Let Me Tell You About My Paladin
Happy Holiday! (Again!)
Today is a special day, folks. It's a holiday. No, not that holiday. It is, according to a special dispatch I received from Stephen Fry's twitter account, National Cricket Day!
No! Dammit. Not the cute bug. The sport.
That's more like it.
I don't exactly know which nation declared this to be National Cricket Day but it's safe to say it's not the US. We've never quite noticed cricket, not even long enough to deride it as sissified and childish (soccer), or tedious and boring (also soccer). Even jai alai gets more attention in the States.
Nevertheless, I like cricket and I'm pinning every single one of you with a metaphorical hard glare: it's time you started paying attention to cricket. It has an impressively geeky pedigree. Cricket figured prominently in numerous Monty Python's Flying Circus sketches. The phrase "Great googly moogly!" used by Frank Zappa and many others may have its origin in cricket. Cricket (or Krikkit) was integral to the plot of Life, the Universe, and Everything by Douglas Adams. Doctor Who (as Peter Davison) played cricket and always dressed like he'd just stepped off the pitch. You're not going to get a geekier endorsement than the Doctor himself! Seriously, people.
Cricket has a history stretching back hundreds of years into the mists of prehistory when titans strode the earth. And the titanest was WG Grace (the face of God in Monty Python and the Holy Grail; more geekery!). After I heard about the holiday from Stephen Fry I sent him a message: "Dear sir, please make a WG Grace biopic with yourself as the man. Thank you. A fan." It's a perfect match! But guess what. He never even replied. He completely ignored me. I thought it was a simple and reasonable request but apparently the great Stephen Fry thinks he's too big and powerful to be bothered to make a movie for me. I can use the IMDb, Steve. I know you've made about a hundred movies so you can stop pretending you're too good for it now. What a pompous ass. Well guess what, Fry? Maybe I'm too big and powerful to be bothered to masturbate to a poster of you anymore. Howzat?*
I seem to have gotten off track but I think my point is still valid. Cricket is a very geeky game and deserves greater attention in the United States. Please join me in celebrating some nation's National Cricket Day and in noticing cricket a little each and every day. Thank you, won't you?
*SJ Fry b Lucero nil.
No! Dammit. Not the cute bug. The sport.
That's more like it.
I don't exactly know which nation declared this to be National Cricket Day but it's safe to say it's not the US. We've never quite noticed cricket, not even long enough to deride it as sissified and childish (soccer), or tedious and boring (also soccer). Even jai alai gets more attention in the States.
Nevertheless, I like cricket and I'm pinning every single one of you with a metaphorical hard glare: it's time you started paying attention to cricket. It has an impressively geeky pedigree. Cricket figured prominently in numerous Monty Python's Flying Circus sketches. The phrase "Great googly moogly!" used by Frank Zappa and many others may have its origin in cricket. Cricket (or Krikkit) was integral to the plot of Life, the Universe, and Everything by Douglas Adams. Doctor Who (as Peter Davison) played cricket and always dressed like he'd just stepped off the pitch. You're not going to get a geekier endorsement than the Doctor himself! Seriously, people.
Cricket has a history stretching back hundreds of years into the mists of prehistory when titans strode the earth. And the titanest was WG Grace (the face of God in Monty Python and the Holy Grail; more geekery!). After I heard about the holiday from Stephen Fry I sent him a message: "Dear sir, please make a WG Grace biopic with yourself as the man. Thank you. A fan." It's a perfect match! But guess what. He never even replied. He completely ignored me. I thought it was a simple and reasonable request but apparently the great Stephen Fry thinks he's too big and powerful to be bothered to make a movie for me. I can use the IMDb, Steve. I know you've made about a hundred movies so you can stop pretending you're too good for it now. What a pompous ass. Well guess what, Fry? Maybe I'm too big and powerful to be bothered to masturbate to a poster of you anymore. Howzat?*
I seem to have gotten off track but I think my point is still valid. Cricket is a very geeky game and deserves greater attention in the United States. Please join me in celebrating some nation's National Cricket Day and in noticing cricket a little each and every day. Thank you, won't you?
*SJ Fry b Lucero nil.
Tags: geekdom, holidays, sports, stephen fry, weird
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Charlie on -
Hey, this means I can break out my cricket bat... without having to apply it liberally to someone.
Awesome!!!
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Permalink Reply by Xose Lucero on -
I don't see that the two are mutually exclusive but we can all celebrate in our own way. :)
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Permalink Reply by Charlie on
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All Hail the Krikkiters!!!
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Permalink Reply by Deidzoeb on
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I used to haunt H2G2.com, an online version of the Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The site was originally created and endorsed by Douglas Adams, then bought by BBC.
They were always trying to write simplified descriptions of Cricket so outsiders could understand it, but I could never get a handle on it. Maybe a video explanation would be helpful. Is there anything like that floating around?
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Permalink Reply by Xose Lucero on
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Those are pretty good! This might not be very helpful but I think cricket is quite simple once you understand it. :) But it's also quite unusual compared to the big three American sports so getting past preconceptions is tough. That second link with its hardcore baseball analogies could help there. I'd suggest reading the second link first then going back to the in-depth first link.
Here's a 4 minute overview called "4 minute overview". The user has quite a few "This is cricket" vids.
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Permalink Reply by Andrew Modro on -
Life, the Universe and Everything was adapted from an unused Doctor Who script, written by Douglas Adams, entitled "Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen". Just FYI.
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Permalink Reply by Sir Golgotha, KEoPS on -
I thought that a large part of the appeal of cricket was its strangeness, convoluted ruleset, and utter confusion from anyone outside of the sport.
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Permalink Reply by Xose Lucero on
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I think you just described RPGs.
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Permalink Reply by Sir Golgotha, KEoPS on
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That wasn't what we were discussing? So, the pictures and video aren't from a Warriors LARP?
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Permalink Reply by Xose Lucero on
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Last night Stephen Fry gave a fun speech at Lord's Cricket Ground in London, the Jerusalem, Mecca, and Disneyland of cricket.
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