The sports footage you won't see on TV this Thanksgiving • Hacker News Board

Re: The sports footage you won't see on TV this Thanksgiving

#101

Post by keeptrying » Fri, Nov 25, 2011, 11:43 PM UTC

steve8918 wrote: post #67

keeptrying wrote: post #5

You can figure out whats happening on the field just from what they show on TV. I wrote an answer on quora on how to do this: What I enjoy in a football game is understanding the strategy thats being carried out and the efficiency of execution on every play. I've broken down a list of positions/schemes/plays to look for below. The following applies when watching a regular play from scrimmage - ie one that will be eit…

Your information is interesting and useful, but I am inferring that you're saying that we don't need an expanded view. If this your point, then I disagree with you. There's a lot you can't see with the standard TV view that you get, and sure you can discern some things, but as the article says, a lot of the plays happen off camera, because the view is centered around the QB. You can see the QB throw the ball, and you…

What I'm saying is that you could layout the top down view from whats shown on TV but it requires a lot of pre-processing. Things like mistakes and dept of the safeties etc cannot be made out and do play a part in how the QB processes information but I dont think its that much more. Also the overhead view can get boring for fans who are looking more at the ball and the action around it rather than the strategy being run.

Re: The sports footage you won't see on TV this Thanksgiving

#102

Post by mechanical_fish » Sat, Nov 26, 2011, 2:19 AM UTC

kingnothing wrote: post #62

bokonist wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have an xbox or playstation buy Madden and try learning to play the game it a bit. The formations, plays, and strategy are pretty much all real. You'll learn about different formations, routes, zone defense, etc.

Agreed. I really didn't understand football much at all until I started playing Madden with a group of friends. They helped me out in the beginning by answering questions like "why are there two different colored lines for the QB routes?" (it's an option play). By learning the game of Madden, I learned the game of football and now have an appreciation for the sport.

Interesting that this didn't occur to me. An artifact of being just a little too old, I think. (In the Atari 2600 days one did not play sports games for the knowledge...)

What's sad is that I read a whole article about how much hard work it is for sports-game programmers to get all this stuff perfect and I still didn't get it until now!

Many thanks. Madden it is. ;)

Re: The sports footage you won't see on TV this Thanksgiving

#103

Post by mechanical_fish » Sat, Nov 26, 2011, 2:23 AM UTC

geoka9 wrote: post #58

mechanical_fish wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is excellent. Here's a question: Where can I buy the equivalent of this post , but in video form with actual illustrative game footage? I've wanted to see that for some time. Want it for every sport on earth, really. I've thought about trying to watch a bunch of coaching videos for my sport of choice, but was never sure it would help. They aren't designed for me. I don't need to know how to think like an above-a…

> I've wanted to see that for some time. Want it for every sport on earth, really. For tennis I recommend a book by Brad Gilbert called "Winning Ugly". A treasure trove of tennis tips and tricks; opens up a whole new perspective at the tennis game - both yours and the pros' you watch on TV.

Thanks for this. I have basically never watched tennis. But now I've read the late David Foster Wallace on the subject, and I'll be damned if that guy couldn't sell anyone on tennis, especially a geek. So maybe I'll take your advice and learn something about tennis...

Re: The sports footage you won't see on TV this Thanksgiving

#104

Post by mechanical_fish » Sat, Nov 26, 2011, 2:24 AM UTC

mechanical_fish wrote: post #34

keeptrying wrote: post #5

You can figure out whats happening on the field just from what they show on TV. I wrote an answer on quora on how to do this: What I enjoy in a football game is understanding the strategy thats being carried out and the efficiency of execution on every play. I've broken down a list of positions/schemes/plays to look for below. The following applies when watching a regular play from scrimmage - ie one that will be eit…

This is excellent. Here's a question: Where can I buy the equivalent of this post , but in video form with actual illustrative game footage? I've wanted to see that for some time. Want it for every sport on earth, really. I've thought about trying to watch a bunch of coaching videos for my sport of choice, but was never sure it would help. They aren't designed for me. I don't need to know how to think like an above-a…

Thanks to everyone for the great replies; I'm upvoting up a storm here.

Re: The sports footage you won't see on TV this Thanksgiving

#105

Post by snowwrestler » Sat, Nov 26, 2011, 6:33 AM UTC

philwelch wrote: post #98

danssig wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because in play action the linemen behave as though it were a run.

No, that would be an ineligible receiver downfield. They have to stay behind the line of scrimmage until after the pass is completed. For a straight run they can just block forward.

A lot of running plays involve one or more o-linemen pulling to overload one side or the other. Many play actions pull a lineman or two but then back-fill the pass protection with the backs or tight end. This looks like a run even though none of the o-line go downfield.

Re: The sports footage you won't see on TV this Thanksgiving

#106

Post by redacted » Mon, Nov 28, 2011, 3:03 PM UTC

mechanical_fish wrote: post #35

I used to watch NHL hockey when I was a kid. Then I started going to college hockey games, and that was great, but a terrible side effect is that I've never been able to enjoy TV hockey in quite the same way. Those players off the screen are really important . The advent of HDTV has done a lot to fix this for hockey, where the rink is not so huge. But it would be awesome to have full-field perspective on football.

The first time I went to a NHL game and sat behind the goal it was a revelation - the positioning, the tactics, everything becomes so clear when you see the entire rink isometrically.