{"id":1346,"date":"2020-09-22T10:05:21","date_gmt":"2020-09-22T14:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/?p=1346"},"modified":"2020-12-04T09:40:39","modified_gmt":"2020-12-04T14:40:39","slug":"jelles-marble-runs-the-newest-virus-free-sport","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/2020\/09\/22\/jelles-marble-runs-the-newest-virus-free-sport\/","title":{"rendered":"Jelle’s Marble Runs: the newest virus-free sport"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Roberto Lachner<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

To read the full interview with Jelle’s Marble production members, click here<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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   Over the past summer, the favored pass times of many people all over the globe temporarily faded away because of (like many other things) the Coronavirus. Athletes and team staff didn\u2019t want to risk becoming infected, and there were no plans in place for how to play safely. But one sporting event carried on this summer like always, where the athletes could not become infected: the Marble League. The Marble League, hosted by the YouTube channel Jelle\u2019s Marble Runs, is an Olympic style event where \u201cathletes\u201d compete in events such as the five-meter sprint, the funnel endurance, biathlon, and high jump, using only gravity and sheer \u201cskill\u201d. The twist is that the competitors are actually the marbles themselves, not any humans controlling them. This sport has blown up and received millions of views on YouTube, even being featured on ESPN, (trying to fill the void of endless talking) and with the creators having been interviewed by the New York Times<\/em>, CNN<\/em>, BBC, <\/em>the AP,<\/em> and many more. They even received a sponsorship worth tens of thousands of dollars from John Oliver\u2019s Last Week Tonight.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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   <\/em>The main allure of the sport is just how pure it is. There\u2019s no doping, no cheating, and no toxic fans. In an interview with the Tiburon<\/em>, Callum Charman, a member of the Jelle\u2019s Marble Runs Committee (or JMRC), backs this up by saying that \u201c\u2026of course there\u2019s a factor of luck in every marble race- and that\u2019s the beauty of it- there\u2019s never one team that\u2019s entirely expected to dominate.\u201d When a new event airs and fans sit down in front of their TVs to watch, they know that no matter how small the odds may seem, their team will always have a fighting chance at claiming gold. The teams are all based off of the appearance of the marbles themselves, such as the solid orange ones being dubbed the O\u2019rangers<\/em> and light green ones with brown stripes holding the name of Minty Maniacs<\/em>. The design team for JMR- Jelle’s Marble Runs- has done an excellent job designing smooth circular logos for each team, and even posters depicting the teams in their home environments. This tags along well with just how professional each and every event is built, produced, and edited. Another member of the JMRC, Trevor Sayre, opined on the subject, saying, \u201cI think what we might all agree on is the production quality- there\u2019s just a lot of detail that we put in- we care a lot about, be it backstory: if you\u2019re gonna get into a marble, well, you might as well also  have all this fantasy concept around it with names and teams and where they came from and sort of just keeping it separate from reality- making it its own reality…\u201d There\u2019s engaging commentary on all events, spectator stands are set around the arena with fans holding signs, and graphics and editing look even more professional than on sports viewed by millions on television.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think what we might all agree on is the production quality- there\u2019s just a lot of detail that we put in- we care a lot about…”<\/p>Trevor sayre a.k.a spex<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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   But what really makes the Marble league so fun to watch is the sheer intensity that goes into every round. Each event is only around fifteen minutes long, meaning that all stakes are compressed into an extremely short time frame, causing the excitement to blast through the roof as you cross your fingers for your favorite team to win, whether that means crossing the finish line first or teetering at the top of the funnel without falling into the end. Even Charman, a member of production, still feels the thrill- \u201cI\u2019m still absolutely invested in how things turn out… often we know the results well in advance but that doesn\u2019t change the magic of when the video comes out- and everyone reacting to it- the same way that you did…\u201d That, along with the community of like-minded high intensity fans, makes for a viewing experience which some may consider even more enticing than that of traditional sports. Matt Hurford, a Junior at Ponte Vedra High School and a fan of the Midnight Wisps,<\/em> says that in marble racing, \u201cYou and your fellow fans will laugh together, cry together, win or lose together.\u201d And although some may see it as just a whole bunch of marbles going down a ramp, others chose to see it as a bright spot that came of the pandemic, a rare event that brings people together all around the globe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want to read the full interview with JMRC members Trevor Sayre, Callum Charman, and also Matthew Spadaccini, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

   I sat down with three members of the Jelle\u2019s Marble Runs Committee (or JMRC<\/strong>) to see get an inside look into how videos are made, how the worldwide community interacts, and just overall why things roll the way they do. They each go by their own pseudonyms when working together: Trevor Sayre goes by Spex<\/strong>, Matthew Spadaccini<\/strong> goes by Stynth<\/strong>, and Callum Charman goes by Ghost<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   What is Spex\u2019s role in making JMR videos?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

   Spex- \u201cI help… a lot with some of the data gathering… we\u2019ll review the video for any details, any issues, we\u2019ll do timing and scoring.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   \u201cAnd also event review- so is this a good event idea? what are the problems that could happen? If something does happen- a marble goes off the course- how do we write the story around that? Because it’s really important to us that we only run the event once, and we just accept the results as they are so it\u2019s fair, but we also have to come up with creative stories around why the marble messed up so poorly or why the track didn\u2019t work out, it just happens, so we roll with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   He also does Graphics, score tables, and M1 (Marbula 1) track maps \u201cit\u2019s very much a team effort; there\u2019s a lot of people involved to make those graphics work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   JMRC- all events are filmed in the Netherlands, but people all over the world work remotely on it. \u201cNone of the JMRC are paid- none of them do it full time- but it consumes a lot of our time and weekends…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Ghost- \u201cwe all have our own specializations within the team… we all contribute to the main things such as checking events…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   How were you approached to join the JMRC?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

   Stynth- \u201cthe process differed for us really…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Ghost- \u201cI got invited from [Mellacus] seeing my contributions in the marblebase discord. So, I did lap position charts for each race for M1, and I guess some people were impressed by those. And then I just was a friendly and mature face in the community I guess, and those were some of the qualities that Mel wanted I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Basically, JMRC members are approached by contributing in the community such as the subreddit, marble sports blogs, or discord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   What is Stynth\u2019s role in JMR?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

   Stynth- \u201cI would say it\u2019s really towards the lore and building the official JMR cannon…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   The JMR universe is filled with details about each and every team, such as their history, where they\u2019re from, rivalries with other teams, and also why certain malfunctions in events occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Why do so many people gravitate to JMR rather than other marble racing channels?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

   Spex- \u201cOh man… I think what we might all agree on is the production quality- there\u2019s just a lot of detail that we put in- we care a lot about, be it backstory, if you\u2019re gonna get into a marble, well, you might as well also  have all this fantasy concept around it with names and teams and where they came from and sort of just keeping it separate from reality- making it its own reality…\u201d \u201cwe try to stay out of the clickbaity youtubey drama stuff- we try to focus on just having fun with the marbles… listening to the different fans and the different fan groups and trying to involve them in whatever ways make sense- there\u2019s sort of an inclusivity to it that matters to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Stynth- \u201cThe commentary- Greg Woods is phenomenal… I almost feel like we don\u2019t deserve the amount of attention and dedication he gives to the channel and the sport itself.\u201d \u201cWe do treat it as if it is an actual sport… to keep up the integrity of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Do you still see yourself as a fan, or does working on JMR reduce the excitement you gain from the videos?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

   Ghost \u201cI\u2019m still absolutely invested in how things turn out… often we know the results well in advance but that doesn\u2019t change the magic of when the video comes out- and everyone reacting to it- the same way that you did…\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Stynth- \u201cI define myself as like a fan first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Favorite team?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

   Ghost- \u201cabsolutely- it\u2019s got to be Wisps…\u201d \u201cwe all have our favorites.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Spex \u201cthere\u2019s a side to the fans as well beyond just what people might see- it\u2019s easy to see all the fans in Europe and all the fans in America, but there are also huge fan bases that most people aren\u2019t aware of, like china are massive snowballs fans and massive hazers fans.\u201d they don\u2019t host on YouTube because its banned but instead they host on Bilibili with their own system- millions of views and comments.  \u201cIt\u2019s great to see just these wide group of fans and getting into these single teams… I\u2019m a big hazers fan.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stynth- \u201cI\u2019ve grown to appreciate all the teams from writing lore from them and creating their own stories- all of them except for the savage speeders.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Why do some teams, like the Savage Speeders <\/em>and the O\u2019rangers<\/em> consistently do so much better than others?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

   Ghost \u201cat this point I think some of the teams\u2019 performance is beyond coincidence- of course there\u2019s a factor of luck in every marble race- and that\u2019s the beauty of it- there\u2019s never one team that\u2019s entirely expected to dominate… It\u2019s got to have something with the marbles themselves- no one is really sure what and I\u2019m sure no one really wants to be sure what because it would kind of ruin the magic in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Spex- \u201cmost of them have come out of the same factories… and yet somehow they\u2019re just on top- and you know are they more dense; are they more round, who knows? I try to not care too much about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   The logos are a lot of people\u2019s favorite part of the JMR; are there any changes coming to them in the future?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

   Spex- \u201cthat was a cool thing that someone on reddit started posting those animated logos- there\u2019s no guarantees on it, but I would like to see more motion graphics like that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Stynth \u201cI hope [the logos] are here to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Ghost- \u201cwe\u2019ve discussed some minor things like adding a star or a crown to teams that have won the marble league on to their logos but other than that… the longer they\u2019re here for the more they become part of the identity for the team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   What upcoming events or competitions are you most excited for?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

   Ghost- \u201cIn general I\u2019m just excited to watch all of JMR\u2019s content… there\u2019s so much effort put into it on Jelle\u2019s end to make it just as entertaining as everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Stynth- \u201cI\u2019m excited to see… the potentials of what [M1] season two could possibly be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Spex- \u201cIt is Marble league that got me into JMR first… [but] Marbula 1 is something that I feel is so accessible- and there\u2019s a lot of improvement over season one, which I actually see as a positive… something that\u2019s gonna get better and better over time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Finally, what is your single favorite aspect of JMR?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

   Spex- \u201cfor me it\u2019s just the positive inclusive community<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Stynth \u201cit\u2019s the community… I love the community<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   Ghost \u201cI don\u2019t really have anything to add… all being said.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Roberto Lachner To read the full interview with Jelle’s Marble production members, click here    Over the past summer, the favored pass times of many people all over the globe temporarily faded away because of (like many other things)…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1352,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pgc_meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/marbleracing.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1346"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1346"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1448,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1346\/revisions\/1448"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pvhstiburon.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}