Summer Is Back & In Full Swing

Vendors (l-r) Russell Adams, John Hagan and Donald Morris chat about the world of sports with Executive Assistant Patrick Edwards.

Summer Is Back & In Full Swing

Russ: Pat, please let me go. Every year we do this, it gets my mind moving. Talking about our favorite games to play in the summer is an interesting topic. Well, first and foremost, I’m 64—

All: (Laughter.)

Russ: Yes, I am 64, so my sports-playing options are a bit limited. However, the ones that move me the most have been the same since I was a shorty. Y’all heard of Piggy?

Patrick: Of course! The onliest game everybody can play when at a BBQ.

Russ: That’s right. All you need is a softball, a bat, a place to play and, at the very least, three people. No base running. Someone pitches, someone hits, and everybody else tries to catch it on the fly or on a bounce. There are rules, though, that y’all work out before the game. One of them is there can’t be more than one bounce before a solid catch. Another one is it must be a solid catch—no juggling. But, yeah, if you get those things right, you get to bat. You hit, then eventually someone will catch a ball from you, then they bat.

John: And it keeps on going. Shoot, I never played softball as much as baseball, but I do remember playing it.

Patrick: What about you, John? What’s yours?

John: Well, I used to play baseball and bowl a little while I was with my sister in Las Vegas, but the two sports I enjoy the most in the summer are basketball and swimming.

Patrick: What is it about these two?

John: Both you can play solo, get a good workout and, more importantly, time really does go by when I’m having fun. Swimming, I would do the float, challenging hard against the choppy water. If it’s not too rough, it’s fun as heck. However, we gotta be aware of not getting caught in one of them rip currents. Now, basketball, on the other hand, my idea of fun is either full court 5-on-5, or the suicide drill.

Donald: Suicide drill?

John: Yeah, so, if I miss a three-pointer, I grab the rebound, run a fast break. In the middle of the court, I already had placed cones—3, to be exact—and I leap over them and hit a layup. The—

Russ: Hol’ up.

Patrick: (Laughter.)

Russ: Okay, so you saying you’re really Superman or somebody?

John: (Laugh.) Listen, I do all I can to make sure I don’t have to do too much leaping! Shoot, I’m almost a master three-point shooter now!

Patrick: Right!

Donald: Man, get outta here. Cones?

John: Yeah. Outside, I can bring whatever I want to the court. On the inside, usually, the gym lets me. It’s only when it’s crowded they don’t.

Patrick: Does sound like it’d be a good workout, assuming you miss a few three-pointers of course.

Russ: Right.

John: It is. It’s a better workout than just playing 21 or 32 or any of those games not teamfocused. In those, there’s way more standing around than anything.

Patrick: Good points, John. Well, I guess my favorite summer sport—and I don’t do it enough—is badminton. Love me some friggin’ badminton; nearly as much as I love pingpong. Badminton’s a lil’ easier to access, so to speak, than the other two, so that’s mine.

Donald: I used to like badminton a lot.

Russ: What about you, Don? You got anything?

Donald: My favorite summer sports to play these days are the ones that sit right within my mind…as I watch others work it out. I’m nice and good.

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