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Rapid Fire
Basically a blog where I try to do philosophy outside.
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Quantity as Quality?
I need to take a break from proofreading my dissertation (I’m turning it in today to defend this summer!) to write something else. So...
May 10, 2024


Sports as Politics?
If politics were more like sports, would that be an unmitigated disaster? Or could the comparison be helpful, in at least some ways? We...
Feb 9, 2024


Group Agents
See if any of these sentences strike you as weird: The Thunder won last night. The Thunder believed they were better than the white-hot...
Jan 19, 2024


Talent and Fit
At a really (really) high level, performance is a function of what you bring to the table (we’ll call that talent), and and how you can...
Jan 12, 2024


3 things I learned Writing the Rules
Next month, I’m giving a talk at the University of Kentucky Esports Lounge (yes, really) about rethinking the place of rules in the...
Dec 15, 2023


Wanna playtest the SlamBall Card Game?
What kind of philosopher of games and sports would I be if I didn’t try to make a card game about SlamBall? Anyway if you want to help me...
Nov 3, 2023


Someone could get it Wrong
I had a really interesting conversation about art criticism this week. So here we go: What does it mean to be great at jazz? Look, I know...
Oct 13, 2023


Quantitative and Qualitative Values
I’ve been working hard to get clear on the differences between quantitative and qualitative values lately. Here’s an example: If I want...
Oct 6, 2023


MVP mini-manifesto
I’m always fascinated by Most Valuable Player awards because I think they’re a great encapsulation of how we think about value in sports...
Sep 29, 2023


Game Values vs. Real-Life Values
My friend Kjell and I noticed there just aren’t enough podcasts, so we decided to help. Our first episode takes an early look at some of...
Sep 8, 2023


SlamBall and the Skill Explosion
Darius Clark, 25, is a highly decorated long jumper who holds the Guinness World Record for the highest vertical leap with a running...
Jul 21, 2023


I had to write a research statement about what I’m working on. Here’s my first draft.
Let me know what you think! I'm still figuring out how to summarize my research program and instill confidence I’ll be a “productive”...
Jun 30, 2023


Efficient and Effective
Just a quick dive into a useful distinction, because these aren’t the same: Effectiveness is all about outcomes. (You know, effects.)...
Jun 16, 2023


Being a Coach
I don’t love talk of ‘smart’ or ‘high IQ’ basketball. I got to coach a youth basketball team recently, and it was awesome. For a lot of...
May 26, 2023


Robert Horry and Value Capture
You already know what value capture is if you’ve encountered NBA Ring Culture. You know your cousin who says Michael Jeffrey Jordan is...
May 19, 2023


Writing with ChatGPT
Let's talk about games. Do you know the difference between purposes and goals? The goal of a game is the target we aim at during the...
Mar 31, 2023


This one's not really about chess
There are 255,168 possible games of tic-tac-toe and they’re all boring. If both sides play perfectly, tic-tac-toe is a draw. And playing...
Mar 17, 2023


The All-Star Game is Bullshit
that is the worst basketball game ever played...a tough game to sit through, I'm not gonna lie. —Western All-Star Coach Mike Malone In...
Feb 24, 2023


Watching LeBron Live
LeBron is a few games away from passing Kareem's all-time scoring record, and it matters to a lot of people that they watch it happen...
Feb 3, 2023
Thank God Steph Curry Won Finals MVP
The yearly charade of selecting a Finals MVP is finally behind us and thank God Steph Curry finally won.. It's the one legacy-defining...
Jun 17, 2022
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