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A New Angle on the Game of Basketball: Another Kind of March Madness

photo provided VUHS Future Farmers of America junior Erika Evarts pals around with Green Mountain Donkeyball Donkey Helga before the big game. This new version of March Madness included laughs, smiles and more hitting the court than hitting the basket. All in good fun for everyone!

Tuesday April 5, 2011

By Cookie Steponaitis

   Like all professional athletes each member of the team begins the pre-game warm up with certain rituals. Now, not to say that basketball players are any more superstitious than baseball players; but this basketball team certainly has its established routine and can be found suiting up for the game in a manner to which they are very accustomed to. After a long and leisurely shower and rub down, it is time for Showsheen and baby powder. Considerable time is spent on grooming and adorning the colors of the team and the all important footwear. Booties to be exact, for this team will not take to the court unless they are all decked out and set for safety. Walking patiently to her spot on center court, Reckless awaits the whistle for the opening tip off. At just fifty inches tall she is a talented player with many years of experience on the court. Her favorite shot range is under the basket and she stays there during most of the action, and oh yes, she brings her rider along too.

   Now Cuddles, as she is known back at the farm, has an alter ego and another name. In public she prefers to go by the name Time Bomb. She moves up and down the court with speed, agility and often leaves behind her rider, either on their bottom or in a neat tuck and roll maneuver.  Jazzman stands out on the team for getting distracted and having his ears rubbed. He is the appropriate height and weight for a pro player, coming in at 45 inches and weighing just 468 pounds and is often distracted by famous people in the crowd and can’t resist playing up to the media. The score may be lower at the end of the night, but everyone goes home happy.

    As it might appear, this is no ordinary game of basketball and these athletes though in peak form, do not fit the traditional expectations of basketball stars. They are members of the pro-team Green Mountain Donkey Ball from Danby, Vermont and on Tuesday, March 30th they showed the crowd at VUHS how the game is played. The human members of the team were comprised of teachers, seniors, Future Farmers of America members and community members who got to ride along too, but the score was purely game to the donkeys. Playing, and playing is the correct word here, a game as much about pure laughter and delight as basketball, the assembled crowd of over 600 paid tribute to the game, to raising funds for the FFA and the senior class of VUHS and to the teens and adults who quickly figured out who was in charge and running the game.

   So, for those of you who can not quite visualize this game being played, come out next year or next time when you see the signs. Hilda, a new tall donkey recruit will willingly show you the ropes and Reckless will help you work on your under the basket shot because she simply isn’t going to move anywhere else. Both human and donkey athletes are all wearing the latest in padding and protective gear and the equation for the night is guaranteed to be great fun mixed with some moments of brilliance, on the donkeys part, that is, and a scoreboard total that will live on in your mind and memory long after the event is complete. In closing, just a reminder from Hilda the newest donkey on the block that rule 17 applies to all human ball players. Just what is rule 17? Well, it reads as follows.  “If donkey is accidentally bumped by the basketball, the player must immediately get down on one knee and apologize to the donkey by giving him a kiss on the lips), and remember that the decisions of the referees are final to both human and donkey alike.

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