Bottle-Stick: the Hottest New Sport in Queens

Bottle-Stick isn't too hard (well, it's not hard at all), and it's cheap, fun, and super easy to start your own kit. All you need is a stick (a branch off of some dumb tree will do, or you can use the stick attached to your parent's plunger), and an empty gallon jug of milk which you can easily find in the garbage.  You see, you need the jug to have a handle.  That's why cartons and soda bottles and milkshake cups are no good.  In Bottle-Stick you throw the jug on the ground and try to pick it up using only the stick.  You can't use your hands or your feet or another stick.

Other incredible beverages come in the same plastic jugs -- grape drink, Sunny Delight, berry blast, you name it.  I think I see fruit punch residue on Alexandra's jug below.  Alexandra is in training for the big competition they hold every month at Corona, Queens' own Flushing Meadow Park.

This photographic series tries to depict the highs and lows of Bottle-Stick.  The excitement, the pain, the sense of accomplishment, the joy, the embarrassment, the foolishness, the athleticism.  

When I asked Alexandra why she plays Bottle-Stick, she said simply, "I don't know."

This photo-series is a failure, I guess, because it only depicts Bottle-Stick Training.  Real Bottle-Stick tournaments take place in the dog run.  For one exciting hour, they kick out all the dogs, throw in a jug and have the kids battle it out.  Whoever picks up the jug first AND delivers it to the "referee", wins.  Until that happens, players are allowed to do anything to their opponents in order to stop them from picking up the jug.  

When I heard about Cup-Stacking, I didn't believe it either.