Badminton – ever heard of it?

I feel that I have a justification for writing a post with the title above.  First of all, it is 1:24am.  My Mom always said “nothing good happens after midnight”, so I guess this article will stink in all of your eyes.  So if you criticize it, I will just chuckle and think about how late it was when I wrote the post.  This post will have nothing to do with jock strap technology, either.  Sorry, other Nate (and Pacer521).

Tomorrow, my wife and I leave for Asia-Pacific in which we’ll stop in New Zealand, Australia, and Indonesia.  Indonesia brings back alot of memories.  A couple of years ago, I was there and visited a few work related friends.  They insisted on taking me to play an inhumane sport (if you can call it a sport) called Badminton.  If you’re playing singles, one player stands on each side of a net that is miniscule compared with a volleyball net.  You use a racket that is practically smaller than a grapefruit to hit a little shuttlecock, or birdie, that looks like a giant gobstopper stuffed with feathers (or, something like that), and hope that it doesn’t hit the net.  It often involves flopping yourself on a gym surface, in which you hear that screeching noise your skin makes when it rubs against a hard wood floor.

Back to the story.  So my Indonesian friends convinced me to come play badminton at some gym.  There were 8 different courts on which Badminton was being played.  What my friends didn’t tell me, is that they had told all of their friends that I was a professional badminton player from the United States, and that I was the man to beat.  So there were literally dozens of people on the sideline watching me (thats right, I said dozens) play badminton.  I was pretty cocky as I got on the court, seeing that the tallest individual I was playing against was under 5 feet tall.  But I underestimated the talent I was playing against.  And what they saw was the most spectacular display of choking ever in the history of sports.  My friend even insisted on playing against me, not on the same team as me.  So needless to say, I don’t even think me and my poor doubles partner got a point.  The final score was 11-0, and I think there is some sort of slaughter rule that was imposed.  If anything, the people on the sidelines were entertained, as their laughter echoed among the gym rafters.

Did you know the following about badminton?

1) It debuted in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.  50 different nations have appeared in Badminton at the Olympics.

2) China is #1 in the medal count for Badminton, with a staggering 30 medals total, 11 of them Golds.

3) The United States has never won a medal in Badminton during the Olympics.

So for the 3 of you readers who are left, give Badminton a try.  You may think it is easy, until you throw the birdie in the air to serve, and watch it hit the ground after you whiff it.