genius metaphor of the week.

this morning on espn radio i heard a metaphor i thought was fabulous.

the dude who usually hosts the particular hour's programming was out, to be with his wife for the birth of their second baby. the guest host was talking about having kids in general, and he was saying that the birth of a second kid can be extra scary b/c you 'have to go from a zone to a man-to-man.' this is hilarious, and prolly right on the money.

for the non-'sports people' out there, a zone defense is a strategy--and it can be applied to most team sports, i suppose, but it is most associated with basketball and football--wherein each defender is responsible for guarding an area of the court or field, as opposed to guarding a specific player. and of course, a man-to-man d is where each defender is responsible for guarding a specific offensive player.

so with the zone defense, there is an inherent diffusion of responsibility among the defenders--similar to two parents who have only one kid. but with man-to-man, each defender is directly accountable for an opposing player--similar to having two kids: one per parent. to summarize, in a zone you can sometimes let your guard down, while in a man-to-man, you never can. and thusly it is the same as going from one kid to two.

this is a genius metaphor, trust me.

of course, if i ever have kids im gonna go with a 'box-and-1.'

ALSO, FINALLY, LET THE RECORD REFLECT THAT THIS IS THE FIRST PERFECT DAY (OR AT LEAST PERFECT FRIDAY) OF 2006. THE AIR OUTSIDE REALLY IS PERFECT. ("so you're saying today is perfect?" seriously, can i buy a synonym?) IT'S JUST COOLER THAN IT IS INSIDE--IT'S IDEAL. SADLY, IT IS SUPPOSED TO RAIN LATER.