Transcript
Speaker: All receivers are doing that They're playing within the structure of those rules. Yep, they can catch the ball and they can catch it well. They shovel. They shovel very well. I'm mad I laughed. I'm mad I understood that reference. Hello, friends. Welcome to Tabletop Tangents, a podcast about running tabletop RPGs, writing stories, and the sometimes meandering paths we take in pursuit of creativity and inspiration.
Speaker: Tangent number 17, a different kind of game.
Speaker: All right. All right. it's bought Sports. It's game time. it's It's here we go. We're psyching ourselves up for this. But... this This episode, this is a little weird, I think, but also not weird. I mean, to me, i do want to talk about this.
Speaker: And it has to do with sports. And please don't go away quite yet. but Wait till like the 33 minute mark. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sports as it has to do with...
Speaker: um Spectating sports, like watching, you know, being a fan, all that stuff. Sports as it has to do with participating in sports and how that changes your spectating of sports.
Speaker: And sports as a game. And what that means um to people who are playing it and as performance, because a big part of sports is sports psychology. And all of this relates to what we do, whether it is sitting down at a table at a convention, getting ready to run a game for somebody playing sitting down at a convention table, getting ready to play a game with somebody.
Speaker: um Because there's this whole aspect of I'm ready to perform. I want to perform well. I want to role play well. I want to impress people. i want to make people laugh. I want to do all those things, right? And this is all related, i think, in a very...
Speaker: unique and visceral way to sports performance, not just the physical aspect, but the mental aspect. So that that's the kind of thing that I'm trying to explore here. what what are your What are your thoughts on this, both of you?
Speaker: First of all, i have to say in the realm of podcast topics that I have been a part of over the years, I don't think I have ever had this discussion. So ah there apparently is something new under the sun. And I'm very excited to to explore the topic. Well, new for you. New for me. I i i mean, on the surface, on the whole, I absolutely agree with you. I think from a philosophical standpoint, a lot of this is very, very similar.
Speaker: ah You know, from the the equipment and gear standpoint, see last episode, um to everything that you mentioned as well. I think that that all matters and makes a difference.
Speaker: And whether we realize we're doing it or not. e Dot? Thoughts? Just as an opener? Yeah, I...
Speaker: I'm actually very intrigued by this topic. I think i I hadn't really thought about the parallels between our gaming and the ideas of, you know, conventional sports games.
Speaker: And like now that I'm now that we're going through this more, I'm drawing more of those lines. And i'm like, oh, yeah, is. it's It's a lot. There's a lot of similarities. There's a lot of things that are related. And I like that.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, i think there is. and and but So let's start with, I'm a participator in sports. I played tennis when I was in high school. I played basketball a whole lot. Not ah in any organized, like for a team, but with my friends, with a bunch of others. I did some interviews.
Speaker: community thing a league uh with with basketball i've also done leagues in tennis so i've done usta leagues i've been to sectionals a couple of times so i've had that experience of needing to perform working with a team you know like okay the pressure's we're down 40 love and a game we're going to lose the match on so now we have to win you know, four points in a row and, and I, or, you know, whatever.
Speaker: So it's, it's, those are the parallels. I've done all that. Chris, have you done that? I have done a little bit of sports over my life. I did, i did basketball in elementary,
Speaker: I also did a little, I did a little league. I was, see, but i was tall in elementary school. So, I mean, it was kind of a natural and the baskets were lower. I did do, i did do a high school basketball briefly.
Speaker: Um, I did it for about two weeks and then absolutely quit. Uh, because in, in when I tell the story, it has everything to do. I quit because i didn't like, I didn't like what the coach was doing, but I didn't realize it until many years later that he was just simply trying to coach me, but he was talking to me in a way in which I was not used to being talked to. And he wasn't mean.
Speaker: He was just being a good coach. Um, and I wasn't used to that kind of stuff. Um, so I just quit. Um,
Speaker: And did a lot of martial arts, ah high school and college. And then some co-rec stuff in my early work career, like co-rec softball, you know, that kind of thing. um But yeah, so that's that's kind of been my sports. And like I don't know, I mean, i wouldn't call going to the gym on the daily as being a sport, but there's athletic endeavor in there, I guess. Sure.
Speaker: You know. Dot? I have not played sports in a hot-ass minute. um But I like to think it's kind of like riding a bike in in some senses. um Especially when as a kid you learn as kid. Yeah. Muscle memory just doesn't really go away once you've got it. Yeah.
Speaker: I played volleyball, soccer, and softball predominantly. um Volleyball and softball more than anything. Yeah.
Speaker: So softball ah in high school, we like the select team that I was on going into high school um did get to regionals um and then we lost in like the third round. So that sucked. But um it was a cool experience to have. and then.
Speaker: Um, I did play a little bit in college, but not, not really much after that. I don't know. Like my dad got me into sports when I was young. Um, I did a lot of like, activities like I did a lot of like the, the core activities that were through, you know, living, living,
Speaker: on base. Um, so there were a lot of different like base level community activities type stuff. And, you know, my dad tried to sign me up for as much of that as possible because he just wanted me to have the experience of trying to figure out what I liked. And I found out that I liked softball most of all.
Speaker: Um, so I stuck with that the longest, uh, but on a different scale of things, I'm getting Magnus into sports now. He absolutely loves soccer.
Speaker: It starts up, I think, either this weekend or next weekend. I'm trying to remember. Maybe next weekend. Um... And last year when he first started playing soccer, I actually was a volunteer coach. And it's, it's funny how quick a lot of that stuff comes back to you. Like I'm trying to figure out different drills to have these kindergartners do to try and learn the mechanics of the game while also, you know, hurting a bunch of kindergartners on, on an open field. Um, so very much so entertaining and the cute factor is off the scale, yeah but being, being on the field with them and watching my kid, like get possession of the ball and then score goals for himself. Like he figured out how to do that.
Speaker: Very proud mom moment. It's there's nothing quite like it. So so what about spectating? Like you guys are both, I think, Vikings fans, which yes is is yes its own kind of hell, I'm sure. That's at least two separate episodes right there. Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. I have. um And Chris, you can talk to yours as well, but I have spectating superstitions. OK. Yeah. but we I mean, if we want to get into that, ah if I'm going to watch the Vikings play, which, you know, I will, um I can't watch the first quarter of the game.
Speaker: if If I watch the first quarter, they lose every time. Every time. So I will... I will start the game and then I leave the room and then I come back at either the half or, or you know, in the middle of the second quarter.
Speaker: Okay. Uh, yeah, I, as far as like spectating, I've, you know, obviously, um
Speaker: sports, the kids were involved in it, did all that, but I have watched or, you know, spectated all that, but, um, I got into watching pro football is about the only sport that I'll watch. Like I don't even, I've never really gotten into college football. i will, I will, um, fair weather fan, um certain teams, uh, you know, both in basketball, baseball, um,
Speaker: or hockey ah if you know if if if there's something going on that's kind of cool. But pro football has been like the mainstay throughout my entire life. And I got that ah with my dad. He watched every Sunday.
Speaker: And so I would just hang out there and watch with him. And, um you know, it was ah was kind of cool ah to do to be able to do that ah with him as far as that type of experience um to the point where i I was able to return the favor. And here, I guess, here's ah here's a tangent.
Speaker: ah Or in my early television career ah in in Duluth, um Minnesota, not Georgia. You, the the real Duluth. Correct. make that clear. Yeah, thank you. um But you used to be able to, you could volunteer, you could get media passes to go and shoot ah sideline footage for the Vikings games. that This is back in the Metrodome. This is back in early two thousand s And so I would do that.
Speaker: You know, I went and did that a few times. And one of those times i was able to bring my dad with me. And he acted as my grip because at that point that that was an era where you actually, you know, if you could have a grip with you because the gear was very large and it was heavy. Yeah. um But was able to get him down there on the sideline. We're shooting a video. He went to the press conference with me afterwards, um was able to do that whole ah that whole experience. And it was it was a lot of fun. You know, and that we capped it off by hitting a deer on the way back home. Okay. So yeah, right. Good good times. um
Speaker: But the deer lived, ah just kind of bounced off and kept on running. But... um Yeah, so I've always enjoyed it. and ah And, you know, both with certain levels of elation and certain levels of absolute just sorrow um and and heartbreak. I mean, yeah i could talk about 98. I could talk about 09. It's just some of some things.
Speaker: um it's just some of some some Wounds in that area, they just take forever to heal. yeah are you Are you both angry fans?
Speaker: it's not I'm not mad. I'm just disappointed. i Ah! I, the, the two sports that I will watch consistently at home, like not go to a game, um, it is football and basketball. Um, I, I do love watching the Timberwolves play, but i am such an anxious person by nature that I can't sit still.
Speaker: So like I, i it is my dad has referred to it as me like gargoyling because I will get myself bunched up into these awkward positions trying to like keep myself contained while watching Because otherwise i'm I'm up and then I'm down and then I'm up and then I'm walking around and then I'm and yelling at the screen. And yeah, it's, it's a thing in that in its own right is like part of the fun for me. Mm hmm.
Speaker: Yeah. I have a long history of watching sports. My dad was a big sports fan. So we, when, when we were ah pretty young, we had, this was really good timing. We had season tickets to the University of Arizona basketball team before Lude Olson joined.
Speaker: And so it was easy to get them. because we were we did not win. We did we we were terrible, right? Lute Olsen came along, and all of a sudden we started winning, and mchail Center became McHale Center. If you know anything about that, it's amazing. It's an amazing home arena to play in and to watch these games in.
Speaker: And so we were part of growing that before the season tickets got insanely expensive, right? Yeah. And so we were there when they went to the final four, not 1997 when they won it, but whenever it was, 90 or 91 or something. No, it was less, it was 88 or something like that. 87 maybe, somewhere in there.
Speaker: That they went to the final four. we what We had season tickets for that season. It was an amazing experience. Nothing like it to sit in an arena like that and watch your team almost go all the way.
Speaker: Right. And so there's that. I've watched baseball both live and on TV. I've watched lots of NFL. Like Chris, I never really got into college football because it's too random and crazy for me. Like it, it they they make too many mistakes. Right.
Speaker: So i'm um' it just drives me nuts. Like, well, okay, that you know, it's It's unpredictable to the last second. That's part of what people love about it, but it's part of what I hate about it. Well, that's just watching any team in the NFC North.
Speaker: Well, okay. Okay, but pro football is different. Pro football, they they they when they make mistakes, it's it's rarer, and they don't and it's a bigger deal.
Speaker: In college, you expect it because they just don't know what they're yet. Fair. So, um and so it's, it's more consistent. And ah so I've, I've watched a lot of football. I've watched a lot of, of, of Olympics too. I'm a huge Olympics, crazy nut.
Speaker: So when Olympics comes around, I, I watch it. I disappear for two weeks basically. Yeah. And um I've seen amazing things, amazing things. I've seen Michael Phelps win whatever eight gold medals and win Olympics. I've seen, you know, Usain Bolt winning the 100-meter dash a couple Olympics in a row and just just just amazing. yes And i watching the very, very best do –
Speaker: um and be able to to not just do it, not the not just the physical ability of being able to do it, but the mental ability to be able to access that physical ability to do it.
Speaker: Like when ah the the basketball team won at the last Summer Olympics was an amazing, the men's basketball team was an amazing thing to watch. Watching Steph Curry do the nighty-night thing in the moment.
Speaker: They're not done yet. They haven't won yet, but he's doing that and he's doing it because he just, he's just lighting up three point land. Like it's nothing in the Olympics with professional players all over the, i mean, it's just, it's not easy. Not, not like it used to be.
Speaker: And to watch him do that, to watch him have the confidence to do that is incredibly inspiring to me. And that's where I draw parallels between what he's doing and what I want to do with other things in my life.
Speaker: Right? Not just be able to, okay, I'm sucking it up. I'm goingnna i've i'm down a a set in this league match and sectionals. People are counting on me to win this match. I've got to step up.
Speaker: Now is the time, right? What do you talk to yourself? What do you say to yourself in those situations? Right? And I've learned as an adult to be able to get past that stuff like I have been able to perform and I have been able to come back from being in a hole.
Speaker: And it's it's invaluable lessons for other things, which is why I think sports is still relevant and still important, even if you're not playing at the highest levels.
Speaker: But to be able to sit there and say, I can do it. even when all hope seems lost, and then to be able to do it, there there's something about that that empowers you, that and that proves to you that you can do these things that you didn't expect you could do.
Speaker: Well, it's the it kind of comes down to that the a lot of the the the core belief that you you are your greatest enemy. you're your You're your toughest opponent. And overcoming your own personal...
Speaker: self-imposed limitations on certain things and rising to a particular occasion. You know, a lot of those fundamentals are taught in there and how to overcome those certain things. How to psych yourself up, how to get yourself in a certain mindset, a certain you know, in a certain place so that you can accomplish those. and's And that's true. This is now sounding like I'm about to start talking to you about what this is going to teach me about B2B marketing. But...
Speaker: it's Oh, God. you Welcome to LinkedIn. No, didn't deal with enough of that in my day job. know But that's the thing. It's like this translates into so many things in the real world, stuff that you do at work, in your job, in your personal life. And yes.
Speaker: At the gaming table, you know, and we when when you were when you started talking about these parallels, that was the one I went to the the immediately was getting ready for convention events. More so than than like, you know, campaign play. Campaign play is a little bit different thing.
Speaker: But, can you know, with with con events, I think we all have our own prep process. I think I wanted to say we've even talked about that on the previous episodes. Rehearsing those scenes, um you know, that are in there that you know what you're going to say, how you're going to present yourself, what physical, you know, gestures and things are going to come along with that. And trying to anticipate certain certain reactions and how your reactions are going to be.
Speaker: it just... you know And the convention environment itself being being the energetic place that it is. yeah there's you know There's an energy in a gaming convention that doesn't exist anywhere else, even at your home table. It just doesn't exist there.
Speaker: It's showtime. Yeah. and And tapping into that. Fucking love it. And playing loose, right? I mean, being able to sit there and say, all right, I'm going to have to fucking improv. Yeah.
Speaker: What's happening? I know. i know. we're We're doing it. I'm going to have to go and improv something. and am I ready? Can I do it? I'm too tight. I'm tight. I need to be loose. Right. I need to be relaxed. That's part of being in sports, too. You cannot play tight. It doesn't work.
Speaker: Right. And so you have to be able to say to hell with it. Trust yourself. Right. it's It's a very huge parallel. And yes, we dropped the F bomb before God i Both of you within moments of each other. For me, that is that's that's how I feel at cons when it comes when when I'm running it. like And I'm talking like Saturday afternoon after you've been at the convention for three days and you're just kind of worn out, but you got this event coming up at 7 o'clock at night and maybe you ate like a heavier steak sandwich about an hour early and the food coma's setting in, but...
Speaker: Bam. if You get at that table and you got like, you got like two players that you know, and the rest are strangers. And you're like, Oh yeah, it's fucking showtime. Let's fucking go.
Speaker: Someone send help. It's just that energy comes in there, man, and you just you want to go. you You're so motivated to, A, create a good time, but then also have a good time at the at the same time. I love it. And you're in the zone. You're not thinking You're not overthinking it. It's so easy to do that. And this this is one of those things where sports teaches you.
Speaker: You cannot... hit a loose, great, awesome, hard forehand if you're sitting there worried about it. You can't do it.
Speaker: You can't make the basket from, you know, way past three point land if you're Steph Curry, if you're super, super tight and thinking you're not then thinking if I miss him, fucked.
Speaker: You know, now it's like I'm going to have an aneurysm. It's like a deluge now. It's just it's what's happening right now. Well, what I was going to say earlier was There is a level of psychology that revolves around getting involved in sports at an early age and continuing through sports, especially like through high school and how much, how formative it can be in number one, establishing discipline, establishing consistency, time management skills. Like there are so many other skill sets that develop from being a athlete.
Speaker: and being involved in certain extracurriculars at that time in your life that then carry through into your adulthood. And they become the, again, these formative skill sets that are necessary to be a, you know, contributing member to society. not to say that sports... Yeah. Not to say that that's like the only way that you can do that, because yeah obviously there are other extracurriculars that can still provide those same kinds of skills. But like that was my path. And I think that the both of you kind of had a somewhat similar path or experience on that front. Right. no
Speaker: little Yeah, a little bit. I mean, yeah. And you're 100% correct that you can pick those things up from elsewhere. For me and Tracy, I would imagine it was you to a certain degree, although I think you're a more of a theater techie than than i was. But...
Speaker: I have no choice as, as a performance ah emphasis theater major. I have to learn my lines. Yeah. So to do that, there is, there are disciplined ways in which to do that. And in my later years, I have learned that I thrive as an individual when I have a routine and for as boring as it may make my life. Sometimes I am a much better person overall because of the routine that I have established, you know?
Speaker: my My dad would throw, you know, how do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, Exactly. And that he used that line in any endeavor that I had. So whether it was my musical experience, right? Like I i played saxophone for 13 Mm-hmm.
Speaker: And i I played with the Air Force Band for like three summers. Like I, I had a a pretty substantial experience as a young musician. And the same thing came down to sports, right? Like,
Speaker: you know, there's there's these different graphs or whatever that show the difference between like how corporations train their employees and then how athletes train. So corporations expect performance constantly and then give little blips of training here and there. Whereas athletes have constant, you know, runs of training and practice and then little blips of performance. And you wonder why those performance experiences end up turning out better,
Speaker: Mm-hmm. Same thing that my dad essentially put into practice for me. Like if you don't continue to learn your skill, you will lose said skill.
Speaker: And I think that's where it ties into gaming as well. Like i my experience has been the more that I have GMed, the more I have learned, okay, yeah, this is something that I like doing. And I have felt better and more confident about the games that I have run.
Speaker: Like I was getting stuff together for my eat the right game at game hole. And I'm just, I'm putting up some, putting some of my character sheets together and everything. And i haven't even started prepping that adventure. i like, I know kind of what I want to do. And obviously I've run it several times at this point. So I know how it's going to go, yeah,
Speaker: Dot three years ago would have shat herself at this point. When it comes to who the gaming side of things, the the training is also this weird, runs the same way with performance. So just like you said, you're performing as you're GMing, but at the same time, you are also training. Mm-hmm. you know, that's the same. The same is true for all of us as we do that and we learn more as we continue to do it. I think that there's especially now more than ever, there are other training aspects that are in there because, you know, we're we're listening to other advice podcasts. We're watching other advice YouTube videos. Some of us, not all of us, but I'm saying it's another looking at me. No, I'm just, I'm just, I'm not, I'm not trying to pick on you specifically, but it is another resource that's out there. And there's always stuff that can be learned, but you know, you can look at that as you can make that analogous to watching tape ah from other teams, performances or past performances.
Speaker: You know, this is how, this is how these folks are doing it. I'm actually, there's another one related that too. And I will call out Dave and he has no idea what I'm going to mention. Yeah. Oh boy. No, but I remember reading this one time and I, cause it was a post in a discord and I, he was making the comment about something and I'll, I'll tell you what it was in a second.
Speaker: And, but I had this moment kind of dawn on me, like, I haven't done that. I haven't done that in a very long time. And all he said was that he was simply rereading the Savage Worlds core rule book. And I read that and I was like, shit, it's been at least a year and a half since I've actually like read the rules. I've played it a lot in that time, in that same timeframe, but yeah,
Speaker: I haven't gone back to basics essentially and focused on some of the fundamentals and actually read the rules, you know? What are rules? Yeah, exactly. And so then I realized, oh, I should probably go do that.
Speaker: And I try to make it a habit now because of that one offhanded comment that i that i read that he wrote to actually go back and look at the rules and refresh them for myself. Because like, I know that I run dramatic tasks differently than rules is written.
Speaker: I admit that. um I've done that with social encounters. But The rules are still very good and very solid, and there's nothing wrong with following them. And me learning them properly or revisiting them isn't necessarily a bad thing. I'm not going to diminish my game, especially when in a table with new players, you know, or rereading them before I run certain events to re-familiarize myself with this is how they were.
Speaker: um So that I'm presenting... to potential new players a proper way with which to play the game. You know, i think that that is, I think that that's a good practice technique to put in there.
Speaker: Yeah. So I have, i of speaking of rules, we'll we'll get to that in a second. I have a little tangent because I didn't um act in plays, although I did learn how to act, right? But I was singing on stage. And so and it's it's similar. It's the same kind of thing. And it's like, okay, well, the harder the song is, the harder of the technique you're trying to harness, the um the more pressure, the more, you know, like juries, man, whew.
Speaker: um doing vocal performance juries in in ah for the music degree that I didn't get, but I finally decided I got to finish this. I'm going to go finish my theater degree. I was a double major for a while.
Speaker: But music performance, vocal performance juries were Oh, man. Talk about game time and talk about, you know, all the practice ah and and making it happen.
Speaker: it was It was tough. and And it's analogous, like Chris was saying, to preparing for great performance in sports, right? But the other – and also a little – I have sung in Carnegie Hall. I did have a T-shirt that says, how do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, practice, practice. So thank you very much.
Speaker: um ah The rules aspect. There's rules in sports. Similarly, there's rules in both board gaming and in RPG gaming.
Speaker: Some people don't like to follow the rules. Some people like that willy-nilly happy, we're in a, you know, I don't know. Hit me. An idealized utopia where there are no rules. You can say it's a Powered by Apocalypse crowd. No, um listen no, no shit all is that's no. Powered by the Apocalypse is a different thing. It's it's got its own thing, for sure. It's its own thing. It's its own thing. But but it ah for me, rules are important as far as as far as gaming goes.
Speaker: um And even when I'm playing one of my huge-ass crazy solo games, part of the fun of it is learning the rules, getting them wrong, revisiting them later, or learning them to the point where you know them really well and then revisiting like two years later and realizing, oh man, I've been doing that wrong all the time.
Speaker: Right. Like there's that analogy. but But anyway, go ahead, Chris, before I continue. I was going to say i was gonna say, and being able to perform and deliver within the structure of those rules and and really make something out of that. Yeah.
Speaker: The way I like to to look at that, if you were since we're going to compare with sports, when you watch a wide receiver in the NFL and they make these spectacular catches, it's one thing to make the catch.
Speaker: Okay. All right. It's one thing. It's one thing. it's one thing for jets Listen, it's one thing for Jets to get the ball. All right. but You're talking about my boy. I am talking about your boy.
Speaker: It's one thing for him to do the amazing things he does, but there's that second component where you have to have both feet in bounds. And there is, so there's that second level of athleticism in there and they're playing, they're all receivers are doing that They're playing within the structure of those rules. Yep. They can catch the ball and they can catch it. Well, they shovel, they shovel very well. Yeah.
Speaker: I'm mad I laughed. I'm mad I understood that reference. But it's that second thing of getting it in ah a rules legal catch by getting your toes down in bounds like that. And that's where that spectacular comes in. And I think it is true. Yeah. Okay. It's one thing to say, okay, ah you know, you got to do this to make a check or whatever, but you still have to follow within that structure You know, rather than just say, oh, you know, you made it whatever, you know, just kind of dismissing it because it sounded good in the description. No, you still got to perform with the rules. You still got to make the check. You still have to, you know, you got to make sure that you have make sure that you know the rules well enough to apply all the proper modifiers. Get get what you're actually do coming to you.
Speaker: yeah you know i think that they're I don't feel like I'm stretching this, but i but no i don't think so you know it makes sense in my head. Know the rules well enough to know that if you're at range with somebody in Savage Worlds, sometimes the best thing to do is go so running straight at them is it Because that's a safer play.
Speaker: Sometimes if you know the rules well enough, and you know your character well enough, you know the game well enough, sometimes that is exactly what you should do. Right. um Because target four versus target Perry. I mean, just that. Right. And um but yeah, but what I want to, what I want to um there's something here too, in that part of the fascination of watching a game in the NFL or a game of baseball
Speaker: And i I understand, like baseball is its own thing. Some people just think it's boring as all hell, whatever. But it's not. And I'll tell you why. Because the the game is always being played.
Speaker: Every second from the time the timer starts to the time the game finishes, The game is being played, even during timeouts, even during like downtime, quote unquote, when the pitcher is kicking at the bag or whatever the heck, right? Or the, you know, it's it's being played.
Speaker: And it's being played in a very sophisticated way that most lay people don't even understand. And that I think is fascinating for those particular, those two particular games, because the NFL, I've seen amazing things.
Speaker: I've seen amazing finishes. I've seen, you know, quarterbacks just pick it up and And be able to perform in a clutch moment.
Speaker: And I've seen them do it. The same people being able to do this again and again and again and again. that's that's It's not a mistake. It's not it's not luck at that point.
Speaker: It's not luck, but there is still there is still the beauty of human error. Because they are... People. Yeah. Like, I mean, sophisticated athletes for sure. But there is still going to be those moments where they make a judgment call on whether to try and pass or just run the ball. and sometimes they make the wrong choice and then it ends up biting them.
Speaker: Yes. Sometimes. And so it it's so fascinating, though, how the best teams found a way. More often than not.
Speaker: Yeah. For every caught pass, there's a defensive back who failed at their task. Correct. it's it's And I don't know. There's ah there's an analogy there. Right. I'm not sure what it is. But to me, the game is always being played.
Speaker: It's never not being played. you know um And those particular games, that particular those particular sports, are they take it to an extreme. like there There is never a down moment in basketball or in baseball.
Speaker: Never. Never. you're always You're always watching to see if somebody is going to steal a base. You're always watching to see what's going on with X guy in the outfield to see if there's a vulnerability there.
Speaker: Right. You're always, always watching from the second the game starts to when it ends. And i don't know. i I just find that fascinating. I find it.
Speaker: ah the the rules of it and following them. And like Chris says, is it's not only that you can make the catch. Lots of people can make the catch. Can you make the catch, get your feet down and keep the freaking ball under you so that you actually get a legal catch?
Speaker: Because that is what separates great players from superstar players who can do this consistently. And i i'm inspired by it.
Speaker: ah not only the physical athleticism, but the mental fortitude to be able to say, and I can't remember the quote, but there's great Jerry Maguire quote from Cuba Gooding Jr. He was like, you know, I don't care, sacrifice your body, booyah, touchdown, i make miracles happen. I don't care what I have to do to make this happen, but I'm going to make it happen.
Speaker: And that confidence, that Bravado is something that ah it's it's not so much that that i that I think is always great, but it is something that I feel like is is uniquely human and amazing to watch in the right circumstances.
Speaker: And sports particularly is like, I used to think it was like the safe way for people to go crazy. Like, especially fandoms, right? Fandoms are nuts with sports. And i just like, okay, you guys are you guys are insane.
Speaker: I'm glad you're channeling that to sports and not to the real life. But now we have both. Now we have people who are channeling all their insanity to not just sports, but to everywhere, which is too bad, which is something I was i was worried about as as as sports got worse with fandoms. But anyway, I still find it fascinating.
Speaker: Gaming, I think, has similar fandoms when you get into, in you know, and in ah in a very tongue-in-cheek way, you get into your edition wars, you get into your... Yes. You know, I mean, I literally just did it like, yeah, yeah you min-maxers, although we were praising them just a little bit ago, inadvertently. um And I mean, I just did it 10 minutes ago and I'm ripping on Powered by the Apocalypse games, you know, ah but it's... We're not necessarily that... Different. We're not so different. you No, we're not so different.
Speaker: Yeah. It's a different kind of game. So the reason, one of the reasons why we're doing this episode two, by the way, we should mention as this is nothing but a plug for the tabletop touchdown fantasy football league that we have started up in the, in the discord. We do have our requisite four teams.
Speaker: ah myself, Tracy, and I think seven in hand. Yeah. yeah So it's going to happen. yeah We have room for six more. um So get all in the hut.
Speaker: There is a separate channel. No experience is necessary. I wanted to make sure that that was clear um so that when it comes to drafting your team, you're not going to worry about that.
Speaker: The rules for a setting your roster are very self-explanatory. um And you'll notice, you'll learn very quickly how who and what to schedule or who and what to start on your roster as as things go. And fantasy football is fun. It is. ising Yeah.
Speaker: Yeah. It's a good outlet um as long as you can control yourself. so There is no money involved. No. no're gambling. No. But but the the fun part about it is... is If you're into football already, this helps you expand your knowledge base to other teams, m especially if you have a favorite team that you mostly follow. This this really gets you into like some of the – it encourages you to like be a fan of some other individuals on other teams, right?
Speaker: But it also it also is just fun to trash talk and compete and to, to, yes you know, like, I i can't wait. I want i wonder, I'm going to rip on us so bad. It's not even funny. There, there will, in there will inevitably happen to everyone at some point in time.
Speaker: Cause you have your roster that you play and then you have, you have some bench players oh yeah and there will for sure be those moments where, You will have debated prior to having having to set your lineup, should I play this guy or that guy? And you'll choose this guy. And then that guy will have an absolutely explosive day.
Speaker: You will not get credit for those points because he was on your bench. yeahp And you will lose the game. And had you played that guy, you would have won. And you will...
Speaker: absolutely agonize on that for a good three or four days. And it will be compounded by the fact that your opponent who beat you will make sure that, you know, that you lost because you didn't play that guy. Worse is, is the old have the, you know, the guy who, you know, did great performance on the bench. You'll be like thinking about putting them in next time.
Speaker: Absolutely. You'll be thinking about it and you'll be like, well, shit, no, I don't know. and then you'll And then you'll do it and he'll absolutely shit the bed. Oh, he will. He absolutely will. Yeah. And then that's when this guy who you benched the second week will yeah absolutely explode. It's the worst. It's the worst, but it's also the best. It really is. It really is very cool. Yeah.
Speaker: um I've had a lot of fun with fantasy football. that yeah I stopped doing it for a you know long time, but I'm pulled back in because you know Hus and Dodd are doing it. So I'm like, okay, I'll trash talk with with Hus and Dodd. Absolutely. perfect But I'm wondering now, it's it's an auto draft, but are we able to screw up our drafts by doing by being there and doing picks? I believe...
Speaker: You won't be able to screw things up. You could now, obviously, once your roster is set, you will have the opportunity to ah add and drop players. Right. And certainly because you won't actually be able to actively participate in your draft. Right. Yeah. And I did that on purpose. One, because I wanted people who didn't have any experience to be able to have the opportunity to yes in a safe way yeah and and not feel stupid because like, i don't know, football. is All I know is football is life from Ted Lasso.
Speaker: And it's the wrong sport. That's a different football. Exactly. That's what I'm talking about. They don't have any experience with this. Yeah. So I wanted to remove that element of it. And when it comes to adding and dropping players, it's very easy to see like, okay, who of who is available is scoring a lot of points. Okay, well, I can drop, you know, ah my kicker, you know, Mickey McBadfoot and get somebody else, you know, and add them in there.
Speaker: he's He's not a good kicker. is strangely Strangely, he has bad knees. sure so ah yeah You wonder how he how he got into the NFL. But that's another story, I guess. You know what? Everybody gets a lucky break every now and again.
Speaker: but Yeah, kickers. You start to think you start to think in terms of okay Are we going to store touchdowns or are we going score field goals in this game? Like, what's the defense like? like and And how good is this team? Because the kicker himself, yeah, he might be great, but the team might suck. So with a sucky team who can't score, the kicker's not going score shit.
Speaker: This is what you think about. This is part of the fun of of fantasy football. And again, there's rules and strategies. There's ways to win over in the mix. I don't know, Tracy.
Speaker: i won i won one when we were – I did it for like five, six years in a row. Booth did it for a couple years. And um I won one all the way. We had a trophy that we passed around.
Speaker: And then I got to the playoffs several times um with with others but never won again. I, in a paid league that I was in, i won, i did get the title twice, at least twice, ah no more than three times.
Speaker: um I learned in my later fantasy football years that I did best whenever I auto draft any year that I actually participated in the draft and drafted players. sucked. It was so bad. i like last, I like finished dead frigging last.
Speaker: Yeah.
Speaker: Thanks for hanging out with us. Whether you're behind the screen, at the table, or lost in your own story, we hope you found a little inspiration. If you enjoy our tangents, be sure to connect with us on Discord and follow us on socials to keep the conversation going.
Speaker: Until next time.
Speaker: Oh, we didn't even get to talk about what our favorite sports movies are. Varsity Blues. Mine is Major League. Off the top of my head, i'm in to say Miracle.
Speaker: mean, Dodgeball's another good one. Oh my gosh, Dodgeball is so good. That's a bold move, Cotton. See if works out for him.
