In recent years, kickball - a game historically played by children - went mainstream. It's now a highly organized recreational sport, synonymous with binge drinking and suggestive team names. Anticipating the inevitable backlash, FindSportsNow has started the search for the next kid game to be played by drunken 20-somethings. We'll be analyzing games based on the following criteria....

a. must be co-ed
b. must have teams
c. must accommodate most levels of health and fitness
d. must contain a logical window for drinking
e. must be entertaining

Today we'll take a look at:

1. Freeze Tag

For those who didn't have childhoods, tag is the game of running around and touching people of the opposing team, all in order to remove the slow and less-than-stealth from the game. But wait! This is FREEZE tag. This version takes it up a notch. Perhaps even multiple notches. Three at least. In freeze tag, there's no sitting on the jungle gym when tagged. You gotta stay planted, forever (not forever) memorialized in the last position you were in prior to being tagged. You become a veritable living statue, commemorating the good ol' days when you were, well....not frozen. Sound simple? Yes, but kinda no. What if you get tagged while falling? How's that gonna work out? Have to pee? Crazy. We don't know what happens. Man up? We don't know. On paper, it certainly seems like freeze tag could make the leap, though we'd have to figure out some sort of drinking rule. Drink if frozen? Drink first, then play? Have to carry a beer at all times? Also, what about potential running speed disparities? Do men run faster than women? We'd like to think so. Though, we did see a really, really fast girl running after the bus yesterday. It was insane. She caught it.

Co-ed YES
Teams YES
Accommodating Kinda
Drinking Maybe
Entertaining YES


2. Red Rover

When we originally thought of red rover, we were like, "Cool. The human chain thing. That could work. It's kinda simple, but who knows?" So, we did some research and we were like, "Damn. That's a pretty violent game. We're not so sure anymore. Should kids even play this?" For those who played normal, non-bone-breaking games growing up, in red rover two teams form two separate lines by joining their arms together. One team then beckons a particular member of the opposition to run towards them and attempt to break the chain. If said opposition member fails to break the chain, he/she is absorbed, indoctrinated and initiated into the receiving team. BUT, should the chain be broken, the triumphant opposition-er can claim either end of the now-broken link for his/her respective team. This continues until one team has appropriated every member of the opposition. Now, our concern with red rover lies in a few areas. First, safety. During that split second when impact occurs between a running player and a chain of arms, what happens? Fractures? Dislocations? Clotheslinings? All awesome, but dangerously likely. Second, all the team-changing that occurs throughout the game kinda kills team-unity and the "let's make team t-shirts" thing. Third, When do you drink? On paper, we can foresee a lot of spilling. Maybe everyone wears beer helmets? Cups with lids? And what about lawsuits? Damn.

Co-ed YES
Teams Kinda
Accommodating Kinda
Drinking Maybe
Entertaining YES


3. Hide and Seek

One team hides, the other seeks. When finished, reverse and repeat. Hmm. Not much going on here, is there? Seems like this breaks down to a bunch of people in a park, crouching behind some bushes. Hide and seek kinda sucks. And it's kinda lonely. Maybe you can hide with a partner? Seek in groups? Drink while hiding? Drink a lot before seeking? This one's gonna take a lot of work.

Co-ed YES
Teams YES
Accomodating YES
Drinking YES
Entertaining NO


Today's winner? None really. Freeze tag seems the most viable....and the most awesome. Alas, the search continues.....