Kickball, Barbed Wire, and Cujo

Posted by Brad

As you all should know by now I am the P.E. Teacher for Pre K - 12th grade. It has been my desire to provide a quality program. I have also wanted to find the next Albert Puljos to sign for the Cardinals. I mean I would settle for a power hitting second baseman but I digress. I know that there is a left-handed hitting/right-handed throwing first basegirl in the pre-kindergarten class but I want to expand my horizon's. Since it has been cold I have been using the time to develop arm strength and throwing motion by using bean bags, that I had made, inside. Well, spring has sprung (at least it was warm today). I have taken the students (6th & 7th grade) outside for KICKBALL. I figured that it was a great introductory game for my ultimate goal of baseball. I figured that I would have the normal problems with first time gamers (running from the ball instead of to the ball; running to third from home instead of first; etc) Not a problem. The main problem is that we are playing on a dirt (really small gravel and dirt) soccer field. Even that is not really the issue. The real problem is the spear shaped fence posts topped with barbed wire and protected by Cujo (in various Chinese manifestations). If you kick the ball foul, well, you are fouled up. Today, we were playing and the ball was kicked high and deep. To quote the immortal Harry Carey (R.I.P.) "It could be, It might be, It.....is punctured by the spear shaped fence post". So the kickballs that we have (three to be exact; two I brought back from my recent hurried trip to the states and the other belongs to a student from Georgia, which by the way gives me someone to talk SEC smack to, which with the way the Razorbacks have been playing may not be much..but hey how about that Track Program WOOOOOO PIG SOOOOOIE!) are very precious. The game was called in the bottom of the fourth due to lack of air in the ball. But do not fear! I asked our business manager if he though we could get the ball patched at the bicycle shop. He said he would check and two hours later...... there was the ball with a black rubber patch... as good as new!

I also teach an elective entitled "Strategies for Life". It is about things that a teen and pre-teen should know to help them succeed in life. Since it was so warm today I determined that playing kickball was a very valuable skill for teens and pre-teens. So off we headed for an afternoon game. All was going well until a foul ball crossed the fence into Cujoland. It bounced once and was bitten by a very large dog. The dog turned out to be rather friendly but we are not sure what language he speaks. We asked him in Chinese, Korean, English, Dog and Arkansan to give us the ball back and he didn't. I am thinking that he is adding it to his collection of things... chewed plastic bowl, shredded mattress, poop (dried); heavy metal chain (attached) and various unidentifiable articles. So goes it. We still have two kickballs left.