As Soon as the Season Starts...

...The Season Starts to End.*

Are you working every day to make your team better?

See you all at Colorado Cup



*stolen from the Bravo website

Philosophical Determinism

An excellent response to an essay on the Logical Argument For Determinism and Against Free Will on The NYT Philosophy Blog: 

That this argument fails to convince anyone that his choice is absolutely determined feels just like the Anselm argument failing to really convince anyone that God exists. It is always interesting that logic, however strong and well structured, doesn't really have much power to convince. There is pretty good evidence that our physical selves are pretty well deterministic, but we never believe it.

One reason, I think, is that our conscious mind may be just a passenger, watching what happens, but not really in control of anything. This conclusion is verified by scientific studies which show the patterns of mental activity about some action actually come very slightly after the body's action has been taken. Our body's actions are, in fact, pretty much determined. But, if our "mind" is a passenger, then it can't know what will happen and is always both surprised, so to speak, and filled with responsibility ( because it doesn't know that it is just a passenger).   

     - mitch diamond

The illusion of responsibility - even if it is indeed only an illusion - does seem to make evolutionary sense. If mental states are factors in future behavior the memory of past guilt is a helpful force in future decisions.  Even if we philosophers are baffled by the circular arguments presented to us by our senses, and surprised by the logical conclusions that result  (the absence of free will), at least we can marvel at our quirky existence  (the illusion of free will and feelings of responsibility)

Haha

I put "haha" at the end of lots of things I write. Emails, facebook comments, tweets. I do this, for the most part, because I am worried people will be offended or put off if I seemed very serious. We all know how hard it is to convey inflection through text; better that the reader think I am joking than they get their feelings hurt because they misconstrue.

Actually, it upsets me that I feel the need to qualify my statements like this. It angers me that I feel people don't know how to not be offend by something they read on the internet because they most likely don't understand what the writer means. It makes me frustrated that I feel ashamed to write with heavy wording.Mostly, it makes me sad that I notice this "Haha" trend so astutely because this fact indicates that I communicate through a screen way more than I should.

Haha

Hidden from the News Feed

The ability to hide certain people or certain types of updates (I'm looking at you FarmVille) from one's Facebook Newsfeed is great - it allows you to customize your FB experience. Yet, there is a big downside.

I feel that it's sort of unfair that once someone is hidden they are never seen again by the hider. Oh how I loath the notion that my wondrous and insightful status updates never reach the multitudes because of my past youthful indiscretions (spamming my status with stupid inside jokes and unauthorized and inadvertent Texas Hold accomplishments). I know better now - my statuses are pure gold but you may never see them because you could so easily block me forever.

I say that 4 times a year, for 2 days at a time, EVERYONE you have ever blocked shows up on your feed - a re-audition of sorts. Then, if you find something really valuable, you can UNBLOCK them. If after the trial period, you take no action then everyone is returned to the blocked list.


The worst part of the whole mess is that I will never know that you blocked me. I might spout untold wisdom with you in particular in mind and never will you see it.

StalkButton

There should be a stalk button on facebook and twitter for people who you want to know about but don't want them to know you are browsing their profile. In true narcissistic, generation ME fashion, facebook would, a month later, come out with the ability to see how many people have stalkbuttoned you without giving away their identity.

Setting Up

It is WAY better to set up on D then to set up on O. Ceteris paribus, fast breaking is WAY better than slowing down to set up your offense. Take a lesson from the best college woman's team of all time: Oregon2010 picked up the disc after a turn as fast as possible EVERY time.

The counter argument says that it takes time for the O to get into their formation. To that I say you have too high an opinion of formations. Better that people set up the offense while the disc is moving between handlers.

Heuristics, not Algorithms.

Reciever Picks

The disc should NEVER stay with the receiver if he is involved with a pick. Never.

Fuck

" did it affect the play?"

Fuck

"did you have a play on the disc?"

Fuck XVI.C.2.B.2


A pick is a pick is a pick is a pick. Even if the defender had been 1 foot closer on the reception, that is more pressure which could have lead to a drop.

Take subjective judgments out of the game as much as possible: a receiver who gets the disc after his defender gets picked should never get the disc.

Lebron

The best possible way this LeBronocalypse could possibly end is with him walking up to the mic, silently sitting down for a a few seconds, leaning over, and nonchalantly saying: "Cleveland, I'm coming back" and then getting up and starting to leave before bending back over and adding: "And I'm gonna take less money so we can sign more players." Walking away behind the curtain to the sound of screaming reporters, he will be become the leader,the legend, the hero, and the superstar that he wants to be.

Anything less, and we will all look back and remember it as the exact moment when sports stars could never again be role models for our children.