Hmm, like 47 minutes of a three hour baseball game taken up by batters making sure their gloves didn’t come loose during the time they watched the last high-outside fastball go by?
Very funny, especially the detail about fundraising. —It puts me in mind of a remark that Rachel Ray once made in an interview about a new cooking program she was launching, featuring cooking lessens for people who Really Don’t Know The Very First Thing About Cooking (they exist; our president is one). She said it was actually a little alarming, as it was like watching children playing in traffic . . . only with sharp knives and fire.
I liked to get two #2 pencils out, sharpen them with that little block-sharpener that was allowed in class, and double check that the erasers were good… then I could (sometimes) ace the test. My sister had to sleep with the text under her pillow. Dunno how she managed when she got to college and had more than one final per day. :)
We’ve established and/or accepted that I’m not big into spectating sports. Also that I’m not into what they call the “revenue” sports. So you might be surprised by what I do find fascinating to watch: Basketball players shooting free throws. Specifically, watching basketball players getting ready to shoot free throws.
A free throw is a shot any player on the floor could make without thinking, but that’s exactly it. They give him time to think, force it on him, and that complicates things. The players deal with that via rituals, and it’s the rituals that I love to watch. Also, it’s pretty much the only way I’m ever going to be able to relate to a basketball player.
I’m terrible when I think. Drop my IQ by 20 points and my performance goes up. Just as one example, I was always a much better bike handler when exhausted, when I was too tired to think and had to settle for reacting. But I don’t always have the option to ride my brains out. A start ritual is in order. I’ve read all about them, and I think I can boil it down to two ways that the magic works. One of them is that it moves Step One down to Step Two, the difference between beginning a sequence and continuing a sequence. That’s huge. The other is that it scrambles the fear equation. I’ve read the very astute observation that the formula for fear goes FEAR = THINKING + TIME. A familiar distraction helps eliminate one, and a quick one with a definite end time eliminates both.
My own go-to ritual is Five Potatoes. One potato, two potato, three potato, four potato, five potato, go. Inhale slowly for the first two potatoes, then exhale through potatoes 3-5 and you get a calming bonus. Put me at the free-throw line and that’s what I’d do. I’d still miss the rim, but at least I’d get around to taking the shot.
batmanwithprep over 5 years ago
I think that’s the idea behind the war dance that New Zealand national sports teams do before international matches.
whahoppened over 5 years ago
But…Caulfield is classed as a sharp object!
M2MM over 5 years ago
Some folks have to psyche themselves up for just about anything.
some idiot from R'lyeh Premium Member over 5 years ago
“I have to do my performance ritual” – a common saying we may hear every day.
Old Girl over 5 years ago
Hmm, like 47 minutes of a three hour baseball game taken up by batters making sure their gloves didn’t come loose during the time they watched the last high-outside fastball go by?
AndrewSihler over 5 years ago
Very funny, especially the detail about fundraising. —It puts me in mind of a remark that Rachel Ray once made in an interview about a new cooking program she was launching, featuring cooking lessens for people who Really Don’t Know The Very First Thing About Cooking (they exist; our president is one). She said it was actually a little alarming, as it was like watching children playing in traffic . . . only with sharp knives and fire.
Isaac Chen over 5 years ago
Research shows? Please cite sources.
sandpiper over 5 years ago
That third one should be labeled a deadly sin. Can’t be the 8th because there are way too many others ahead of it. But it should be on the list.
CoffeeBob Premium Member over 5 years ago
Sounds a bit like any major (and most minor) religions. Just saying.
Concretionist over 5 years ago
I liked to get two #2 pencils out, sharpen them with that little block-sharpener that was allowed in class, and double check that the erasers were good… then I could (sometimes) ace the test. My sister had to sleep with the text under her pillow. Dunno how she managed when she got to college and had more than one final per day. :)
Night-Gaunt49[Bozo is Boffo] over 5 years ago
Blog PostsFrazz14 hrs ·
We’ve established and/or accepted that I’m not big into spectating sports. Also that I’m not into what they call the “revenue” sports. So you might be surprised by what I do find fascinating to watch: Basketball players shooting free throws. Specifically, watching basketball players getting ready to shoot free throws.
A free throw is a shot any player on the floor could make without thinking, but that’s exactly it. They give him time to think, force it on him, and that complicates things. The players deal with that via rituals, and it’s the rituals that I love to watch. Also, it’s pretty much the only way I’m ever going to be able to relate to a basketball player.
I’m terrible when I think. Drop my IQ by 20 points and my performance goes up. Just as one example, I was always a much better bike handler when exhausted, when I was too tired to think and had to settle for reacting. But I don’t always have the option to ride my brains out. A start ritual is in order. I’ve read all about them, and I think I can boil it down to two ways that the magic works. One of them is that it moves Step One down to Step Two, the difference between beginning a sequence and continuing a sequence. That’s huge. The other is that it scrambles the fear equation. I’ve read the very astute observation that the formula for fear goes FEAR = THINKING + TIME. A familiar distraction helps eliminate one, and a quick one with a definite end time eliminates both.
My own go-to ritual is Five Potatoes. One potato, two potato, three potato, four potato, five potato, go. Inhale slowly for the first two potatoes, then exhale through potatoes 3-5 and you get a calming bonus. Put me at the free-throw line and that’s what I’d do. I’d still miss the rim, but at least I’d get around to taking the shot.