One of the more memorable things I did this year (in a year
where not too many memorable things happened) was to incorporate the awesome
Daniel Bryan “YES!” chant into dodgeball games, and I really think fans/ sports
teams/ media everywhere should follow the WWE’s lead. The WWE’s genius creative
team started it by having Daniel Bryan (their coverboy who’s currently dealing
with possibly career-ending injuries) chanting “YES! YES! YES!” repeatedly and
getting everyone excited. The sheer simplicity of the chant makes me marvel at
why others haven’t done it before. I used it for many of the dodgeball teams:
Anytime anybody did anything good, it was “YES! YES! YES!” until everyone on
the team was doing it in a collective chorus. Awesomeness, I know. It’s such a
visceral emotion of showing exuberance, joy, and unrepressed approval. It feels
good just saying it. Imagine the YES chant in the following scenarios:
1.)
Touchdown celebration when one of the Chicago Bears
scores a TD. All players do a chant (not group celebration which is a penalty,
but more like a high five)
2.)
Fans in the seats at stadiums everywhere chant “YES!
YES! YES!” every time their team scores a touchdown.
3.)
Fantasy players everywhere going “YES!” YES!
YES!” when their players do something.
Speaking of fantasy football, I hope you won your league
because I didn’t win any of mine. In a common refrain, my teams all perished in
the playoffs despite pretty solid regular seasons, speaking to the randomness
of the playoff system and the absurdity of allowing a full season’s results
come down to one random week where players might be hurt, teams may be sitting
players, franchises might be tanking to get a better draft position. It’s
really just a subpar way to decide a winner ( I know, this is coming from a
playoff-hater), an fantasy football players have to understand that. It may be
the main reason that people stray away from fantasy football in the next few
years (other than the fact the NFL is a corrupt cartel organization with a puppet
leader who covers up black eyes and serves the owners in a true pyramid scheme
and o yea, concussions).
I can see a similar fundamental problem coming with the NBA:
the league relies too heavily on the 3-point shot. Look, I’ve never played in
the NBA, I’ve never tried to shoot in a real NBA game with a guy in my face
from NBA range (longer than college). But the NBA guys sure make it look pretty
easy. I can see why. Why do all the fundamental things basketball used to
encourage like footwork, driving, getting in the paint, drawing fouls, post
moves, mid-range jumpers, jump hooks, elbow jumpers, and floaters, if it’s all
neutralized by the 3-pointer? I don’t care how amazing your and-one 2-point
bucket was in which you got the bucket and got fouled, it’s still the same
value as a 3, and that’s IF you make the free throw, no guarantee. A 3 is too
much of a value not to take. You’re saying I have to make 50% of my normal
2-point shots but only 33% of my 3-pointers? I’d much rather take the
3-pointer, thank you. There’s guys in the NBA for whom a 3-pointer is like a
layup, it’s just one motion of the wrist and going straight up and down with
the body. It seems like a very fundamental technique thing like riding one’s
bike or hitting a tennis serve; you just sit in the gym all day and take 3’s
until muscle memory kicks in. I mean, I can’t run fast, cut as hard, dribble as
well, pass as skillfully, jump as high, or dunk as emphatically as anybody in
the NBA, but I can go in the gym and hit NBA three’s at an OK clip. It’s not
that hard. And it’s VERY valuable in the NBA, to the point where almost every
team is doing it. It’s just math; why try for 2 when you can go for 3? Have your big guy in the middle and kick out
to guys on the perimeter who can shoot 3’s; bam offensive strategy solved. From
a mathematical sense, it doesn’t make sense NOT to take as many 3’s as you can.
The problem with the three-pointer for the NBA is that it’s
just not very appealing for the casual fan. Yea, Ok, fans like the long-range
factor of someone pin point accurately hitting shots and “getting hot,” but
that doesn’t get the ooh’s and ahh’s of a slam dunk or a killer crossover, or
an aggressive defensive play. Unfortunately, none of that is emphasized with
the advent of the three-pointer. Guys make a living being able to hit the 3 and
do everything else OK to stay on the floor. As long as the NBA maintains the
3-point line, guys are going to keep shooting 3’s at a tremendous clip
(3-pointers are way up in the NBA compared to say like a decade ago) and it’s
gonna keep going. As Antoine Walker famously replied when they asked why he
shot so many 3’s, “cuz there aint no 4’s.”
I can’t even imagine what it’s like in college (where the line
is even closer to the hoop).
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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