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Post by Phaedrus on Jan 25, 2019 22:25:30 GMT -5
AS one of the old fogeys on VT, I remember, through the haze of age and having survived my undergraduate year, the sometimes brilliant, almost always entertaining, mode of communications that many use to disguise the job openings and hiring. The main reason for doing this is to prevent the news from spreading to the campuses before the teams find out that one of their coaches is leaving or who the new coach is. I think that is reasonable because until the i's and dotted and t's crossed, there is always a chance that a hire can go south. So usually, we wait until the official announcement from one of the schools: the one gaining a coach or the one losing a coach, Over time, the denizens of VT made this Deception and Obfuscation into an artful game, a means of entertaining ourselves as we make out way through the hard slog of the off season. It seems, however, that we are losing this history through attrition and our inability to pass this tradition on because the newer members aren't fully educated in this practice and what distinguishes a great hint versus just an OK one. So here are some things that I do remember from the past. I don't remember everything so I decided to make this its own thread rather than crowd the 2018-2019 Jobs Thread. - References to mascots and geographic regions are usually de rigueur.
- Obscure is good, indirect reference is great. Instead of say a Razorback, say a porcine beast, for example. This broadens the number of mascots that could be on the list and it sends people to a wild excursion into Google.
- Historical and cultural references are great. Which brings us to:
- Obscure hints are generally good, but being too obscure is bad, because people tend to get really ticked if you send them on too many wild goose chases. The limit is really dependent on the person. Although many smart people on this forum will appreciate your effort.
- Poetry, haikus and other formats are appreciated.
- Reference to the history of the person in question is good, but you are also assuming that everyone knows their personal history; with well known coaches, that is fine, but for a relative new coach, not so much.
- If you want to make reference to the 30 under 30 award, do so in a tongue in cheek manner, people like to make fun of the award.
- Reference previous volleyball stories are always good. Reference to "That ball was in!" fisticuffs or "Smoke 'em if you got 'em" or "the coach's pole dancing wife" kinds of comments are always good.
- Statler and Waldorf reference and dialog are always welcomed.
- Song lyrics and movie or TV dialog are fantastic references, although anything too recent will fall on deaf ears.
- Graphic and video clues have not been seen but that would make things interesting.
- Clues that leads to perspicacious and erudite conversations between many people are very much appreciated.
- Efforts that seem to be to forced or if the author is trying too hard should be called out in the usual VT manner and improved.
- Clues that are way too obvious should be similarly called out.
- Bottom line is, the hints need to be smart, fluent, and entertaining.
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Post by Brutus Buckeye on Jan 25, 2019 22:50:35 GMT -5
Makes sense.
I usually just scan for the straight forward posts. And periodically throw a little shade at Mark Rosen.
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Post by Wolfgang on Jan 26, 2019 0:22:17 GMT -5
If only I had inside info so that I too could deceive and obfuscate.
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Post by tomclen on Jan 26, 2019 0:39:30 GMT -5
Oh, what a wicked web we weave.....
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Post by ned3vball on Jan 26, 2019 6:59:32 GMT -5
Ifway iway everway avehay anyway objay ewsnay iway illway ytray andway oday atthay
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Post by sevb on Jan 26, 2019 9:48:58 GMT -5
What if the song comes with a video...
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Post by Wolfgang on Jan 26, 2019 16:50:41 GMT -5
Let's just all agree to use a book cipher to encode our messages. I suggest Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (by Mark Twain), the Norton Critical Edition, 2nd edition, beginning on p.70 where it reads, "It was a monstrous big river here,..."
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Post by notwvb on Jan 26, 2019 17:06:08 GMT -5
Let's just all agree to use a book cipher to encode our messages. I suggest Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (by Mark Twain), the Norton Critical Edition, 2nd edition, beginning on p.70 where it reads, "It was a monstrous big river here,..." Great idea, but that book is on the banned list. They came in hard and fast and took mine two years ago. Maybe a page from Problems from Kant. |
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Post by azvolleydad on Jan 26, 2019 19:01:18 GMT -5
Let's just all agree to use a book cipher to encode our messages. I suggest Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (by Mark Twain), the Norton Critical Edition, 2nd edition, beginning on p.70 where it reads, "It was a monstrous big river here,..." Great idea, but that book is on the banned list. They came in hard and fast and took mine two years ago. Maybe a page from Problems from Kant. Isn't Emmanuel Kant a real piss ant? |
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Post by Phaedrus on Jan 26, 2019 22:06:41 GMT -5
Great idea, but that book is on the banned list. They came in hard and fast and took mine two years ago. Maybe a page from Problems from Kant. Isn't Emmanuel Kant a real piss ant? Nietzsche is worse. |
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Post by azvolleydad on Jan 27, 2019 13:08:41 GMT -5
Isn't Emmanuel Kant a real piss ant? Nietzsche is worse. |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2019 13:21:31 GMT -5
Let's just all agree to use a book cipher to encode our messages. I suggest Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (by Mark Twain), the Norton Critical Edition, 2nd edition, beginning on p.70 where it reads, "It was a monstrous big river here,..." BeSureToDrinkYourOvaltine |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2019 15:16:01 GMT -5
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Post by 1221pch on Jan 28, 2019 20:32:52 GMT -5
AS one of the old fogeys on VT, I remember, through the haze of age and having survived my undergraduate year, the sometimes brilliant, almost always entertaining, mode of communications that many use to disguise the job openings and hiring. The main reason for doing this is to prevent the news from spreading to the campuses before the teams find out that one of their coaches is leaving or who the new coach is. I think that is reasonable because until the i's and dotted and t's crossed, there is always a chance that a hire can go south. So usually, we wait until the official announcement from one of the schools: the one gaining a coach or the one losing a coach, Over time, the denizens of VT made this Deception and Obfuscation into an artful game, a means of entertaining ourselves as we make out way through the hard slog of the off season. It seems, however, that we are losing this history through attrition and our inability to pass this tradition on because the newer members aren't fully educated in this practice and what distinguishes a great hint versus just an OK one. So here are some things that I do remember from the past. I don't remember everything so I decided to make this its own thread rather than crowd the 2018-2019 Jobs Thread. - References to mascots and geographic regions are usually de rigueur.
- Obscure is good, indirect reference is great. Instead of say a Razorback, say a porcine beast, for example. This broadens the number of mascots that could be on the list and it sends people to a wild excursion into Google.
- Historical and cultural references are great. Which brings us to:
- Obscure hints are generally good, but being too obscure is bad, because people tend to get really ticked if you send them on too many wild goose chases. The limit is really dependent on the person. Although many smart people on this forum will appreciate your effort.
- Poetry, haikus and other formats are appreciated.
- Reference to the history of the person in question is good, but you are also assuming that everyone knows their personal history; with well known coaches, that is fine, but for a relative new coach, not so much.
- If you want to make reference to the 30 under 30 award, do so in a tongue in cheek manner, people like to make fun of the award.
- Reference previous volleyball stories are always good. Reference to "That ball was in!" fisticuffs or "Smoke 'em if you got 'em" or "the coach's pole dancing wife" kinds of comments are always good.
- Statler and Waldorf reference and dialog are always welcomed.
- Song lyrics and movie or TV dialog are fantastic references, although anything too recent will fall on deaf ears.
- Graphic and video clues have not been seen but that would make things interesting.
- Clues that leads to perspicacious and erudite conversations between many people are very much appreciated.
- Efforts that seem to be to forced or if the author is trying too hard should be called out in the usual VT manner and improved.
- Clues that are way too obvious should be similarly called out.
- Bottom line is, the hints need to be smart, fluent, and entertaining.
You seem to be very practiced at the art of deception. |
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