Content is paramount.

Animotion
Vroom

losir logo

Do you know what sucks? I don't live in Europe or Asia.

They treat badminton like a proper sport. Here, badminton is treated like having the skill of swatting flies, manliness of ballet, and as fun as sliding down naked on a bed of razor blades then landing in a pool of iodine.

At most, kids and their parents play it outdoors. Buying racquets from the dollar stores (yes, they actually do sell badminton racquets there, I saw it with my own eyes last weekend in Montreal); hitting it only upwards to keep the shuttlecock from landing in the grass.

That's another problem, the name of the object in play. Take a moment here to make gay jokes about what is also known as the birdie. Shuttlecock. Yes, I get it. Let's move on.

But not in Asia nor countries like the UK and Denmark. Those guys know a real game, and play to it like a rock concert.

Don't believe me? Do a search in eMule on badminton and download some recent matches. They play rock music and chant the players' names as they enter the courts. That is equivalent to highschool football players running onto the field as the school band trumpets their potential victory.

Badminton is one of the few things in my life where I don't mind admiting I didn't suck. It is even funny when my friends and co-workers think I'm good. It is probably the only sport (unless you count snooker as a sport) where I know I can hold my own after a spot of practice.

I haven't really lost my badminton playing prowress (annnnnnnd laugh!). Okay, let me rephrase that - I can still clear the bird and drop return a smash. Oh, it's not perfect, I can't run, I can't lunge, and I can no longer see the bird until it is well over my side. But when it's all said and done, I still have some of it.

Maybe I'm delusional, but the one time I played last week showed me that I can still compete if I started playing regularily again. I still have the mental agility to know where to place my shot. I still have the athletic ability to run around the court, chasing something as silly as feathers and cork that tends to fall downwards at the speed of a mini-parachute. Okay, we now use plastic birdies instead of feathered ones, because they're cheaper and play faster. Real birdies require more strength to smash and clear.

I'm still haunted by my high school gym class. For the week that the teacher "introduced" badminton, all the jocks sneered and outright laughed when I brought my own racquet to play, yet thought nothing of it when the tennis guys did the same thing when it was that, or hockey players bringing their own skates and sticks.

I really wish people would see it for what it is - a legitimate sports that require a lot more finess and physical fitness than swinging a bat at a ball, or dribbling around the court to throw it into a hoop.

....Come on, if curling is nationally televised.... posted by losir at 11:28 PM