Still sore from Memorial Day’s Murph and knowing that some Gipper regulars pleaded for but did not receive mercy from Chewy yesterday at Grandmother’s House, YHC planned a morning of fun and games. The aforementioned Gipper regulars must have really needed a break because the Mandeville clown car never materialized out of the Gloom. So the rest of us got on with it and after a brief disclaimer and a warmup of Seal Jacks, Windmills, Butt Kicks, Toe Touches, SSHs, and High Knees headed over to the Justice Center for the Thang.
YHC coned off a good size square, produced a lacrosse ball, and we started a passing game with consequences. After counting off, the PAX starting moving within the square, bounce passing the lacrosse ball to one another in order. A dropped pass resulted in penalty exercises, among them Tuck Jumps, Sister Mary Katherines, Merkins, Mission Impossible, Box Cutters, Pickle Pounders, and J-Los.
The PAX mastered the first level quickly, and it was time for YHC to add some complexity. We counted off again, changing the passing order to keep everyone mentally sharp, and added the requirement of leaving the square to round a cone after making a pass and before receiving the next pass with a prohibition against using the same cone twice. We continued in this vein for the rest of the beat down, adding levels of difficulty. Not only did we keep changing the passing order, but we required each passing PAX to leave the square and perform an exercise (2 burpees, a star jump, an 8 count body builder, 2 plank jacks, and ice skater hops) before reentering the square to receive the next pass. For one game, we even prohibited the use of your strong hand…so a right hander could only use his left hand. The ambidextrous Jose had a distinct advantage here but since we were all in it together that didn’t make much of a difference. There were lots of penalty exercises, especially as the speed of the game accelerated and fatigue set in. However, YHC is proud to report that the level of play increased significantly with each game.
Countorama, nameorama and Cowbell prayed us out once we made it back to the Trailhead.
Thanks for letting me lead guys. See you in the Gloom.
