Zark's

Is Instant Replay Improving Our Lives?

Wikipedia explains that instant replay is responsible for making American football popular.  "Viewers struggled to disseminate the action from a wide shot of the field, on a small black and white television screen. However, with replay technology, 'brutal collisions became ballets, and end runs and forward passes became miracles of human coordination.' "  We simply didn't see all of this going on without instant replay.

As American readers also know, instant replay is being used in both college and professional games to review officiating decisions.  Instant replay brings scrutiny to NL officials explains that officials frequently have decisions overturned, but the humans are making decisions in real-time, at full speed, whereas instant replay shows a specific play much, much, slower, and without other distractions.  But we have become used to decisions being overturned.

All week the news channels have covering the pepper-spraying at the University of California.  A video of the police pepper-spraying demonstrators has provoked considerable criticism and comment.  Some have even demanded that the chancellor of the campus be fired.  What I'm wondering is whether the instant replay from sports as infiltrated our culture and whether that is a good thing.

There were some poignant photographs during the Vietnam War that evoked the emotions of a nation, and left deep scars.  Recall the Pulitzer Prize winning photograph of naked Phan Thi Kim Phuc running from a village mistakenly bombed with napalm.  Or the photograph of Nguyen Ngoc Loan executing Viet Cong soldier, Nguyen Van Lem.

In retrospect, those images corrected wrongs, perhaps like the pepper spraying at UC-Davis.  Suppose there had been a video running on the BP oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico when things turned horribly wrong last spring and resulted in the oil spill.  Would a public video have improved corporate responsibility and behavior?  Probably yes, right?

If we were machines without emotion, without a future, and if we were measured by similar machines without emotion, then constant video surveillance would probably yield a more efficient world.  But we are not, and images or surveillance only captures what is occurring in front of the lens, not the whole context.  Would any of us assume any risk if we knew our attempt was being captured for instant replay?

Could the founding fathers of the USA have produced the constitution if there had been instant replay? 

 

The Addiction of Running

Wiki tells that a beta endorphin is an endogenous opioid peptide neurotransmitter.  Key in on the word, opioid, as in opium.  Just like morphine and codeine, it is addictive.  A "runner's high" is when the body stressed sufficiently to produce endorphins.  But it has to be from a long, sustained, workout.  Something that I didn't know - the time of the endorphin release coincides when the body had used up its store of glycogen.  Some have considered the "runner's high" as a myth, but brain scans have confirmed what many a dedicated runner can tell you - it feels good.

Runner's High describes the feeling as euphoric, or a sense of invincibility.  Maybe it is because the body has depleted its reserves and it is the will of the mind that keeps the runner moving.  The body and the mind have disassociated, and free of the body, the mind feels freedom.  Perhaps I am addicted to it, because when I cannot run because of an injury or really bad weather, I miss my morning 'buzz' from running.

So how did we get here? Minor Variations in One Gene May Be Associated With Endurance Running explains that endurance athletes are likely to have variations of the NRF2 gene.  The Science Daily article explains that the gene is suspected to a) produce additional mitochondria - the power centers of living cells, and b) reduce the dangers of oxidation and inflammation.  Interaction between SNPs in the NRF2 gene and elite endurance performance explains that sprinters lack the gene, but the correlation is extremely high for long distance runners.     

It is interesting isn't it?  How marvelous our bodies are!

The Greatest Softball Game Ever?

One of the greatest sports stories in a long time, Foes carry softball player around bases after her first homer, describes a game in Portland Oregon. Senior Sara Tucholsky of Western Oregon University hit her first home run ever.  Sadly, she suffered a knee injury at first base and had to crawl back.  There, she was faced with a dilemma.  If her teammates helped, she would be called out.  The home run would be replaced with a single if she was substituted with a pinch runner. 

The opposing first baseman Mallory Holtman than asked if she and her teammates could help Tucholsky.  The shortstop and first baseman carried the injured opponent around the bases.  Her entire team was in tears as her score was recorded when the two opposing players carried her across home plate. 

What makes the story more touching is that by carrying the player across the bases, Central Washington lost the game by 4-2.  That ended Central's season as they were knocked out of the playoffs. 

Years from now, whoever wins the Great Northwest Athletic Conference will be forgotten.  I promise though, the image of Mallory and Wallace carrying their injured opponent around the bases will not be forgotten.  It is not a legacy for those two collegiate ladies, but it is a good start.  My wish is that I  become like them.

Betting on the future

I love football for multiple reasons. First, it is great entertainment. It would probably be embarrassing to add up all the time in my life that I have spent in the stands, sidelines, and couch, watching football. In this past season, there were some memorable games, but I think the Packers – Seahawks game in the postseason was one of the best. ( Favre, Packers snow Seahawks ) Although I would not have wanted to play or even attend in such extreme weather conditions, it was a spectacle watching from the comfort of my home. 

Someday I would like to write an essay on how football resembles life, or maybe vice-versa. We all have owners/bosses and coaches, etc. Certainly all of us have felt the the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat  There is also no denying that sheer talent like Randy Moss enables a career. Yet, the league/life is filled with talented players/people and preparation and discipline is what allows some to win over more capable or talented adversaries. There are good guys and some not-so-good guys.  Just like life.

Yet despite all the statistics and predictions, you still need to play the game or life, because as Doc Brown advises in Back to the Future, your future hasn’t been written yet . For this Sunday’s game, my head says the Patriots are going to win. They arguably have the most talent ever assembled on the gridiron. My heart wants the Giants, because they have heart.  But that's why they play the game!  And there is always the next game or next season!