April 19, 2007

L 7 Square


Tetherball? Are you kidding me? No, no… the biggest waste of time during elementary school recess? Four-square as played under “Siedenstricker Rules”.

Don’t get me wrong – Four-square was the most popular of all 5th grade recess games. The bell for recess would ring, and the stampede would begin, the race would be on! We would run as fast as we could to get to that gravel-covered asphalt court, emblazoned with bright white squares. Those that were too slow to make it into a square, would stand on the sidelines, hoping to take the place of the next loser. One square was always occupied by our teacher, Mr. Siedenstricker. He would call “Siedenstricker Rules”, and we would play as hard and fast as we could trying to get him out of the “winner square” by the end of recess. Big kids, little kids, ugly kids, popular kids – everyone united with a single goal – Beat Mr. Siedenstricker.

Looking back on four-square with our arch-nemesis teacher, I realize that he was just a mean teacher with “little-man-syndrome”. Those rules ensured that he would win every game. What a loser! Making rules so that 5th graders can’t win a recess game? So, in hindsight, four-square may have been fun, but getting beat by our height-challenged 5th grade teacher was not so cool.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hear me now...ain't nuthin' cooler than servin' up a 60 mph serve in some 10 year old's grill!

Sincerly,

Mr. Seidenstricker

P.S. I wasn't declaring "Seidenstricker's rules", but rather "SIDENSTRICKER RULES!!!"

Anonymous said...

Good old Mr. Seidenstricker, that scrawny, runt, wannabe. Wonder what became of his teaching career after his one year stint at Meridian Elementary? Actually, that was probably the highlight! I did take him to task for being jealous of my fifth grade daughter's superior intellect. I know how badly he wanted to join those "GT" kids! Anyway, great four-square story!