2008 Roofball World Championships
February 17, 2023 9:37 AM Subscribe
Throw the ball on the roof. 1. If you catch it when it comes down, that's a point. 2. If it hits the big chimney pipe, that's five points for a Ping. 3. If it goes up on one side of the ping pipe and down on the other, that's an Around for ten points. 4. If it hits the the small chimney pipe, that's a five point multiplier for the catch itself. 5. If it hits the grey Volvo on the way down, that's minus one point. 6. If it goes over the house, that's minus five points and you have to go get the ball.
Got it? Good. Let's play Roofball.
Got it? Good. Let's play Roofball.
I'm looking for the halftime show where Mom sticks her head out the window and yells at everyone to cut it out.
Action stops for 5 minutes with everyone looking sheepish and then play resumes.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:58 AM on February 17, 2023 [6 favorites]
Action stops for 5 minutes with everyone looking sheepish and then play resumes.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:58 AM on February 17, 2023 [6 favorites]
Late in game 8 of the first round we establish that a Ping-Over is a net zero play. Then just after that: the first bush-dive catch of the day.
posted by cortex at 10:01 AM on February 17, 2023
posted by cortex at 10:01 AM on February 17, 2023
My third grader plays (what I now know is) roofball for hours in the summer so I expected this to be parents filming their kids. I am amused by how wrong I was...
posted by gofordays at 10:37 AM on February 17, 2023
posted by gofordays at 10:37 AM on February 17, 2023
Roofball?! I'm not even supposed to be here today!
posted by xedrik at 10:40 AM on February 17, 2023 [7 favorites]
posted by xedrik at 10:40 AM on February 17, 2023 [7 favorites]
I clicked the link, saw that the video was an hour long, and said "no way in hell am I watching whatever the hell this is" and now I'm 18 minutes in and absolutely hooked.
I love when people take dumb things and pretend to take them way too seriously.
posted by bondcliff at 10:41 AM on February 17, 2023 [7 favorites]
I love when people take dumb things and pretend to take them way too seriously.
posted by bondcliff at 10:41 AM on February 17, 2023 [7 favorites]
Love this. The trophy indicates that it goes back to at least 1999. The website they mention doesn't seem to be live anymore, though.
posted by papayaninja at 10:41 AM on February 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by papayaninja at 10:41 AM on February 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I went poking around on archive.org, I feel like it may have fallen off after 2012 or so? Warning if you do likewise, I did accidentally spoil myself for this tourney.
Of which: here's the second half of the championships.
posted by cortex at 10:44 AM on February 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
Of which: here's the second half of the championships.
posted by cortex at 10:44 AM on February 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
When I was about 10 we were first throwing the ball up onto my friend's roof and trying to catch it on the way back down, then we figured out we could throw it over the peak to bounce down the other side, then we figured out that by throwing hard we could get it all the way over the house... which then went directly through the neighbor's living room window. So that stopped that game.
posted by Dip Flash at 10:55 AM on February 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Dip Flash at 10:55 AM on February 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
Man, I remember inventing silly games like this. Also this isn't very far from how silly "real tennis" or "court tennis" is, which is stupendously silly and makes test cricket look relatively normal.
My brother, dad and I invented a game that we played a lot that we called Wall Ball.
It was something like a mix of handball, foursquare, 'butts up", basketball aaaand... full contact rugby.
The court and playing field is any vertical wall or backstop at least 15 feet tall. An industrial concrete "tilt up" building is ideal for this because that's where the game was born - during breaks at my dad's screen printing business and company - but a racquetball or handball court is also fine.
The ball can be any ball that can bounce. And I mean any ball. A tennis ball or racquet ball is ideal, but you can also use a soccer ball, basketball, four square or kickball ball, or if you want to play on hard mode you can use a "superball", IE, one of those hard polyurethane balls that are super bouncy you'd get from vending machines, grocery store toy section, etc. For extra chaos you may even use an oblong ball like an American football or rugby ball.
Game play is really simple. You need a minimum of two players, but there is no maximum number of players. There are no teams. There are no passing plays. There are no out of bounds. You may play the entire horizontal length of whatever wall you're using. You may play and score from any distance from the wall, whether it's right up against the wall or from as far away as you think you can throw and score.
Game play and scoring is also very simple. To score one point, you have to throw the ball at the wall and catch it before it bounces off the ground. You also have to be in possession of the ball between throwing, bouncing and catching without it being intercepted. Catching someone else's point attempt only gives the catcher possession.
You many bounce the ball off the ground before the wall, but to score a point it has to be caught on the fly directly from the wall. All forms of play beyond this are permitted. You may throw the ball at extreme angles. You may loft the ball. You may throw rolling ground balls at the wall and try to get it to pop up off the wall to be caught for a point. You may put whatever spin or English you want on the ball.
Now, here comes the important part of the game play - all forms of contact is permitted to prevent other players from scoring. They don't need to be in possession of the ball. There are no offsides or offense/defense rules.
Body checks, tackles, slide tackles, tripping, pushing, bear hugging, wrestling, ball slapping and stripping and basically everything else is permitted short of (maybe) actual punching, boxing or general bad sportsmanship is permitted to either block scoring or gain control of the ball to attempt to score.
The game had no time limit or periods, either. Game play ends when everyone is too tired or beat up to continue. Points may be tallied and a winner may be declared officially or unofficially, but by then the points usually don't matter because everyone is wiped out.
So to recap all that into one line: You need a wall at least 10-15 feet high of any width. You need one ball that bounces, any ball. You need at least two players, with no limit on the total number of simultaneous players. You score by bouncing the ball off of the playing wall and catching it before it lands. Full contact up to pro rugby or American Football levels is permitted and encouraged to defensively prevent other players from scoring or offensively to score yourself.
As you may imagine it's sheer mayhem and pandemonium with everyone out there for themselves crashing into each other, tackling, wrestling, grappling and fighting over the ball and it was ridiculously fun.
Games tended to have fairly low scores because of how difficult it was to actually throw, bounce and catch a ball without being bodychecked, tackled or blocked. It's like we were playing basketball but with American football or even pro wrestling rules of contact.
I can also note that the game was fairly self-leveling. If you were small and fast you had some advantages for scoring just by moving so fast. If you were larger and strong but slow you also had some advantages in that you could fend off tackles and attempts to wrestle the ball away easier and attempt to score from closer in with brute force, but even when you were right on the wall it was difficult to score because everyone would be swarming you trying to strip the ball away no matter how short the throw, bounce and catch attempt was.
But since gameplay was so open everyone had distinct advantages and disadvantages and developed different tactics. People could score by throwing at extreme angles with insane amounts of spin to make the ball change directions and pop high and wide off the wall due to spin. You could throw rocket-speed ground balls under everyone's legs and try to catch it if you got it to pop up like a fly ball. You could throw high rainbows that landed just before the wall to pop back. You could bounce it multiple times before the wall, or put spin on it so it hopped erratically before the wall. You could throw flat fastballs directly at the wall and try to catch it on the rebound before it hit the ground, etc.
Ugh, my bones hurt just remembering all of this I can feel all the skinned knees and scrapes from playing on concrete or blacktop.
posted by loquacious at 11:41 AM on February 17, 2023 [5 favorites]
My brother, dad and I invented a game that we played a lot that we called Wall Ball.
It was something like a mix of handball, foursquare, 'butts up", basketball aaaand... full contact rugby.
The court and playing field is any vertical wall or backstop at least 15 feet tall. An industrial concrete "tilt up" building is ideal for this because that's where the game was born - during breaks at my dad's screen printing business and company - but a racquetball or handball court is also fine.
The ball can be any ball that can bounce. And I mean any ball. A tennis ball or racquet ball is ideal, but you can also use a soccer ball, basketball, four square or kickball ball, or if you want to play on hard mode you can use a "superball", IE, one of those hard polyurethane balls that are super bouncy you'd get from vending machines, grocery store toy section, etc. For extra chaos you may even use an oblong ball like an American football or rugby ball.
Game play is really simple. You need a minimum of two players, but there is no maximum number of players. There are no teams. There are no passing plays. There are no out of bounds. You may play the entire horizontal length of whatever wall you're using. You may play and score from any distance from the wall, whether it's right up against the wall or from as far away as you think you can throw and score.
Game play and scoring is also very simple. To score one point, you have to throw the ball at the wall and catch it before it bounces off the ground. You also have to be in possession of the ball between throwing, bouncing and catching without it being intercepted. Catching someone else's point attempt only gives the catcher possession.
You many bounce the ball off the ground before the wall, but to score a point it has to be caught on the fly directly from the wall. All forms of play beyond this are permitted. You may throw the ball at extreme angles. You may loft the ball. You may throw rolling ground balls at the wall and try to get it to pop up off the wall to be caught for a point. You may put whatever spin or English you want on the ball.
Now, here comes the important part of the game play - all forms of contact is permitted to prevent other players from scoring. They don't need to be in possession of the ball. There are no offsides or offense/defense rules.
Body checks, tackles, slide tackles, tripping, pushing, bear hugging, wrestling, ball slapping and stripping and basically everything else is permitted short of (maybe) actual punching, boxing or general bad sportsmanship is permitted to either block scoring or gain control of the ball to attempt to score.
The game had no time limit or periods, either. Game play ends when everyone is too tired or beat up to continue. Points may be tallied and a winner may be declared officially or unofficially, but by then the points usually don't matter because everyone is wiped out.
So to recap all that into one line: You need a wall at least 10-15 feet high of any width. You need one ball that bounces, any ball. You need at least two players, with no limit on the total number of simultaneous players. You score by bouncing the ball off of the playing wall and catching it before it lands. Full contact up to pro rugby or American Football levels is permitted and encouraged to defensively prevent other players from scoring or offensively to score yourself.
As you may imagine it's sheer mayhem and pandemonium with everyone out there for themselves crashing into each other, tackling, wrestling, grappling and fighting over the ball and it was ridiculously fun.
Games tended to have fairly low scores because of how difficult it was to actually throw, bounce and catch a ball without being bodychecked, tackled or blocked. It's like we were playing basketball but with American football or even pro wrestling rules of contact.
I can also note that the game was fairly self-leveling. If you were small and fast you had some advantages for scoring just by moving so fast. If you were larger and strong but slow you also had some advantages in that you could fend off tackles and attempts to wrestle the ball away easier and attempt to score from closer in with brute force, but even when you were right on the wall it was difficult to score because everyone would be swarming you trying to strip the ball away no matter how short the throw, bounce and catch attempt was.
But since gameplay was so open everyone had distinct advantages and disadvantages and developed different tactics. People could score by throwing at extreme angles with insane amounts of spin to make the ball change directions and pop high and wide off the wall due to spin. You could throw rocket-speed ground balls under everyone's legs and try to catch it if you got it to pop up like a fly ball. You could throw high rainbows that landed just before the wall to pop back. You could bounce it multiple times before the wall, or put spin on it so it hopped erratically before the wall. You could throw flat fastballs directly at the wall and try to catch it on the rebound before it hit the ground, etc.
Ugh, my bones hurt just remembering all of this I can feel all the skinned knees and scrapes from playing on concrete or blacktop.
posted by loquacious at 11:41 AM on February 17, 2023 [5 favorites]
When I saw the setup, and then heard them announce the singer of the national anthem, I immediately said out loud "I wonder whose poor wife got roped into this 2-hour absurdity and then had to sing, too?" But then the second heat in the first round had a woman playing, and every time the shot cuts to the announcers they're surrounded by people with baby strollers and beer bottles, so I'm revising my assessment to "mid-20s college buddies who only see each other once a year at this sporting event they made up." Godspeed, gentle sirs.
posted by Mayor West at 2:31 PM on February 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by Mayor West at 2:31 PM on February 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
When I played this as a kid with my brothers, we physically fought each other to try to catch the ball on its way back down. There were times when the ball would get caught in the gutter or something, and we would just keep fighting anyway.
posted by mikeand1 at 2:39 PM on February 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
posted by mikeand1 at 2:39 PM on February 17, 2023 [2 favorites]
In the inner west of Sydney where I live, small-backyard cricket games have the same arcane and specific requirements. I remember walking home and hearing a child’s voice screaming the rule IF YOU HIT THE STATUE OF THE BUDDHA THAT’S SIX AND OUT
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 2:52 PM on February 17, 2023 [6 favorites]
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 2:52 PM on February 17, 2023 [6 favorites]
I spent one million hours doing this sort of thing with a tennis ball.
I was a very good Little League pitcher due to countless hours throwing a tennis ball at a wall. We had a retaining wall next to our house and I would throw at it from across the street. Every few tosses I'd throw it at the curb to send the ball high in the air so I could catch a pop-up.
I am now 60 years old and I would happily do either of these for 2 hours right now.
posted by neuron at 4:02 PM on February 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
I was a very good Little League pitcher due to countless hours throwing a tennis ball at a wall. We had a retaining wall next to our house and I would throw at it from across the street. Every few tosses I'd throw it at the curb to send the ball high in the air so I could catch a pop-up.
I am now 60 years old and I would happily do either of these for 2 hours right now.
posted by neuron at 4:02 PM on February 17, 2023 [3 favorites]
Ha ha this is awesome and I love their little on-screen score box. Good production!
Missing the catch should get you a zero on the inning, though.
posted by rhizome at 4:06 PM on February 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
Missing the catch should get you a zero on the inning, though.
posted by rhizome at 4:06 PM on February 17, 2023 [1 favorite]
We played something similar in grade school behind Blessed Sacrament Catholic School. Pegball. You’d throw the ball against the wall, if you missed the rebound catch, you had to run and touch the brick wall before someone could “peg” you with the ball. For certain fouls a boy would have to shamefully walk to the wall and take up the Jesus Pose while the offended party got to throw at them from about 15 feet away. The goal of this throw was the coveted “wrack ‘em” toss into the nuts. If the foul committer flinched, and melee dogpile of dutch rubs and charlie horses began.
Little boys are fucked up.
I would pay good money to watch grown men commentate on that though.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:13 PM on February 17, 2023
Little boys are fucked up.
I would pay good money to watch grown men commentate on that though.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:13 PM on February 17, 2023
We played "Basho" on the southside of Chicago. Chalked batter strike zone on a wall, batter a few feet in front, pitcher some measured distance away, tennis or pink rubber ball thrown at some speed towards box. Three outs and players changed position. Singles, Doubles and Triples some hotly-contested hit ball distance, and homers were over some interfering structure or fence. I hated it because a hit had to be retrieved by the pitcher. but it certainly encouraged pitching skill development. A hit batter didn't advance to first, but there wasn't much consequence to getting hit by a rubber ball, so plate crowding was endemic. To this day I silently cheer every MLB pitcher's
brush-back pitch.
posted by Chitownfats at 12:32 AM on February 22, 2023
brush-back pitch.
posted by Chitownfats at 12:32 AM on February 22, 2023
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The usual worst throw: losing five points for throwing an Over.
The worst theoretical throw? Pretty sure that'd be spiking the ball off the Volvo so hard it bounces over the roof. But I'm not sure if the rules address this possiblity.
posted by cortex at 9:40 AM on February 17, 2023 [1 favorite]