Kronum!

Doesn't that word sound like something that should be yelled during a movie set in the Babylonian-era?  Well it's not.  It's the name of this "newish" sport that seems to combine parts of soccer, basketball, football/rugby, and quidditch.  Yes, I did say quidditch.

The game was invented in Philly, or as my older brother would say "Figures".  It consists of a large circular field with four scoring zones, two per team.  Teams consist of 10 players each.  Each "zone" consists of four smaller zones.  In one of the zones you can't use your hands, in the other three you can.  The image over there shows you most of the field.  You can see the Goal, Flex, and Cross zones.  The missing zone, just in between the Goal and Flex zones, is the Wedge zone.  This zone is the one where you can't use your hands.  In the videos I've seen of this, I see a lot of guys jumping from the Flex INTO the Wedge so that they can throw the ball from there without having to put the ball down and kick it.  Pretty ingenious stuff.

The Kronum ball is "volley-ball" sized.  Which means that it IS a volley-ball or a soccer ball.  You score by getting the ball in the net, pretty much just like soccer.  OR you score by getting the ball in these five rings above the goal, much like quidditch (Lord why do I sound like a nerd understanding the scoring complexities of quidditch).  A goal in one of the rings gets you "double" points.  Why do I say "double" and not two points?  Well, if you are a certain distance out, just like in basketball, you get two points for a standard net goal, and "double" the points value if you get the goal in the rings.  You can even dunk the ball if you have enough balls to get close enough.  See what I did there?

So yes, it is a bit complex.  So is the designated hitter rule to anyone born before 1973, deal with it.  Go to YouTube, punch in "Kronum" with your gorilla-sized digits, and watch some of the vids that come up.  You'll be hooked.  If you like hits, slide tackles, high-scoring, and really not knowing what the deuce is going on, this sport is right up your alley. Or, you could be like me, having this sport expand and move out of the greater-Philly area means just one more reason to go watch some other guys get dog-ass tired on a field while I'm chugging down beers yelling at them to run faster.

KRONUM!!!!