The Metagame

Runners on first and second, two down, bottom of the eighth, 2-2 count. Home team trails by two runs.

Pitcher winds and fires and the ball misses the outside of the plate by a half inch, ball three.

The full count means that the runner on first is breaking with the pitch, which is a slider tagged into right field splitting the gap and rolling all the way to the wall, the runner on first scores, the game is tied, but only because of ball three. Put that first pitch in the zone and, assuming the batter swings and has the same result that runner on first is still standing on third base, and the home team still trails by one.

Metagaming is pretty much my favorite... thing. Of anything. The ability to break something down and allow for the normal rules to be made into just a foundation is invigorating to me. It's what makes baseball so wonderful. It's also the primary reason I enjoy poker, why I flirted with Magic: The Gathering before the hobby got too expensive (and nerdy.) Discovering the metagame in anything is like adding your topping of choice to ice cream, or perhaps more aptly, sipping a microbrew for the first time. Only once you realize that there's an entire level, above, and several times bigger than than the one you already enjoyed can you truly experience the thing you claim you love. It's self actualization on a much more specific level.

The problem with metagaming is twofold. First, an almost incompatibility with anyone on any subject when one person is on one side of the metagaming threshold and the second person resides on the other, especially with sports. I am loathe to tell anyone I enjoy sports until I have discovered if they are aware of the bigger concepts of the games. I don't want to hear half baked arguments on the merits of a player filled with un random clichés, nor do I want to project myself as a jock meathead to someone who couldn't identify the Cover 2 or understand the implications of the NFL salary cap.

Second, the realization that a metagame exists in almost anything worth investing your time in. Even if it's not a game, or a sport, knowing that you're not going to make it to that second level is frustrating, and occasionally removes ones (or at least my) ability to enjoy certain things when I know I'm missing out on a lot. I've missed entire genres of music because of this, and it's the biggest reason why I ignore the NBA.