I follow two sports: Baseball and football and that’s it. Hockey doesn’t interest me (Sorry, I just can’t get into it. Maybe it’s cuz I’m in St Louis and the Blues are always letting us down in the playoffs.) I also agree with Hail Ants’ thread about basketball being flawed.
So I’ve decided to implement a new sport to be played between the end football season and the beginning of baseball season. The problem: How do you begin making up a sport? I’ve thought of maybe combining football and baseball somehow. Maybe full contact baseball or something. Any suggestions?
3 teams. A giant oval pitch.15 players a team. players are padded. the rules are do anything to get the ball into an oppositions goal. no kicking, no biting, no gouging.
5 minutes from the end, a huge siren would sound and the Referee would scream “MULTIBALL!!!” 3 more balls would be fired into the arena. It should be called “Twistball”
either that or go down to your nearest Irish Bar and see if they show Gaelic Football or Hurling. Americans should be shown that. It totally rocks as a game
Rugby, for all it’s football appearances, has much closer relations to soccer and basketball, without the obvious flaws of either. Play rugby, it’ll make you feel good.
It’s played in a three dimensional arena called a Farn,and the basic move utilised in traversing from one side of the arena to the other is called an Arckle.
The sports itself is rather gladitorial, hence body armour and a measure of agility are a prerequisite. Simple weapons such as clubs are optional, but are often clumsy to wield in the micro-gravity environment in which the game takes place. Remember Newton’s laws of motion?
**Here’s where I need a little help in fleshing out the details of the game, eg what is the object of the game, how many players, scoring etc.
So, fellow Dopers, let’s invent the sport of Farnarckling!
Have you ever heard of Hooverball? It was conceived by our 31st president Herbert Hoover.
What he did was combine tennis, volleyball and a medicine ball.
The medicine ball was tossed over the net and the other team would catch the thing and without missing a beat, heave it over to the other side again. I suppose the ball could not be spiked as in regular volleyball lest the players suffer dolorous wrist injuries. The game was scored like tennis.
I would watch this game with relish in those long winter months.
I think some considered Hooverball president Hoover’s greatest contribution to the US during his term in office.
LOL. Twist, I love your idea, because it is basically pinball, with real people.
My idea, is basically take the rules of basketball, eliminate dribbling, but can only take 3 steps before you pass. But instead of a basketball, they’ll use a shot-put! Also, you can hit the other players with the ball.
I can picture it now: first there’s the tip off, and then the guy who grabs the shotput first slams it down on the other person’s head. The teams would have to include over a hundred people just to keep up with the players who were out due to injury.
Ok, Farnarckling - 10 players to a team, just cuz 10 is a nice round number. I’d like to standardize the size of the clubs allowed, though to keep things fair. All blows with the club must be restricted to the torso area.
The object of the game is to arckle the Farnball across the field and back again for points. Arckling is the act of tossing the ball laterally across the field to anyone else on your team until you get to the safe zone on the other side. You have 5 tries to get to the other side, no 1st downs or anything - 5 tries to one end and 5 tries back and you lose the ball. Meanwhile, while you are arckling the Farnball back and forth to your teammates, the defense can knock the Farnball or any member of the offense with their clubs at any time once the Farnball is in motion. The offense may do likewise to the defense to get them the hell out of the way. The field is 50 meters long. You get 5 points for reaching one end of the field and 5 for getting back. Offense controls the ball as long as they score, but defense can take the ball at any time once it is in motion. There’s also the same guys playing offense and defense.
I think an important aspect of creating a sport would be listing all the elements we would like to see in it. I personally like the multi-ball rule. I would suggest the following:
Somehow incorporate those jai-alai scoops into the game, maybe for the serve.
The penalty for breaking the rules should be the loss of safety equipment. (“Nigel has 3 fouls, he’ll have to finish the game without his helmet. One more and he’ll lose his cup”)
It should be played outside, in any type of weather.
That’s all I can think of right now.
Fouls/game infringements? BTW, you noted that one dimension of the field is 50 meters. What about the other?
Can we throw the farn or bat it or kick it or what? Gloves/mitts, special bats or nets, helmets, and what cannot be hit by the opponents, and what can you hit with, etc?
What about jerseys? Do we want creative names?
FWIW, this sounds somewhat like ultimate frisbee with football mixed in.
Has anyone seen Blood of Heroes? The movie with Rutger Hauer. Anybody creating a game should watch watch the movie to get a some good ideas the game in that kicks ass. Even the naked chicks and sex were part of the prize for the winners.
