Penny Soccer and Penny Basketball

With Thanksgiving tomorrow, it's time to play a few games once you get the table cleaned off.  Why not try these ideas with your pennies. Challenge one of your relatives to a spirited tabletop sports game with pennies!

Penny Soccer
With this game, use three pennies.  Stand at one end of the table, and have your opponent stand at the other.  Flip one of the coins, to see who goes first.  The first player takes the pennies and makes a triangle with the pennies about 6 inches apart at their end of the table with the point closest to them.  The point of the game is to flick the back penny in between the two other pennies, moving your pennies closer to the other end of the table until you can flick one of the pennies into the goal, which your opponent makes with his fingers formed into a U shape and laid on the table. Use the index and pinky from one hand, with the other fingers bent down for a smaller goal,  use the thumb and index finger from each hand in an L shape with the tip of your thumbs together for a larger goal. There are just a few rules for maneuvering the coins down the table.  1) You must "flick" the coin, you can't put your finger on top and slide it. 2) The flicked coin must completely pass the imaginary line drawn between the other two coins (the flicked coin coming in contact with the other coins is OK as long as when all the coins stop moving that the flicked coin has passed through the final imaginary line). 3) The flicked coin must be closer to the far end of the table than before it was flicked (no moving backward). 4) If any coin falls off the table, or the flicked coin doesn't follow the other two rules, then your turn is over. 5) If you flick your penny into the goal you score a point and end your turn. 6) Once your turn is over, your opponent gets their turn.  Play to 10, or until you get tired of playing.
Advanced rules: 1) Drop the coins from 6 inches off the table to start your turn instead of placing them in a nice little triangle. 2) Limit the number of flicks for each turn, start at 5, and each subsequent turn go down by one until in round 5, you've got to score in one flick all the way down the table.

Penny Basketball
You just need one coin for this game.  The first player stands the coin on it's side and flicks it so it is spinning.  Before it falls, the player must pinch the coin between their two thumbs.  When the coin is held between the two thumbs, the player places their hands flat on the table, and lifts their thumbs (keeping their fingertips on the table) and releases the coin in an arc to fling it into the basket that the opponent has made with their two hands to form a circle about 4 inches in diameter.  The opponent also moves forward to use their chest/stomach as a backboard.  Their are a few rules for this game.  1) You only get one try to spin and catch the coin between your thumbs, if you miss it or it goes off the table, then it's a turnover, and it's your opponent's turn.  2) Once you catch the coin between your thumbs, you must fling the coin keeping your fingertips in contact with the table the whole time.  3) If you spin and catch the coin close enough to the basket, you can slam dunk it by lifting the coin and dropping it into the basket. 4) If your opponent moves their hands or body after the coin is shot, then it is goal tending, and the shooter automatically scores.  Play to 10, or until you get tired of playing.
Alternate rules: 1) When you spin and catch the coin, you may spin the coin one more time from that location to try and get closer to the basket (maximum two spins per turn). If you miss catching the coin though, your turn is over. 2) For smaller children, let them spin it several times each turn until they catch it.

Hope you have a great Thanksgiving Holiday!

The Definition of Currency

So, according to dictionary.com, this is the definition of currency.

cur·ren·cy
noun, plural cur·ren·cies.
1.  something that is used as a medium of exchange; money.
2.  general acceptance; prevalence; vogue.
3.  a time or period during which something is widely accepted and circulated.
4.  the fact or quality of being widely accepted and circulated from person to person.
5.  circulation, as of coin.

Do pennies fit in these definitions?  Let's see.  Definition #1: this describes what the penny is supposed to do.  Too bad there is nothing about its effectiveness in this role. Moving on to Definition #2: Well there is definitely a PREVALENCE of pennies.  There is an OVER-prevalence of these hated coins.  #3: Hopefully the penny will not fall in this category too much longer.  I definitely hope its on its way out. #4: It's widely accepted but I would debate the actual "circulation" definition. I don't think it goes from person to person. More like bank to retailer to person to garbage can.  And finally #5: I've already stated that the penny doesn't really circulate at all.  They all just get sucked into some mysterious invisible black hole from whence there is no escape.  Seriously, 90% of all pennies fall out of circulation immediately.  That's billions and billions of dollars that we willingly throw away each year.

Seriously, Why Does Anyone like Pennies?

Anyone that has to deal with pennies on a daily basis is probably a raving lunatic by now.  My brief dealings with these annoying little disks is enough to cause temporary insanity, and wonder what anybody sees in these worthless pieces of garbage.  Why, oh why, do we still have these stupid things?  When someone asks you how far it is from New York to Los Angeles, do you say "about 2500 miles" or do you say, "2576 miles, 83 feet and 4 inches"?  Seriously, using pennies is like saying the second option.  It's just way too much detail.  Way more than you could possibly ever need, and provides no additional benefit over the first option.  In fact the second option just serves to waste your time, sort of like the penny does now.  Rounding to larger denominations is a good thing.  Let's all start refusing to use or accept these worthless pieces of copper trash and move forward to the 21st century!