The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[Hud]

I guess the Rockets finally got together and beat a pretty good Nets team convincingly last night. The Suns continue in a bit of a funk, but are just playing well enough to win. I believe they'll get it together by the playoffs.

I've never seen a cricket match, but maybe I'd like to. It sounds like there is some scoring involved (unlike soccer lol).

Many years ago, we had company out from B-more and decided to take them to the summit of South Mountain (a park wholly within Phoenix). We drove up at night so they could see the city lights. While up there, I heard a man talking with an accent and we got to talking about the view. He mentioned that he was from Australia. The next day, we drove our visitors up to the Grand Canyon. While up there looking down from an overlook, I heard the same voice, and lo-and-behold, it was the same guy. We remarked about it being a small world.

Edit later:
Kobe just got back from a one game suspension and sticks an elbow in another guy's grill. I wonder if the league has enough guts to give him another game or two off?

[udosuk]

I haven't seen any news about Kobe hitting anybody... Guess it's not as serious as you think...

Let's see how Yao plays Dwight Howard in tomorrow's game against the Magic before the showdown with the Suns...

I think in the last couple weeks or so the East is actually outplaying the West, with impressive surges from the 76ers and the Knicks...

[Cec]

".....I've never seen a cricket match, but maybe I'd like to. It sounds like there is some scoring involved (unlike soccer lol)...."

Wikipeding Cricket gives a thorough explanation of how this game is played. The "simplest" description is that the team captain who wins a toss of a coin to start a game decides whether to go "in" first (meaning to bat) and the other team has to get their opponents all "out". When they do that then they go "in'. Each team usually gets the chance to go "in" twice. You can't dismiss a batsman with a "no-ball" unless they are run out. I've read somewhere of a comedian who has a far more hilarious description of how this game is played and if anyone has access to this I would appreciate it being posted.

Cec

[Hud]

Cec, it sounds like the old "Abbott and Costello" skit about baseball. I think it's called "Who's on first" I'll have to see if Wiki has it and I'd bet it does.

I watched the PGA golf today and for awhile your John Senden was getting close. Old Mark Calc limped in with the win, and I was rooting for him. They talked about his relationship with his caddy several times. His caddy got in trouble dealing drugs and wpent 10 years in the pokey for it. When he got out, Calc hired him and today he got a nice paycheck. Calc also married a woman he met at a health spa. They lived in the same part of Phoenix that my daughter lives in but I think he recently moved; probably to Scottsdale with all the other rich folks.

The Mavs totally destroyed the Lakers tonight. I had to wait to see if Kobe played, but he got the rest of the night off when they were losing by over 30 points. They don't mention it, but the Mavs struggled in some of the games on their big winning streak (17 I think). Rockets win again, but I didn't see any details.

[udosuk]

Yao had another great game, scoring 37 pts... T-Mac shot 6/17 FGs and all players except Battier went 3/13 on 3s... Without Yao they'd no doubt lose this game, so at least they can win games when their shooters are cold now... When facing the Suns I hope Yao focus on the defense and rebounding and let T-Mac do the scoring... With the fast pace of the Suns it would be silly to run Yao too much...

The Cricket World Cup starts this week. If I were to explain the game of cricket to a baseball fan, I'd say it's 11 players instead of 9, 10 outs each innings (notice it's "innings" not "inning") instead of 3, 2 inningses in "Test" format and 1 innings in "One-day" and "Twenty-twenty" format instead of 9, 1 batsman (not "batter") and 1 runner instead of 1 batter and 3 possible runners.

And there is no extra innings. Tied matches are possible, as there are time limits/ball limits depending on the format. The bowlers (not "pitchers") takes a rest every 6 balls (not including the illegal ones). When a bowler is "relieved" he can come back on later.

Also, a "homerun" is worth 6 runs and a "ground rule double" or a long hit which touches the wall is worth 4 runs. There is no "foul", as a batsman has all 360 degrees to hit to instead of just 90 degrees.

And the biggest differences are, when the batsman hits a ball to the ground he can choose not to run (no "ground out") and stays to hit again, while even if he score runs he doesn't need to come back to the "dugout", until he eventually gets out.

[Cec]

" Cec, it sounds like the old "Abbott and Costello" skit about baseball. I think it's called "Who's on first" I'll have to see if Wiki has it and I'd bet it does...."

The "Abbott and Costello" baseball skit was certainly funny Hud but it wasn't the cricket skit I had in mind. From memory, the cricket skit intentionally confuses anyone not familiar with cricket by frequently using the words "in" and "out" in describing how a cricket game (match) is played but is hilarious to those familiar with this game.

"....The Cricket World Cup starts this week. If I were to explain the game of cricket to a baseball fan, I'd say it's...."

My apologies udosuk with my poor attempt to introduce the mystery cricket skit which I didn't intend as a serious explanation of the game of cricket but which is fully explained in the above Wikipedia Cricket reference.

Cec

[MCC]

The Rules of Cricket.

You have two sides, one out in the field and one in.

Each man that’s in goes out and when he’s out he comes in.

The next man goes in until he’s out.

When they are all out the side that’s out comes in and

the side that’s been in goes out and tries to get those coming in out.

Sometimes you get men who are still in and not out.

When both sides have been in and out including the not outs

the Games is over.

A more definitive explanation of cricket.



MCC

[udosuk]

My apologies udosuk with my poor attempt to introduce the mystery cricket skit which I didn't intend as a serious explanation of the game of cricket but which is fully explained in the above Wikipedia Cricket reference.

No apology warranted Cec... Even before half-way reading your "introduction", I fully understood the gag you were trying to pull and found it quite funny (though not as much as MCC's version)... My explanation was a far less humourous "poor attempt" from a sports fan familiar with both the rules of cricket and baseball...

[Cec]

Thanks udosuk. I thought MCC might come up with the much funnier version I had in mind which he posted in above... I'm still laughing while typing this Hud, don't try following all this while having your evening night-cap.

Cec

[udosuk]

It's official... Yao Ming can never play against the Suns... He just doesn't have enough speed... And Marion's defense has T-Mac's measure... I hope the Suns stay on #2 or #3 and the Rockets stay on #5... They have no chance to beat the Suns in the playoffs...

The Mavs are getting a drubbing from the Warriors... So nobody has been able to crack an 18-game winning streak yet, neither the Suns nor the Mavs... This should make Hud's day... Wait till the Suns play the Mavs on Thursday...

[Cec]

Oops! I forgot to thank MCC for posting in the skit on the "rules" of cricket...thanks MCC

Cec

[MCC]

Happy to oblige Cec


MCC

[Hud]

Some teams just don't match up against certain teams. Everyone seemed to be in slow motion when Barbosa had the ball. It was like he was dribbling around pylons. I think Yao's speed or lack thereof, could have been partly due to his recovering from a broken leg. He didn't seem to have his wind yet. Speaking of matchups, look at the Suns/Jazz? The Suns/Mavs will be a playoff game intensity wise, and I see the Mavs winning by 1 or 2 points.

I got a horrible video from a friend in Colorado showing a basketball game in Uruaguay(?) recently. A big guy got mad at a ref and sucker punched him. The ref's head hit the floor hard and he was unconscious for 3 hours it said. The players were waving towels to try to give the ref some air. The player has been banished for life in Uruaguay for his gutless, brutal act and I'd like to see him banned for life worldwide. I can email the video to anyone interested, but it's not pretty. I wonder if any cricket player has ever gone ballistic with his bat against a player or umpire?

[udosuk]

From your story it's very easy to google up the youtube address for that video (don't read the comments if you're sensitive to rude languages):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GUqqGp28OI

I agree it's a very bad incident... Surely the player must be banned from all kinds of sports involving refs, including boxing... I think he might also be prosecuted and put in jail...

I remember watching a hockey player bash his opponent with his stick... I guess he also got a huge suspension... I suppose a cricket player hitting anyone with his bat wouldn't be more likely than a baseballer doing so...

And good point about the matchup theory... Yao did score 37 pts against the Magic the night before, so I think it's the game pace that did him in... From now on every team will try to run and gun the Rockets whenever they play... I don't think Alston is a good enough PG to lead the Rockets offense in fast games and T-Mac shoots a bit too much to be a true PG...

And who'd have thought the Warriors would be 2-0 against the Mavs with one more game to sweep them in the regular season... Guess the Mavs have matchup problems with them... It'd be interesting if the Mavs and the Warriors play as #1-#8 in the first round of the playoffs...

[Hud]

That's an intriguing point about the Mavs possibly playing the Warriors in the first round. I suspect the Mavs will be ready, but who knows?

I forgot to mention that Kobe finally was awarded a "flagrant foul" for the hit I mentioned a couple days back. The big problem with it is that it wasn't in the act of shooting and he was clearly past the guy when he shot the elbow. I think he's too good a player to do that, but maybe the pressure is getting to him.

It should be an interesting game tonight with the Jazz playing the Heat. I think we're all ready for the playoffs.