Back Online

[dlgood]

I am back online. I don't know how I survived draft weekend without my cable.

Now off to watch something utterly valueless, like this YouTube clip of Faster Pussycat covering "You're So Vain". (a.k.a. the perils of letting a One Hit Wonder cover a truly classic song...) I can't think of anything that encapsulates the internet more...

Comments

[ann1962]

Welcome back!

I love that song, and since I know nothing of this band, I will have to pursue it further. Thanks!

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

They were a sleaze/glam/hair metal band in the late 80s. Their one real hit was the Power Ballad - House of Pain (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7LKSRCGVp4&feature=related) - which was actually a good song. Their cover of Carly Simon, not so good...

Sports question!

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

I'm trying to think of a star baseball pitcher, one that maybe played for a southern California or Boston team that Faith would be into, but all I'm coming up with is Fernando Valenzuela, who's been off the radar for over a decade.

Anyone else you can think of?

Re: Sports question!

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

There are a number of star athletes Faith could be aware of. I can supply you with the right one if you tell me the attitude you want Faith to have toward the pitcher, and I'll find you a player she'd be most likely to have that attitude towards. For example, she'd like Pedro Martinez (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Martinez) because he's great, and because he's charismatic, but she wouldn't find him sexy.

Re: Sports question!

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

She's responding to a comment of Rona's instructing the Slayers not to telegraph their punches by comparing Rona to a pitcher who has a flamboyant wind-up. So Fernando seemed a natural.

Re: Sports question!

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Okay. We can work with this....

That's not an entirely precise analogy. Most pitchers use the same motion regardless of what pitch they throw - or throw their all of their pitches from the different arm angles they use - so they aren't inherently going to reveal a pitch from a particular windup.

That said, batters tend to have trouble picking up pitches when their thrown by pitchers with very unusual throwing motions. (like Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez.) However, those unusual motions are mechanically inefficient. And pitchers with really flamboyant motions often end up hurting their aarms. (Kevin Appier was a good example of that from that time frame)

Faith's probably inclined to think more about making sure they use natural motions regardless of what they look like. You don't want your enemy to see you thinking about it. Watch Pedro. He goes direct to the plate and uses his whole repetoire, so no one really knows what he's going to throw, where he's going to throw it, or how fast. (And unlike Pedro, the slayers are too young to get tired and hang curveballs over the plate)

Re: Sports question!

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

So does that mean Pedro is a good example of telegraphing or a bad example of telegraphing?

Re: Sports question!

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Pedro is a great example to an aspiring pitcher.

His windup is compact, and he doesn't waste motion.

He throws from a number of different arm angles and speeds, and he can throw each of his pitches from those different release points - which means a change in his arm angle doesn't tell you anything about what he throws.

He hides the ball well - a batter can't see his hand, which is great because a pitcher's grip on the ball (how many fingers, how far apart) can reveal what they're throwing.

That said, a pitcher is most likely to reveal what he's throwing, not from his windup, but from the way he reacts toward signs coming from the catcher. If you see a pitcher shake off the catcher's call two or three times in a row, it means he's fallen in love with his last pitch and going to repeat it.

Re: Sports question!

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

So I need an analogous situation to slaying. Most of the time the slayer is alone and not taking cues from anyone. So what would give her strategy away to an opponent, and how is that an analogy to baseball, and who in baseball is a good analogy to a lone slayer who gives her strategy away?

Re: Sports question!

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

A better example might be football. On any given pass play, the quarterback has three to five players to throw to... but if he only looks on one side of the field, his pass will be intercepted by a defender. "Collins is a moron. He just kept staring right, and the safety jumped the play. You have to look the defender off before you go back to that side of the field..."



The other general thing she could use is boxing... Like, maybe they're in a gym watching two amateur boxers spar. And Faith can point something out... like, one of the boxers has a twitch that gives a punch away. "Watch Ruiz dip his shoulder. It's not much, but you can see it. Every time he's about to throw his hook, he drops his shoulder a little."

Re: Sports question!

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Pedro Martinez footage (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5RwI8d2Ls8s). He was incredibly popular.

[nycscribbler.livejournal.com]

So, in terms of a slightly different draft, what say you to Langhorne to the Mystics? Yea, nay, or “YES!”?

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

Of a mixed mind. On the one hand, as a DC Area local, and Maryland alum, I'm a fan of hers and I think it's neat that she'll play here. (Although, she's from Philly, not a DC native like Alana Beard.)

On the other, I think it's sometimes good for a player to start off in a new city, where she'll be measured by her pro career rather than college memories. Juan Dixon will probably get standing ovations for the rest of his life when he shows up to play in DC, but he was never really a good fit with the Bullets and I think it's better that he got a chance to start fresh elsewhere.

I guess it depends on how she pans out. I don't follow the WNBA all that much, but I hope she's at least a solid rotation player.