[judasmartel]

Spoiler for Special 01 - The Balance Between Realistic and Interesting In Sports Stories:

As You Know, not a lot of people are really into Sports Stories, presumably because if I want to "experience the feeling" first-hand, I might as well watch real games instead of reading stories about these.

Also, sports story tropes such as Ragtag Bunch of Misfits, Down to the Last Play and Miracle Rally have been abused to hell and back that people go all "Seen It a Million Times". It may seem like Strictly Formula is the only way to present a sports story, especially those based in real life (see The Mighty Macs), but of course it isn't.

However, the problem with the alternative is that I find over-the-top Super Moves (like in Prince of Tennis and Kuroko No Basuke) a cheap way to make a sports story interesting. But as somebody pointed out, they are a big deal to people who are not really into that particular sport.

But this story element rears its ugly head when somebody who happens to know that particular sport (whether by watching games on TV or by playing the sport itself) reads it and finds it not realistic enough so s/he drops it. Of course, I recognize that some people who do play the sport are capable of forgiving these deviations from reality because it's fiction, and it's not even supposed to resemble reality at all.

As stated above, "If I want to know more about the sport, I don't need to read any sports story, I would rather watch actual games or play the sport itself." But what really annoyed me is the mentality above combined with, "Make the moves physics-defying or I won't read it."

But what actually makes sports stories sell IMO is inspiration. Most if not all sports stories are written to inspire readers to win the game of Real Life, overcome their own differences and unite with people from different backgrounds and characteristics for a common cause.

The only compromise I could think of so far is to make the moves realistic, but give the characters Charles Atlas Superpowers. That means, the moves may seem impossible to do, but it actually is possible, but it requires physical abilities comparable to that of a real life professional athlete.

But before you say, "Oh, KnB did just that!", take for example Kuroko's misdirection and Midorima's full court shot. Kuroko's passes are at the level of an NBA point guard, but it's not really physically possible to literally disappear in front of everyone in the court as advertised in the show.

A possible explanation is that opposing players tend to ignore him because he's not a real threat on offense. Out of sight, out of mind. Then Kuroko cuts through the defense by suddenly appearing behind them when they least expect it.

So while it's not physically possible to literally disappear in thin air, it IS possible to disappear by making everyone not focus on you. Again, out of sight, out of mind. It could be defeated by focusing solely on that player, so "misdirection" could not work. Of course, that could still leave some other holes on the defense, but it's better than being sneaked at from behind.

In the real game, Robert Horry is well known for making clutch shots without anyone but the Genre Savvy expecting it. During the final seconds of a playoff game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Sacramento Kings, the other players were so absorbed into getting the ball that it landed in his hand just in time for him to make the game-winning shot when they least expect it.

Midorima's full court shot... well, not even NBA players could do that! When NBA players do full court shots, they throw it like a baseball instead of shooting it like a regular jump shot! Although, it IS possible for NBA players to make shots from way outside the three-point line like a regular jump shot, just not shots from outside the half-court line.

So that ends my discourse. I would like to know what do you think about the balance between making games realistic enough for readers who know the sport and making them interesting for readers who don't.