From "Play" to "Game

Well, I am posting this blog in a state of moderate anger and bitterness because Michigan has just fallen short against that team from down south. I understand that it is only a game, but I often feel like it is much more than that, I become so immersed in the game that I take things out of context. For example, I will shout profanities at the television when something does not go the way that I was hoping, or I will have to resort to exercising my 2nd Amendment in order to blow off some steam (#'Merica). I often feel  inferior to the opponent when we lose on the gridiron to Ohio State, but I really shouldn't because deep down I know that we are a far superior University, and I also know that somewhere deep down, the Buckeyes know this to be true.

Anyways, I decided that I wanted to write a blog that tied in the football game, so I looked back through my notes, and I found the lecture that we talked about games (I think this was during the GSI week). During this lecture, I remember that half the room was given the task of defining the term "game" and the other half of the room was to define the word "play." For me, I remember sitting in class trying to think about how I would define either of these two terms, and I honestly had a difficult time coming up with anything other than the fact that games usually have rules set in place and are supposed to determine a clear winner and a clear loser, when "play" was all about having fun. My classmates noted that games usually occur when we engage in some activity that has set rules, but no real meaning. We noted that games usually pit two opposing forces against one another and success is contingent on the use of logic and strategy to defeat the opponent. On the other hand, we characterized "play" as something that has no stakes or a larger influence on an individuals life, and that play is carefree in nature. We noted that play can share some of the same elements as games, but are not the same thing. We stated that both games and play involve rules, imagination.

I found these explanations to be very interesting, because where is it that we make the distinction between "games" and "play?" I mean, most of us would think of a pick-up game of baseball, hockey, or football as play, but what happens when there is always that one guy out there who either takes everything to seriously, botches a call on purpose, or throws a cheap shot. Then what? Does that transform "play" into "game?" And from "play" does "game" emerge?

Personally, I think that "game" does emerge from "play" because I think that to an extent, humans are competitive beings, and we have a desire to prove that we are better than each other. This doesn't only apply to sports, but it also applies to everyday life. I mean, some people find it necessary to spend upwards of $30,000 on a Rolex, when they can buy a $15 dollar watch at Target that have the same functions. It all stems from competition, and who can appear to be the "strongest" and most successful, which is often why we see people spend so much money on luxury items.

http://luxwatchesonline.com/cheap-watches.html

http://www.timeandgems.com/rolex.html

Getting back to games and play, I have a personal story on how something that started out as "play" quickly evolved into something much more than that, and our imaginations got the best of us, and what began as "play" quickly evolved into a "game."

So, back in the summer of 2008, my best friend and I thought it would be a good idea to pull and all nighter just to prove that we could do it, and because we were both pretty immature at the time. Anyways, at about 2:30am we both started to get pretty tired and pretty bored, so we decided that we would drink a couple can of pop to give us a caffeine boost and wake us up a little bit (I chose Pepsi, my friend Mountain Dew). After we drank our cans of pop, we waited about 5 minutes for the sugar and caffeine to start working, which it did; the only problem was that we didn't really know what to do, because we had already played video games for a good 6 hours that day, and were playing roller hockey in his basement for a good 4 hours, so those were both out of the question. We decided to take his dog for a walk, and during this walk we came up with the brilliant idea that we would do his parents a solid and clean the basement when we got back. We returned from our walk, and both went downstairs and started cleaning the basement (while listening to the song "Buttons" by the Pussycat Dolls). About 40 minutes into cleaning the basement, we got pretty bored and started to get a little tired, so we decided to "shotgun" another pop (didn't work all that well) but we were able to get enough in our system to give us another boost. We had made some major progress with the basement, and then my friend said, "You know, my basement kind of looks like a baseball diamond." Eureka! 

 

We quickly began thinking on how we could play some type of baseball down here. My friend quickly found a "softee" baseball, like the one pictured below, and he grabbed a plastic bat that he had had for fun when he was a toddler. We quickly threw a couple of pillows down on the cement basement floor, and then quickly picked a spot for the batter and the pitcher. Then we played for hours! However, for competitive people (like myself and my friend) there is only so much fun that can be had with "play" before we start to get a little restless, and desire higher competition. The first thing that we did was to put up a makeshift batters box and "strike zone" on the wall behind home plate. Next, we had to decide what was an appropriate pitching speed (we only had about 25-30ft from the pitching mound (also 2nd base) and home plate) but we decided that it would be more competitive if we were able to throw as hard as we could. We made some other rules as well, such as fair/foul lines, what constituted a home run, and we also decided that if a ball hit the ceiling, it was considered foul, and if the pitcher could catch the "foul" ball, then the batter was out. We also had to deal with the whole "ghost runner" thing, as well as whether or not we could throw the ball at the person or the base to get someone out. 

For me, this was something that started out as "play" turning into something more than play, it had turned into an actual game with rules, and a set outcome with winners and losers. That next day (we crashed at 9am, and didn't wake up until 5pm) we went to Home Depot and began buying a ton of paint and materials to turn my friends basement into an actual baseball diamond. Of course, we had to check with his parents first, who were surprisingly alright with us transforming their basement. Anyways, as we began creating this field, the game began transforming as well. The field was modeled after Fenway Park in left with a "Green Monster," center was modeled after Yankee Stadium, and right field was modeled after Wrigley Field (ivy included). We then added a scoreboard and created a system of keeping track of wins and loses, which made the competition even more intense. The game has continued to evolve, even though we are both now in college. My friend has made even more additions and even added a hall of fame, where "our" numbers have been retired (we have vivid imaginations), and the neighborhood kids now use my friends basement to "play" the "game" that we created that one summer night. It's really amazing, because from something as simple as a 4am decision to play, came something really complex in the form of an actual game. 

Writing this blog, has really relaxed me from the disappointing loss this afternoon. Although I am still not too happy with the result, I know that I would much rather be a Wolverine than a Buckeye any day. Go Blue!