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Vindy reporter takes shot, tries her luck, tests her skills, comes up empty
By Kalea Hall
CANFIELD
I decided a long time ago I will never win one of these fair/festival games, but I wanted to give a few games a try anyway.
“I take it you played basketball?” the operator at the basketball throw game says to me while I’m searching for games to play at the Canfield Fair on Saturday.
It isn’t unusual for me to hear this, because I am 6 feet tall. Most tall folks have to hear the “you must have played basketball, volleyball, etc. because of your height.”
Negative.
I am not athletically inclined at all. But I really wanted one of those fuzzy stuffed animals you pass along every street on the fairgrounds, so I thought, “Game on.”
I chose the basketball throwing game first. It seemed easy enough, and I did have six years or so of basketball camp skills from a life when I gave basketball a shot. I remembered the basics: stance and follow-through are important. My ball had money on it, which gave me a boost of confidence.
I got a few practice shots and missed. My final shot at victory over this game was intense. Within a half of a second I knew I had lost.
Hit the frog into its lily pad was next.
I got three fake frogs and lined them up before I took the hammer and slammed it down on the knob to release the launcher, which then made the frog fly through the air and onto the ground. I lost the first time. I lost the second. I lost the third.
I am starting to think no one can win these games, but they are so fun to play. It becomes a competition inside yourself. You want to win. Given that, I moved on to the next game: Throw baseballs at glass bottles.
At this point, I am starting to wonder who came up with these games and where and when they first came to be. Enough of the thinking. Let’s throw some baseballs.
This would be my last chance at taking on the game.
The game operator was nice and gave me a practice shot. I failed. I got another shot and another and lost again.
I have decided the games aren’t for me. I gave it a shot, I gave it a hit and I gave it throw, but I failed.
If you win anything at the Canfield Fair, congratulations. I was told it’s all in how you play.