Badminton

City College's dimly lighted gymnasium is home to one of the most successful spring sports teams in the City-Wide league.While the lacrosse, baseball, tennis, softball and track and field teams are in full view practicing on the school grounds, the girls badminton team practices in near obscurity in the gym.With rackets that are less than a half-inch thick and weigh less than a pound, the Knights (7-0) have wielded their way past their competition.The team has won the City-Wide championship the past two years and, if it continues its dominance this season, could be on the way to its third.

BARCELONA, Spain -- Now, wait a minute. I think we've taken this "all sports are equal" thing a little too far here. Badminton? Badminton is an Olympic event? You can win a medal for slapping a birdie over a net? What's next? Olympic hot-dog grilling?"Badminton's cool," someone says. "Go see it."Listen, pal. I know badminton. I know the roots of badminton. The roots of badminton are in your basement, in a box that sits untouched until the Fourth of July barbecue, when you take it out because you don't want your kids breaking any bones in a real sport, like football, or VCR adjusting.