Last year I wrote a post about Coaching, Conducting and Performing. At that time I was fascinated by Leonard Bernstein’s work with three orchestras (New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra). I was struck by the parallels between his experiences and coaching sport.
This week I listened to another recording about performing in music and was struck again by its potential as a resource for coaches. The recording has a great title: Boléro! A Musician’s Nightmare. It discusses Ravel’s music from the performer’s point of view. Those taking part included: Bramwell Tovey, conductor; John Ludlow, concertmaster; James Blades, David Corkhill and Gary Kettel, percussion; Jack Brymer, clarinet; Dave White, saxophone and clarinet; Malcolm Frammingham, trombone; Margaret Campbell, flute. The reader: André Maranne. Each of the performers talks about how they overcome their nerves about playing Bolero.
For my part I have linked Bolero with athletic and artistic performance since Torvill and Dean’s 1984 Winter Olympics dance to the Bolero theme.
Photo Credits
Isham Jones and His Orchestra
Christopher Dean and Jane Torvill
Ready to Perform
Play: Sliding to Catch a Train
Last year I wrote a post about playfulness inspired by an installation at the Odenplan train station in Stockholm.
Seven moths later I have found another delightful example of playfulness in a railway station. Volkswagen have set up a slide at Berlin’s U-Bahn station at Alexanderplatz.
Just like the Odenplan piano the Alexanderplatz slide elicits the playfulness in travellers. I like the response of non-sliders to sliders!
This is the 1 minute 42 second video:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4o0ZVeixYU]
Photo Credit
Same Place, Same People
End of First Round of Games 2010 FIFA World Cup
The first sixteen games of the 2010 FIFA World Cup were completed yesterday. Statistics from the games can be found at the Official Web site.
I have been looking at goal scoring and performance in relation to FIFA ranking. In the first round of games there were 25 goals scored.
- In the 16 games played in the first round of games all teams who have scored first have not lost (10 wins and four draws).
- There have been two 0-0 draws: Uruguay v France; Cote d’Ivoire v Portugal
- Four higher ranking teams have lost to lower ranking teams: Greece (v Korea), Serbia (v Ghana), Cameroon (v Japan), Spain (v Switzerland)
Photo Credit
World’s largest Vuvuzela
Vale Coach Wooden
John Robert Wooden died on 4 June 2010 aged ninety-nine. The entry about him in Wikipedia celebrates his life.
This web site has wonderful information about Coach Wooden and includes his Pyramid of Success
This is a TED video from 2001 when John Wooden was ninety-one.
[ted id=498]
In one of the many obituaries written to celebrate John Wooden’s life, Peter Kerasotis notes that:
In 1948, when Wooden accepted UCLA’s head coaching job, he did so after he thought that Minnesota, which was his first choice for a head job, didn’t get back with him. It turns out, though, that bad weather had downed phone lines, which prevented Minnesota’s officials from contacting him. When they finally did, and offered him a job, Wooden had already told UCLA yes, and he couldn’t go back on his word.
In another Bill Dwyre observes of an event a decade ago:
He got a call recently from somebody who wanted a copy of his new book, “WOODEN: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court.” The caller said he needed the book right away, so Wooden got one off the shelf, stuffed some padding in the envelope, packaged it up, taped it shut and went out and mailed it. The man had given Wooden a collect Federal Express number, but Wooden fretted that sending the book that way would be much too costly for the caller. It never occurred to him that few Hall of Fame sports figures prepare mailings for strangers.
Bill Dwyre concludes his reminiscences thus:
On Oct. 14, 2000, he will be 90 years old. Yet he walks me out, shuffling alongside and making sure the gate is open and that I can find my way comfortably. My comfort is his. As I drive away, I remember something he told me weeks ago, a quote from Mother Teresa that he found meaningful: “A life not lived for others is not a life.” And I find myself wondering if there really is another one like him out there, or if this really is as good as it gets.
There are many Coach Wooden stories celebrated in the last week. Many of these are pervaded by his humanity and his profound commitment to education. Mike Krzyzewski‘s eloquence seems to have captured many people’s thoughts:
Today, we’ve lost a giant in all of sport with the passing of Coach Wooden. Quite likely, his accomplishments as a college basketball coach will never be matched. Neither will the impact he had on his players or the greater basketball community. Many have called Coach Wooden the ‘gold standard’ of coaches. I believe he was the ‘gold standard’ of people and carried himself with uncommon grace, dignity and humility. Coach Wooden’s name is synonymous with excellence, and deservedly so. He was one of the great leaders – in any profession – of his generation. We are blessed that the sport of basketball benefitted from his talents for so long. Coach Wooden and his wisdom will be sorely missed.
Photo Credit
Basketball Hall of Fame
Zines
There I was driving into Canberra and by happenchance listened to an eight-minute piece The Zine Bus on Radio National’s Book Show. I discovered that as “part of the recent Emerging Writers Festival held in Melbourne, a bright double-decker London bus trundled around Melbourne filled with eager Zinesters displaying their words and drawings”.
Radio National’s Book Show notes that:
The Zine scene has its origins in the 1980s punk movement as well as in fan magazines. Zines are photocopied publications ranging in size, shape and style but what they all have in common is that they are handmade. They can have a rough, naive charm, or be sophisticated complex collages with subject matter ranging from deep political or gender discussion to poetry, meandering thoughts or stories, drawings, even recipes.
I liked the idea of Zines immediately. Before the emergence of punk I was interested in the use of samizdat literature and was in awe of those who risked their freedom to share ideas by “making several copies of the content using carbon paper, either by hand or on a typewriter, to printing on mainframe printers during night shifts, to printing the books on semi-professional printing presses in larger quantities.”
I am keen to follow up on the Sticky Institute‘s work in Melbourne, to find out more about some of the zinesters on the Melbourne bus, zournals (Death of a Scenester) and some of the librarians who are involved in this form of sharing (Librarian Idol, Mr Begin-Again).
Photo Credits
Zines
Business-as-usual
Referees at the 2010 FIFA World Cup
The list of referees and assistant referees at the 2010 FIFA World Cup can be found on this page of the official web site. Each match report provides information about the referee, assistant referee 1, assistant referee 2 and fourth official.
These are the referees who officiated at the 2010 World Cup:
| Name | Country | Total Games | Games Refereed | Goals |
| Irmatov | UZB | 5 | South Africa v Mexico England v Algeria Greece v Argentina Argentina v Germany Uruguay v Netherlands |
2 2 4 5 |
| Baldassi | ARG | 4 | Serbia v Ghana Netherlands v Japan Switzerland v Honduras Spain v Portugal |
1 1 1 |
| Kassai | HUN | 4 | Brazil v Korea DPR Mexico v Uruguay USA v Ghana Germany v Spain |
3 1 3 1 |
| Larrionda | URU | 4 | Cote d’Ivoire v Portugal Cameroon v Denmark Australia v Serbia Germany v England |
0 3 3 5 |
| Nishimura | JPN | 4 | France v Uruguay Spain v Honduras Paraguay v New Zealand Netherlands v Brazil |
0 2 3 |
| Webb | GBR | 4 | Spain v Switzerland Slovakia v Italy Brazil v Chile Netherlands v Spain |
1 5 3 – |
| Archundia | MEX | 3 | Italy v Paraguay Portugal v Brazil Uruguay v Germany |
2 5 |
| Batres | GUA | 3 | Algeria v Slovenia Italy v New Zealand Paraguay v Spain |
1 2 1 |
| Benquerenca | POR | 3 | Japan v Cameroon Nigeria v Korea Uruguay v Ghana |
1 4 2 |
| De Bleekere | BEL | 3 | Argentina v Korea USA v Algeria Paraguay v Japan |
5 1 0 |
| Stark | GER | 3 | Argentina v Nigeria Slovenia v England Uruguay v Korea |
1 1 3 |
| Undiano | ESP | 3 | Germany v Serbia Korea DPR v Cote d’Ivoire Netherlands v Slovakia |
1 3 3 |
| Al Ghamdi | KSA | 2 | France v Mexico Chile v Switzerland |
2 1 |
| Damon | RSA | 2 | New Zealand v Slovakia Denmark v Japan |
2 4 |
| Lannoy | FRA | 2 | Netherlands v Denmark Brazil v Cote d’Ivoire |
2 4 |
| Maillet | SEY | 2 | Honduras v Chile Slovakia v Paraguay |
1 2 |
| Pozo | CHI | 2 | Portugal v Korea DPR Cameroon v Netherlands |
7 3 |
| Rodriguez | MEX | 2 | Australia v Germany Chile v Spain |
4 3 |
| Rosetti | ITA | 2 | Ghana v Australia Argentina v Mexico |
2 4 |
| Ruiz | COL | 2 | Greece v Nigeria France v South Africa |
3 3 |
| Simon | BRA | 2 | England v USA Ghana v Germany |
2 1 |
| Coulibaly | MLI | 1 | Slovenia v USA | 4 |
| Busacca | SUI | 1 | South Africa v Uruguay | 3 |
| Hester | NZL | 1 | Korea v Greece | 2 |
FIFA announced on 29 June those referees who will remain in South Africa as of 1 July for the last eight matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
| Name | Country |
| Irmatov | UZB |
| Nishimura | JPN |
| Baldassi | ARG |
| Stark | GER |
| Simon | BRA |
| Batres | GUA |
| Rodriguez | MEX |
| Benquerenca | POR |
| Archundia | MEX |
| Damon | RSA |
| Kassai | HUN |
| Maillet | SEY |
| Webb | GBR |
| De Bleekere | BEL |
| Ruiz | COL |
| Al Ghamdi | KSA |
| Undiano | ESP |
| Pozo | CHI |
| Hester | NZL |
Knockout Games
These are the referees who have officiated in the knockout games of the tournament (16 games):
| Name | Country | Games Refereed |
Goals |
| Stark | GER | Uruguay v Korea | 3 |
| Kassai | HUN | USA v Ghana Germany v Spain |
3 1 |
| Larrionda | URU | Germany v England | 5 |
| Rosetti | ITA | Argentina v Mexico | 4 |
| Undiano | ESP | Netherlands v Slovakia | 3 |
| Webb | GBR | Brazil v Chile Netherlands v Spain |
3 1 |
| De Bleekere | BEL | Paraguay v Japan | 0 |
| Baldassi | ARG | Spain v Portugal | 1 |
| Nishimura | JPN | Netherlands v Brazil | 3 |
| Benquerenca | POR | Uruguay v Ghana | 2 |
| Irmatov | UZB | Argentina v Germany Uruguay v Netherlands |
4 5 |
| Batres | GUA | Paraguay v Spain | 1 |
| Archundia | MEX | Uruguay v Germany | 5 |
Qualification Games
These are the referees who officiated in the qualification games (48 games):
| Name | Country | Games | Goals |
| Irmatov | UZB | South Africa v Mexico England v Algeria Greece v Argentina |
2 2 |
| Nishimura | JPN | France v Uruguay Spain v Honduras Paraguay v New Zealand |
0 2 0 |
| Hester | NZL | Korea v Greece | 2 |
| Stark | GER | Argentina v Nigeria Slovenia v England |
1 1 |
| Simon | BRA | England v USA Ghana v Germany |
2 1 |
| Batres | GUA | Algeria v Slovenia Italy v New Zealand |
1 2 |
| Baldassi | ARG | Serbia v Ghana Netherlands v Japan Switzerland v Honduras |
1 1 0 |
| Rodriguez | MEX | Australia v Germany Chile v Spain |
4 3 |
| Lannoy | FRA | Netherlands v Denmark Brazil v Cote d’Ivoire |
2 4 |
| Benquerenca | POR | Japan v Cameroon Nigeria v Korea |
1 4 |
| Archundia | MEX | Italy v Paraguay Portugal v Brazil |
2 0 |
| Damon | RSA | New Zealand v Slovakia Denmark v Japan |
2 4 |
| Larrionda | URU | Cote d’Ivoire v Portugal Cameroon v Denmark Australia v Serbia |
0 3 3 |
| Kassai | HUN | Brazil v Korea DPR Mexico v Uruguay |
3 1 |
| Maillet | SEY | Honduras v Chile Slovakia v Paraguay |
1 2 |
| Webb | GBR | Spain v Switzerland Slovakia v Italy |
1 5 |
| Busacca | SUI | South Africa v Uruguay | 3 |
| De Bleekere | BEL | Argentina v Korea USA v Algeria |
5 1 |
| Ruiz | COL | Greece v Nigeria France v South Africa |
3 3 |
| Al Ghamdi | KSA | France v Mexico Chile v Switzerland |
2 1 |
| Undiano | ESP | Germany v Serbia Korea DPR v Cote d’Ivoire |
1 3 |
| Coulibaly | MLI | Slovenia v USA | 4 |
| Rosetti | ITA | Ghana v Australia | 2 |
| Pozo | CHI | Portugal v Korea DPR Cameroon v Netherlands |
7 3 |
Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan) was the first referee to officiate three games (South Africa v Mexico, England v Algeria and Greece v Argentina). Three other referees have offictiated three games each: Jorge Larrionda (Uruguay), Yuichi Nashimura (Japan); Hector Baldassi (Argentina). Fifteen referees have officiated at two games each: Eddy Maillet (Seychelles), Carlos Batres (Guatemala), Stephane Lannoy (France), Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia), Oscar Ruiz (Colombia), Viktor Kassai (Hungary), Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal), Wolfgang Stark (Germany), Frank De Bleeckere (Belgium), Carlos Simon (Brazil), Jerome Damon (South Africa), Howard Webb (England), Benito Archundia (Mexico), Marco Rodriguez (Mexico), Alberto Udiano (Spain).
Pablo Pozo (Chile) has had the longest wait on the referee panel to referee a game. His first game, Game 30 Portugal v Korea DPR, was the highest scoring game of the tournament. He refereed game 44 as his second game. His two games have produced ten goals.
Five referees on the FIFA panel for this World Cup did not referee a game in the qualifying rounds of the tournament.
Photo Credit
Auf Weiter Flur
Goals Scored at the 2010 FIFA World Cup
The official FIFA web site has detailed information about each game played in the 2010 World Cup. Given there will be a lot of interest in goal scoring after the World Cup I thought I would use the links offered by the FIFA video page of goals scored to create a record that might be of use in the performance analysis of goal scoring.
145 goals were scored in 64 games. (101 in Group Games, 44 in Knockout Games.)
Knockout Stages
These games include extra time (when required) and a penalty shoot out if scores remain level at the end of extra time.
There have been 16 games to date that have produced a total of 44 goals. Game 55 ended in a penalty shoot out (Paraguay scored 5 penalty goals and Japan scored 3). Game 58 ended in a penalty shoot out (Uruguay scored 4 penalty goals and Ghana scored 2). These penalty shoot out goals are not included in the total goals scored. The goals in the knockout tournament have been scored in the following quarters of the game:
Note: the FIFA web site uses a basic 0-90 minute running clock for goal times. I have used these times to allocate the goals scored into four quarters of the game (notionally 0-22, 23-45 (end of first half), 46-68, 69-90 (end of second half)). Extra Time uses two sets of fifteen minutes (90-105, 105-120). I have used these times to allocate goals in extra time.
Goals scored (team scoring goal named first with links to FIFA video of goal):
| Minute in Game | Goal |
| 3 | Germany v Argentina |
| 5 | Ghana v USA |
| 8 | Uruguay v Korea |
| 10 | Brazil v Netherlands |
| 18 | Netherlands v Slovakia |
| 18 | Netherlands v Uruguay |
| 19 | Germany v Uruguay |
| 20 | Germany v England |
| 26 | Argentina v Mexico |
| 28 | Uruguay v Germany |
| 32 | Germany v England |
| 33 | Argentina v Mexico |
| 35 | Brazil v Chile |
| 37 | England v Germany |
| 38 | Brazil v Chile |
| 41 | Uruguay v Netherlands |
| 45 | Ghana v Uruguay |
| 51 | Uruguay v Germany |
| 52 | Argentina v Mexico |
| 53 | Netherlands v Brazil |
| 55 | Uruguay v Ghana |
| 56 | Germany v Uruguay |
| 59 | Brazil v Chile |
| 62 | USA v Ghana |
| 63 | Spain v Portugal |
| 67 | Germany v England |
| 68 | Korea v Uruguay |
| 68 | Netherlands v Brazil |
| 68 | Germany v Argentina |
| 70 | Germany v England |
| 70 | Netherlands v Uruguay |
| 71 | Mexico v Argentina |
| 73 | Netherlands v Uruguay |
| 73 | Spain v Germany |
| 74 | Germany v Argentina |
| 80 | Uruguay v Korea |
| 82 | Germany v Uruguay |
| 83 | Spain v Paraguay |
| 84 | Netherlands v Slovakia |
| 89 | Germany v Argentina |
| 90 | Slovakia v Netherlands |
| 90 | Uruguay v Netherlands |
| 93 | Ghana v USA |
| 116 | Spain v Netherlands |
Qualification Tournament
There were 48 games in the qualifying tournament that produced a total of 101 goals. These goals have been scored in the following quarters of the game:
Note: the FIFA web site uses a basic 0-90 minute running clock for goal times. I have used these times to allocate the goals scored into four quarters of the game (notionally 0-22, 23-45 (end of first half), 46-68, 69-90 (end of second half)). Extra time has two periods
Goals scored in the 48 Qualification Games (team scoring goal named first):
Photo Credit
Gol
Soccer City Stadium
Analysing Performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup
There will be many performance analysis projects that focus on the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. I tracked two performance parameters at this tournament:
- The outcome of scoring the first goal in a game.
- The relationship between FIFA ranking (May 2010) and game outcome.
These are the results:
Team that scores first (game count = 64):
| Wins | Draws | Loses |
| 46 | 8 | 3 |
Note: Game 58 Uruguay v Ghana ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time. It is recorded here as a draw.
Exceptions
0 – 0 Draws
Uruguay v France
Cote d’Ivoire v Portugal
England v Algeria
Paraguay v New Zealand
Portugal v Brazil
Switzerland v Honduras
Paraguay v Japan
Note: the Final between Netherlands and Spain ended in a 0-0 draw at full time. Spain scored the first and only goal in the second half of extra time. It is recorded as a win here.
Team that does not score first wins?
In the 64 games played three teams have scored first and lost. Nigeria scored first in Game 19 of the tournament. Greece won the game 2-1. It is interesting to note that: Greece was higher in the FIFA ranking; Nigeria had a player sent off in the 33rd minute; both of Greece’s goals were scored after the sending off. In Game 26 Cameroon scored first. Denmark won the game 2-1. Denmark was lower in the FIFA rankings than Cameroon. Both the teams to have scored first and lost in the Group Stage of the tournament were from the African continent and were been beaten by European teams. Cameroon was beaten twice by lower ranked teams (Japan and Denmark).
Brazil scored first in Game 57 and lost 1-2 to Netherlands in the quarter final game. Brazil was the higher ranked team.
Results from FIFA Rankings (game count = 64):
| FIFA Ranking | Wins | Draws | Loses |
| Higher Ranking Team | 37 | 14 | 13 |
| Lower Ranking Team | 13 | 14 | 37 |
Note: Game 58 Uruguay v Ghana ended in a 1-1 draw after extra time. It is recorded here as a win for the higher ranked team, Uruguay, as a game outcome after the penalty shoot out.
Exceptions: Higher Ranking Team Loses
Greece (v Korea), Serbia (v Ghana), Cameroon (v Japan), Spain (v Switzerland), France (v Mexico), Germany (v Serbia), Cameroon (v Denmark), France (v South Africa), Serbia (v Australia), Italy (v Slovakia), Denmark (v Japan), USA (v Ghana), Brazil (v Netherlands)
Photo Credits
Players’ Entrance Tunnel
Opening Ceremony
Considering Intellectual Property
This Friday (11 June), the Faculty of Health at the University of Canberra is hosting a mini conference to discuss intellectual property. Leigh Blackall and James Neill are leading the conference organisation and providing rich information about it through Wikiversity.
I am looking forward to facilitating discussion at the conference. There is a fascinating line up of speakers and attendees. I had been thinking about using ScribbleLive but will use Twitter #UCIP for updates. I hope to blog live too but will see! The Wikiversity page will have all the news!
For those who would like to follow a live stream of the event please see this Ustream channel.
If you wish to attend the conference is in University of Canberra (North Access) Building 6, Level B, Room 45 (6B45). Location map.
Photo Credit
Afterwards Tom and Eric weren’t exactly sure at which point during their discussion the elephant had entered the room
Postscript
I was very surprised to see that David Blackwell’s picture did not appear frequently in the Google images (I found it in a Flickr Creative Commons search). There is one link to it deep in the Google search pages. I think it is a great picture and am delighted that it includes this sign.
