Play and Narrative

Gonzalo Frasca writes that "The only place where play and narrative can coexist is on the PLAY button of your VCR."

This is nicely put, and the point is well taken, but it's not quite right. (The post is dated 3:15 AM). Play and narrative coexist all the time.

Can foreplay be foreplay without narrative? I don't think so. And it's more fun with play...

The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day; the score was four to two, with but one inning more to play. And when Cooney died at first, ...

Tosca once told me of a live role playing game in the streets of Barcelona. A player, seeing another gamer, shouted, "I'm going to kill you!" The opponent, surprised, headed swiftly away from the scene, pursued by Tosca, pursued by the constabulary who took a surprising interest in the affair. Everyone ran into a local establishment, where...

The artist, always a canny player, had a pair of eights and an ace showing, and when the lawyer opened his ladies with a quarter, she raised without blinking. So, naturally, I saw them both with my flush, and then ....

Have I ever told you about the time when, terrified of a brutal gym coach, I lost my shoe in the midst of a mile race and continued to run in one shoe and one sock, resulting in mass hilarity and...

The miracle of Coogan's Bluff. Ruth's shot. Merkle's boner. Havlicek stole the ball. The Immaculate Reception. Kerri Strug.

Stories are everywhere. Play is everywhere. Everything is deeply intertwingled.