planned responses

[jmallick]

I didn't know who Don Carman was until I watched an old Baseball Blooper video, which didn't just include bloopers, but all sorts of baseball stats that I treasure like any old other set of statistics. On the field, he was known for his microscopic batting average, beginning his career 0-fer 48, until this game

Comments

[nigelbo]

It sounds to me like your hunch is correct - that he probably had a similar attitude as yourself about having to come up with something to say on the spot, without any chance to think about it first. I have been pondering similar concepts with regards to Scrabble lately. The game has a duality about it, in that there is a lot to be said on the importance and significance of good preperation before gametime (learning the words), but there is always going to be a certain element of spontaneity to the game, because of the obvious fact that every game IS different from every previous game. A good approach to the game seems to me to include both good preperation, and honed ability to react intelligently to the situation at hand, which includes making judgments and inferences about one's opponent and their plays. I guess that ties in with making conversation; it can be difficult to think of appropriate things to say on the fly, and in unfamiliar circumstances. But with practice, it gets easier...