Page 42 of Puck Shots
“I think Sam wants to ask for your help with the lacrosse team. You can say yes, if you want to, even if it is for lacrosse,” I whisper.
“Ohh, can I tell Sam you called it lacrosse, instead of butterfly catching?”
“No,” I reply with a wink as we make our way back.
“Hi, guys,” Eli says when we reach them.
“Hi,” they reply, Riley and Gareth scooting out to make room for him to sit. He places the popcorn down instead and remains standing.
“Do you have a pledge task for me?” Eli asks Sam.
“No, nothing like that.”
“Oh, so are you here to watch the films with us? I only got one popcorn, but I can go and grab more.”
Sam shakes his head. “We’re good, we’re sitting with Cherry and her sisters, but we… I wanted to stop over and ask about your program.”
“Oh, okay. I didn’t know anyone knew about that.”
“A few of the hockey guys were talking in the kitchen last night. They said your program is the reason they won, and the reason they think they’ll take it all the way this year. Is that true?”
“I don’t think it’s the reason they won. The players out there are the reason for that, not some computer program.”
“But it helped them, like it helped Flash make his super-speed slap shot, right?”
I fold my arms over my chest.
“You saw that, did you?”
“Cherry wanted to go to the game.”
“Careful, she’ll be looking to upgrade her boyfriend next to a hockey god.”
He scoffs. “Only you would assume all hockey players are gods.”
“Nope, pretty sure everyone assumes that fact,” I say, noticing Eli fidgeting with his fingers. I pass him one of the water bottles, and immediately, he starts picking at the label, but it has the desired effect as his shoulders relax a little. “Your program did help me figure it out though, so go on, tell him how it works.”
Eli blushes a light pink as he continues to pick gently at the label’s edges, and it’s totally adorable.
“Well, I had it perform a biomechanical analysis of footage of Cos, extracting kinematic and dynamic data to model his movement patterns. It then determines selected parameters within the movement profile and conducts forward simulations under varied conditions to estimate the probabilistic impact ofthose modifications on performance outcomes. This facilitates data-driven identification of actionable adjustments to optimize outcome likelihood within task-specific constraints.”
Sam’s eyebrows are pinched in the middle, a fucking hilarious confused look on his face.
“Dumb it down a little, Eli. These guys run around with butterfly nets, remember.” I laugh and sit down and grab the bucket of popcorn, shoveling a handful into my mouth as I watch the exchange. This is the best film ever.
“Okay. Ummm. The program watches how Cos moves, then it makes slight changes to those movements and then tests the changes to see if they help make the moves better or worse. That way we can find the right moves that end up with the best outcome.”
“So your program tells him how to be better?” Sam asks, and Eli shrugs.
“It doesn’t make the moves for him. He deserves all the credit for the shot. It’s basically a computer movement coach.”
“Do you think it would work for other sports?”
“Don’t see why not.”
I grab another handful of popcorn.
“Sam’s trying to figure out how to ask you to help him not suck balls on the lacrosse pitch this year.”
