Adam found a tennis ball at work on Friday and began throwing it against the exposed brick wall of our office. It immediately reminded me of my all-time
Tennis Ball by yuckbananas
favourite playground game, Red Ass (according to Wikipedia, “AKA known as Butts Up ((AKA, “Butt Ball“, “Buns Up“, “Wall Ball“, “Suicide“, “No Fear“, “Red Butt“, “Red-A“, “Red Ass“, “Sting“,or “Burn” or “Asses Up”…)
Basically, you played in a group throwing a ball against a wall and were penalized for fumbling by getting the ball whipped at your backside. I had the best Red-Ass ball of all time – a tennis ball with all the
fuzz removed. It had sweet bounces and you really felt that sting when
you got hit. I roofed it behind my Grandpa’s garage.
The game has are all sorts of variations. Adam (from Toronto) played a count-down version spelling out R-e-d A-s-s. The Frankford Public School (Go Falcons!) version played circa 1986, was a timed game played over recess. What do you want to bet kids aren’t allowed to play this game during recess anymore?
photo credit: Tennis Ball uploaded by yuckbananas
