Red Rover
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Red Rover (also known as Red Rover, Red Rover; Forcing the City Gates; Pom, Pom Pullaway; and Octopus Tag) is an outdoor game played primarily by children on playgrounds. "Red rover" was very popular into the 1970s.
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[edit] Gameplay
Two team holds hands in a line, thus forming two parallel lines (or chains) facing each other.
The game starts when the first team (usually the East or South team) calls out, "Red rover, red rover, send [name of player on opposite team] right over." The person called must run to the other line and break the chain (formed by the linking of hands). If the runner fails to break the chain, he joins the team that had called "Red rover." However, if the player successfully breaks the chain, he may take his pick of either of the two "links" broken by his successful jaunt. This broken link, along with the runner, joins the runner's team. The other team then calls out "Red rover" for a player on the first team, and so on. The game ends when one long super-chain is formed.
The distance between the two lines is subject to variation, but tends to fall within about 9 metres (30 feet).
A slight variation of the game is known as "Green Rover". In this version, the person calls the people over by a color, and if they are wearing that color they need to run across. In conventional Red Rover, participants are called over one by one.
[edit] Strategy
The calling team will usually have a leader or confer to select the opposing player to call. Typically the weakest player is chosen to run due to the (perceived) slim chance of the player being able to break the chain, thus keeping the called player in the chain and expanding it.
The called player, when running, has the choice of all the links to attempt to break. By selecting the (perceived) weakest link, the chance of breaking the line increases, and thus the opportunity to capture an opponent (typically the strongest member of the chain, who won't be called until near the end).
Additionally, the runner may practice techniques of misdirection. This is effective especially if there are two weak links in the opposing chain. The runner makes the appearance of running towards one link, but changes links at the last direction, usually catching that pair unprepared to hold together.
[edit] Origins
The origin of the name, Red Rover, and its usage in association with this game is not clear. Red Rover appears to have been used as a name for boats in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1828 a steamboat called 'The Red Rover' was the first to service the Hatchie River.
In 1855, J. Fenimore Cooper, wrote a book called 'The Red Rover':
"...the lawless vagaries of the Red Rover himself, the pirate chief who glories in chaos and who orders his men 'All hands to mischief, ahoy!'"
On Christmas Eve 1862, Sisters of the Holy Cross, pioneers of the US Navy Nurse Corps, boarded the first hospital ship, the Red Rover, which aided the wounded soldiers of both sides during the American Civil War.
It is possible the name of the game derives either from the shuttling motion of a ship across a river, or, in the case of the nurses/sisters, from aid being given to both sides of a conflict.
[edit] Other uses
Red Rover was also the name given to the London-wide all routes one-day bus pass issued by London Transport during the 1960s and 1970s.
