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Kickball

Date: Sep 19 2008

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Everyone knows Americans invented baseball and that it’s a pretty big deal around here, but have you ever played kickball? It’s just like baseball, only it’s played with a big rubber ball that you kick. Other than that, it’s exactly the same. There are bases and outs and innings and runs.

Well, the rules are the same, but the spirit is different. With the Olympics fresh in our memories, it’s easy to think that sports are always a really serious thing. But kickball is generally just for fun, although Mason does know some people who take it seriously. Listen to him tell Jason about it.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Mason

Jason

Mason: You know what my favorite part about summer is, man?

Jason: Ice cream.

Mason: Kickball.

Jason: Ah-ha.

Mason: Kickball season is in full effect. I’ve got a friend who’s playing and they’re like the kickball champions, his team.

Jason: Wow. It’s always weird when kickball gets really competitive to me because to me the appeal is it’s the sport that requires very little skill. Seemingly, anyone, no matter how un-athletic, can play.

Mason: Totally. But that’s kind of why. It’s like, not everybody has a sport that they’re good at that they get all, grrr, sporty about.

Jason: That’s true. That’s true.

Mason: So, kickball is the agro sport for the masses. Plus, the other cool thing about kickball is you can totally drink beer while you’re playing it.

Jason: Absolutely. I think teams should be rewarded for how much beer they drink during the game because I think you are so much more respectable if you can catch a fly ball while holding a Pabst.

Mason: Absolutely. Absolutely. There should be advanced scoring techniques for that.

Jason: If nothing else, it’s at least intimidating if you do that because it gives the impression that you don’t even have to try.

Mason: Mm-hm. And is it weird that I find the sound of ball soothing? I do. That little poing, poing.

Jason: It just takes me back to grade school.

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Discussion

The thing Mason likes best about summer is kickball. He has a friend who is on a really good kickball team. Jason is surprised that Mason knows someone who takes kickball seriously since he thought it’s usually played for fun.

But Mason explains that taking a sport seriously is fun and that since kickball is, like, the easiest sport to play that there is, for some people it’s the only sport they can take seriously.

Kickball games are usually so relaxed that you can drink beer while you play. Jason thinks beer drinking should be incorporated into the official rules of the game.

Have you ever tried kickball? Is there a sport you play just for fun? Can you drink beer while you play it?