop was verticle and not horizontal but it was also made of stone. 

<br />It was played in a round-ish court with 2 hoops, one at each end and to score points you got the ball threw the hoop. I'm not sure about the rest and I seem to remember there being something about severed heads.<br /><br />And yes the hoop was verticle and not horizontal but it was also made of stone.  <br />

<br /><br />pertty sure the severed heads was a loser pays sort of thing.

I have visited the ball courts in Coba and Chitzen Itza.  In Xcaret I had the opportunity to watch an exhibition game.  It was a fascinating experience.  To my understanding nobody is really sure about all the rules, and the courts are different in each ruin.  The hoops at Chitzen Itza were about 25 feet above the ground.  It was a marvel there because of the acoustics.  At one end of the ball court you could talk in a normal voice and be heard at the other end some 500 feet away.  In Coba there were two courts and they were somewhat different if I remember right.  At Xcaret there was an inclined ramp up to the hoops on either side.  Sometimes the games were ceremonial religious events and other times seemed to be more like Saturday afternoon softball or touch football game.  There is some disagreement as to the results.  For a long time I had been told that the losers were sacrificed at the end of the game--which could last all day long, but I also heard that the entire game was elaborate symbology for astromical events and marking the equinox etc.  In that scenario the captain of the winning team willingly bowed his head to the losing team and was beheaded because he had "won" the right to join the gods.  In other areas nobody seems to have been sacrificed.  Who knows?<br /><br /> www.mrmoore.net/UNIT%209%20ANCIENT%20AMERICAS/MayanBallcourt.pdf <br /><br />

That must have been fascinating, Widseth!  Thanks for the info!<br />

Welp, it's judgment day. I just got back from casting my vote and doing my part. Now all that's left is to hope that Corzine goes down like a 3 dollar ho.