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Need a Hand?
Your Next Project Starts with Brownstoner
Ah, here it is…we played this against a wall or more often the stoop. There were lots of variations on the ‘moves’, which changed from block to block, neighborhood to neighborhood.
http://bk.ly/sFO
“We called the game ‘Seven-Up’.
Now I don’t do sketches or photos here so I’m simply going to describe the moves. But first the equipment. Nothing needed except a smooth shed wall (the ridges in regular house siding will make the game almost impossible) or windowless garage wall, and a 2†or 3†diameter soft bouncy rubber ball. The ground in front of the chosen spot should be level, free from debris, and firm. It could probably be played in a shop or garage as well as long as the ceiling is not too low.
The goal is to complete all the moves in sequence without error. A dropped ball, a flawed move, and back you go to start all over again. And as easy as the game seems, for a youngster it can be difficult.
These are the moves.
Seven-seys: Throw the ball against the wall 7 times and catch it.
Six-seys: Throw the ball against the ball, allow it to come back and bounce on the ground once, then catch it. (6 times)
Five-seys: Bounce the ball on the ground five times and catch it.
Four-seys: Throw the ball against the wall when it comes back, divert it with the palm of your hand, and without catching it, bounce it twice on the ground, then divert it with the palm to bounce off the wall, then catch it. (4 times)
Three-seys: Bounce the ball on the ground once then divert it with the palm of your hand against the wall and when it bounces back catch it. (3 times)
Two-seys: Throw the ball under one leg against the wall and when it bounces back, catch it. (2 times)
One-seys: Throw the ball against the wall, then spin around quickly, and catch it without letting it hit the ground. (once).”
benson, Please don’t lecture me on NYC street games! I know how to play stoop ball. I grew up HERE! It’s this other game I can’t quite recall all the rules for.
What I’m talking about is a game you could play alone or with a friend. It was called 7-UP or 17-UP (?) and there were variations. You had to throw the ball at the stoop, and when it bounced back catch it. But you had to do things like clap your hands in between the toss and the catch. You’d throw it once, clap, catch, and do that two times more, then 3 times more, then keep going progressively until you hit 7 or 17 (I can’t remember which), and then work your way back down again? Unless you screwed up and then you had to start over.
Denton;
Your memory is slipping! At least in my neck of the woods, boxball was not a variant of handball. Handball was played with both opponents facing a wall. The ball was hit against the wall, and your opponent had to hit it on the rebound. In boxball, you faced each other on the sidewalk. You stood at a distance of two sidewalk “boxes” and the game was played in much the same way as ping-pong. you had to slap the ball to your opponent, but it had to land in your box.
“benson, we had a variant of handball in our nabe that was called either boxball or Chinese handball.”
Chinese handball? DIBS is feverishly searching for a league to join now.
CH;
Stoopball consisted of facing the stoop at a distance of about 10 feet from the bottom step. One literally pitched to the stoop as fast as possible, and then your opponent tried to catch the ball on the rebound. Effectively, the stoop was the “batter”.
Each time one caught the ball, you received points. The number of points was dependent upon where the ball hit the stoop, as that would determine its velocity on the rebound. For example, if the ball hit the corner of the stoop just right, it would rebound at a very high velocity and you would receive top points. Usually stoop ball was played with two people. One would throw the ball towards the stoop, the other would catch it on the rebound. The idea was to make a difficult pitch for your opponent. The game was played at a very fast pace.
what was the game with the soda bottle caps?
benson, we had a variant of handball in our nabe that was called either boxball or Chinese handball.
Biff, i’ll definitely check that movie out… in the office now, no speakers.
I have to say that I am pleasantly reminded of my youth at the condo where I live, even though it is located in the land of supposedly uptight stroller-moms, Park Slope. Most of the units have 3 bedrooms, so there are alot of kids in the complex. As soon as the weather is warm, all the kids are in front having fun.
One of my most plesant recent memories was last March 18th, the birthday of my recently-departed and belowved Westie. My wife used to have a birthday party for the dog, and invited our direct neighbor’s kids. The next day this kid was bragging to the other kids that she had gone to my Westie’s B-day party. They became jealous. My wife had to bake a batch of cupcakes, and they had a another party for my dog, in front of the building. About ten kids surrounded my dog in a circle, singing Happy Birthday to him. Of course, my dog had no idea what the hell was going on, but it made my wife and me happy.
I don’t want to do streaming video – I would prefer to download and play later…
because highspeed internet is not highspeed even thouhg we pay for highspeed(and this really bugs me) and big TV is too far(upstairs) from wireless router so computer doesn’t pick signal all the time.
So – can I download from netflix (the free stuff ) and play later?