Fond Memories of Outdoor Play

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Billyboy78
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Fond Memories of Outdoor Play

Unread post by Billyboy78 »

The younger generation, meaning college aged kids, has grown up so much differently than I did. We were always out playing basketball or baseball. Most kids today have phones by the age of 12 or 13 (many even younger). Almost everything they need is on their phone, including many forms of entertainment. I think this generation of kids simply do not have the interest in sports that my generation did. I drive by the basketball courts and baseball fields that my friends and I practically lived on when we were kids and I never see anyone there. It's a much different world than it was in the 60s and 70s. Sadly, I believe it was a much better world wothout all the added technology of the past 2 or 3 decades.
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Rhody Guy
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Re: Big East - Basketball Only Schools Leaving?

Unread post by Rhody Guy »

Surprisingly I agree with you BB even though I am only 25 and grew up in this world.
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rodfromcranston
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Re: Big East - Basketball Only Schools Leaving?

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

Wow, Billyboy, I couldn't have said it any better.
These kids will have the most developed thumbs in mankind's history,
and that will be about it.
Cyber bullying, violent video games, spending hours in isolation on a computer, texting instead of talking,
writing in cyber shorthand, blurring reality with cyber world, all are leading to a less socially connected person, coming from the younger generation.
Lack of manners and respect, is rampant. Kids don't know even how to shake hands or properly in introduce themselves.
Families, or what passes for families today, rarely eat dinner at a table at the same time.
We played basketball under a spotlight in the middle of winter, and when it snowed, we shoveled off enough to play.
We cut the grass in a field to form an infield, to play baseball.
Nobody went indoors until they had to.
We feared and respected authority figures, and were mindful of losing our souls by doing the wrong thing.
We were allowed to be children. How can a child today remain so, with all the garbage thrown at them through media?
I liked my world a hell of a lot better than this one my granddaughters will be growing up in.
It's not pretty. In fact, it's downright scary.
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Billyboy78
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Re: Big East - Basketball Only Schools Leaving?

Unread post by Billyboy78 »

rodfromcranston wrote:Wow, Billyboy, I couldn't have said it any better.
These kids will have the most developed thumbs in mankind's history,
and that will be about it.
Cyber bullying, violent video games, spending hours in isolation on a computer, texting instead of talking,
writing in cyber shorthand, blurring reality with cyber world, all are leading to a less socially connected person, coming from the younger generation.
Lack of manners and respect, is rampant. Kids don't know even how to shake hands or properly in introduce themselves.
Families, or what passes for families today, rarely eat dinner at a table at the same time.
We played basketball under a spotlight in the middle of winter, and when it snowed, we shoveled off enough to play.
We cut the grass in a field to form an infield, to play baseball.
Nobody went indoors until they had to.
We feared and respected authority figures, and were mindful of losing our souls by doing the wrong thing.
We were allowed to be children. How can a child today remain so, with all the garbage thrown at them through media?
I liked my world a hell of a lot better than this one my granddaughters will be growing up in.
It's not pretty. In fact, it's downright scary.
Totally agree with everything in this post.
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daytonflyerfan
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Re: Big East - Basketball Only Schools Leaving?

Unread post by daytonflyerfan »

Good post Rod, I agree with all of that.

I too played basketball at night in the driveway with a spotlight on the hoop.

We shoveled the snow off the driveway to play basketball.

We had a killer wiffle ball league in the backyard. We cut the grass on the foul lines shorter than the rest of the field. We kept team records. We may have even kept pitching and batting average stats too.

We had an actual home run fence made of a long sheet of cloth stapled to wooden stakes that were driven into the ground.

We duct taped the balls and bats. The balls would last longer with the tape on them. The bats with the tape on them could hit the ball farther.

We tried to play wiffle ball at night using several spot lights and extension cords, but that wasn't enough light. And the lights weren't high enough off the ground to work either.

We played a lot of backyard football too.

We would dump water on the driveway in the winter to make ice to play hockey too.
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ATPTourFan
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Re: Big East - Basketball Only Schools Leaving?

Unread post by ATPTourFan »

All good stories. I'm "just" 32 and have similar experiences from my younger years to what has been shared by Red, Rod, and our Dayton Flyer Fan friend.

Lived on a cul de sac and had a hoop on the one telephone pole which fortunately also had a street light on it. Great setup with no traffic and only had to worry about the ball bouncing over the chain link fence behind the pole. The guy over there hated it when we jumped over to retrieve our ball. Amazing to think that was such a big deal compared to what you may have to worry about these days.

Played home run derby in our back yard with tennis ball and thin wiffle bat (taped up with electrical tape). As we got older, nothing but a clear shot over the house would qualify.

Even simple stuff like a rope swing or sledding after a snowstorm or badminton battles would keep me, my brother and our friends/cousins busy outdoors -- not to mention our formal baseball/soccer team commitments.
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adam914
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Re: Fond Memories of Outdoor Play

Unread post by adam914 »

Yeah ATP, I dont think you have to go back to the 60s or 70s for that kind of stuff mentioned earlier in this thread. I am also 32 and and did all of the same things. I really think its just recently (maybe last 10-15 years) where its changed.

I remember being out in the driveway at 7am chipping away at the ice inch by inch for hours just so I could get some shots up.

And Billyboy like you said, I go back home now and see the courts and baseball fields we used to spend hours and hours a day on and they are either overgrown with weeds, don't even have hoops or nets up anyway, or are just flat gone. And most parents probably wouldnt even be comfortable letting their kids go down there alone all day and I can't say I blame them. I grew up in New Haven, so its not like it was the safest area in the country, but there was still never a second thought about it.
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SGreenwell
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Re: Fond Memories of Outdoor Play

Unread post by SGreenwell »

BB, I think it depends on where you look. I still get runs on most weekdays, at least during the spring and summer, at Boon Street and Old Mountain Field. I let my URI gym membership lapse, but as of a year or two ago, the courts were also full there pretty much every weeknight from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. while classes were in session.

I think part of the reason you might see more empty outdoor courts though is the creeping in of other sports. Beyond the traditional spring sport of baseball, you now have more kids doing outdoor track and lacrosse, and there are also more organized basketball, baseball and volleyball leagues at all times of the year.
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twisted3829
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Re: Fond Memories of Outdoor Play

Unread post by twisted3829 »

i'm 24 and remember playing outside every night until the street lights came on unless the weather was bad, I was always playing something (hockey, soccer, kickball, basketball, wiffle ball). I remember 1 Saturday when we had a kick ball game with 20 kids going on in the street which led to all the parents coming out with food and chairs just to watch.

College kids today still play hoops, I remember being going to Old Mountain or the court in the Mackal and playing throughout college.

Kids today are too scheduled if that makes sense, every day they are suppose to do something (often using technology) and everything is too protected. I pick my neighbors kid from school and each kid has to make sure there is someone there to pick them up. I used to walk home up the street but I doubt I'd be able to do that now.

being a kid today is definitely different, give them a piece of paper and a pencil and they will be bored in a minute
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Ramblinrose
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Re: Fond Memories of Outdoor Play

Unread post by Ramblinrose »

I walked 10 miles each way to school in driving snow ... Seriously, I agree with the above posts. I also remember being outside, especially in summer, from sun up to sundown, playing sports and having fun. I went home when I had to, and that was about it. I'm 56, and all my friends lived that way.
And I was also one of those kids who helped shovel the basketball courts so we could play in January. Those are good memories, and it's sad that newer generations won't get to experience them. I remember the first time I heard the term "play date." When we were little kids, we based out friendships largely on geography, who lived in our neighborhood. I might have been friends with some of the kids of my parents' friends. But my parents never fixed me up, so to speak.
I will say it would have been easier not trying to Xerox pages from a heavy encyclopedia for school reports. I could never quite get the page and the copier to match up. But I did OK nonetheless.
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adam914
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Re: Fond Memories of Outdoor Play

Unread post by adam914 »

The whole play date thing drives me crazy!
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ATPTourFan
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Re: Fond Memories of Outdoor Play

Unread post by ATPTourFan »

adam914 wrote:The whole play date thing drives me crazy!
Agreed. God forbid you walk to your neighbor's house and ask if Billy can come out to play ball in the yard.
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rodfromcranston
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Re: Fond Memories of Outdoor Play

Unread post by rodfromcranston »

I didn't realize this thread had been moved.
Let me pass on a prime example of what's going on with this new generation.
My ex fiance had a son who was 12 years old. He was a chubby kid, but
played baseball and was rarely in the house,
One day, his mother bought him a computer. That was it!
This kid never left the house, and spend every moment online,
playing games, while screaming on the phone with whoever he was
playing with.
Now the lines began to blur, between reality and cybespace.
He was a Yankees fan. He mentioned that Hideki Matsiu made two errors the night before,
and he stunk as a fielder. I said, "They didn't play last night", he said,
"Yes they did....on my video game!"
Nuff said.
Oh, and by the end of the year, the chubby kid ballooned to 235Lbs, at 12 years old.
Sitting around playing video games can't be good for the mind or body, if it becomes and obsession to
the exclusion of all else.
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