If English physicist Isaac Newton were alive today, surely he would see the Marble League as the greatest possible tribute to his work. No other competition, on YouTube or other, inferior channels, succeeds at capturing the essence of his three laws of motion, which serve as the foundation for classical mechanics. The Marble League even has an event centred around his namesake cradle, which is exactly what we’re watching today.
Precision is the name of the game here.1Contrary to what Greg Woods claims. He calls it a “strength” event. The closer the striker gets to the centre of the first ball in the Newton’s cradle,2By which I mean the centre of the half-surface visible to the striker as she approaches the cradle, you insufferable pedant. the more kinetic energy it will transfer to the skipper. The skipper’s job is to stay the course and not waste energy leaping up or shimmying from side to side.
For much of the event, Team Galactic’s score of 106.55 cm looks unbeatable. But then the last four competitors come on the scene, each blazing past the 100 cm mark. The O’rangers even manage to nab the top spot with a score of 107.55 cm, pushing Team Galactic down into the silver medal position. The Raspberry Racers take bronze with a score of 105.10 cm.
Stray thoughts:
- With that, the O’rangers take the top spot in the overall standings, pushing the Minty Maniacs down into second place. It’s only a 1-point lead, though, so it’s extremely vulnerable.
- What’s with Mellow Yellow? They’re doing extremely poorly this year, ending all the way down in last place in this event and staying at last overall in the standings.
- The Green Ducks and Balls of Chaos continue to tumble down the standings, having yet again failed to secure a medal.
Next up: Long Jump! See you on July 12th.
Complete stats for Marble League 2020 can be found at the Jelle’s Marble Runs Wiki.