Friday, September 23, 2011

Coaching The Pitcher

No matter how lonely it feels staring at your three or four cards, surrounded by a few of your friends who had no other plans for the evening, and some other people who were talked into joining you with a promise of free PBR ... remember that Kardball is a social game, and more importantly it's a team game.

Pointing and Nodding

Ever since Man stood erect and walked on two feet, pointing and nodding have been our most basic means of communication.  After 10,000 years, it still helps you get directions to a public rest room near a Turkish railway station.

To suggest what card your pitcher should play, point at that particular card and nod. If you are the pitcher, point at the card you think your teammates are pointing at and nod, as if to ask "is this the card you want me to play?"

Grunting

To ask his defensive teammates what card to play, a pitcher can point at a card and grunt with a rising tone, as if to ask "should I play this card?" To respond, a fielder can grunt "UH-uh" to mean "no" or "uh-HUH" to mean yes. A longer grunt with rising and falling tone means "I don't know."

If the pitcher plays a card that the team likes, all team members can grunt like apes or snort like pit bulls.

Communication: Key to Victory

In Kardball, two or three heads (one per person of course) are better than one. Create a kollective konsciousness for your team by using signals.  Pro tip: scent signals have been tried, and they do not work.

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