Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2007 May 24

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May 24

help

am looiking for a famous couple.the couple marriedd and didnt live together.when they did the guy had grown big toe nails and beards.the clues i have is that its found under wikipedia and its a very famous couple back in the days.

The man sounds like Howard Hughes. Our article says he was married three times, the second and third wives were both actresses - Terry Moore and Jean Peters, so it could be either of those. --Richardrj ^{talk email} 08:03, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

damn u guys are fast.i think thats the answer.thanks alot.

Game identification

Sorry to pollute the RD with such a frivolous question, but this has been nagging at me for a while now - I'm trying to remember the name of a PC game I played years ago. It was a sort of role-playing game, in which you were a freelance "worker", and you travelled between a load of underwater cities/empires in your submarine, and they gave you missions/tasks. As you did missions for one city, the other ones liked you less, since there was a bit of rivalry between them. It was sort of a sci-fi/fantasy setting. Anyone have any idea what it was called? Thanks, Icthyos 12:30, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Except for the underwater part, it sounds a lot like Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters. One of the races (the Slylandro) lives on a gas giant planet, which looks similar to being underwater. Travisl 15:37, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

No idea but if you're looking for a game similar to it, Ambrosia Software's Escape Velocity would probably fit the bill. Dismas|^(talk) 15:39, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Found it! :D It's a game called Sub Culture - now to see if I can track down a copy... Icthyos 17:35, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Dave Grohl

What drumkit did he play? And did he use double bass pedals on any songs or albums?

I need song lyrics!

Does anybody know the artist Dizzy X? He wrote an album called "Tales From the Iron Pillow". I need lyrics to the song "SupaSaturation (radio version)". If anyone can help me out, that would be greatly appreciated.

Ash "Gotta Catch Em' All" Ketchum 16:43, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

try here [1], hope ya catch em all, :) Perry-mankster 14:44, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

No, that can't be right. It said it was one of their "failed searches". Any other ideas?

Ash "Gotta Catch Em' All" Ketchum 16:37, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

shane mcmahon

MY friend said she read somewhere on here that shane mcmahon of the WWE recently separated from his wife..did anyone read that and if so where Ladyrubi 18:04, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

Someone added that suggestion to a prior version of our article on Shane McMahon, (see here). However, since it was not verified by a reliable unsource, it was removed according to our policy on the biography of living people. Rockpocket 02:05, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Shaq and his free throws

How can a professional (and star-considered) NBA player have such an abysmal percentage of free throws? I'm pretty sure I would do better than his 50% and I have never played even amateur basketball, just tried some extremely rare games. --Taraborn 19:02, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

He's not the only one. Wilt Chamberlain was worse (51.1% vs 53.1%) and Bill Russell was not much better (56.1%). Clarityfiend 20:11, 24 May 2007 (UTC)

To answer your question. Because he's not very good at throwing? 213.48.15.234 08:22, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

One explanation is that, like so many things in sports, shooting free throws is a skill, and requires practice to master. Given a limited number of hours in which to practice a variety of skills, many players - particularly "big men" - seem to opt not to master free throws. Carom 12:24, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Some other things to consider (which may or may not support my contention above): O'Neal is 8th all time in points per game (25.9), tied 2nd all time in field goal percentage (58.0%), 12th all time in total points (25,454) 13th all time in blocks per game (2.48) and 21st all time in rebounds per game (11.6). I think it might be reasonable to suggest that the time spent mastering these other aspects of the game left him little opportunity to also master the art of free throws. Carom 18:34, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

The distance of a free-throw is what, 15 feet from the basket? That's quite far to me. I think it's definitely a skill that isn't as easy to master as you say (though perhaps you are naturally good at it). Much like penalties in football (soccer) perhaps it isn't the 'technique' that is the only issue, but that pressure plays a major role too? I suspect Shaq out plays good free-throwers in other areas of his game, so it's a case of one's strength is another's weakness. ny156uk 17:01, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

I highly doubt that it is because he just didn't practice free throws enough. Even early in his career it was a common tactic to send him to the free throw line instead of letting him take a shot, so he would know how important it is. He's even worked with free throw specialist coaches to improve that part of his game but it doesn't appear to have helped much. Maybe he's too strong and it messes him up. I can't think of any great rebounders that were also good ft shooters. Recury 18:54, 25 May 2007 (UTC)

Well, some rebounders were at least average free throw shooters - take a look at the top rebounders listed here. Of the top ten all-time rebounders, Bob Pettit, Jerry Lucas, Dave Cowens, Elgin Baylor and George Mikan all shot better than 70% from the line (and all except Petit shot 78% or better). And to be fair, O'Neal hasn't always been truly abysmal - he shot over 60% in three seasons, including 65% in 2001-2002. Carom 19:20, 25 May 2007 (UTC)