This season has been a blast and as the last few games finish up we are scheduling our final awards banquets and lining up our trophies and other awards for the big night.

What is the formal awards banquet going to be like, you may ask. It's an evening of good food and friends, with everyone a little bit (or a lot) dressed up, and a chance to hang out with your four square buddies in a non-sweaty, non-stanky scene. When the food is done and the awards are all given out we often move to a near by juke joint for more fun and dancing.

Why should I go to the final banquet, you may also have asked. Well, here are some of the things that have happened in the past:

• Surprise turnovers on league scores, drama ensues.
• Surprise player polls that offer silly awards, laugher follows.
• Great food like "Million Dollar Spaghetti", eating results.
• Guests you never met before, digit-getting runs rampant.
• Shocking combations of fancy outfits and flashy lights, jaws drop.

Take a look at the event calendar to see when your formal banquet is and to get your dish assignment. We hope you will be there and please bring your friends and family and anyone one else to this really fun evening.

The Cambridge Community Television video news magazine You Are Here sent reporter Jennifer Schmitt out to the courts to for hard coverage of our league and then upcoming world championship competition. Take four minutes to view this great piece, and also in its full neatness and glory, take it with you on your new video iPod to watch again and again.

Also, you can check out it out on youtube.com. In fact, go there and vote on it to help it rise to the top.

On January 28, 2006, in Bridgton, Maine, 55 people gathered to do battle for the titles of greatest four square players on earth. Six players from Burlington Squarefour, five from Boston Squarefour, four representitives of Boston College Four Square, a free agent from Bermuda, and scores of Bridgton residents fought fiercely for four hours, and this photo depicts all the big winners of the evening.

Lock your doors and close your shutters, the 2nd Annual Four Square World Championships are here! Hosted in Bridgton, ME, on Jan 28, 2006 by the Lakes Environmental Association (story: mainelakes.org) this melee draws the greatest players on the face of the earth to do battle for posession of the coveted trophy each year.

Squarefour has a title to maintain, and a champion to de-frock. Just take note of Tom here, one of the last year's world champs pictured above, and tremble before 'the crazy' in his eyes. Don't be fooled by his friendly smile or his gray hairs, he is one mean mother and will tear you apart if you stand between him and the gold. He is but one of the world's four square giants, and the countryside will be crawling with more of his kind in a matter of days.

Anyone interested in attending the times and dates are right here. It's open to the public for a $5 entrance fee and the potential fame is priceless. Hopefully we will be seeing you there!

For a follow-up story and world champ results, read here:
http://www.squarefour.org/node/137

Our 2006 league shirts are on their way to both Boston and Burlington, but not to stores near you. To get one of these puppies you must be a member of the first and finest four square league in the nation. Take a gander at the negative reversal of last year's design...

The 2005 Ladies League Champion known as Justine Petrillo rose to the top of a fierce pool of competitors with over three hundred serves in her very first season. She is a mysterious woman, reserved with words but quick to dish out damage on the court. We conducted this interview with Justine by email to try to gain some insight and learn why the pink slips never stop coming.

Admin: Can you tell us what parts of your character contribute most to your success last year?

Justine: Stifled aggression, a youthful spirit, and the desire to make Sunday afternoons less depressing.

Admin: During the cold New England months, what aspect of four square keeps you warm inside?

Justine: For me it's beating the men.

Admin: Some players do lots of other sports and exercises during the week and in the off season, what do you do to keep your edge?

Justine: I sling used books for a living. It doesn't help hone my four square skills, but lifting books all day makes for a good training. My wrists are totally jacked.

Admin: That's very interesting because I have always wanted to know more about bookstores. How long do you let customers hang around your store, pretending to be interested in the rare editions, when its clear they are just there for the free heat?

Justine: 42 minutes during the the winter.

Admin: If your book store sold snacks and coffee would you be more understanding of freeloaders?

Justine: Maybe, but probably not.

Admin: A 'work hard, play hard' gal like yourself must be fairly considerate of your physique. What keeps you so small, and yet so powerful?

Justine: Lots of beer and greasy fried food, pre and post game.

Admin: Being as literate and well read as you are, I'm sure you could easily describe your favorite game technique in a haiku.

Justine:

Upward palms, bent knees.

Ah, the beautiful pain of

Underhand Only

Admin: And of course, if you were a color, what would you be, and why?

Justine: Brick red, like a four square playground ball.

Admin: Do you have any encouraging words for players in the coming season, or for those players who haven't yet been born?

Justine: Always value technique over brute force, in four square and in life.

We here at Squarefour would like to provide you with a few insights into the
lives of our players and who better to spotlight today than our notorious league
champion, Jason McGibbon. Jason's Boston 2005 league play added up to an amazing
561 serves last year and was known for his flagrant abuse of style and grace
to send opponents chuckling to the end of the line. You may have also seen him
attempting his signature move The Scorpion a few times during the season.
We thought we would get intimate with this intimadating player and help show
other players that he does, indeed, have a human side. What follows is an interview
conducted via email with Jason McGibbon, 2005 league champion:

Admin: What is the most enjoyable aspect of our
regular four square games?

Jason: Spontaneous ad hoc coalitions dedicated to eliminating
fourth square. Unilateral action just doesn't do it for me.

Admin: When you are not practicing, what do you
do to scrape together a living? Does it involve other sports, the same way basketball
players often take ballet lessons?

Jason: I'm a grad student in the mathematics program at UMass-Amherst,
so once every two weeks I do a bit of driving. I've just started aikido, but
I don't plan on applying that to four square.

Admin: If Train A travels at 55 Mph on a trip
to Train Station B, which is 67 miles away, how much distance will Stewardess
C actually travel if she walks backwards through six 50 foot cars in 5 minutes
while she sells snack chips?

Jason: Approximately 7.36 kilometers. English measures killed
the Mars Climate Orbiter.

Admin: If you could recommend an encompassing
diet that would promote healthy living, in addition to excellent four square
play, what would it be? Also, can you please tell us what specific foods and
beverages you prefer to enjoy post-game?

Jason: Kim-chi, kale, chocolate, curry... basically anything
with a hard consonant. And if you really want something, be clever: have tzatziki
instead of yogurt. Post-game, I try and rip into a greasy bucket of pig knuckles.

Admin: If we made four square league trading
cards, do you have any predictions for the values of some of the cards in ten
years from now?

Jason: I think that the ones printed on platinum will hold
their value nicely.

Admin: Listen, if you were a color, what would
you be, and why?

Jason: I'm already a swarthy pale yellow, and that's entirely
due to genetics.

Admin: Do you have any encouraging words for
players in the coming season, or for those players who haven't yet been born?

Jason: I'm very fond of the word velleity, but I won't claim
that it's encouraging.

You heard it here first, kids. Keep your eyes open and check back often as
we randomly choose a few other players to highlight over the next four months!

Mary Letourneau, leader of our Burlington Chapter of Squarefour, opened up the season on Sunday, December 4, in Burlington, VT, amid a circus-like media frenzy including a local paper called Seven Days, Vermont Public Radio, and a network TV station who featured some of the players on the 11 o'clock news. Below you can read the article as it appeared in Seven Days and hear the podcast of the VPR program. The photo here is credited to Matthew Thorsen.

Come to the skill workshops on Sunday, Nov 20, in both Cambridge, MA, and Burlington, VT. This is your chance to test out the waters of four square league play before you take the plunge. There will be lots of instruction and lots of helpful, excellent players to give you advice. This session costs $2.00 at the door, unless you are already registered for the full season. Follow these links for each location:

Squarefour has just made a recent appearance in the Wikipedia with a great wealth of other information about the game and how to play. I think it was actually one of our members that linked us in the first place. This image accompanied the wiki entry.