The "Henry" defence
Match Report 28th July 2012
Albert Park Roosters V MCC Maggots
By Nil Jolie
Captains Leadership.
When everyone else falls by the wayside our battle hardened Captain steps up to take control and lead us on to Victory.
It was a difficult situation as we were up against the top team and we didn't want to go down to these despicable scoundrels.
Therefore, some serious tactics had to be employed
and our beloved Captain came through once again.
On a gloomy day of storm and tempest the Captain lead us into the stadium, hearts pumping of pride and determination similar to that of an Opening Olympic Ceremony.
We marched around the courts inspecting every aspect and taking in the atmosphere.
I stood to attention with the other athletes waiting for the arrival of Brian or the Olympic torch.
Whichever came first.
I was disappointed to find out that our Olympic torch was going to be lit by Yuri as a result of some serious flatulence caused by the previous nights hot Chicken Vindaloo.
I insisted I walk in front of him if he didn't mind.
As the clouds darkened and as we wiped the tears from our eyes we played our first match.
Yuri and Neale v MCC undefeated Number One pair.
A great match of skill and effort to the highest order.
Half way through the match the tactics were simple.
pray for rain.
Brian lived up to his part of the bargain by arriving so late due to mechanical failure that the dark clouds lined up perfectly overhead before dumping down upon us
This tactic worked perfectly.
The game was washed out
We scored two points from four
and Alan was in complete admiration of our fearless leader to score a victory from the jaws of defeat. (sort of)
I did notice that Alan watching from the stands, was tearing up though out our match.
Not sure if that was emotion or the remnants of Yuris torch relay
Translation:
One match was completed for a loss and then a washout (Yuri and Nil 10 zip) so it's 5-3 points in favour of the home team.
A great result as after the Greek Bailout we had our B team in and an 8-0 was on the cards.
These guys are very good and on top for good reason. Great bunch of guys btw.
Technically it was a forfeit as Brian was 90 minutes late but MCC were so incredibly sportsman like and took Brian's Henry defence into account. Their contempt for Parkdale was another factor influencing their largess.
The excuse Brian gave for being 90 minutes late has to go down as the best. A flat on the Bolte Bridge and the subsequent indefinite wait for a tow truck. No alternative or way to get to the match. Brilliant! In 1961 the Eichman defence was that he "was only following orders"
This will go forever go down as the "Henry" defence in memory of our former premier and right wing arse hole.
One match was completed for a loss and then a washout (Yuri and Nil 10 zip) so it's 5-3 points in favour of the home team.
A great result as after the Greek Bailout we had our B team in and an 8-0 was on the cards.
These guys are very good and on top for good reason. Great bunch of guys btw.
Technically it was a forfeit as Brian was 90 minutes late but MCC were so incredibly sportsman like and took Brian's Henry defence into account. Their contempt for Parkdale was another factor influencing their largess.
The excuse Brian gave for being 90 minutes late has to go down as the best. A flat on the Bolte Bridge and the subsequent indefinite wait for a tow truck. No alternative or way to get to the match. Brilliant! In 1961 the Eichman defence was that he "was only following orders"
This will go forever go down as the "Henry" defence in memory of our former premier and right wing arse hole.
So to this Saturday
PARKDALE AT HOME
DENNIS, NOSTI, ALAN & DEANO
It's simple BEAT Parkdale and we're in the top 3!
Then beat the girls
A tip:
Keep an eye on Peter (the old guy) and his base line calls. He calls anything close out.
Also MCC had a huge barney with Parkdale when even though a rain interupted rubber was completed Parkdale went and filled in the match forms as "washed out". Parkdale are the comps Collingwood. So it's war on Saturday lads.
Then beat the girls
A tip:
Keep an eye on Peter (the old guy) and his base line calls. He calls anything close out.
Also MCC had a huge barney with Parkdale when even though a rain interupted rubber was completed Parkdale went and filled in the match forms as "washed out". Parkdale are the comps Collingwood. So it's war on Saturday lads.
Hit Up Thursday 6.30 as usual
To Come >>>
Aug 4 V PARKDALE POOVES (home)
dennis nosti alan deano
Aug 11 V GLENHUNTLY GIRLS (away)
dennis nosti alan deano
dennis nosti alan deano
Aug 18 V STELLA MARIS HEATHENS (home)
vic mark yuri nil
Aug 25 SEMI-FINAL nick dean
Sept 1 FINAL nick dean
WINTER SEASON'S RESULTS SO FAR
May 5 V PORT MELBOURNE PILLOW BITERS (home)
Washout
May 12 V MCC MAGGOTS (away)
nil nick mark alan 3-1 LOSS Mark&Al 10 zip x2
May 19 V PARKDALE POOVES (home)
deano alan mark brian DRAW
nick yuri dennis alan 2-2 WIN on games
June 2 V STELLA MARIS HEATHENS (home)
nick nosti dean and nil 4-0 WIN
June 16 V PORT MELBOURNE PILLOW BITERS (away)
alan dennis brian nil 4-1 WIN
June 23 V MCC MAGGOTS (home)
June 30 V PARKDALE POOVES (away)
mark nick brian yuri 3-1 Loss (y&n a win)
July 7 V GLENHUNTLY GIRLS (home)
nosti dennis brian mark 3-1 Loss (n&b a win)
July 14 V STELLA MARIS HEATHENS (away)
July 21 V PORT MELBOURNE PILLOW BITERS (home)
brian dennis yuri nick 4-0 WIN
July 28 V MCC MAGGOTS (away)
Washout 1 match played and lost 3-5
and finally.....
more from Pat Cash and the 80s
when we were all soooo great
and there's even more.....
A Hawk-Eye for detail:
how accurate is electronic judging in sport
Humans are fallible. Deciding who has won a tennis game or a sprint race can come down to a millimetre-accurate decision. So when an Olympic gold medal is on the line, it’s no wonder we turn to electronics to help us.
But can we really rely on Hawk-Eye, or some other electronic gadget?
Many sports are now using some kind of electronics to assist in the judgement calls of the officials. In essence, these judgement calls are made as to the position and speed of the players. If the players use a moving object, then it’s also the position and speed of that object. Most commonly, that’s a ball.
The position of the player or object is generally measured relative to a line, such as the finishing line of a foot race, or the baseline of a tennis court. These measurements generally need to be done in a split second, requiring expert judges, or the assistance of electronics. In “tight” cases, these judgements are often wrong – and clearly, we need them to be right.
Two outstanding examples are tennis and cricket.
I was at Wimbledon recently, and as I walked into the stadium, I heard the commentators say “Hawk-Eye has got it wrong again, twice, in rapid succession”.
Most of us who have watched tennis will have seen Hawk-Eye in action. It’s an outstanding example of a system that measures the bounce point of the ball relative to the global coordinates of the tennis court, and then tries to infer the position of that bounce point relative to the line.
This is called a “secondary” measurement, and has to be far more accurate than a “primary” measurement, where the bounce point is measured relative to the line itself.
The video below gives a good explanation of how the technology is employed in practice.
Let’s explore Hawk-Eye in the context of tennis and cricket. It gives us a lot of insight on how electronic judging is done in many other sports (thought it’s worth remembering all these sports have very contrasting requirements).
Hawk-Eye uses an area of modern technology called Computer Vision (CV). CV has been enabled by the huge rise in freely-available computing power and our ability to capture images electronically and rapidly.
CV is different to image processing. It uses captured images to infer information about the physical environment around us. It’s central to robotics and to road speed cameras.
The input in CV is an image and the output is information about what is observed. In the case of image processing, the input is an image and the output is another image.
In tennis, we don’t care where the player is, other than when serving, and then only his feet. But we really do care where the ball bounces relative to the lines on the court. In the case of cricket, what we really want to know is where the ball may go after it has bounced.
Hawk-Eye uses exactly the same technology to provide these two contrasting pieces of information about the travel of a ball. It uses very clever algorithms that I will describe later, but it has a very serious failing: it makes a “secondary” measurement.
This secondary measurement measures the flight of the ball relative to its global position in the playing area. In the case of tennis it’s trying to infer millimetre accuracy relative to a playing area that may be 50 metres in length. (In cricket, we are starting to use a technology called “hot-spot”).
This is a primary measurement and is never challenged. It measures where the ball has actually struck by measuring the rise in temperature caused by that collision.
In tennis, Hawk-Eye rapidly captures images of the ball during flight from multiple positions around the court. The cameras have to be very accurately positioned relative to the court lines and the overall court coordinates.
It then uses CV to locate the position of the ball relative to the court multiple times as it travels along its trajectory.
These captured positions are not precise. The ball is a tube-like blur and there’s crowd movement and noise in the background.
These ball location estimates are then combined with the ball ballistics to provide a maximum likelihood estimate of what the ball trajectory may have been. The equation is then used to draw a graphic of the ball’s travel, and infer a bounce point.
It would be a tall order to get it right all the time. Some estimates suggest that Hawk-Eye only gets it right in tennis 60% of the time.
In summary, electronic judging tries to do a good job of reducing the uncertainty of human observation in sport. Mostly it “gets it right” – more often than humans do – but there are no absolutes.
What it definitely does do is add enormously to the entertainment value of sport, and particularly for those of us who watch it on television.
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