Sport: Ball Game
professional calvinball   (+13, -1)  [vote for, against]
a professional league for people who want to follow in the footsteps of C and H

a league should be formed that hosts the popular game presented in Bill Watterson's cartoon Calvin and Hobbes. The general premise of the game is that you make up the rules as you play and you can't play the same way twice.

Since there will really be no winners, rankings and rosters are unnecessary.
-- krazykartoonist, Apr 30 2002

Nomic http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/nomic.htm
Invented by Peter Suber, described by Douglas Hofstadter (Metamagical Themas) [globaltourniquet, May 01 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Calvinball Contracts http://www.halfbake...vinball_20Contracts
inspired by kk's idea [beauxeault, May 01 2002, last modified Oct 04 2004]

Debaucheryball http://www.debaucheryball.org/
Frat boy version. [jutta, Dec 10 2004]

And the basis for professionalism would be . . . what, exactly?
-- bristolz, Apr 30 2002


I'd hoped that this would be a professional sport the rules of which are determined by strict, literal interpretation of the Scriptures. That would be a crowd pleaser.

Anyway, I thought the whole point of calvinball was that it amounted to pointless running around, governed by ever changing rules. We already pay people to play this: they're called children. They get paid in Pokemon cards.
-- calum, Apr 30 2002


It'd be worth the effort to get a law degree to be able to negotiate a player's contract based on Calvinball rules. In fact, I think that might even be more fun than playing Calvinball itself.

In fact...(link).
-- beauxeault, Apr 30 2002


For a real game based on the concept of constantly changing rules, see link. Not a sport, but an actual game you can play with your friends. You make up the rules as you go along, and you will never play the same way twice. But it's a real game.
-- globaltourniquet, May 01 2002


// 2) Since this is "Professional" Calvinball, all players are automatically disqualified. //

So this is baked, then.
-- waugsqueke, May 01 2002


See also the game 10,000 Blank White Cards (a simpler no-rules game than Nomic), and the popular drinking game where you count up to 21 but add a new rule each time someone gets to 21.
-- imaginality, Apr 17 2006



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