Tuesday 29 April 2014

Take me out to the ball game

Uber post to make up for three (3) games over Sunday and Monday. I know, 3 games. Not really impressive until you consider my age, then... it's still not impressive.  Sigh. Two middles, one AR.

Overall, an enjoyable start to the season. But I have a question. About baseball. Pitchers are not allowed to use foreign substances (eg spit, pinetar, emery board) to rough up a baseball to create a better grip. But don't batters use pinetar for that reason? Seems a double standard. 

But I digress.

Stat line:
half / total distance (km) / avg speed (min/km) / top speed (min/km)

Game 1 (Middle, 30 min halves)
1st: 2.32 / 14:10 / 3.08
2nd: 3.07 / 10:52 / 2.59

7.44 km total extrapolated for 90 min!
Of course, that's like saying a batter who hits 2 home runs on opening day is on pace for like 326 in a year.  But still, small victories.

Game 2 (AR, 30 min halves)
1st: 1.21 / 27:50 / 3.42
2nd: 1.34 / 24:45 / 4.55

I don't have a feel for what a 'good' distance is. I suspect that will be influenced by the type of game. Eg if play is one sided and I'm standing at half a lot, that will lower total distance. I think top speed will be an interesting stat.

km / avg spd / top speed
1.34 / 24:45 / 4.55
1.21 / 27:50 / 3.42
1.77 / 18:33 / 1.21
1.43 / 22:36 / 3.59

Game 3 (Middle, 45 min halves)
1st: 3.43 / 13:35 / 2:27
2nd: 4.08 / 11:27 / 2:14

7.51 for a 90 min game. Cue fireworks. 

Visuals
Game 1 1st & 2nd

One sided as someone was playing for tie. Plus someone was sent off. 

Game 2 1st and 2nd
Pretty much what you expect from an AR.  I did reach the goal line though.

Game 3 1st and 2nd (no ARs)
 No, I didn't run into the bushes for a quick pee break.  

Bookings
2 cautions, 2 send offs

Kits
All Adjudicator.  Will miss it as I transition to new WC kit, sometime soon, I hope!


Top 10 Baseball movies (from http://www.rottentomatoes.com/guides/best_baseball_movies/)

#10 - Eight Men Out
#9 - Bang the Drum Slowly
#8 - Field of Dreams
#7 - Up for Grabs
#6 - The Pride of the Yankees
#5 - Sugar
#4 - The Bad News Bears (1976 version)
#3 - The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg
#2 - Moneyball
#1 - Bull Durham

Saturday 26 April 2014

Afternoon Delight

So, I ran a line today, a nice jog (or yog, it might be a soft j). Sun made an appearance which was nice.
Ref did a fine job keeping the peace, and the crew looked resplendent in Adjudicator kit.
Good early season game.
Went to PK's aka pleasure town.


Stat line:
half / total distance (km) / avg speed (km/hr) / top speed (min/km)
1st:1.43 / 22:36 / 3:59
2nd: 1.77 / 18:33 / 1:21

Remember, running AR. 

Visual:
The visual is pretty boring, basically a highlighted touchline from half to goal line.

Bookings
No

Kit
Adjudicator


Top 10 Anchorman quotes:
"I don't know how to put this, but I'm kind of a big deal. People know me. I'm very important. I have many leather-bound books and my apartment smells of rich mahogany." - Ron Burgundy

"They've done studies, you know. 60% of the time, it works, every time." - Brian Fantana

"Discovered by the Germans in 1906 they called it San Di-ago. Which, of course, in German means, "A Whale's vagina." - Ron Burgundy

"That escalated quickly"-Ron Burgundy

"You Stay Classy San Diego" - Ron Burgundy

"Why don't you go back to your home on whore island!"- Ron Burgundy

"I wanna say something. I'm gonna put this out there if you like it, you can take it. If you don't, send it right back.... I want to be ON you." - Ron Burgundy

"You're watching Channel 4 with five-time Emmy award-winning anchor Ron Burgundy and Tits McGee." - Ron Burgundy

"I'm Brick Tamland. People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks. Years later, a doctor will tell me that I have an I.Q. of 48 and am what some people call mentally retarded. "~Brick Tamland

"You are a smelly pirate whore!"

Thursday 24 April 2014

Brands, rain and a big-haired soul diva

Rain, rain go away!
Rained the day before my game, the day after, and (mostly) held off during my third game of the season last night.
Exhibition tilt, but 5 minutes in, someone forgot to tell a couple of the players. Sigh, really? 
All-in-all good run in the park in the Euro Adidas grey (thanks Nathan!).
Which got me thinking about branding. As I write this on the Mac Air, iPhone beside me and 4 iPods in the storage bin, Samsung tv playing with sound through Samsung speaker bar, I seem to be brandcentric. At least I buy two different electronic brand names, for my kit, it's all Adidas all the time, baby! (Except for CSA events, then it's all Umbro baby!).
Speaking of kit, fingers crossed the WC 2014 come in by year end! 

Stat line:
half / total distance (km) / avg speed (km/hr) / top speed (min/km)
1st: 2.95 / 12:26 / 3:08
2nd: 2.72 / 13.07 / 2:57

35 min halves, so extrapolated to 3.68 and 3.49 for 45's (7.17 for 90)

Visual:
No AR's.
Team 1 had 2 subs and team 2 had zero, which I think we see in second half.
1st - general diagonal, not bad coverage.
 2nd - distinct tilt and shorter field. Boys seemed to be shooting from afar more.

Bookings
No

Kit
Euro Grey

Top 10 songs about rain

I Can’t Stand the Rain, Tina Turner
It’s hard to believe, but Tina Turner’s longevity is partially thanks to a group from Sheffield: Heaven 17.
In 1984 the big-haired soul diva turned to the electro musicians for her multi-platinum Private Dancer album, to produce a version of Ann Peebles’ 1973 song – whose sentiments still stand.
Here Comes the Rain Again, Eurythmics
This winter, we can all relate to electronic duo Eurythmics’ 1984 single – their fifth consecutive top 10 single in the UK. As vocalist Annie Lennox contemplates the return of the wet weather, she wishes instead she could “walk in the open wind” and dive into her lover’s “ocean”.

Raining in My Heart, Buddy Holly
As with the majority of songs included in this list, Buddy Holly isn’t singing about a change in the meteorogical forecast, but his emotional state.
“The weatherman says it’s clear today/He doesn’t know you’ve gone away,” the pioneering rock’n’roller croons. Despite the song’s popularity today, it was released in 1959 as the B-side to “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore”, which only reached number 88 in the US Billboard charts.
Only Happy When it Rains, Garbage
At least some people enjoy bad weather. Back in 1995, indie supergroup Garbage released this paean to finding the positive in bad times, supposedly mocking 1990s angst rock.
“You know I love it when the news is bad,” says singer Shirley Manson. And do you know, we probably did know it.
Why Does It Always Rain On Me?, Travis
If you’ve ever lived in Glasgow, hometown to Travis, you can probably relate to singer Fran Healy’s preoccupation with precipitation. Released in 1999, the song became the band’s first UK top 10 hit. According to rock legend, when they performed it at that year’s previously sunny Glastonbury festival, it promptly started to rain. Thanks, Travis.
Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head, BJ Thomas
Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s catchy number one hit featured in the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Despite Thomas’s unfortunate predicament, he can’t help but look on the bright side: “The blues they send to meet me won’t defeat me/It won’t be long till happiness steps up to greet me.”

Purple Rain, Prince
Prince and The Revolution’s apocalyptic Purple Rain was the title track of a 1984 film and soundtrack album of the same name. Cut from 11 to eight minutes and then down to four for the single, each verse touches on different people in Prince’s life: his father, ex-girlfriend Apollonia, and his group.
It was first recorded live at a benefit concert in Mineappolis.
It’s Raining Men, Weather Girls
Barbra Streisand, Cher and Diana Ross had all turned this hi-energy disco number down when the Weather Girls made it into a global hit in 1982.
Since then it’s served as musical shorthand in any number of romcoms – Geri Halliwell’s version features in Bridget Jones’s Diary. It’s also Homer Simpson’s favourite song.
Crying in the Rain, The Everly Brothers
Howard Greenfield and Carole King’s plangent song (covered by A-ha) is something of a pop curio. Normally King worked with Gerry Goffin, while lyricist Greenfield worked with Jack Keller – but for one day the songwriters decided to switch partners at Aldon Music.
Despite producing this hit, the duo never wrote together again.
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, Bob Dylan
Though Bob Dylan’s powerful question-and-answer song is said to have been written in response to the Cuban missile crisis, it was premiered at Carnegie Hall in September 1962 – one month before President John F Kennedy appeared on television to denounce the installation of Soviet warheads so close to the USA.
Dylan said it was made up of first lines he’d never have time to use.

Thursday 17 April 2014

It's gold, it's gold, it's solid gold baby

So, game 2 of the season under the belt.
No AR's and first game of the season for the boys, so we did 30 min halves.
Actually, 25 min first half then 35 the second. Yes, I know both halves need to be the same, but at my core I'm a bleeding heart liberal.

To track GPS I use http://www.endomondo.com/home.  It's a free "app" (short for application).
Why doesn't the city have wifi at all fields? Would save me using data plan.
Also, silly phone died at half so couldn't track 2nd half.

Stat line:
half / total distance (km) / avg speed (km/hr) / top speed (min/km)
1st: 1.84 / 14:03 0:03:24
2nd: phone died.  

1.84 km for 25 min, which puts me on track for 6.6 for 90 min.
Last post I set a goal for 7km / game, which I thought was good. Until I got a text from a colleague saying she and her partner each did 8km for their games. Sigh.

Visual:
Ok, why doesn't Mac come with a Paint application? Really, I can't download and simple edit a graphic file (like on Windows)? If one of my readers can fill me in on how to do this that would be great
So, for this photo I took a picture on my phone of the track on my computer, then emailed the picture to the computer, download, then uploaded. Technology!


My diagonal was shifted to the west touchline for some reason.

No bookings, heck, didn't record scorers as it's exhibition.

Kit
Goldmember (yup, search the archive to find this kit reference)
Can't wait until the 2014 WC kit arrives...
If anyone knows Stephen + Aaron, bug them for me!

Peace Out


Monday 14 April 2014

A new season

After a one year hiatus, the internet's least read blog is back!
That's right, The Reckless Tackle returns, with new posts, new characters and shocking plot twists.

For those unaware of this blog (or to more accurately state, for the two people aware of this blog) I recap my game. Sometimes I use pretty charts and pictures!

Game summary:
First game of the year! 2x 45 min.
Fantastic day for it, two nice teams.

Stat line:
half / total distance (km) / avg speed (km/hr) / top speed (min/km)
1st: 3.11 / 15:40 0:03:30
2nd: 3.43 / 13:54  / 0:03:08

Well now. 6.54 km for first game. Not too bad. I think I want to get this up to 7 / game.
Then I think, I'm this close | | to retirement, so maybe 6.5 is realistic.  Sigh.

Visual:
Satellite image for Mac 1 & 2 is updated!

first half

second half


Booking:
Nothing.

Assistants:
Quinn and Rei

Kit:
Peacemaker