This Cake Will Take You Farrrrrrr

September 21st, 2009, 1 Comment »

Check out the awesome cake my nephew Paul enjoyed for his fourth birthday party (click for buccaneer bigness):

It comes complete with licorice cannons and Malteser cannonballs. Paul’s party was pirate-themed, coincidentally coinciding (can one say that?) with International Talk Like a Pirate Day. I wonder, is Paul destined, therefore, to a have a lifetime of pirate parties?

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Celebrating After Every Point

August 11th, 2008, 5 Comments »

I was watching some Olympics coverage yesterday, and started thinking about rituals of celebration:

  • In indoor volleyball, the team converges after every successful point. There’s a momentary huddle where, I assume, encouraging and congratulatory remarks are exchanged.
  • In gymnastics, the girls (for, yes, they’re mostly still girls) of the American team gave each other the most cursory of hugs after each routine.
  • Basketball seems to reflect what occurs in the NBA. There’s very little reaction after the average basket, and just some macho posturing after a particularly righteous slam dunk.
  • I didn’t see what happened in water polo, but I think it’s much like basketball.

In games where teams accrue points, there’s a correlation between the frequency of scoring and the amount of celebration. In hockey and football (that is, soccer), the entire team congregates around the scorer to congratulate them. At the other end of the scale, there’s very little reaction from teammates in basketball or doubles tennis.

Is there a threshold where the group-to-congratulate stops? Maybe it’s not that simple. There’s potentially 25 points in a volleyball game, though there’s easily 75 to 100 in a match. That’s actually more ’scores’ that the average basketball game, so I guess there’s no hard and fast rule.

Can you think of other high-scoring sports where the team celebrates after every point?

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