Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not ashamed to admit I had to look up Donald Bradman. Cricket? That's the analogy you went with? :-)
I am curious to hear your thoughts on which sportsperson is a more appropriate analogy?
Wayne Gretzky?
The greatest juggler alive quit to open a construction business
31–40 of 103 posts
Re: The greatest juggler alive quit to open a construction business
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
there is pretty much no one who has dominated a sport the way bradman dominated cricket, i think. consider - he has the highest lifetime test batting average of all time, at 99.94. which doesn't perhaps sound that impressive, out of context, until you see that the next three people in the record books have averages of 60.97, 60.83 and 60.73. he was more than 50% better than the second-best test batsman around.
Not sure how cricket compares to baseball, but in the 20s and 30s the overall talent level was nowhere near what it's become in modern times. Saying that, Bradman's batting average is absurdly high, does 99.94 mean that nearly everytime he went to bat he was able to put the ball in play without the opposing team being able to get him out? If so, the equivalent in baseball would be almost always getting a hit (closest…
well, "putting the ball in play" is not as hard in cricket as in baseball; the 99 refers to runs, not a percentage. but getting more than 100 runs in a game (known as a century) is a reasonably significant feat in cricket; that bradman's average was almost 100 runs is spectacular.
Re: The greatest juggler alive quit to open a construction business
#33This is a case of a performer aging and not being able to understand a new medium. Gatto asks if posting videos on youtube will get him another job. He never considers that it can be a job.
Gatto seems to prefer the well-honed live performance to the recorded performance that may have worked on the 100th take. This is a matter of taste. It's also difficult to judge the skill of a performer in a recording (are they that good or did they edit their video to just have their successes).
This makes me think of classical music. Live performances have certainly been on the downward trend for many years. Glenn Gould devoted himself to just recording instead of live performances seeing this as the future of music (see http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/06/06/050606crat_atlar...). I think there's room for both live and recorded. Seeing only perfect performances can create unrealistic expectations in people's minds.
Re: The greatest juggler alive quit to open a construction business
#34I used to run the world's biggest juggling video repository (JuggleThis.net, now defunct) which itself was definitely responsible for a lot of the irritation Gatto found with the new generation of camera-happy juggling kids. Certainly he was frustrated by newcomers filming 100 takes and showing just one (something I'm guilty of too!). But without being a juggler yourself it's hard to express just how much better than…
I'm not ashamed to admit I had to look up Donald Bradman. Cricket? That's the analogy you went with? :-)
[deleted]
Re: The greatest juggler alive quit to open a construction business
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
there is pretty much no one who has dominated a sport the way bradman dominated cricket, i think. consider - he has the highest lifetime test batting average of all time, at 99.94. which doesn't perhaps sound that impressive, out of context, until you see that the next three people in the record books have averages of 60.97, 60.83 and 60.73. he was more than 50% better than the second-best test batsman around.
Not sure how cricket compares to baseball, but in the 20s and 30s the overall talent level was nowhere near what it's become in modern times. Saying that, Bradman's batting average is absurdly high, does 99.94 mean that nearly everytime he went to bat he was able to put the ball in play without the opposing team being able to get him out? If so, the equivalent in baseball would be almost always getting a hit (closest…
Not quite, but close.
In cricket you (and a second batter who is with you) stay at bat until you are dismissed. There are a number of ways to be dismissed, such as being caught on the full or run out, but you don't need to put every ball into play. In order to score runs you generally must play the ball, but trying to score runs increases your risk of being dismissed.
The best batsman are able to both score runs and minimise their risk of being dismissed, and so are able to stay in bat for longer and score higher totals.
Bradman was, on average, able to score almost 100 runs every time he went out to bat, and that is just ridiculous.
Re: The greatest juggler alive quit to open a construction business
#36[deleted]
Re: The greatest juggler alive quit to open a construction business
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not ashamed to admit I had to look up Donald Bradman. Cricket? That's the analogy you went with? :-)
I am curious to hear your thoughts on which sportsperson is a more appropriate analogy?
Someone that a higher percentage of people would be familiar with. While his feat is impressive, it is I'm guessing widely unknown. Perhaps Jordan, Ali, Gretzky, Babe Ruth would seem more appropriate.
For those not too familiar with cricket, that "average" isn't like a batting average in baseball. While incredibly impressive, it is not equivalent to getting a hit 100% of the time.
As for impressive feats above and beyond, Babe Ruth comes to mind. He hit more home runs in a season than many entire teams did at the time.
Re: The greatest juggler alive quit to open a construction business
#38Great article but it makes no mention of Michael Moschen, who many (including me) consider the best & most creative juggler in the world. Here are some mind-blowing physics that I think the HN community, in particular, would enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjHoedoSUXY He's also well-known for "contact juggling," where the balls don't leave the hands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OTb8tga-yg
It's easy to underestimate the precision necessary for those bounce throws.
Re: The greatest juggler alive quit to open a construction business
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am curious to hear your thoughts on which sportsperson is a more appropriate analogy?
Someone that a higher percentage of people would be familiar with. While his feat is impressive, it is I'm guessing widely unknown. Perhaps Jordan, Ali, Gretzky, Babe Ruth would seem more appropriate. For those not too familiar with cricket, that "average" isn't like a batting average in baseball. While incredibly impressive, it is not equivalent to getting a hit 100% of the time. As for impressive feats above and be…
OP apparently isn't from the USA; I'd imagine in OP's cultural context the Bambino is less well known, baseball being a mostly North American sport.
Let's not forget we have an international readership here :-)
Re: The greatest juggler alive quit to open a construction business
#40Speaking as a juggler: I've seen Gatto in performance (in Kooza in 2008); he's every bit as good as the article says. I've also seen (and met) many other top jugglers.
And yet, to be honest, while I appreciate the talent and skill required to do the kinds of numbers and moves Gatto does, and even though I understand the difficulty of pulling off, e.g., 7 clubs or 7-ball 5-up 360s or 6-club backcrosses — I find this type of juggling fairly boring to watch. No matter how much showmanship you put into it, every performing juggler eventually realizes that technical skill means very little and audiences get bored after about 3 minutes. Most good jugglers with long shows do comedy and variety routines. Gatto clearly didn't want to go down that road. I respect that.
My favorite juggler to watch is Falco Scheffler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CmnaICnMiw — no high numbers here, just 3 and 4 balls. And way more fun to watch than endless runs of 5 club backcrosses.