Comfortable in the middle

I came up with a new team sport.  Like many team sports, this one determines the winner by accumulation of points, where the team with the most points wins.  Points are scored by placing a ball in one of the designated team “goals” (a box) within the defined period of time. One team has 10 players, each of whom has a ball, and must walk to, and place their ball in one of 3 designated goals, one at a time.  Another team member cannot approach a goal, until the referee has registered the goal and removed the ball.  There is a referee at each goal.  This team has one minute to place their balls in the goals. The other team has 8 players, each of which has a ball, and must walk to, and place their ball in their single designated goal, one at a time. Another team member cannot approach a goal, until the referee has registered the goal and removed the ball.  This team has 30 seconds to place their balls in the goal. The playing court is arranged as shown in...

When I was in college, I attended debates.  College was a lot easier than I thought it would be (thanks to the excellent high school I attended - Marist High School , Chicago), and that gave me plenty of time in the evenings to do what you’re supposed to do in college - experiment and explore your options.  A lot of students partied and spent most nights drunk; I decided to attend debates and join a service fraternity ( Alpha Phi Omega ). Given the current situation in the country - the various social issues, and related conversations, along with a social need for competition as entertainment during the ongoing dearth of athletic competitions, maybe it’s a good time to consider debate as a form of spectator sport.  The idea came to me after watching two short videos posted on Youtube, which depict two men passionately expressing themselves about wearing face masks: Michael Rapaport attempting to persuade people to wear masks (warning - this man drops quite a few F-bombs a...