Posted at 7:00 a.m.
How to identify shooting in baseball?
I’ve never understood how a baseball descriptor can guess what sort of shot a pitcher is making (sliding, fast, falling, etc.). From their description position (at height) or simply from their screen, are they able to see the position of the thrower’s fingers on the ball? To me, it’s a mystery.
Daniel Fournier
Response from Simon Drouin:
Mr. Fournier, you are not the only one… So I asked the question to an expert, Alain Usereau, who offered me this answer a few hours before the broadcast of the first game of the World Series between the Houston Astros and the Philadelphia Phillies on RDS. As often in sports journalism, upstream work is an essential element:
“First, by knowing the repertoire of pitchers (it’s part of our preparation), it helps us enormously to identify the shots. Combined with the speed of the shots, a data now available instantly, and the way the ball moves, we thus have a very good idea of the shot made. I would say that the most complicated are the throwers who have in their repertoire a fast cut and a slippery or a slippery with a curve. In these cases, the speed of the shot is a very good clue. »
Hockey shot count
PHOTO D. ROSS CAMERON, USA TODAY SPORTS ARCHIVES
A shot by David Kampf of the Toronto Maple Leafs on goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen of the San Jose Sharks
How are shots on goal counted in hockey? Are only shots made between the posts counted? Are all shots taken by the goalkeeper also counted?
Sylvain Plante
Response from Jean-François Téotonio:
All shots inside the posts are counted. A shot that hits the metal rod of the net is not. However, if a goalkeeper adds the proverbial mustard to a stoppage by blocking a puck that is not in the frame of the net, it is up to the minor official to judge the content.
Celebrate at soccer
PHOTO MARTIN RICKETT, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates a goal scored on October 20.
In hockey, a player who has just scored a goal goes to the other players to celebrate together and congratulate each other. Why in soccer, very often, the player who has just scored a goal moves away and runs as far as possible from the other players on the field, even from the one who gave him a great pass? I find that very selfish.
Dominique Lefebvre
Response from Jean-François Téotonio:
I would answer that it depends on the player, the type of goal and the moment. It should also be noted that soccer does not have the same attitude about individuals as hockey.
In soccer, yes, a scorer who has just performed a spectacular feat will generally capture the cameras a few seconds before his teammates join him. It’s his time, after all. However, it is not uncommon to see it pointing to the author of the decisive pass, or the one who created the game allowing the goal.
Some are obviously more individualistic than others. And we expect it. Cristiano Ronaldo, for example, has his signature celebration: he runs towards the corner flag pointing to the ground to indicate that this pitch belongs to him, jumps while turning around and spreading his arms, and shouts “YES” in Portuguese, while welcoming his teammates.
Some have prepared a symbolic message under their jersey that they want to deliver clearly in front of the cameras, as if to signal the loss of a loved one, or the birth of a child.
If the goal comes at the very end of the match and has a big implication in the final result, the player could leave the field to celebrate with the fans behind the net.
But usually, each of these celebrations concludes with a scrum of teammates congratulating each other before returning to the center of the field.
The guards’ area
PHOTO ARCHIVES PRESS
The trapezoidal area behind the net
Since lockout of the 2004-2005 NHL, goaltenders can no longer touch the puck in the corners of the rink, since they are confined to the trapeze drawn on the ice. Other than perhaps reducing the risk of injury to goalkeepers, what is the real purpose of this rule? It only seems to reduce the show.
Yoann
Response from Simon-Olivier Lorange:
Unfortunately, I have to correct you. The NHL did not want to protect its goaltenders, but rather favor the attack. Several rules introduced in 2005 had this objective, including the removal of the red line and the reduction in the size of goalkeepers’ equipment. By preventing them from controlling the puck in the corners of the rink, we hoped to reinforce the forecheck, so that the team on offense could more easily recover the puck. However, it is not clear whether this measure had any real effect. He has in fact scored more goals in the NHL since the return of the lockout, but how much of this increase is attributable to trapezoids? We’ll never know. What is certain is that the most agile goalies with the puck at the time, for example Martin Brodeur, were furious. We can also suspect that Carey Price could have put his passing skills to use even more under the old regime.