Games people play

A column on an American bat-and-ball game, called pickleball, has stirred up a controversy regarding its origins. According to AI, the game was devised in US in 1965 as a sport in which all members of the family could participate, regardless of age, gender or physical fitness, and soon gained global popularity.

However, pickleball has got itself into a pickle with a correspondent claiming that, far from being of American provenance, the sport in question originated in his alma mater, Madras Christian College High School, a venerable institution that is 180 years old.

While the layout of the court on which the game is played, and the oversized ping-pong-style paddles used are the same as in pickleball, the Madras game uses tennis balls instead of plastic balls, and is called Padded Tennis.

Is pickleball an unsportsmanlike case of playful plagiarism, an infringement not of intellectual but of athletic property rights?
Sociology tells us that the purpose of all games, which by definition are founded on the observance of specific rules, is based on the necessity to inculcate in us, from early childhood, a willingness to accept regulation and obedience to authority, be it in the form of parents, teachers, or govt.

According to popular lore, the universal children’s game of hop-scotch was invented in ancient Rome as military training for centurions who had to play it burdened with heavy armour and weaponry to develop strength and stamina, and learn to obey commands without question.
But, paradoxically, sport, which is meant to teach us to be sporting and adhere to rules, has given rise to what British humorist Stephen Potter called ‘gamesmanship’, which is the use of underhand tactics to outdo one’s opponent, whether in a sports event or a business deal.

If US has, indeed, pinched pickleball from India with gamesmanship, we might claim they’ve also filched their full-contact American football from our kabaddi, which is much the same without all that fussy body armour. And what’s baseball but smuggled cricket, which itself is derived from the 2,500-year-old game of gilli danda. Howzat!

END OF ARTICLE