Page 706 - WhyAsInY

Why (as in yaverbaum)
stolen item, toss it to another of what could be a large group of co- conspirators, who would in turn toss it to another comrade, and so on until either the victim recovered the item by himself or the group would cease and desist and make restitution. It was usually played as a form of fun, without (much) malice.
spud is played with a Spaldeen in a large, open area. The game begins with each player being assigned a number and one player being chosen as “It.” The person who is It stands in the approximate center of the playing area and, when all of the other players have stepped a few paces from the player who is It, that person throws the ball straight into the air (or bounces it with the same effect) and calls the number of another player. When the ball is thrown skyward, all of the players then run away until the player whose number is called both (1) gains possession of the ball and (2) calls out, “Spud,” at which point all of the players must freeze. In no event may any of the players run around corners or hide behind trees. At this point, the person with the ball will try to hit one of the other players with it. The target player may not move his feet but may otherwise try to avoid being hit. If the target player is hit by the thrown ball in any way, he is penalized with one letter (that is, S, P, U, or D) and then is charged with throwing the ball into the air for the next round. If the target player is not hit, the player who threw the ball is penalized with one letter and then is charged with throwing the ball into the air for the next round. When a player receives four penalty letters, he retires from the game, and this process continues until only one player, the victor, remains.
squash was similar to, but not the same as, the four-wall game that I first encountered in college. That game was for the preppies and was played with a special racquet and a very hard ball on an expensive court with a tin “telltale” at the bottom of the front wall. That four-wall game was “squash racquets,” the object of which was to force your opponent to fail to hit the ball to the front wall on a fly (above the telltale) on or prior to its first bounce. In contrast, squash was played with a tennis
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