Do you remember PE as a kid? In my day, we were required to learn a spectrum of sports and their rules. Baseball, basketball, wrestling, flag football, volleyball, trampoline, track and, at the end of the year, we competed for the coveted President’s Physical Fitness Award. We even boxed!
On days when our coaches were not really interested in working or they wanted to reward us for the miserable things they had heaped upon us in previous classes — does anyone remember wind sprints? — we were allowed to play dodgeball. When that glorious compound word was announced, a joyous cheer went up. Without instruction or coercion, boys divided themselves into two teams, an equal number of balls were distributed to both sides, and when the whistle blew, primordial warlike screams echoed throughout the gymnasium as balls filled the air.
