Crud (game)

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Crud is a fast-paced game purported to originate in the Royal Canadian Air Force. It is still played in units of the Canadian Forces, as well as the Canadian Coast Guard, and is reportedly popular with the United States Air Force and the FIRST Robotics community in the Worcester, Massachusetts area as well.

The game is played on a pool or snooker table (usually the latter) using the cue ball (the shooter), and one object ball (most commonly the 8 or 15-ball). Only the corner pockets on the smaller table are used, the side pockets are blocked, traditionally by rolls of toilet paper.

Pool cues are not used, but the shooter is launched manually across the table surface. A game of Crud involves running frenetically around the table and other players, trying to grab the shooter before it stops moving, and shooting at the object ball hard and fast. It is a boisterous game, usually only played in a military mess (the management of a public establishment would not normally condone contact sports and the apparent abuse of their equipment).

1 Rules
2 Crud names
3 Combat Crud
4 External links

[edit] Rules

Crud is played by two teams. Each team member has three lives. Only one member of each team is at the pool table at a time. One player rolls the Shooter at the Object ball while their opponent defends by attempting to distract the player.

The Shooter may only be thrown from one of the short ends of the table, not from the sides with the blocked side pockets. Large 12-by-6-foot Crud (snooker) tables may or may not have the side pockets blocked, a historical mix-up, but any smaller tables' side pockets are blocked. For the first shot of a round (the service), the shooter gets three attempts to hit the object ball. If the shooter misses the object ball on three attempts during a service, he or she loses a Life. If, on the other hand, the object ball is struck on the service, then it is the next player on the opposing team's turn, and he or she must pick up the shooter ball and attempt to hit the object ball from either short end of the table. If the opponent is unable to hit the object ball with the shooter before the object ball either stops moving (dead ball) or is sunk, the opponent loses a life. If the object ball does not travel at least six inches after being struck by the Shooter ball (no six), the shooter loses a life. Once the opponent has shot successfully, the next player on the original team shoots. There is no limit to the number of misses a player can have once the object ball is in motion. If the object ball comes to rest, the current shooter loses a life. If the player who is currently blocking touches either ball for any reason, the blocker loses a life.

Teams keep trading off until the object ball is sunk or stops, or if there is a foul, called a Life. Typical fouls are touching the object ball, or shooting from one of the long sides of the table (a Crud). After someone loses a life, the person who would have been next in has the choice of serving or receiving to begin the next round.

There are many variants on these rules, including the degree to which contact is allowed (for example, full contact, no contact, or contact so long as the blocker is stationary). Check the rules posted on the wall at your establishment. But don't get caught checking the rules during a game, or it will cost you a life!

Crud is also played under the name Tim, on regular-sized pool tables. In Tim the rules are similar, except that it is every man for himself (no teams), and the object ball must be struck from the opposite end of the table. All six pockets are in play.

[edit] Crud names

When playing Crud you cannot call yourself or anybody else by their real name. Instead Crud names are used. Crud names are aliases, preferably with a somewhat negative connotation to the player. They traditionally have no more than two syllables, and have some connection to a person's real name, personality, appearance, or past behaviour, though not necessarily a dirty relation. Players keep the same Crud name once they've been cruddified.

In some circles, referring to a player by his or her real name costs the player a life. Additionally, in some circles it is required that any participant, including the judge, point only at another player with an elbow; pointing with a finger costs the player a life. This rule seems to have begun by fighter pilots stationed in South Korea, where it is impolite to point with one's finger.

[edit] Combat Crud

A contact version of Crud called "Combat Crud" is sometimes played, which allows full checking and blocking similar to what one finds in hockey. This is one of the few situations where junior-grade officers are allowed to knock over generals and not be marched up on charges for it, and is therefore quite popular among the subbies.