Group B 10/14

What stuck out to me most in the David Foster Wallace readings was actually in the footnotes of "The String Theory."  In class we discussed Agassi's vision and how it is one in a billion; how he is able to see the court in a way that defies the real world.  We talked about shape of the tennis court, which appears rectangular to the average human, but to great athletes such as Agassi, the court becomes distorted and they see it in a way that makes the game look easy.

As I dove deeper into this topic, I looked over the footnotes, which mentioned Larry Bird, immediately catching my eye.  It referenced Bird with regards to a similar vision that he possesses, one that enables him to make "those surgical passes to people nobody else could even see were open."  This stood out for two reasons.  The first being that I am a huge Celtics fan so any reference to Bird will stick out.  The second, however, was the mention of passing with regards to basketball.  As a basketball player myself and, more specifically, a guard, I pride myself on making difficult passes and finding teammates for easy baskets.  So I found it interesting how David Foster Wallace compared Agassi's vision to someone who I idolize in Bird.  The connection shows how all great athletes, no matter the sport, can see the playing field in a way that normal people cannot, separating themselves from the rest of the pack.

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 14, 2018 at 10:31 PM

    I'm not sure how you took the description of how the average tennis players sees the court as compared to Agassi, but without a tennis background I did not understand it fully. However, thinking about it in reference to other sports such as Larry Bird's "surgical" passes makes it easier. With a water polo background, this helped me to compare Agassi to a spectacular player I played with in high school. The way he played the game and made it look easy with precision accuracy is my similar experience to Wallace's Agassi and your Bird. While we do idolize and almost revere today's top athletes, they do have skills unmatched by any other class of people. They are the equivalent of the top doctors, bankers, innovators, etc.

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  2. Alison LillaOctober 15, 2018 at 7:19 PM

    I didn't notice the Bird reference until you mentioned it. It was interesting how Wallace really focused on the intellectual side of sports like making those difficult plays. It relates to the idea that basketball and other sports are about more than shot accuracy, speed, and strength. It takes the ability to make intelligent, split second decisions, like warriors have to make.

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