Revenge!

So as some of you may have seen on Wednesday night at the end of game 1 of the Red Wings/ Nashville series, Henrik Zetterberg's head was bang into the glass by Predators defenseman Shea Weber. While there may (not) be debate over Weber's penalty for the play, he was nonetheless playing in game 2 last night.

Many people were wondering before the game how the Red Wings would respond in game two, not only after a cheap blow to one of their best players, but also after a tough loss. Enter Todd Bertuzzi. Not even two minutes into the game Bertuzzi already started a fight with Weber, trying to send the message, "Don't mess with my team".

This catapulted the team's confidence and eventually lead them to a game 2 win by the score of 3-2.

My question is, does this type of revenge have a place in the world of competition? While we can see it can help confidence and team chemistry, are there any potential downsides to it? Sure it is dangerous to go after another player and can potentially lead to someone getting hurt, but is the risk worth the reward? What do you guys think?

-Kevin

Relay For Life: Competing To Make Cancer Go Away Forever And Stuff

I need to learn how to write titles.

Relay for Life is an annual event held at many locations across the United States. The idea is that teams of people have one person walking around a track for 24 hours to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Teams raise money before the event and during, through on site fundraisers and events the day of. All in all, it's a fun time for a good cause.

But there is a strange aura of competition surrounding this charity event. At every stage of money raising, competition is not only present, but encouraged. As a team captain, I am willing each member of our team to reach our goal AND raise us the most money. During the event, teams that raise the most money with on site fundraisers are rewarded. Two staples of the day of Relay, "Relay Idol" and "Mr. Relay," a talent show and men in drag competition, respectively, have winners determined by raising more money than other teams. Although in the heat of almost constant competition, nobody really feels like they are competing with each other. Every "win" for a team is equally as much a win for everybody involved. They won because they raised the most money, but either way, the money is still going to The American Cancer Society. That's a pretty beautiful thing in my mind.

Everybody competes. Those in need win. We all have a ton of fun doing it.

Relay For Life is tomorrow, Saturday the 14th. Come down to Palmer Field, participate in the day and some on site fundraisers, and come hang out at the RCPlayers site. We'll have cupcakes in a cone.

Oh. Did you hear that part. CUPCAKES IN A CONE. Yeah. That's portable America if I've ever seen it. Join us, won't you?

Chad Rhiness

The Hunger Games as Social Practice

In my opinion, there are many different ways to approach a series like The Hunger Games. The books have become extremely popular both nationally and globally, and are therefore subject to massive amounts of criticism and analysis. When I was going through our group notes, trying to find a topic that stood out to me as something to easily connect to the Hunger Games, I was immediately struck by one of our bullets on the day we discussed games as social practice. It reads: "Find some case where some kind of “outsider” has emerged in a sport that has challenged or changed ideas about social identities or that social practice." The task was to find a person in society who was a true outsider in their field, and somehow managed to have success in it. I couldn't help but see how this statement translates directly to the occurrences in the Hunger Games, with the evolution of Katniss Everdeen as a force both in the games and in Panem as a whole.

Before the 74th Hunger Games, it was uncommon for someone like Katniss Everdeen to win the tournament. For years, it was dominated by careers from districts that breed their children to win. However, Katniss had a distinct advantage with her years of hunting in the woods to support her family. She first identified herself as a true "outsider" at the tryouts in front of the sponsors, when she used one of her arrows to spear the buffet of food set out for the rich members. No one had ever so vehemently shown their distaste for the actions of the Capitol's citizens, so from the start she was a player to look out for once the Hunger Games commenced. Panem was soon captivated by her actions - from the way she took care of Rue to her staged love with Peeta, Katniss was defying all expectations of what tributes are supposed to act like in the arena. Her final action in the last book - the attempted double-suicide of both her and Peeta - is something the creators of the games could never have imagined. The action was so obviously disobedient to the rule of the Capitol that President Snow himself paid a visit to Katniss at the start of the second book, in which he threatened not only her life, but the lives of her family members, if she did anything to incite a rebellion on her victory tour of the country.


Before the Hunger Games began, Katniss never would have been anyone's pick to win the tournament. District 12 was usually dismissed early in the games, and Haymitch was their only surviving winner. However, with her hunting skills and creative, unorthodox methods, Katniss was able to emerge from the games victorious, alongside her supposed lover, Peeta. Their victory in the games changed so much about the way they worked that the 75th Hunger Games, a Quarter Quell, required two former tributes from each district to go back into the arena. As District 12's only options were Katniss, Peeta and the old, drunkard in Haymitch, it was very clear who was forced to go back. As this latest version of the games progressed, the beginnings of a revolution was occurring in the districts, and the second book ends with Katniss being rescued from the arena and taken to District 13. The entire country would soon be thrown into a civil war against the Capitol - with Katniss as the poster child for the revolution - and all of it began with the defiant actions of Katniss in the first book. 


Not only did Katniss defy social identities of the role of District 12 tributes, she caused almost every citizen of Panem to realize the idea of self-determination, as they soon decided that they had had enough of being controlled by the Capitol and President Snow. Suddenly, the practice of the annual Hunger Games and the extraordinary wealth in the Capitol compared to the twelve other districts seemed inhumane, and Katniss truly was the mockingjay that got the entire process started. Even at the end of the third book, when the new President Coin put forth the idea of a final Hunger Games using Capitol children, Katniss' supposed role was to go along with the idea. She was then to shoot President Snow and allow Coin to take control, but she once again pushed the boundaries of reasonable expectation by publicly murdering President Coin. The series is filled with these kinds of twists and turns, but each of them serves a distinct purpose - to prove that Katniss Everdeen is not controlled by anyone, and that at every opportunity she gets, she is inherently wired to rebel against the current status quo. In class on the day we discussed the quote I used above, some of the people we came up with that changed the social practice of their sport included Magic Johnson, the Williams' sisters, and the Jamaican bobsled team. However, none of them can hold a candle to the actions of the Hunger Games' Katniss Everdeen.


- Alex Jacobs

The Game of NHL Realignment

Not to completely steal the topic of my fellow classmate Kevin, but with the NHL playoffs fast approaching, I knew I couldn't let the subject fly by without attaching it to this course on games. As a diehard hockey fan, I have always loved watching games where the fans are really into the action. Even though I am an American through and through, I have always had a love affair with Canadian hockey teams, because their fans are far more passionate than almost any you'll find in the United States. This is perhaps why the subject of NHL realignment is so fascinating to me, as I appreciate the idea of relocating struggling franchises to places where they will have a rabid fan base.

The most recent example of this is in Winnipeg, where the former Atlanta Thrashers moved at the end of last season due to financial difficulties, poor play on the ice, and ever-declining attendance in the stands. The Thrashers became the Jets, the same name that the current-Phoenix Coyotes had before they left the city in 1996. Throughout this past regular season, Winnipeg's MTS Centre was sold out for all 41 home games, and the crowd was known to be one of the best in the league. The new setting certainly had an effect on the players, as the Jets posted one of the best home records (23-13-5) for teams who did not end up in the playoffs, compared to the 17-17-7 record the Thrashers put up in Atlanta just a season earlier. The Jets greatly exceeded expectations and were just eight points out of the playoffs, and not mathematically eliminated until the final week. All of this information certainly supports NHL realignment to cities like Quebec City, who are certainly eager to do have what their counterparts in Winnipeg. But should the NHL go ahead with this "game" of shuffling franchises to cities with stronger fan bases?

In the early 1990s, the NHL took a chance by moving teams in dire financial straits to cities in the United States below the Mason-Dixon line. Raleigh, Atlanta, Phoenix, Dallas, Miami, Tampa Bay and Nashville all ended up with new or relocated NHL franchises, and the league hoped that they would help further the popularity of hockey in the South. Almost twenty years after this experiment began, the jury remains out as to whether or not this foray has worked. Dallas, Carolina and Tampa Bay have each won Stanley Cups in the past fifteen years, but in seasons where the teams aren't playing as well, ticket sales and attendance have plummeted. Gary Bettman, the commissioner of the NHL, has been around since the expansion/relocation movement began, and would not want to concede defeat by relocating teams to northern or Canadian locales. Still, many people see this whole process as a game, where one wrong step can result in a team being yanked from a city forever. Fans from Quebec have traveled to places like Phoenix and Long Island, New York at the first sign of a franchise's weakness, to show that their city is ready to support these struggling teams.

In a class where we have talked about how any industry, field or subject can be thought of as a game, it is interesting to see that in hockey, there is more than just the game that occurs on the ice. The entire National Hockey League is full of games within other games, and whether it is crowning another Stanley Cup champion (hopefully my New York Rangers) or pulling a team like the Phoenix Coyotes out of the desert and onto the frozen tundra of Quebec, every move made by the league is just another piece of the larger puzzle.


- Alex Jacobs

Draw Something

I play the new iPhone app Draw Something, which is like pictionary on your phone that you can play with your friends. There are some of my games that I can't wait to play, or get a drawing back from, but on the other hand I get really bored with some of my competitors. There are no rules of the game, but there are rules set for each individual game played from the start. Some people I play will draw words or phrases so that I can guess the drawing, and those are the games I dread the most.

This reminds me of the rules that are explained in rock climbing by Tejada-Flores in "Games Climbers Play." There are no written rules of the game that can be read when you start to play it, but rather you make them up as you go, and depending how skilled you are, you can adapt them for the game. Playing my art school friend provides a whole different gaming experience than playing my friend who has to rely on words to get the point of the drawing across. This is not something that is talked about, but something that is discovered and worked through within the first few rounds of the game.

I enjoy the games where no words are used, just like old fashioned pictionary, because it provides more of a challenge rather than writing out clues, but everyone has their own way of playing the game. Here are some of the best draw something drawings around:

http://bestofdrawsomething.com/

Relay for Life Benefit Variety Show!

Hey Bloggerdom,

This Wednesday my acting group, The Residential College Players, is having a benefit concert for Relay for Life. My improv group will be performing, so it's another chance to sneak in a live performance if you need some Minor Quest 2 juice. Also, if you're interested in performing alongside us, we're interested in any musical or comedy acts. We'll be auditioning people Monday April 9th in room AO3 in the basement of East Quad.

My major quest has been learning how to sing. I have written and am performing a song the day of the show. Anybody who would like a venue for a possible last hurrah for the Major Quest, this would be a great one.

Auditions will be from 7-10 on Monday the 9th and the show will start at 7:00pm on April 11th. If you'd like to attend we will be pre-selling tickets for 3 dollars. All of the proceeds will go to The American Cancer Society.

Please send any questions or comments along to me. I'd love to see you all there.

Chad Rhiness

The Madness Shifts

As all of you probably know, the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament ended earlier this week. With Kentucky's National Championship, the end to a March full of college basketball comes to end, and to many peoples sorrow, so does the madness that comes with it. Or does the madness end? While college basketball may be at its end, 16 NHL teams are preparing themselves for the playoffs. While last night, 8 teams from both conferences got etched into a playoff spot with only a game or two remaining, the seeds of these 16 teams can still change, which could have monumental effects on how teams do in the playoffs.

One interesting thing about seed shifting pertains to the 6th seed in each division. Since the NHL seeds the division winners as 1, 2, and 3 regardless of total points, it creates some interesting match ups that may actually favor the 6th seeds, and may cause them to not want to move up any further. For example, in the east, the Florida Panthers are atop their division with only 92 points. They would be going up against a 6th seeded New Jersey team who has (with still a game remaining) 100 points.

While it doesn't matter now with only a game remaining, the past week the Devils were in an interesting position. Do they continue to win and risk having to play a much tougher and division rival Pittsburgh Penguins team, or do they coast into the playoffs and play a d less offensively threatening Florida Panthers. Throughout the week, first year Devils head coach Peter Deboer was pried at by reporters asking whether or not this situation changed his strategy. He simply told the press that they were going to go out every night and try to win, and whatever happens, happens.

While it happened to work out in the Devils' favor, regardless of winning 6 of their last 10 games, my question for you guys is, would you do the same? With 7th seeded Ottawa a significant ways back, the Devils could have gone no lower than 6th and no higher than 5th. Would you choose to win and play a harder opponent, or coast into the playoffs securing an easier opponent?

-Kevin