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Mike Carter Sports Editor With the ending in the SCC basketball season and a short lull in athletic events, the Ebbtide has opted to explore the world of sports, some of them lesser known than others, but all popular for one reason or another. From Indonesia to Afghanistan, the following is a short journey into global gaming. Great Britain: Cricket Similar to American baseball in some respects, cricket ranks as a national sport in the land of royals. The British love the sport, which has subsequently found homes in several commonwealth countries. This relative of baseball would require a Yank to swap bases for wickets, and a pitcher for a bowler. Fielders would acquire unusual names such as gully, slip, long leg, square leg, mid-off and mid-on. The American would also unhappily trade the cylindrical bat for a wide, paddle-shaped one made out of willow wood. The game of cricket is played on a loose rectangular boundary and has two wickets. The bowler tosses the ball in an arc so that it bounces off the ground before reaching the batsman. The batsman's objective is to defend the wicket by stopping the ball or driving it into the field. To score, he must swap positions with another batsman by running from wicket to wicket. If he arrives at the opposing wicket before the ball is returned, a run is scored. Game play is limited to two innings, and may last several days, for it is not uncommon for a batsman to score more than 100 times before being put out. Attempts made to modify the rules to quicken matches led to the famous phrase, "It isn't cricket," which has come to refer to any unfair act. Indonesia: Sepak Takraw Sepak Takraw is a sport that is immensely popular in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia, where players frequently medal in the sport during the Southeast Asian Games. Played on a court similar to badminton with a high net, and with a ball made from plastic or woven from rattan, the sport is a combination of gymnastics, soccer and volleyball. Teams of three players are pitted against one another, without the use of their arms or hands, to kick and head-butt the ball over the net. If the ball hits the ground or touches the net before falling into the opposing court, a point is scored. The rules of Sepak Takraw once allowed taller "sepakkers" (kickers) to dominate the sport, as they used their long legs to strike balls above the net. However, that all changed with the arrival of the legendary sepakker, 5-2 Pak "The Super-Ball" Jursi. Jursi invented a dynamic, air-born cartwheel spike to smash the ball over the net, revolutionizing the sport. During any given match of Sepak Takraw, a sepakker may perform this move more than 100 times. Iran: Polo The sport of polo, perhaps the oldest of all equestrian games, ranks among the oldest organized sports in the world. Historical references to polo date back to fourth century B.C., during the reign of Alexander the Great. It most likely originated somewhere in ancient Persia (present-day Iran), where it is still played to this day. It is theorized that polo served as training for the Persian cavalry. As Alexander swept across Asia, the game followed and spread to countries such as Tibet, India, China and Japan. Polo became popular to the west when British colonials in Punjab, India, witnessed a polo match between local horsemen. The sport was brought back to Europe, where it subsequently spread to countries in North and South America. Polo, with rules similar to ice hockey, sees two teams of horsemen pitted against one another on a 300-by-200 yard field. While on a horse, a polo player uses a long rattan mallet to swat at a ball, attempting to knock it toward an 8-yard-wide goal. Players have six to eight periods, or "chukkers," to score points. Polo is still present and popular at its origin, under the auspices of The Polo Federation of Iran, with local teams pitted against American, British and Moroccan teams. Columbia: Tejo For those residing in the borders of Columbia, the game of tejo is quite possibly the only sport that involves explosives. The game, similar to American horseshoes, has participants attempting to toss an object, usually a ball, stone or disc, onto a target some distance away that contains blasting caps known as "totes." To win the game, a player must set off more blasting caps than his or her opponent. The origin of Tejo is speculative. Some believe it was played among the Chibchas in ancient times. Others hypothesize that Tejo was developed in mining camps when somebody got the idea of throwing rocks at blasting caps for fun. Tejo is commonly played on roadsides in the country, or in beer joints, and is quite popular among Columbians; however, is not exclusive to the nation. The sport has also found a home in Brazil under the name Malha. Afghanistan: Buz Kashi Afghanistan is home to one of the most rugged, bone-breaking sports on the planet. The game of Buz Kashi has been played on the dusty plains of the country for centuries. The rules are relatively simple: two opposing teams, usually consisting of 10 to 12 players, while riding on horseback, play on a field of unspecified size and loose boundaries. The ball, or rather the object of play, is a dead calf or goat that has been beheaded and de-hoofed. The animal carcass is placed in a large circle, 5 to 6 feet in diameter, located in the center of the field. Each team has their own circle some distance from the center. When game play begins, the players gallop toward the carcass and attempt to grab and carry it nearly quarter of a mile to a pole, which they ride around and tote the dead animal in the opposing teamÕs circle. All the while, numerous riders are yanking at the animalÕs limbs struggling for possession. Players of Buz Kashi wear an assortment of heavy leather clothing for protection Ñ which is much needed, for when a rider attempts to pick up the carcass, he must lean far off to the side of his horse to grab it up from the ground. During this time he is susceptible to being clipped by stirrups or knocked by the limbs of other players' horses. Riders are frequently lacerated, trampled and receive broken bones. In fact, the sport is so rough that it is quite common for players to be killed in the heat of competition. United States: Cage Fighting Though freestyle, full-contact fights previously took place in other countries such as Brazil and Japan, the sport was revolutionized in 1993 with the arrival of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which held its bouts in a notorious chain-linked fence, octagon cage. The first UFC featured a variety of different fighters, fighting under different disciplines, and shocked the country with raw, visceral matches, resulting in a ban of the sport in many states. In early tournaments, practitioners of grappling arts heavily dominated the sport. Royce Gracie, of the renowned Gracie Ju-Jitsu Academy in Brazil, stunned onlookers as he used his 175-pound frame to implement devastating chokes and joint locks, forcing his opponents, who sometimes outweighed him by more than 100 pounds, to submit. Using his superior skills, he became a three-time champion and retired from the UFC undefeated. Seeing the importance of grappling, other fighters incorporated a variety of striking and grappling techniques, literally changing the face of martial arts. Practitioners of single disciplines soon became obsolete, as only the most well-rounded fighters succeeded. Today the sport is accepted around the world. © 2003 Shoreline Community College™ |
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