# Whatever happened to Tetherball? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 22, 2000, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112 "2000-01-22T13:31:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/1 "2000-01-22T13:31:00Z")
Remember that wonderful game from the school yards, tetherball? How come you never see it around anymore? Signed, To short to hit the ball but I liked it just the same. * * * “Her only flair is in her nostrils.” ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/2 "2000-01-22T16:59:00Z")
Are you kidding? There are 12 tetherball courts on the campus playground where I teach, and I have to blow my whistle, shout, threaten and warn with every recess bell to prevent a stampede of students from charging them. They’re still around, and still very popular, if only at the elementary schools where I’ve taught. * * * I used to think the world was against me. Now I know better: Some of the smaller countries are neutral. [Laura’s Stuff and Things](http://members.aol.com/lrconaway) ---
**Author:** ![Ursa\_Major](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a88e57/32.png) [@Ursa\_Major](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ursa_Major)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2000, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/3 "2000-01-23T06:25:00Z")
Tetherball courts are pretty high maintainance compared to other pieces of playground equipment. Unless someone actually brings in the balls and tethers every night, the elements will make short work of them in a matter of months. The ones at my elementary school always seemed to have flat balls or frayed tethers. They were more often tools for the more imaginative bullies than impliments of sport. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/4 "2000-01-22T19:32:00Z")
Speaking of tortorous playground games, anyone remember “Red Rover, Red Rover” where a group of kids lined up and held hands, forming a human chain. The object was to prevent another kid from running through the chain. Oh. My. God. ---
**Author:** ![Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/97f17d/32.png) [@Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nu_Vo_Da_Da)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/5 "2000-01-22T19:37:00Z")
Hey! I loved that game… As for tetherball, no one ever used it at my elementary school-the equipment was there, but no one wanted to play. (always seemed like a pretty boring game to me, especially when theres something more interesting, like kickball or soccer available) ---
**Author:** ![hightechburrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@hightechburrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hightechburrito)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2000, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/6 "2000-01-23T08:22:00Z")
HAHAHAHA!! All you who miss the beloved grade school game hail me! I have a tetherball in my backyard! The fact that I haven’t used it in years is another issue. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2000, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/7 "2000-01-23T17:11:00Z")
IIRC, the teatherballs at my elementary school were taken in after every recess. Of course, I might not be remembering correctly. ---
**Author:** ![Gr8Kat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gr8kat/32/18668_2.png) [@Gr8Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gr8Kat)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/8 "2000-01-24T00:19:00Z")
I had a tetherball in my backyard at my old house, but it eventually went flat and we didn’t have a needlevalve to reinflate it. Then it got kind of moldy. So we took the ball off the pole and strung lights from it to the ground, made one of those fake “Christmas tree” decorations for the front yard. (The pole was set in an old tire so we could tip it on edge and roll it from place to place–it was portable!) * * * “I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy [The Kat House](http://members.aol.com/gr8kat1/KatGen/home.htm) [Join the FSH Muscular Dystrophy Webring](http://members.aol.com/gr8kat1/KatGen/fshwebring.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/9 "2000-01-24T00:27:00Z")
Lisa, you think Red Rover was tortuous?? Don’t you remember “dodgeball”? If you haven’t seen Billy Madison, it is well worth it if only for the dodgeball scene! Laghed my ass off! And, as for games you don’t see anymore, remember 4 square? I loved that game. * * * “It is now proved beyond doubt that smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics.” ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/10 "2000-01-24T00:38:00Z")
We have tetherball at my school. I with I could get a hold of the rules to that game because the game the students play only slightly resemble real tetherball. One day I came upon a boy who had a girl’s hand pinned to the pole with the rope. The rope was so tight that she was standing there crying. While the people in line just stood there and watched…Why do I get the feeling my school is a breeding ground for criminal? * * * –Gail “Predictable, really I suppose. It was an act of purest optimism to have posed the question in the first place.” --John Cleese ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/11 "2000-01-24T00:40:00Z")
criminals—I mean criminals, darn it. ---
**Author:** ![Bluepony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Bluepony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bluepony)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/12 "2000-01-24T02:48:00Z")
I used to like winding the tetherball around the pole real high so nobody could get at it. Usually me and a few kids would do it to all the tetherballs in the recess yard and we’d laugh hysterically the entire day. And some days the Ritalin would kick in and we’d just go play dodge ball or kickball. * * * “…send lawyers, guns, and money…” ``` Warren Zevon ``` ---
**Author:** ![Lawrence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/2bfe46/32.png) [@Lawrence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lawrence)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/13 "2000-01-24T04:18:00Z")
First, tetherball is a pretty stupid game and kids wasting their time playing it during recess should probably be directed by their teachers toward other games that are more fun, like, say, tag or kickball or just playing on the swings. Second, as I recall the rules, they’re pretty simple. You’re supposed to wind the ball around the pole on your side, if that explains anything… That is, you bang the shit out of the ball if it’s coming around your team’s way, and if it’s coming around the pole in the other team’s way, then you block it and then bang the shit out of it to turn it around. Dumb game, especially if you’re about four feet tall and the ball is five feet off the ground. The kids should be playing volleyball or soccer or some other real sport. The problem is that first grade teachers can’t be bothered, and boy, do they need a rest during recess, so you can’t blame them. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/14 "2000-01-24T06:18:00Z")
I still have post-traumatic repressed tetherball memories that sometimes crop up. I was about seven and playing tetherball at a friend’s house with his sister. Unbeknownst to me my friend was on a little hill chunking rocks at us. Just as the ball came around to me his sister screamed “look out!” and the next thing I knew I was laying in the back seat of my mom’s '59 Ford Country Squire wagon bleeding all over her lap from a dandy head wound. They stitched me up at the hospital but not after bringing the cops in as they suspected child abuse. For years I was convinced there must have been a rock inside the tetherball. I’ve gotten over that but still have a scar on my scalp that will turn into a Mike-Tysonesque accent as my hairline receeds. FWIW I have never seen another home tetherball court aside from that one. * * * Come let us go, I’ve a cask of amontillado. ---
**Author:** ![Zulu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a9adbd/32.png) [@Zulu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulu)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/15 "2000-01-24T08:48:00Z")
We had tetherballs at my elementary school (this was about 6 or 7 years ago) and they were put out at recess and lunchtime, and brought back in after. No one ever bothered to tell us how to play, though. The first and only time I played Red Rover Red Rover was in grade 12 acting class. For whatever reason, the teacher said we could have ‘play time’ outside. The school was built in a big park, so there was already a little playground set up. We played tag, ‘Giants, Elves, and Wizards’ (that’s like Rock, Paper, Scissors, but combined with tag), Red Rover Red Rover, and some other games. At one point in RR, I was at the end of the line. The guy holding my hand said “I’m sorry if I hurt you, but I’m not letting go!” A big kid went between that guy and whoever was on the other side of him. The line started to go down like dominoes, and I was jack-knifed around and landed hard on my knee right on top of that guy…another 3 inches north, and my knee would’ve hit his crotch _wince_ Funnest day of class I’d ever had! ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/16 "2000-01-24T15:03:00Z")
> [@](#): > > And, as for games you don’t see anymore, remember 4 square? I loved that game. At Trinity College (the one in Hartford, CT, as opposed to the zillion other colleges and universities by that name), where I went to college, we played Four-Square in one of the courtyards on many weekend evenings. (This was in the early to mid '70s.) It was a lot of fun - speed and dexterity were everything, and there were no permanent winners and losers in the game. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/17 "2000-01-24T15:19:00Z")
Four square? I loved four square. We invented out own style of four square called: Soccer Style Four Square and could only use our head, chest or feet. This was long before the likes of Mia Hamm … I was always a trend setter. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/18 "2000-01-24T15:35:00Z")
> [@](#): > > This was long before the likes of Mia Hamm … I was always a trend setter. Yes, but how do you look in a sport bra? 😉 * * * Buses stop at bus stations; trains stop at train stations. There’s a work station on my desk. ---
**Author:** ![Vestal\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5e9695/32.png) [@Vestal\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vestal_Blue)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/19 "2000-01-24T16:27:00Z")
Hail yourself, HTB! We’ve got one also! my daughter is the tetherball Champeen of the world! (so I tell her! 🙂 ) BTW, if you’re looking for a professional grade Tetherball, try Gart Sports. * * * VB Remember, you can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish! ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2000, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112/20 "2000-01-24T22:16:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I used to like winding the tetherball around the pole real high so nobody could get at it. Usually me and a few kids would do it to all the tetherballs in the recess yard and we’d laugh hysterically the entire day. You bastard! ROFLMAO! Dude, you wanna go wrap the swings around the top pole with me tonight, so all the kiddies have to climb up and fall on their asses!!?? Woo hoo! I’ll bring the Schlitz! 😉 * * * “It is now proved beyond doubt that smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-tetherball/13112.md?page=2)