Geeks in Sport

Yes, two words that you wouldn’t normally put together, but the marketing gurus at the sports desk have worked hard to expand their product into this previously untapped sector of society. 

So, how does one get all the technology-fixated members of the general public to put down their computer keyboards and camp out on the lounge to watch a 5 day cricket test match? How do you make a golf tournament gripping, compulsory viewing? 

    M: Naked golf? That would work.
    S: Are you sure? You have seen what some of those golfers look like, haven’t you?
    M: Well, no, not really. It’s not exactly on my TV ‘must see’ list. Isn’t that the point of this conversation? 

Rather than funnelling technology funding into improved training techniques and new equipment, we have instead brought some of the slower moving sports into the computer age. 

Cricket – What did those commentators do for a week during a test match before the invention of The Pen? Want to see exactly which member of the fielding team will need to move, where he will need to move and what direction the ball is likely to travel in to avoid him? No problem. Draw a circle around him and lots of lines with arrows. It all makes for fascinating viewing. Not to mention all those instant cricket stats and graphic displays of 4s and 6s. 

    S: I’m an old fashioned kind of girl. I still think that my favourite is the little duck wandering sadly across the bottom of the screen when they get out without scoring.
    M: You are so tragic. 

Swimming – There is certainly a lot more excitement poolside now that we have that line to watch in the bottom of the pool. For quite some time our children actually thought catching the line was the whole point of the event. We do love the flags in the pool to show which country is swimming in which lane as well. Much easier than trying to work out what colour caps everyone is wearing. 

Tennis – Does it get any better than knowing exactly how fast that ball is travelling backwards and forwards over the net? Being able to see exactly where the ball lands has done away with a lot of those disputes between the players and umpires however, which has probably reduced the entertainment value of the game. 

Lawn Bowls – The Pen is back. Lots of guessing just where the next bowl will go. Will it curve round to the left? Maybe the right? Maybe it will sneak through this tiny gap? All that hypothesising only to have a distracted player forget to check the direction of their bias and send their bowl into the neighbouring game. 

Ten Pin Bowling – Forgive our overt geekiness, but this is the big one. You actually get to watch the technology in action while you play the sport! Back in our early ten-pin bowling days (school sport ca. 1986) we were handed paper and tiny pencils to calculate the scores. We recall being very excited when we were allowed to use the overhead projector set up and the felt-tip pens. Now all the calculation is done instantaneously up on the big screen complete with animations and music.  It's like living inside a  Jetsons cartoon. They just need to let the bowling shoe manufacturers know that it's no longer 1953...

 

Comments

[Melissa]

I'm with Susan - I liked the duckk too :)

[Tiffany]

Hi,
I just came from suite101 (a child's book review) to take a look at your site... The blog was a great idea - what's happened lately?
This kind of blog is particularly good for aussie's abroad - !! helps them keep away the home sickness...
tim tams rock.

[WhelanFlynn]

Thanks for the comments. We've recently moved the blog to our own site - www.whelanflynn.com

Hope you follow us there - we're always on the lookout for more TimTam Obsessives!