I'm not a big fan of the NBA, and when people inquire, "Benny... how can you go balls-crazy for college hoops yet have no joy for the NBA?" I usually oversimplify my response and explain that there are only two parts of an NBA game that I enjoy: the player introductions and the last two minutes of the game. The latter is self-explanatory; the former... well, let's just say I'm an adrenaline junkie, and nothing fires me up like a bunch of smoke, lasers, 3D court imagery, PA announcer voice inflection, etc. combined into a single, powerful theatrical display. Admit it, you know the feeling. Heck, most warm-blooded human beings can't listen to Thunderstruck in any setting without getting riled up. Play Highway to Hell at your grandmother's funeral, and despite the fact that she lived a saintly life, I guarantee that even some pall bearers will be struggling to withhold the urge of breaking out into a duck walk.
So what does this have to do with MUBB? Have you noticed something about this 14-15 season? Perhaps along the lines of this team not having any fight? Running out of gas? Inability to close? Whatever euphemism or metaphor you wish to use, all of these can be summed up into one adjective: passionless. I don't care if you're 8 7 6-strong, I've seen enough MU games over the past decade to know that a junkyard dog can fight, and win, no matter how tired or broken down it may be.
So what does this have to do with player introductions?
There's a widely-known, though narrowly-explained, phenomenon in sports called "home field/court advantage." It would be condescending to explain this, so I won't. But I will summarize most of the studies on said phenomenon that it largely has to do with our primal instincts to protect our own, whether that "own" is our children, partners, possessions, territory, chocolate-chicken pot pies, etc. Have you heard the urban legend of the 5'10" 175 lb. guy who incredibly lifts a car off of his son pinned beneath? Credibility of that one aside, we've all heard at least one anecdote about a man or woman who - when faced with a threat to their child - momentarily transformed into the Incredible Hulk. "Fight or flight" is one term used to describe such; another is "adrenaline rush."
So let's tie it together. If a bunch of us are sitting in our seats at the BMOHBC getting fired up during player intros, don't you think that a little of this "energy" isn't also felt and/or shared by the players? And is it unreasonable to consider the possibility that this "energy" can have an indirect effect on a team's motivation and/or how it performs? If the crowd isn't there to support the team, might this have a diminishing effect on the players' instincts to protect home court. And who's going to argue against a bit of an adrenaline rush before tip-off?
Consider that the video preceding the player intros this year as well as the intros are doubly important because both are not only meant to fire up the crowd, both are also meant to fire up the team. We can debate the cinematic merits of the video, but when the lights go out, we've been conditioned to open our arms for a dose of that "energy," yet we sit there for 60 seconds listening to "blah, blah, blah" before the beat starts to pick up. In that regard, this video is completely without aim. It's like watching Walter White drive his Sedan deVille into the neo-nazi compound, and then as he is about to confront Jesse - oh hey, let's break away to a seven-minute flashback that adds nothing to the storyline of Walt and Jesse having a pleasant, but otherwise innocuous, discussion over lunch at What-a-Burger that includes several periods of awkward silence as we watch them eat. W.T.F.???
I'm not going to say that the player intro production is the difference between a 3-11 record and an 8-6 record in conference play, but chasing a much needed adrenaline rush with a couple hundred cc's of Valium can't be helping.
I blame El Nino.
http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=43576.0
^Some good suggestions for intro hypeness here
Player intos seemed to be much better at getting the team to play well when guys like Wade, Crowder, matthews, Blue , etc. played at MU. For some reason, they seemed to lose their effectiveness when the names being introduced were Wilson, Thomas, Anderson, etc.
Any adrenaline rush from player intros would be long gone by the time the game gets to the final stretch.
But I do like defending my chocolate-chicken pot pies....
Can I be next in line for the Cliff's Notes?
Quote from: Atticus on February 23, 2015, 12:06:23 PM
Can I be next in line for the Cliff's Notes?
Cliff's Notes version: "Laser lights during intros will win games."
Quote from: NavinRJohnson on February 23, 2015, 11:43:10 AM
Player intos seemed to be much better at getting the team to play well when guys like Wade, Crowder, matthews, Blue , etc. played at MU. For some reason, they seemed to lose their effectiveness when the names being introduced were Wilson, Thomas, Anderson, etc.
I've noticed that too.
Open up with the hacked video of Wojo punching the white board, a'nia?
Quote from: GooooMarquette on February 23, 2015, 12:07:48 PM
Cliff's Notes version: "Laser lights during intros will win games."
Plus the NBA largely sucks until the last 2 minutes
I'll take "Most Ludicrous" for 200, Alex.
Quote from: ChicosBailBonds on February 23, 2015, 12:19:16 PM
Plus the NBA largely sucks until the last 2 minutes
Hilarious.
I thought the presentation on Saturday was pretty awesome. The crowd was into it. The BC was almost 100% filled. And you almost completely forgot that this years team was doing poorly. Next year, the team will be back to winning and the BC will be like that more often.
Quote from: ChicosBailBonds on February 23, 2015, 12:19:16 PM
Plus the NBA largely sucks until the last 2 minutes
Not sure about this. The last 2 minutes of NBA games are pretty brutal to watch. 2 minutes of action can last up to 20 minutes with the constant timeouts, reviews, fouls, etc...
College games aren't much better.
Let's be honest & frank. The band is nerdier than ever & not holding up their end of the bargain. Why do they get guaranteed four-year scholarships, anyway? With DePaul's band we're at least #42 on the S curve today.
Does the Bradley Center still have the gluten free food stand? Burn it. It's a fad. If you get deathly ill having a burger & beer for lunch, check yourself into the hospital or looney bin.
I don't watch the NBA much but will watch KG!!!!!! Only need to watch him for 2 mins if u know wat I mean
How to clean dirty iPhone screen ? Help
So this is what it's like to be St. Louis.
*thud*
Quote from: flash on February 23, 2015, 01:37:00 PM
Not sure about this. The last 2 minutes of NBA games are pretty brutal to watch. 2 minutes of action can last up to 20 minutes with the constant timeouts, reviews, fouls, etc...
College games aren't much better.
I was providing his cliff notes version of what was said, IMO.
Personally, I find most of the 48 minutes to suck...don't like the NBA rules, don't care of the attitudes too often, etc.
Stopped going to Lakers games when you had to bring your own oxygen to the $100 seats
I thought this year's video was the worst since they have been doing them. My favorite was Novak lifting the roof off the Bradley Center.
Quote from: GooooMarquette on February 23, 2015, 12:07:48 PM
Cliff's Notes version: "Laser lights during intros will win games."
This is exactly the reason I didn't provide the Cliff's Notes... because people would misconstrue the point.
Quote from: GooooMarquette on February 23, 2015, 11:59:42 AM
Any adrenaline rush from player intros would be long gone by the time the game gets to the final stretch.
I will concede that there may be a diminishing effect 90 minutes later, but I wouldn't take the absolute position that it would be "long gone." The instinct to protect home court is always going to be there; if there's an external motivation that amplifies said instinct, I think most would agree that the duration of that effect depends not only on the method and magnitude of the amplification, but the context of the experience (or in this case, the game) subsequent to the opening tip.
However, even assuming what you say is true, chaos theory dictates what occurs during the first few minutes of the game (when the adrenaline is still fresh) can drastically impact the outcome of the game. So the effect of the adrenaline will last much longer than the adrenaline itself.
Actually home court advantage is considerably weaker across the board in both the NBA and in the college game compared to the past: http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/entry/road_teams_are_winning_more_often_in_college_too (http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/entry/road_teams_are_winning_more_often_in_college_too)
Quote from: Benny B on February 23, 2015, 11:06:22 AM
So what does this have to do with player introductions?
There's a widely-known, though narrowly-explained, phenomenon in sports called "home field/court advantage." It would be condescending to explain this, so I won't. But I will summarize most of the studies on said phenomenon that it largely has to do with our primal instincts to protect our own, whether that "own" is our children, partners, possessions, territory, chocolate-chicken pot pies, etc. Have you heard the urban legend of the 5'10" 175 lb. guy who incredibly lifts a car off of his son pinned beneath? Credibility of that one aside, we've all heard at least one anecdote about a man or woman who - when faced with a threat to their child - momentarily transformed into the Incredible Hulk. "Fight or flight" is one term used to describe such; another is "adrenaline rush."
So let's tie it together. If a bunch of us are sitting in our seats at the BMOHBC getting fired up during player intros, don't you think that a little of this "energy" isn't also felt and/or shared by the players? And is it unreasonable to consider the possibility that this "energy" can have an indirect effect on a team's motivation and/or how it performs? If the crowd isn't there to support the team, might this have a diminishing effect on the players' instincts to protect home court. And who's going to argue against a bit of an adrenaline rush before tip-off?
Consider that the video preceding the player intros this year as well as the intros are doubly important because both are not only meant to fire up the crowd, both are also meant to fire up the team. We can debate the cinematic merits of the video, but when the lights go out, we've been conditioned to open our arms for a dose of that "energy," yet we sit there for 60 seconds listening to "blah, blah, blah" before the beat starts to pick up. In that regard, this video is completely without aim. It's like watching Walter White drive his Sedan deVille into the neo-nazi compound, and then as he is about to confront Jesse - oh hey, let's break away to a seven-minute flashback that adds nothing to the storyline of Walt and Jesse having a pleasant, but otherwise innocuous, discussion over lunch at What-a-Burger that includes several periods of awkward silence as we watch them eat. W.T.F.???
I'm not going to say that the player intro production is the difference between a 3-11 record and an 8-6 record in conference play, but chasing a much needed adrenaline rush with a couple hundred cc's of Valium can't be helping.
Have insider info it is all Derrick's fault. He edited the video and thought he needed to slowdown the tempo
Got board after the first paragraph.
Got board after the first paragraph.
Who is in charge of verbally abusing the opposing players and staff?
Students?
*sigh* I guess if you want anything done right you've got to do it yourself.
I'll ratchet up the threats during time outs, see if I can't spur some better after time out spurts for MU.
Quote from: Class71 on February 23, 2015, 09:08:30 PM
Got board after the first paragraph.
What size did you get?
Quote from: Benny B on February 23, 2015, 11:06:22 AM
Have you noticed something about this 14-15 season? Perhaps along the lines of this team not having any fight?
I have not noticed this at all.
I have noticed a severely shorthanded, smallish, not-especially talented team refusing to quit on numerous occasions. This doesn't rate a parade because a high-major college athlete is not supposed to quit. But to suggest this team lacks fight, hmm ...