Play-By-Play Commentary

Sheep to the Slaughter

Inman took his time with this one, but it shows. His best shot yet.

Looks like he printed out, crumpled, and photographed copies of Cornell's #7. I love the disdain of treating the previous shot as trash in the background.

There's a great sense of sinister anticipation from the text and the imagery of the wolves. It builds on the previous shot both visually and thematically, looks great on its own, and it feels like a setup for something yet to come. Great shot.

I sometimes question whether tennis is the best metaphor for this game. There are aspects that resemble boxing, chess, and, perhaps more than anything, Calvinball. What it is that constitutes a winning shot is up to the player's own creativity.

The grid-like columns feel like a response -- and a successful one -- to the challenge of Cornell's mockery of Inman's design style in #7. Makes me think #7 was a mistake on Cornell's part. It was a good shot in and of itself, but it didn't put Inman on the defensive the way Cornell's early shots did.

Play by play commentary for this match is provided, as it happens, by John Gruber.

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