On the ropes

Lately I've been noticing more than a few people at my gym jumping rope to get warmed up before starting their workouts, or to keep limber between sets of whatever it is they happen to be doing.

I can't really remember jumping rope much as a child, when a lot of other girls were doing it, and the thought of beginning to do it at age 51 kind of scares me. So I have to admire the girls in this video, who take jumping rope to a whole new level.

This is the team known as The Firecrackers, a dedicated group of fourth- to eighth-graders from Ohio who practice two hours five to six days a week.

Look at their smiles and their enthusiasm. I find their performance so refreshing in this age of overpaid, overdrugged professional athletes whose boorish behavior lands them in the headlines more often than their athletic accomplishments.