Here is a story from Basic Training that I remembered just now.

Summer 2002, Ft. Benning, GA

In Basic Training you have very little down time. Most of your downtime is spent doing busy work. There are rare instances when you can stumble upon some down time though. One such instance for my Basic Training platoon occurred when we had a stand down due to a heavy thunderstorm. One of my buddies came up with an idea of filling a wool sock with a bar of soap (this is not what you think it is) wrapping it with other socks and tying it in a knot. He swung it in circles and flung it at the wall. We all wonder what he’s doing and he told us he’s coming up with a game.

After he got the concept and rules down he decided to name it Homie Ball. The name comes from the sock that Homie The Clown from the 90s show In Living Color used to hit people with. So how it went was six people would line up in a line, like blockers for a soccer penalty shot, on the other side of the bay. The shooter with the sock would attempt to swing the Homie Ball and hit one of the guys in the line. Whoever got hit got to be the next Homie Ball thrower and the original thrower took a place in line. You got three attempt to swing the Homie Ball. If you missed all three attempts you took a place in the line.

With the rules out of the way let’s get to how this turned upside down. We begin to play Homie Ball and at first no one was getting hits. A couple times we got ceiling tiles, the lights, and innocent audience members. About an hour in we started to get good at it and that’s the fun began. More and more we are beaning the shit out of each other with the Homie Ball. Most of us getting hit hard. We get a contestant on after being hit and he takes the pitch. One miss, two miss, uh oh bro you’re about take a spot on the line to get hit again. On his third pitch he cracks one of our platoon mates in the face. Unfortunately that guy was an audience member and he got struck hard. His lip is busted and it swelled fast, like Pamela Lee lips. We’re fucked, Game Over Man.

Obviously we had to take him to the DS to go to the TMC. We came up with a great lie that our guy slipped in the shower and busted his lip. DS bought that shit and dressed him down for being a dumb clumsy private and we got to play Homie Ball in secret again. The things joes will come up with when even a small amount of downtime is given to them.