[ID: A news broadcast from 2004. Mary Castillo, a newscaster wearing a cream blazer, sits behind a desk in front of a backdrop of the Parthenon. She's a white woman with a bob of light brown hair and speaks with a deep voice
Mary: We've all played badminton and it seems like the rules are fairly easy to understand. I think there's a big difference, though, in the equipment that these guys use, and the ones we use at home.
She holds up a badminton racquet, a long metal handle with a large metal ring containing a nylon mesh at the end
Mary: This is a typical racquet that you can buy.
She taps the mesh of the racquet against the heel of her hand, but the sound isn't audible
Mary: And it all comes as part of a set: you get the net, you get a couple racquets, you get some birdies, right? And this is an okay racquet but compare it with this one.
She holds up another racquet. It's the same shape, but the handle is yellow and black and the mesh has a design in red printed on it
Mary: This oneâThis one isâcosts about 75 bucks but it can run you up to about 200 dollars, okay? And it's a little bit bigger than the kind that we might goof around with in the backyard.
She holds the racquets up side-by-side. The circle of the second racquet is slightly larger.
Mary: Listen to the difference in tension, though. This isâThis is the one that we play with.
She taps the ring of the second racquet against the mesh of the first. It makes a light tapping sound. As she speaks she then taps the ring of the first racquet against the mesh of the second. It makes a metallic ringing sound
Mary: This is the one the bad boys of badminton play with. So obviously they're going to be able to hit the ball a little bit harder; it's a much more precise piece of equipment.
She lays both racquets down on the desk.
Mary: But here's where the big change is. This is a shuttlecock that you use at the Olympics, and maybe you've been hearing Bill Clement describe this thing.
She holds up a shuttlecock, a white hemisphere connected to several white feathers that fan out behind it in a cone
Mary: Sixteen goose feathers. I mean, this is a beautiful piece of equipment but it'sâIt's fragile but it's also very strong. All from the left side of the gooseâI'm not making this upâso that the contours of the feathers are all the same and it gives a uniform ride. This thing can go up to 200 miles an hour. You cannot tell me that the birdie we use at home, this thing.
She holds up another shuttlecock. This one has a red cap with yellow feathers
Mary: You can lean on this as hard as you want, this thing isn't going 200 miles an hour. It's not. And even though it doesn't look sophisticated it has a tree-seeking device implanted in it somewhere. I don't know where, but I've played a lot of badminton with my kids. By the seventh shot this thing's up in the tree, okay? So then what does your kid do? She says, "Mommy, I'll get it down."
Mary picks up the professional racquet
Mary: Throws a racquet up in the tree. Now your racquet's up in the tree. Says, "Don't worry, I'll get that down."
She lays the racquet down on the desk
Mary: So now your kid goes into the garage and goes and gets the red rubber ball, which should come as standard equipment in any kind of backyard bandâbadminton set. Throws that in, that immediately gets impaled. So she goes to get something else to get the baâtoâto get one of these things down, okay?
Mary holds up the cheap shuttlecock and puts it back down on the desk
Mary: Now there are kids from all over the neighborhood that have come into your backyard, and they're emptying out your garage throwing stuff at your tree, alright? You realize suddenly: you own 18 basketballs. You've got nine footballs, okay? There's softballs flying through the air. The tree is now groaning with children and equipment, alright? Someone's turned on the hose; badminton's a water sport! They're trying to get theâthis thing down with the hose.
She picks up the cheap shuttlecock and puts it back down on the desk. As she talks she gets more and more agitated and starts gesticulating and occasionally looking off-camera toward a producer
Mary: And somehow mothers from all over the neighborhood hear that badminton is being played at Mary's house. They're dropping off their kids; they know it's an all day affair! They know it's going to involve 17 other sports! They're dropping off their kids; they're leaving skid marks, okay? You've got Colleen Clark up in the tree trying to get down a SpongeBob Squarepants beach ball with a hockey stick, okay? There's pool sticks flying through the air like javelins and you hear yourself saying, "Somebody's gonna poke an eye out." It just never ends. It's a waâEverything is going on, right? Then you see Christopher Burrâand it's always Christopher Burrâhe takes a roller blade, throws it up at the tree, hits your car. You got a dent in your Jeep. You realize you better get your Jeep out of the way and you also realize that for the first time in seven years you can actually pull your car into the garage 'cause there's no sporting equipment there anymore. Not even the inflatable raft that hasn't seen action since the Baby Duck Rescue of 1997. You pull your car into the garage and as you do your other kid is coming out. He's on the phone with R. T. Murphy. He sizes up the situation and says, "Hey, come on over, we're playing badminton." That is the sport that I know, and that's probably the sport that you know as well.
The TV station's music starts to fade in
Mary: Olympic badminton is coming back after this.
