Photos: Derek Hayn
It seemed like the sociable thing to do, signing up for the Badminton Open at the home office, forming a team with my marketing colleague Chris. Show the departmental flag, what, what! Hail fellows well met on the playing fields of Centerbrook! Pip, pip, cheerio, and all that tommyrot!
How hard could it be? It was badminton ? and we?d be playing against architects.
The first inkling that things were trending awry was when Chris and I, both total novices, were paired in the opening round with last year?s championship team of Ted and Matt. Ted looks like he might have played a little football in school, and Matt can shoot scratch golf on any given day.
It wasn?t exactly trash talking that erupted, but the incoming emails were on the pithy side, for example: ?Are we playing today?? Ted mentioned as we passed in the hallway that he was a practitioner of the martial arts. ?Oh, yea, well, bully for you,? I shot back, adding that I had a degree in the language arts.
Adam, a former champion who is on injured reserve this fall, swung by my desk and revealed that some of the combatants, oops, competitors actually practice the sport repeatedly before their matches. Until then, Chris and I thought we were ahead of the curve, having Googled the rules. There will be a judge on hand, we learned, because differences of opinions do flare up. I almost inquired sarcastically if there would be instant replay, before realizing I should leave well enough alone.
As he was departing, Adam suggested offhandedly that protective eyewear would be a good idea.
Badminton began innocently enough as a game played by children in India during the 18th century. It was known by the more lyrical name of battledore and shuttlecock (for the paddle and ball with feathers, respectively). There was no net, and it wasn?t a competition so much as a way to while away the time. British colonials took it up and brought it home with them. It was particularly popular chez the manor of the Duke of Beaufort, Badminton House, hence it?s modern appellation. It has been an Olympic sport since 1992.
Just before the birdies flew in earnest, I announced that I would be blogging about our match. It appeared to unnerve the dynamic duo for a millisecond. Enjoy the photos taken by Derek during the match. Unfortunately, the final results were not available at press time? but based on the photo below, you probably can divine the outcome.
Source: http://centerbrook.com/blog/2011/10/badminton-cage-match/
breast cancer awareness month breast cancer awareness month when does ios 5 come out when does ios 5 come out bad lip reading barbara walters julianne hough
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.