1. The Coast of Dystopia: A fabulous opinion about the state of California. Only question to ask is: what are your thoughts?
2. 11 Minutes of Action: That's the total amount of actual play time in an NFL football game. I know I had no idea, and I've been watching a lot of football lately. What do you think of the stats? How about the graphic? Will this deter folks from watching the entire game? Maybe encourage more DVRs? Is there some aspect of MA life that we can analyze like this? Maybe assemblies? How many minutes a day students spend standing around in the BLC? Walking across Mission?
8 comments:
11 Minutes of Action:
As someone who is not a big football fan, I feel like this realization isn't all THAT surprising. I probably would have estimated something slightly higher, but this is pretty much why I would much rather play sports than watch them on TV.
But I think the more important point is that someone thought of actually timing a game and how this makes for an interesting read, even for a non-football-aficionado.
I think we could definitely implement this technique in the Voice. Maybe about % of time wasted at assembly with non-relevant announcements?
The Coast of Dystopia.
I enjoyed this article, although California has been having trouble since about 5th grade for me, so I can't say I dream of the good old days that often. I like that it talked about the many highs of living here as well as the lows, and it wasn't just another "budget crisis, California in decline, bloo, bloo" article.
As a California native, I find the notion of coming to California and reinventing oneself pretty thought provoking. I found myself wondering where I could go to reinvent myself should I ever need to. New York? LA? I'm privileged to live in one of the best cities in the world, why would I want to go anywhere else?
I liked the contrast between the Greek words "utopia" and "eureka". The article also did a good job showing the contrast between the California dream and the reality.
Overall, a well written piece that manages to be both sobering and uplifting.
11 Minutes of Action:
Eight days ago, I sat in front of the TV with my dad watching the Cardinals play the Packers. My father sat with a stopwatch for the entire duration of the game (about three and a half hours) doing EXACTLY what Mr. Hutchins did nearly 100 years ago. I would not be exaggerating in the least to say that my dad has been completely mystified and is hugely irritated by the fact that football games contain at a maximum, 15 minutes of action.
As countless commentators and radio-show-hosts make a fuss about time wasted during instant replay in many football, I've started to just blow it all off. I've come to think that this downtime is just alright with me, whether it's in football, classes/assembly/whatever. Not only do I not think we should be bombarded every day with 100% "bone-crushing" and engaging action, I do not think it is a healthy or reasonable thing to expect.
This is likely a product of technological developments and, like Sarah mentioned in her Y generation article, probably one of the many side-effects of insatiable need for more action and stimulus. What would happen if a game of football was filled with 60 minutes of action? It's not a hard question to answer: all football players would be injured, the roster would have to be composed of hundreds of players, and the games would last days. Not only can players not physically tolerate 60 minutes of "high-octane" action, I don't think anyone in their right mind (or with self-preservation in mind) would want to. It's not just that players need a break from this madness, we do to, whether it's football or pretty much anything in life.
The Coast of Dystopia:
As Henry mentioned, this article is pretty fresh in the sense that it's not one of those irritating over-the-top "California in decline, bloo, bloo" articles. I whole-heartedly appreciate that. Right on Henry. The rejection of that sentiment may be enough for me to write about the article in itself. This article was particularly interesting in that it provided a relatively neutral and accessible lens for understanding California.
Aside from that, it was pretty surprising to hear the author describe California as a land of dystopia. In fact, I really agree with the author's diagnosis of the situation in California. Personally, I do not believe that California is outfitted properly to allow nearly 37 million people the opportunity to completely remake themselves, whether that's in a sense of a top notch, low cost education, or low taxes, or affordable housing. It seems that there are simply too many people with high expectations for life in California. In my mind, "the state of the state" can be attributed to the massive burden that our state political system has when it tries to care for over 35 million people. Not everyone can have access to the limited resource that is the utopian life that was once available: some will make it, some will not. To me, it seems like the sensible reaction to this situation is to reduce that burden on the state, whether that's by accepting the reality that not everyone will fulfill their dream of successful Californian futures, or by simply going somewhere else. I'd choose the ladder. It seems much easier to remove oneself from the system and find fulfillment somewhere else, and I think that more people are going to start embracing that notion in the future.
11 Minutes of Action
I can not tell you how many times I have been waiting for my brothers and my dad to finish watching a football game. Sometimes as I wait, I see glimpses of the game. I have come to realize, whenever I see glimpses, that they NEVER show them actually playing. I get so frustrated because they are showing so many unnecessary details, like a player drinking water or someone clapping. This article supports my secret suspicion that the football players are barely even playing if they are watched on TV. I don't know how Julia's idea of how much time is wasted on irrelevant announcements at assembly would work so well because by default it would be editorialized. Someone would have to decide which announcements are not important. I like her idea though, maybe we can try to apply it to something else at MA.
The Coast of Dystopia
I think it is kind of ironic how it used to be the "American Dream" but now Americans are looking for the "California Dream" like the author says in the second or third sentence of her piece. I think the mentality of: 'just going somewhere and things will change' needs to end. Those who have high expectations for California need to face reality and realize there is no place where everything is perfect. I love California and I definitely think it can improve but we can't expect it to turn into a place where EVERYONE will be happy and transform themselves.
The Coast of Dystopia:
I found this article imaginative, interesting, and straight-forward. I think California natives tend to take what they have for granted (whenever I visit other places and tell people I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, everyone seethes with jealousy!)
As Jackson said, Peggy Orenstein, the author of the piece, provided a neutral lens for us to look through, which I really appreciate. I felt ambivalent about California's "status" by the end of the piece though - should we feel hopeful, as the author said, or perhaps fear what's to come of California?
On a more random note, I found the juxtaposition between the two phrases at the culmination of the piece very memorable: "The California dream is dead. Long live the California dream."
11 Minutes of Action:
This is why I hate football. (But then again, I dislike watching all sports games, except baseball on rare occasions.) However, like Julia mentioned, the piece is well executed: the stats are impeccable, there are some cool graphics, and a lot of information can be found in general. I think the strongest aspects of the piece are the cut-up football graphic and the first few paragraphs of the article. After that point, it began to drag on and the sections with stats felt like a lab report. The other graphic, found towards the bottom, was cool - but not as cool as the first. It was a little too all over the place with its pop-art feel. Don't get me wrong though, I still found the whole piece interesting. Who knew NBC needs 7 production trucks per game?
As for MA, I can already picture the tree cut up like the football was. For what topic - I'm not sure. Maybe something simple like time spent in the various main areas/buildings of campus? Though this is not related to MA, this reminds me of a question I posed to my carpool buddy earlier this week: how much time do I spend in a week (or month or year) sitting at red lights at the hub? Red lights anywhere?
Sarah Strand
11 Minutes of Action:
I have seen this statistic mentioned on dozens of different sources this week, as if people were surprised by the news. I watch a lot of football and I could have told you this years ago.
The problem, however, is not in the game itself but in the networks. They want to both maximize profit and keep the game in a three hour time span, so the rules of the game have been adapted to allow this.
I believe I read a study a couple years ago that said that after recent rule changes, games contain 15 less plays every game due to time lost by the clock running between plays.
One thing not mentioned in the article is any of the networks saying they have a problem with the unbelievable amount of extra time during broadcasts. That's because they make more money with the modern rules, so who cares if they show 11 minutes of football?
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