Bear

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News stories from Wikinews. Many other schools, however, have taken a more moderate approach, allowing dodgeball by using soft foam balls instead of harder rubber balls. Bears, usually anthropomorphized, appear frequently as characters in popular culture; see List of fictional bears. New York followed suit shortly after. A bear also features prominently in the legend of Saint Romedius, who is also said to have tamed one of these animals and had the same bear carry him from his hermitage in the mountains to the city of Trento. On November 18, 2002, the state of New Jersey banned the game from public schools. In the arms of the bishopric of Freising (illustration, right) the bear is the dangerous totem animal tamed by Saint Corbinian and made to carry his civilized baggage over the mountains: the allegory of the civilizing influence of Christianity is inescapable. After a series of publicized dodgeball injuries in the late 1990s and early 2000s, many schools have removed the game from their physical-education requirements, and some have even banned the game entirely.

Bears are a common symbol of heraldry. In some cases, the rule may be used that a player hit above the shoulders is not out; this discourages the dangerous practice of aiming for the face. The bear is also the name-emblem of Berlin. The aim of the variant King sting or Brandings is to throw the ball at others as hard as possible. Numerous cities around the world have adopted the bear as a symbol, notably the Swiss capital Bern, which takes its name from the German for bear, bär. Opponents of dodgeball have argued that the game provides, for bullies, the excuse to abuse unathletic and unpopular students, by throwing the ball hard enough to cause injury. The theory of the bear taboo is taught to almost all beginning students of Indo-European and historical linguistics; the putative original PIE word for bear is itself descriptive, because a cognate word in Sanskrit is rakshas, meaning "harm, injury" [1]. However, dodgeball has come under attack for failing to meet the needs of precisely those students.

In the Finnish countryside, the word for "bear" remains taboo to this day. As well, the game was seen as having a light-hearted and self-deprecatory nature and, therefore, more amenable to non-athletic students. Thus four separate Indo-European language groups do not share the same PIE root. Since players normally were not part of a team, no player had to endure the teasing that would fall upon a player accused of "causing the team to lose". Arthur), Sanskrit *ṛkṣa, Hittite hartagga) seems to have been subject to taboo deformation or replacement (as was the word for wolf, wlk^wos), resulting in the use of numerous unrelated words with meanings like "brown one" (English bruin) and "honey-eater" (Slavic medved). Dodgeball, when it emerged, was touted as the "nerd's sport". In addition, the Proto-Indo-European word for bear, *hr̥ktos (ancestral to the Greek arktos, Latin ursus, Welsh arth (c.f. The ball can be passed around amongst teammates in order to try and confuse the other team.

There has been evidence about early bear worship in China and among the Ainu culture as well. The bodyguards, because they have three lives, may, as a strategy, form a protective wall around the president and lure the assassins into throwing the ball at them. This is why the bear was a greatly respected animal, with several euphemistic names. The Presidential Entourage wins when all the assassins have been eliminated. The prehistoric Finns, along with most finno-ugric peoples, considered the bear as the spirit of one's forefathers. The assassins win when the President has been hit with the ball (though bodyguards may still be alive). Anthropologists such as Joseph Campbell have regarded this as a common feature in most of the fishing and hunting-tribes. Once a player's life/lives have been extinguished, he/she must leave the field of play and watch the game.

There is some evidence for prehistoric bear worship, see Arctic, Arcturus, Great Bear, Berserker, Kalevala. If he/she catches the ball, it must be handed off to a bodyguard, unless all the bodyguards are killed. The discovery has shown that while all other Brown Bears share a Brown Bear as their closest relative, those of Alaska's ABC Islands differ and share their closest relation with the Polar Bear. Note, however, that the President can catch the ball, but not throw it. The researchers discovered that their DNA was unique compared to Brown Bears anywhere else in the world. Normal dodgeball rules apply -- lives are lost when one gets hit by a ball or when one throws a ball that has been caught by the opposition. Researchers Gerald Shields and Sandra Talbot of the University of Alaska Fairbanks Institute of Arctic Biology studied the DNA of several samples of the species and found that their DNA is different from that of other Brown Bears. The assassins have one life.

There is also evidence that, unlike their neighbors elsewhere, the Brown Bears of Alaska's ABC Islands are more closely related to Polar Bears than they are to other Brown Bears in the world. The President only has one life, and the bodyguards all have three lives. The many similarities between the two pandas are thought to represent convergent evolution for feeding primarily on bamboo. One man in the Presidential Bodyguard side is deemed President, and all other players must refer to him/her as President (insert last name). Others place it with the racoons in Procyonidae or in its own family, the Ailuridae. It is preferable that the Assassins have more people, to make the game more balanced. The status of the Red Panda remains uncertain, but many experts, including Wilson and Reeder, classify it as a member of the bear family. Two teams are set, Assassins and Presidential Bodyguards.

Although there has previously been much discussion as to whether the Giant Panda belongs to the bear family or the raccoon family, recent DNA analyses have shown that the Giant Panda is a member of the Family Ursidae and as such is more closely related to other bears. PresidentBall is played in a large enclosed room. Extinct bear genera include Arctodus, Agriarctos, Agriotherium, Plionarctos and Indarctos. The game is won when one team sinks all of the opponent's ships, or if there is a time limit, and at the end of the limit, the team with the most pins up, not ships, wins. This genus radiated in Asia and ultimately gave rise to the first true bears (genus Ursus) in Europe, 5 million years ago. All other crew members must stay on the ship at all times, and throw balls at the other team's ships. Cephalogale gave rise to a lineage of early bears, the genus Ursavus. However, only one person on each ship "crew" may step off the ship, and when he does, he may not throw any balls, and may only collect balls for his ship to use.

The origins of the bears can be traced back to the raccoon-sized, dog-like Cephalogale from the middle Oligocene and early Miocene (approximately 20-30 million years ago) of Europe. To sink a ship, the opposing team must throw balls and knock over all four of the pins on one of the other team's ships. Although bears are often described as having evolved from a dog-like ancestor, their closest living relatives are the pinnipeds (walruses, seals, and sea lions). The ships consist of a mat, which is large enough to fit about 5 people, with 4 pins placed at each corner of the mat. Other members of the Caniformia include wolves and other dog-like mammals (family Canidae), weasels, skunks, and badgers (family Mustelidae), raccoons (family Procyonidae), and walruses (family Odobenidae), seals (family Phocidae), and sea lions (family Otariidae). It is played in teams so that all of one team's ships are on one side and the others` on the opposite. Bears are members of the order Carnivora, suborder Caniformia, and family Ursidae. Battleship Dodgeball is unique in that you aren't actually trying to sink the other team's ships.

A number of hybrids have been bred between American Black, Brown and Polar Bears (see Ursinae hybrids). The game ends when one teams` players have all been sent to prison. The Asiatic Black Bear and the Polar Bear used to be placed in their own genera, Selenarctos and Thalarctos. When a person is hit, like Prison Dodgeball, they are sent to the back of the opposing team's side, and can escape if they catch a ball out of the air, and hit the other team from behind. The genera Melursus and Helarctos are included in the genus Ursus. In this version to start the game balls are evenly distributed to both teams, then a referee signals the start. Sun Bears are the smallest, only a bit smaller than the average person. Often the partition is broken apart or pulled out partially for a twist.

Kodiak Bears are the largest type of bear (Polar Bears are the heaviest though), indeed one of the largest extant carnivores. In Barrier Dodgeball, multiple barriers are set up on each side of the area you are playing in, preferably a large gym that is capable of being divided in half with a partition. The Brown Bear is Finland's national animal. Barrier Dodgeball is similar to Prison. Bears have an average life expectancy of 25–40 years. The game can be played with a large group of people playing for themselves, in teams, or one on one. Bears in captivity used to be trained to dance, box, or unicycle, but it is now controversial to use animals in this way. The winner is the last player left in the playing area.

Laws have been passed in many areas of the world to protect bears from hunters or habitat destruction. A player being hit at or below his or her knees is not grounds for a stoppage of play. Higher body heat and being easily roused may be adaptations because female bears bear cubs during this winter sleep. Stoppages of play result from the ball being hit out of bounds or the ball being caught. Unlike rodents, bears are easily awakened when disturbed. This is also the procedure for resuming the game after a stoppage of play. Recycling urine is quite a physiological feat. Any player touching the ball or leaving the wall before the third bounce is considered out.

They do not wake normally during 'hibernation' therefore do not eat, drink, urinate or defecate the entire period. After three bounces the ball is in play and the players may leave the wall. The body temperature of bears, on the other hand, drops only a few degrees from normal and heart rate slows slightly. The game is started either by placing the ball in the center of the octagon with each of the players touching the wall, or by bouning the ball and repeating the word "ga" each time the ball touches the floor. It is difficult to awaken them by disturbance. There is only one ball in play at a time in ga-ga. In true hibernators, body temperatures drop to near ambient and heart rate slows drastically, but they periodically rouse themselves to urinate or defecate and eat from stored food. This and other matters of dispute are settled by the game's judges.

While many bear species do go into a physiological state called hibernation or winter sleep, it is not true hibernation. Pushing a player into the ball and any other physical contact is also a violation. Many bears of northern regions are assumed to hibernate in the winter. Hitting the ball out of bounds is grounds for elimination unless it is as the result of a defensive deflection. Normally, bears are very solitary and will not remain close together for long periods of time. Carrying, throwing, or catching the ball after a bounce also results in elimination. The cubs are more sexually mature at seven years. Touching the ball twice consecutively without the ball touching another player or the wall is grounds for elimination unless that player is attempting to catch the ball.

However, they will still remain nearby for three years. A player can also be eliminated by having his or her ball caught in the air. Then, they are weaned. That player is then out and must leave the playing area. They will be fed by milk at first and will start hunting with the mother in three months. The objective of the game is to eliminate one's opponents by hitting the ball with either an open hand or closed fist into the region at or below his or her knees. The cubs, usually born in litters of 1–3, will stay with the mother for six months. Ga-ga or GaGa is a form of dodgeball which is played within an octagonal enclosure when available, or in any other space that is completely enclosed by walls.

Cubs come out toothless, blind, and bald. Pin Guard is sometimes also reffered to as Bombardment or Battle Ball. Bears reproduce seasonally, usually after a period of inactivity similar to hibernation. The game is also sometimes played with two pins per team. The bear's courtship period is very brief. Players can get out by getting hit in the head and the player who hit the person is out or also if a ball is thrown and a player catches it, the player who threw it is out.There are several variations such as if the game is played in a gym, then if a player hits the basketball hoop's backboard then that team frees all eliminated players, (this only applies if there is one player left on team). The only exceptions are polar bears and large adult brown bears, whose heavy weight makes it difficult to climb trees. The objective is to knock over the opposing team's pin or eleiminate all players on the other team.

Most bears are able to climb trees to chase prey or gain access to additional vegetation. Pin Guard is played with two teams each with a pin and balls. They use their excellent memories to return to locations where food was plentiful in past years or seasons. In some versions of capture the flag, balls are not used, so it cannot be considered dodgeball. Bears travel over large territories in search of food, remembering the details of the landscape they cover. A team wins by either eliminating the other team or capturing all of the flags. Male young usually leave their mothers to live in other areas, but females often live in an area that overlaps that of their mother. No more than one flag can be picked up by a single person in one run.

A male and female may live in an overlapping home range, each defending their range from other bears of the same sex. If a player is tagged or eliminated on his side by a ball, he must immediately drop the flag, which can either be picked up by another teammate or returned to its starting position by a member of the enemy team. Other bears may live alone but exist in a social network. While on the enemy side, a player can be eliminated only by being tagged. Giant pandas may also form small social groups, based on recent evidence, perhaps because bamboo is more concentrated than the patchy food resources of other bear species. A player can attempt to steal an opposing team's flag by running across the center line, retrieving it, and returning it back to a bucket in the back of their court. Alaskan brown bears group in the same area to feed on salmon during the annual salmon runs, when the fish swim upriver to reach their spawning grounds. A variation of Trench is Capture the Flag, which is played the same way as Trench except that each team has 8-10 flags in the back of their court (usually on the dividing line between the trench and the team's field of play).

Bears form temporary groups only when food is plentiful in a small area. Play continues until one team has wiped out the other team. Bears mostly live alone, except for mothers and their cubs, or males and females during mating season. If a player in the trench catches a ball from one of his teammates, he can re-enter the game and is not a valid target until he is back on his side (but he can be eliminated as soon as he steps over that center line again). They will, however, defend their cubs ferociously. Any time a player is hit, he must go stand behind the opposing team in the trench, a designated area, usually the out of bounds portion of that side of the basketball court. For the most part, bears are shy and are easily frightened of humans. When the whistle is blown, players run to grab those balls and a game of standard dodgeball begins, with one exception.

Some of the large species, such as the polar bear and the grizzly bear, are dangerous to humans, especially in areas where they have become used to people. Both teams start on a line roughly 8-10 feet away from the center, where several balls are placed. Hunting times are usually in the dusk or the dawn except when humans are nearby. The dividing line is the center line of one of the basketball courts (imaginarily spread across the gym). Bears will commonly travel far for food. Trench is a variation typically played inside of a large gym (spanning two basketball courts). They can also go to a river or other body of water to capture fish. In the non-team version of the game, throwers caught or players struck join the other team; the 1st player struck during the dodgeball phase becomes the sole initial catcher on return to the 1st phase.

They eat lichens, roots, nuts, and berries. When all throwers have been struck or the sticks are reassembled, the teams swap roles and the game returns to the 1st phase. They are mainly omnivorous, although some have a more specialised diet, such as polar bears. If the ball is not caught after hitting the sticks, the game proceeds to the dodgeball phase, the catchers attempting to strike the throwers while the throwers attempt to reassemble the sticks. Bears live in a variety of habitats from the tropics to the Arctic and from forests to snowfields. If the ball is caught after hitting the sticks, the entire throwing team is out, and the teams swap roles. Bears living in the wild tend to die younger than their zoo-counterparts. The 1st phase ends when a thrower strikes the sticks.

A bear's life span seems to last about 25 to 40 years. If not caught, the thrower goes to the back of the not-out throwers' queue awaiting another turn. Large male polar bears may weigh twice as much as females, while smaller male and sun bears are much more similar in weight. If the ball is caught, the thrower is out. In all bear species, males are larger than females, but the difference between sexes varies and is greatest in the largest species. One team (the throwers) take turns attempting to strike the sticks with a ball from a fixed distance, while the other team (the catchers) try to catch the ball on the rebound off the wall before it hits the ground. Several species, such as the sun bear and spectacled bear have a light-colored chest with facial markings. In the 1st phase, two popsicle sticks are adjacently placed parallel on the ground leaning against a wall, supporting a horizontal half-length crosspiece.

For example, American black bears may be black, brown, reddish-brown, or bluish-black. Sticks has two phases to the game. Colors of a bear's fur can also vary within species. It requires very strong anaerobic and aerobic stamina. Fur color varies among species, ranging from white, blonde or cream, to black, and white to all black or all brown. It is practically the same as the standard version but there are strict time limits on throwing the ball and defending. A bear's fur is long and shaggy. In the county of Cornwall in England, there remains a regional version of the game called Cornish Dodgeball.

They are also stronger than most carnivores and their limbs are more flexible and agile. Last one standing wins. Although slower than most carnivores, a running bear can reach speeds of up to 50 km/h (30 mph). If they catch a ball thrown by another player he is not out but they regain one of their "missing" limbs. They walk with their weight on the soles of their hindfeet, with the heel touching the ground, while the toes of the forefeet are used more for balance. If they are hit in the head or torso they are out. While most carnivores tend to walk on their toes in a way that is adapted for speed, bears have a plantigrade stance. Players who are hit in the legs or arms lose the use of that limb.

These claws can be used to climb trees, rip open termite nests and beehives, dig up roots, or catch prey, depending on the species. "Army Dodge Ball" Involves no true teams but is more of a free for all. Each paw has five long, sharp claws that are unretractible, unlike cats. Besides that, the rules are the same as regular dodgeball. Bears have four limbs that end in paws. You can be attacked from any direction. Bears' molar teeth are broad, flat and are used to shred and grind plant food into small digestable pieces. It is played with both teams on one half of a Basketball Court.

Normal canine teeth in a carnivore are generally large and pointed used for killing prey, while bears' canine teeth are relatively small and typically used in defense or as tools. Space Dodgeball is set up like so:(X=Team 1|A=Team 2|O=Balls). Bear teeth are not specialized for killing their prey like those of cats. When one person is hit they are then out and must join the others around the circle throwing the ball(s) at the other players. Depending on the species, bears can have 32 to 42 teeth. Court Dodgeball is played with two people on either end of a circle with one or two balls while everyone else is in the middle. Black bears, and likely other bears, have color vision to help them identify fruits and nuts. Once out, players stayed out, but continued the game from the rear court until a winner was declared.

A bear's eyesight is probably similar in acuity (sharpness) to the human eye. Depending on the size of the teams, up to five balls would be in play at one time. Their claws are used for ripping, digging, and catching. Only players in the middle sections could be targeted. Their teeth are used for defense and tools and depend on the diet of the bear. They could then throw the ball at the opposing team from behind. They have broad paws, long snouts, and round ears. Players who have moved to the rear sections of the court could retrieve loose balls, but would have to return to the rear court before continuing play.

They are capable of standing up on their hind legs. Players who stepped out of bounds were also declared out. Bears have a large body with powerful limbs. Players in this area who are hit by the rubber ball (about the size of a basketball) or whose toss is caught are declared "out" and must cross to the opposite end of the court, behind their opponents. Common characteristics of bears include a short tail, excellent senses of smell and hearing, five un-retractable claws, and long, dense, shaggy fur. Teams begin with all players in the two, larger partitions in the middle. . Munkenai is a variation of Prisonball in which teams face off on a rectangular playing court somewhat smaller than a full basketball court and composed of four areas.

The adjective, ursine, is used to describe things of bearlike nature. Furthermore, in "prisonball," a ball thrown to a "prison," when caught, releases all the "prisoners" to return to their original side. A bear is a large mammal of the order Carnivora, family Ursidae. In all except Prisonball though, "prisoners" remain behind the opposing team until the game is over. The Bear by William Faulkner. This puts a lot more pressure on the teams as they can be sandwiched between enemies. Bears of the World, Terry Domico, Photographs by Terry Domico and Mark Newman, Facts on File, Inc, 1988, hardcover, ISBN 0816015368. To get out of prison, he must hit the opposing team from behind.

The harder you try, the better the bear you are!. Prisonball (also known as Nationball, Battleball, Teamball, Crossfire; King's Court in Canada and Queimada or Queimado in Brazil) is played much like dodgeball, but when a player is hit, he gets put in "prison" behind the opposing team. To try like a bear means to try your hardest to catch the attention of a certain lady. The winner is the last man standing. Stephen Colbert frequently attacks bears as "godless killing machines" mobilized against humanity on The Colbert Report. If one is struck before getting to the wall then they are out. Microsoft Bear is an unofficial mascot hidden in Windows 3.1 and Windows 95. More often than not the ball is thrown as hard as possible for incentive.

In homosexual slang, the term "Bear" refers to male individuals who possess physical attributes much like a bear, such as a heavy build, abundant body hair, and commonly facial hair. A variation on this is a game termed "Wall Ball"; if someone fails to catch the ball (after an attempt to catch it and touches it without the result of a catch) then they must endeavour to get to the wall before another player strikes them with the ball. In CB slang, "bear" (or "smokey", in reference to Smokey Bear) is a nickname for highway patrol. When a player is hit, he or she leaves the court and his or her victims return to the game. The bear is a common national symbol for Russia (and the Soviet Union), as used in the Ronald Reagan political ad "Bear in the woods.". The ball cannot be carried, but must be bounced off a wall and caught. The constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor represent bears. "German Dodgeball" is a free-for-all game with no boundaries.

for sports teams; and a bear cub was mascot of the 1980 Summer Olympics. If the leader is hit, the game is over. The bear, the bruin, or specific types of bears are popular nicknames or mascots, e.g. King's Court also involves a leader. Indeed the farming of bears in China has led to a huge increase in consumption of bear bile since the 1980's with many people prepared to pay very high prices for the 'superior' bile of a wild bear. Some teams employ a "fake doctor" strategy to throw the opposing team off-guard as to who the doctor actually is. There is no evidence to suggest that farming bears has reduced pressures on wild bear populations. Therefore, it is key for a team to pay attention in order to figure out who the enemy doctor is.

They are kept in appalling conditions and usually have bile drained from their gall bladders using catheters inserted into their abdomen or with hypodermic needles. The game ends when one team is entirely eliminated, which would happen a lot quicker if a team loses their "doctor", and another variation of the game ends as soon as the doctor is hit. Thousands of bears are farmed for their bile in China, Vietnam and Korea. Dodgeball saves the fallen players, they can get up and play again. This has had a major impact on populations of bears around the world. When Dr. The peoples of China, Japan and Korea use bears' body parts and secretions (notably their gall bladders and bile) as part of traditional Chinese medicine. Dodgeball" to come and save them.

Many cultures regard bears as possessing healing powers. When players are hit, they fall on the ground and waits for "Dr. Its opposite is a bull market, and bullish sentiment from bulls. Dodge) involves a leader in each team who tries to avoid getting hit. Pessimistic forecasting or negative activity is said to be bearish (due to the stereotypical posture of bears looking downwards), and one who expresses bearish sentiment is a bear. Dodgeball (also known as Medic or Dr. In the stock market, a bear market is a period of declining prices. Dr.