THE GAME In Pictures: Manchester United & Tampa Bay Buccaneers Host Arsenal & Colorado Avalanche at Old Trafford

In a previous post on THE IdeaBOARD, I proposed that there could be the potential for owners of multiple sports teams across many nodes to eventually consolidate their teams for the purpose of participating in GAMEs:

Although having multiple teams in different nodes sharing a single owner or ownership entity does not necessarily lead to cross-node GAME interactions of those teams, there are the right components and the right environment (a relatively slow worldwide economy with leagues and teams in many sports and markets struggling to remain competitive or viable) for a forward-thinking owner or fan base to seize an opportunity and enable initial interactions between nodes; eventually leading to something deeper and substantive esthetically (as new nodes are linked or blended, completely new nodes are generated) and financially (cross-branding takes on a deeper new meaning; disparate nodes are no longer solely linked by common values, demographics or financial opportunities, but are literally linked or blended together).

In the composite shot above, Manchester United midfielder Anderson fires the ball between Colorado Avalanche defenseman Shane O’Brien and a sliding Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny as Arsenal right-back Bacary Sagna looks on. Manchester United and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are owned by Malcolm Glazer and his family. Stan Kroenke owns Arsenal and the Colorado Avalanche.

Blended Nodes: International Rules Football

Portions courtesy of Wikipedia

International rules football, a blended node consisting of Australian rules football and Gaelic football, was created to facilitate international representative matches between Australian rules football players and Gaelic football players. International rules football is one of the few team sports without any dedicated clubs or leagues and is usually contested by men’s, women’s and junior teams in tournaments and test matches.

A brief overview of International rules football rules as explained by Wikipedia:

“The rules are designed to provide a compromise between those of the two codes, with Gaelic football players being advantaged by the use of a round ball and a rectangular field (Australian rules uses an oval ball and field), while the Australian rules football players benefit from the opportunity to tackle between the shoulders and thighs, something banned in Gaelic football. The game also introduces the concept of the mark, from Australian rules football, with a free kick awarded for any ball caught from a kick of over 15 meters.

A player must bounce, solo or touch the ball on the ground once every 10 meters or six steps. A maximum of two bounces per possession are allowed, while players can solo the ball as often as they wish on a possession. Unlike in Gaelic football, the ball may be lifted directly off the ground, without putting a foot underneath it first. Players however cannot scoop the ball off the ground to a team-mate, nor pick up the ball if they are on their knees or on the ground. If a foul is committed, a free kick will be awarded, referees can give the fouled player advantage to play on at their discretion.

The game uses two large posts and two small posts, as in Australian rules, and a crossbar and goal net as in Gaelic football.

Points are scored as follows:

• In the goal net (a goal): 6 points, umpire waves green flag and raises both index fingers.
• Over the crossbar and between the two large posts (an over): 3 points, umpire waves red flag and raises one arm above his head.
• Between a large post and a small post (a behind): 1 point, umpire waves white flag and raises one index finger.

Scores are written so as to clarify how many of each type of score were made as well as, like Australian football, giving the total points score for each team; for example, if a team scores one goal, four overs and 10 behinds, the score is written as 1-4-10 (28), meaning one goal (six points) plus 4 overs (4 × 3 = 12 points) plus 10 behinds (10 × 1 = 10 points), for a total score of 28 points.

An international rules match lasts for 72 minutes (divided into four quarters of 18 minutes each). Inter-county Gaelic football matches go on for 70 minutes, divided into two halves, and Australian rules matches consists of four 20 minutes quarters of game time, although with the addition of stoppage time, most quarters actually last between 25 and 30 minutes.

As in Gaelic football, teams consist of fifteen players, including a goalkeeper, whereas eighteen are used in Australian rules (with no keeper).”

Star Wars vs. Star Trek vs. Battlestar Galactica vs. Babylon 5 vs. Halo vs....

Canon aside, I always wanted to see these universes crossover into each other. Due to the amazing talents of its fans, we can now glimpse this collision in the sci-fi multiverse:

Star Trek vs. Star Wars Pt. 1: The Darkest Day by captainshuttle

Star Trek vs. Star Wars Pt. 2: United We Stand by captainshuttle

Star Trek vs. Star Wars Pt. 3 Trailer: The Best Defence by captainshuttle

Star Wars vs. Star Trek - DMP Edition HQ by DMPhoenix

Battlestar Galactica Vs Star Wars Vs Star Trek Vs Babylon 5 from SpaceBattles.com

Star Trek vs. Babylon 5 - The Final Fight (Part 1) by DarkwarriorSFN

Star Trek vs. Star Wars by borg359

Star Trek vs. Babylon 5 - The Final Fight (Part 2) by DarkwarriorSFN

Halo vs. Star Wars Trailer 2 by Apprentice88

Battlestar Galactica vs. Star Wars from SpaceBattles.com

Star Trek vs. Battlestar Galactica by bobbydiablo

A compilation by 4touchdownsbundy

Originally posted by BlueTooth -- 1/18/2009 10:07:00 PM

THE GAME Types and Levels (Circa 2000): The Essence of G.3

In 1999, as THE GAME started to take shape, we wanted to incorporate, quite literally, an endless number ideas into THE GAME Types and THE GAME Levels. So, in the summer of 2000, we finally sat down and thought, "OK. We've got this idea that is too big to really pin down and explain, but we've got to come up with something as a starting point". What we came up with was a framework of what we wanted THE GAME to be and the direction or directions we wanted THE GAME to take (the following entry, btw, is from that founders meeting in the summer of 2000). As you will see from the examples (to help explain THE GAME Types and THE GAME Levels) given below, the context is clearly circa 2000.

THE GAME, in general, has five TYPES:

1. specific

2. transitional

3. grouped (style)

4. mixed: blended (hybrid) & linked

5. jacks

1. SPECIFIC. This type refers to a specific established/existing activity. The main criteria to be GAME specific is to have specialization. Automaking, restauranteuring, computer programming, acting, farming, and dentistry are all considered GAME specific activities and its participants are considered to be GAME specific participants. Activities in the other four types could eventually become established as GAME specific as long as there is a participant in those activities.

2. TRANSITIONAL (Updated 5/15/10). The main function of transitional GAME types is to connect multiple simultaneous activities. The transitional GAME type is a standalone node or type that facilitates the smooth flow from one activity to another (to another, to another, etc.), therefore making THE GAME scalable. Some of the many examples include:

triathalon --> track & field ( e.g. a relay event incorporating a triathlete relaying to a waiting transitional athlete who will in turn relay to a track athlete)

baseball --> football (e.g. a hitter hits a baseball into the outfield and into a transitional zone where a hybrid WR waiting to receive the baseball is opposed by a hybrid OF. These hybrid players are standalone transitional node players affiliated sports—baseball and football)

basketball --> football (e.g. a transitional wing player can catch a long bomb on an inbounds pass from a PF or C while being defended by a transitional defensive wingback player; the goal of the transitional wing player is to fight through the defense and eventually get the ball to the skill players on the offensive side of the football).

free e-tail hosting service --> consulting (see add-a-shop.com)

3. GROUPED (STYLE). This GAME type refers to similarly related activities grouped and/or blended together by primary and/or broad objectives. Some of the many examples include:

goal: ice hockey/in-line hockey/floor hockey/broomball/soccer/team handball/floor hockey/water polo

basket: basketball/korfball/streetball

use of a bat: baseball/softball/cricket/pesapallo

use of a racquet: tennis/badminton/racquetball/squash

endzone: rugby/American football/Australian rules football/arena football

medium of the activity: air/water/land

sports marketing agreement between YankeeNets and Manchester United.

computing Micrsoft's presence in, for example, software, WebTV, and Expedia.com

internet programming/web design/web project management.

politics: election campaigning/military/lawmaking.

electronics: SONY's presence in, for example, CD players, video, radios, DVD players, and game consoles.

4. MIXED: BLENDED (HYBRID) & LINKED (Updated 5/15/10). This GAME type is made up of one or more existing (related or unrelated) activities that are:

a. blended (a hybrid) together and/or

b. linked together (no blending or hybridization of the constituent activities; the constituent activities are preserved in their original forms and linked together in various ways). A transitional type and linked type share many similarities, however the transitional type is a standalone type or node (that facilitates the transition of one node into another) while the linked type is an entirely new node combining two or more existing activities (while preserving the integrity of the constituent nodes).

By doing so, new GAMEs are created. An example of this is THE GAME itself.

5. JACKS. The name alludes to a "jack of all trades". As the name would indicate, this GAME type consists of most or all of the possible activities brought together (including all the activities from the aforementioned GAME types). THE GAME would be a good example of this GAME type, whereas an example of a participant in this particular GAME type would be a corporate conglomerate like VIRGIN.

LEVELS

Currently, each type in THE GAME has the following levels of participation (note: participants in each level may participate against participants in other levels):

pick-up:

show up and play!

recreational:

generally, more organization is involved in this level.

fraternity/sorority:

its members are in the Greek system, but as explained above, they may participate against others in their level or others in other levels.

intramural:

typically organized at the collegiate or university level

(Inter)National Graduate Athletic Association:

intercollegiate athletics for alumni and graduate students

amateur:

e.g. NCAA, University Games

semi-professional

professional

pro-am-rec:

participants can compete against others from the other levels

glory:

for those participants who would love a chance to relive their past glory.