Tuesday, April 12, 2005

Player Profile #2

Josh 'Pete' Peterson

Position: Forward (3)
Hometown: St. Paul, MN
High School: St. Paul Central
Favorite Sport: Basketball
Favorite Color: Who Cares!
Annoying Attributes: Keeps trying to hook me up with 'Olga' from his Russian class.
Interesting Fact: Obsessed with studying everything Russian..."He even owns a Babushka hat!"
League Background: A relative newcomer who has quickly become a fixture of Friday basketball. Probably our most stylish player, with shiny basketball shoes and a sweet black NBA headband. Likes to talk a little trash(one of our only trash talkers) and tries to get into the head of the shooter. Which sometimes works on the less mentally tough(ahem).
Strength: Plays big for his size..."when you're almost as skinny as me, you're in trouble. Would you just eat a little more and become an inside player, for the love of God!?"
Weakness: Going to Timberwolves games on basketball night..."Missing basketball to watch those losers is just unacceptable."

Grades-
Offense: B
Defense: B-
Rebounding: B
Passing: B+
Hustle: A-
Attitude: B+(too much trash talking)

Overall Grade: B+

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

pretty fair, i'd have to say.

except: the 'trash talking' is designed both to pump up my teammates and more so to inject some humor and laughing into the game (because, i mean really - who could take trash talking from me, a skinny ass guy with no skillz, seriously). so really if anything the trash talking is designed to make the game better. i can't help it if a weaker-minded player/blog writer lets me into his head and allows me to completely take over his game mentally, and his mental weakness should not adversely affect the attitude rating...

Anonymous said...

Only a "B" for offense? I think that's a little underrated; a "B+" is more accurate. C'mon--there's not many of us that can score as consistently as Josh. And only a "B+" for attitude? Has Josh ever said a discouraging word? I think not. And his mild "trash-talking" is quaintly amusing, what Wally might've said to the Beaver while playing HORSE.

I shudder to think what I'll get for offense and attitude under this grading system.

fats durston said...

agreed w/bunyan about that low offense grade. he's got a go-to move down low.

i suspect my O is gonna be even lower than bunyan's....

Anonymous said...

thanks for the props, as the kids are calling them these days. as far as my go-to move down low, it always helps when i've got multiple inches and/or pounds on my defender (butler, andy).

and if you are who i think you are bunyan, your sheer domination in the paint should be worth some high marks for the offense grade.

and fats: your sometimes circus-looking but undeniably effective and unstoppable scoop-type shots and your quick-release, deceptively strong elbow jumper should likewise provide you with a solid offense grade.

but then again i don't make the grades (unless its andy's profile...)

MarxistGopher said...

It seems like everyone is in agreement that I'm being too hard on people. :(
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to leave hurt feelings in my wake...

To justify my B grade for Pete I guess I can only say that I didn't think he deserved an A because his scoring is inconsistant. Damn, I did it again...
Sorry :(

Anonymous said...

no hurt feelings here - i don't think you were too hard on either of us. i mean sure, probably a valid argument could be easily made that a higher offensive grade is more appropriate...but at the same time, the inconsistency knock is 100% valid.

better too hard than not hard enough. these profiles would be worthless if there wasn't a little criticism laced in. i don't want to see them turning into some safe, sycophantic hug fest that stays away from true constructive criticism. so don't go getting soft on all the rest just because of a few complaints early on. to be a sucessful blog profiler, you must remain focused and objective without bowing to the pressure of ruined friendships.

(just wait til you see the C+ you're getting in your profile).

MarxistGopher said...

What's the deal with all this grade inflation anyway? Since when is a 'B' a bad grade? It's still above average. If I really thought someone was bad at something I'd give them a 'C-' or a 'D.' I actually thought I was giving everyone too many 'Bs.' You know, Pete is right. I have to be tough but fair...very tough in fact.

Anonymous said...

couldn't agree more. a 'B' is still a very good grade. keep in mind 'C' is average...

Anonymous said...

I did not mean to suggest that Josh should've received an "A" overall. On the contrary, if he had I would've been forced to argue that MarxistGopher had been too generous. There're only two players who should get "A"s. We know who they are.

I was merely splitting hairs, as academics are prone to do, over Josh's grade for Offense and, to a lesser extent, Attitude. I think MaerxistGopher's overall grade of "B+" is spot on.

Anonymous said...

What's with the lame nicknames? You need something that fits your personality. Let me try to help with this one. Judging by the photo and your game (you decide if this is a rip) I'd say an appropriate nickname would be "sleepy".

My apologies to Eric Floyd

Anonymous said...

the nicknames are andy's handiwork - i've never been called pete before, nor am i called pete now by anyone other andy...

i'd happily take sleepy if i wasn't deathly afraid of retribution from eric floyd.

Jay said...

Now a rant about supposed grade inflation. I have had three conversations this week with students who recieved a B or a B+ on their exams wanting to know what they did "wrong," so I'm pretty sure the perception that a few B-s and an overall grade of a B is viewed as a weak grade by today's student body.

That said, I have not played much with sleepy but must agree that the grade on offense is low. I would, if I had to make the final decision, have some trouble deciding on a B+ or an A- for Josh, but a B :chill goes up back as he imagines his own offensive grade:.

Despite my disagreements with some of the grading, this is great. Keep up the good work, Andy. I'm watching for the next Player Profile on my Home Page!

Anonymous said...

Yeah Pete! Go Pete for congress! Basketball congress!

Pete (or Hosnu, as I call him) is the only one of my roommates who can recite worthless basketball trivia and worthless Cold War trivia with ease and confidence.

Anonymous said...

Only played with him once. Clearly loves the game and the corniness that comes along with playing with these jokers. Zone D on a tiny court. It's crowded dammit! If it's not plainly obvious who I am, my constant bitching about the zone D really gives it away. At any rate, Josh's game is well rounded but not flashy. A hook shot helps his O and his defense was probably not on display when I was there as he was outweighed in the post by at least 40 pounds most of the night. He could develop a post game if he traded diets with me.

MarxistGopher said...

Perfect assessment Maadison. You summed up exactly how I would describe 'Petes' game after only playing with him once. Kudos!

Anonymous said...

Ah Josh, my most recent frequent combatant. If I could steal one part of your game it would be that beautiful hook. I will say that your deceptive strength is probably more of a curse in our group because it keeps you off of the drive, where I feel you're better.

And here are the ratings:

Offense A-
Defense B
Rebounding B-
Hustle B
Attitude B
Ball-handling B+
Passing B+
Stamina A-
Decision Making A-
Shooting B+

Overall: B+

(damn those grades look just like my college transcript)

Anonymous said...

josh's photo captures him lost in thought - like he's dreaming. he is dreamy. i think he is handsome. he has some hands too - two hands. with skinny josh i would like to mosh. j-o-s-h!