RIO DE JANEIRO -- When Merrill Moses first started playing for U.S. water polo, the team manager would pack a TV and VCR for overseas tournaments, and players would watch VHS tapes of their games. Tony Azevedo remembers waiting and waiting for the play he wanted to see.On the eve of the United States opener at the Rio de Janeiro Games, Moses can scout an opponents tendencies on his phone. Azevedo can watch every one of his shots for the last week. Water polo, one of the smallest sports in the Olympic program, has come a long way.Its time management, said Moses, a three-time Olympian who turns 39 on Aug. 13. Were definitely using our time more wisely and preparing in a much better way.When world champion Serbia takes on Hungary in the first mens game on Saturday, followed by the U.S. and defending Olympic champion Croatia, there will be no need for any introductions. Coaches are sharing more video than before, helped by the ease of technology, and USA Water Polo sends a staffer to major championships for video work -- even when the U.S. isnt participating in the competition.The increase in accessible scouting information puts water polo in line with some of the worlds biggest sports, where video libraries have been more commonplace for a longer time. But Azevedo, playing in his fifth Olympics -- a record for the U.S. program -- thinks there is plenty of room to grow.I think the more and more we start to understand our sport and people start investing more technology into our sport, then well actually be able to take it to a whole new level, Azevedo said Friday. I think its just started happening as water polo started growing in the United States and really outside of Europe.The use of underwater cameras also has added another level to water polo scouting. Some major competitions like the Olympics show the thrashing and wrestling that goes on below the surface, giving coaches a closer look at how players are fighting for leverage in key areas of the pool.The 34-year-old Azevedo said the additional information helps in a variety of ways.I mean weve used it, of course, against opponents, saying 90 percent of this guys main shots or his goals are high left, he said. Weve even used it against ourselves, where you take a guy and say `Hey, you shoot 90 percent of your shots here. You need to start learning how to shoot, you know, cross cage or a lob or something else because people are going to catch on. So its really made both sides better.Shooting tendencies could take on even more importance in Rio. Following group play, tie games go straight to a shootout after regulation. Think penalty kicks in soccer.Whether its Moses or his backup, 6-foot-8 McQuin Baron, in goal for the tiebreaker, each of them can take a closer look on where shooters like to go in those situations.For Moses, an assistant coach at Pepperdine who takes a lot of pride in his preparation, the abundance of information presents a different challenge.Theres a fine line where you dont want to, Id say, overthink things, he said. A shooter has his tendencies. I watch it to pick that up, but you also got to understand that hes not always going to do that. When I was younger, I used to go `Oh, hes always shooting there, and now, I kind of know the tendencies, but Im still reading the situation.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Allen Iverson Grizzlies Jersey . Dusautoir, the former World Player of the Year, sustained a torn bicep playing for Toulouse in the Heineken Cup on Saturday. The flanker, who has played 65 times for France, is expected to be out for up to four months. Lorenzen Wright Jersey . Michell Burger, a woman who lives on an estate next to Pistorius gated community, said she and her husband were awoken by the screams in the pre-dawn hours of Feb. 14 last year, when Pistorius killed Reeva Steenkamp by shooting four times through a door in his bathroom. http://www.grizzliesbasketballpro.info/Kyle-Anderson-Grizzlies-Jersey/ . -- An ugly goal by Nick Bonino helped the Anaheim Ducks overcome the defensive-minded Phoenix Coyotes on a night when their ragged power play continued to struggle. Dillon Brooks Jersey . -- Jonathan Drouin gave Halifax the boost it needed to edge host Sherbrooke Phoenix 3-2 in a shootout in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Bryant Reeves Jersey .Y. -- Marcell Dareus and the Buffalo Bills defence made life miserable for Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. Cricket has a way of winning a childs heart. It certainly captured mine. I remember the simple pleasure of feeling bat on ball, the thrill of the paintless cork compo speeding from the sweet spot as I slogged, cross-batted, to square leg - long before I understood the purpose and method (and beauty) of playing straight. I remember the thrill of watching as that ball, bowled with the flick of a supple juvenile wrist, turned the wrong way. Did I really do that?The love grew. I could not get enough of cricket on radio and TV and in the newspapers. I was drawn to the great cricketers of the early 1970s, amazed by their skill, their power, their grace. I copied them: the cobra wrist of DK Lillee, the back-and-across of IM Chappell.I learnt the games elements, its idiosyncrasies, the things that make it cricket. I was captivated by peculiarities like that most remarkable document, the scorebook, and learnt to make sense of the digits and dots and tallies that go here and there as a way of keeping account of an innings and a match. I observed the scorers sense of duty, the reverence for accuracy. I came to understand the place of the HB pencil and eraser in cricket.I discovered cricket history. The local library had a heavy green book (I think it was it compiled by Jack Pollard) that had the scorecard of every Test ever played. I was intrigued: scorecards with the names of legendary players making runs and taking wickets. For each new Test series I bought the ABC Cricket Book, a must-have for any Australian cricket enthusiast. Apart from articles and player profiles, it contained statistics and blank scorecards that I could fill in myself. The book was full of records. Alphabetical lists of cricketers with their careers represented in innings and averages and fifties and hundreds. And tables highlighting Most Wickets and Hat-Tricks and Record partnerships - MCG and Scores of over 250 runs in the fourth innings.I discovered an old yellow(ish) Wisden in a library. I could not fathom the level of genius required to come up with a publication like this. The greatest book ever compiled! And there is a new one every year. I started to read about cricket - in newspapers, in magazines and, later, in books. My father had quite a few cricket books from his youth so I delved into The Ashes Crown the Year, the story of the 1953 Ashes by Jack Fingleton, who my father said was a very good cricketer himself.I noticed that in many publications it was the tradition to include all of a players initials in the scorecard. IM Chappell. GS Chappell. DK Lillee. In some cases that meant more than two initials. MHN Walker might have been known as Tangles but his name was Maxwell Henry Norman. I liked that.The first series I remember in considerable detail is the 1974-75 Ashes. England had three players with three initials. There was KWR Fletcher (Keith William Robert) and APE Knott (Alan Phillip Eric). RGD Willis, I later learnt, had added Dylan to Robert George because he so loved the music and lyrics of Bob Dylan.And so my appreciation of the multi-initialled cricketer was born. I discovered that the much-loved Queensland and Australian wicketkeeper Wally Grout was in fact ATW Grout (Arthur Theodore Wallace). One of his predecessors was WAS Oldfield (William Albert Stanley), known, of course, as Bert.Once hooked on the history of cricket I continued to find exotically named players. The presence of any honorific was also noteworthy. I liked a good Lord (Harris, Hawke or Tennyson), and an Honourable - as in IFW Bligh (the Honourable Ivo Francis Walter), 8th Earl of Danley. There were Doctors, as in the most famous, Dr WG Grace (William Gilbert) and Dr HJH Tup Scott (Henry James Herbert), who captained Australia in 1886 but turned to medicine after eight Tests. There was even a Reverend - as in DS Sheppard (David Stuart), who played 22 Tests for England, and later became Bishop of Liverpool - and was given the title of Baron.I liked the Nawab of Pataudi. Finding a senior and junior was a bonus. Nawab of Pataudi Sr played Tests for both England and India. His son captained India in 40 of the 46 he played in the 60s and early 70s. I stumbled across Yuvraj of Patiala also known as Sir Yadvinder Singh Mahendra Bahadur, a right-handed batsman who played one Test for India in 1934.There have been players with multiple initials from the outset. In the very first Test between Australia and England, at the MCG in 1877, Australian opening batsman NFD Thomson (Nathaniel Frampton Davis) did not offer much support to the sparingly named C Bannerman (Charles), making just 1, but he is famous for being the first batsman dismissed in Test cricket. Englands HRJ Charlwood (Henry Rupert James) was more successful in that match, compiling 36 batting at first wicket down.While impressed by three initials, I soon uncovered cricketers with four! And one I had known only as Stork. HSTL Hendry (Hunter Scott Thomas Laurie) was a fine batting allrounder for Australia in the 1920s, so nicknamed because he was 6 feet 2 inches tall. England have had a couple of four-initialled players as well. VPFA Royle (Vernon Peter Fanshawe Archer) toured Australia in 1878-79. He played in the only Test and was bowled by FR The Demon Spofforth (Frederick Robert) for 3 in the first innings and then caught by him for 18 in the second. It was his only Test. Later ordained as a minister, he became Rev VPFA Royle, which would look good in the scorebook of any parish side.There was also a famous English captain with four initials. JWHT Douglas (John William Henry Tyler) played 23 Tests between 1911 and 1925, and was skipper in 18 of them. From an amateur boxing family, Douglas won the middleweight title at the London Olympics in 1908, (some say, unkindly, because his father was the referee) defeating legendary Australian sportsman RL Snowy Baker (Reginald Leslie). This didnt serve JWHT well. Like many an English captain he was not too popular among Australians - who named him Johnny Wont Hit Today.dddddddddddd JWHTs younger brother was named more conventionally. CH Douglas (Cecil Herbert) played 21 games for Essex but was better known as Pickles Douglas in boxing circles.LRPL Taylor (Luteru Ross Poutoa Lote) led New Zealand in 14 Tests. He is of Samoan heritage and has been called both Ross and Luteru at different times in his cricketing life. Early in his career he would have played first-class cricket against allrounder CZ Harris (Chris Zinzan). CZs father PGZ Harris (Parke Gerald Zinzan) was known as Zin and played in nine Tests as a middle-order batsman. There was also ZV Brooke (Zinzan Valentine), who played 58 rugby Tests for the All Blacks. Zinzan seems to be a uniquely Kiwi name - probably modified from Italian or Albanian, as some online sources have it.South Africa has had at least one four-initialled player. NHCD Theunissen (Nicolaas Hendrik Christiaan de Jong) was picked for his only Test after an excellent performance for Western Province against the visiting Englishmen during the southern summer of 1888-89. The Proteas most famous three-initialled cricketer - HGO Owen-Smith (Harold Geoffrey Owen) - enjoyed the added benefits of a nickname: Tuppy. He won a Rhodes Scholarship and studied medicine at Oxford, where he was a very good cricketer and an outstanding rugby player. Although his studies and his professional life created some interruptions, such was his athleticism that he played five Tests for South Africa and won a reputation as one of the finest fieldsmen cricket has ever seen. He later became Dr. HGO Tuppy Owen-Smith.Across the border, colonial Zimbabwe is reflected in ADR Campbell (Alistair Douglas Ross) who played 60 Tests, and the new Zimbabwe in TMK Mawoyo (Tinotenda Mbiri Kanayi) who has played nine.West Indian cricketers often have memorable names. In one team: IVA Richards (Isaac Vivian Alexander), AME Roberts (Anderson Montgomery Everton) and CEH Croft (Colin Everton Hunte). Soon after, there was PJL Dujon (Peter Jeffrey Leroy), WKM Benjamin (Winston Keithroy Matthew) and CEL Ambrose (Curtly Elconn Lynwall). They also have two representatives with four initials: EDAS McMorris (Easton Dudley Ashton St John) and SFAF Bacchus (Sheik Faoud Ahamul Fasiel). Bacchus, undoubtedly the only four-initialled batsman to be dismissed hit-wicket for 250 in Kanpur, went on to captain the United States cricket team. Then there is the McLean family from St Vincent that includes fast-medium bowler Nixon Alexei McNamara McLean and his siblings Kissinger McLean, Reagan McLean and Golda Meir McLean (none of whom played first-class cricket).Pakistani names generally dont suit initials and tend not to appear that way in the scorebook. No self-respecting scorer would fill in I Khan. He is Imran Khan, from whichever era. Some players go into the scorebook as a single name. Alimuddin played 25 Tests. His brothers Salimuddin and Azimuddin were also first-class cricketers.The Indian naming convention sometimes includes ones ancestral village. Like the first V in VVS Laxman, which stands for Vangipurapu, or the M in ML Jaisimha, a reference to Motganhalli. Many fans referred to them as VVS and MLJ, turning the initials into nicknames. The same wasnt true for EAS Prasanna (Erapalli Anantharao Srinivas), though, who was known fondly as Pras, and BS Chandrasekhar (Bhagwath Subramanya), who was called Chandra. GAHM Parkar (Ghulam Ahmed Hasan Mohammed) played fewer Tests than he had initials, playing just one match in 1982.When the Sri Lankans joined the fray my appreciation went to a new level. Four initials is nothing special for them. Five is getting up there. Not only did I enjoy Chaminda Vaas left-arm inswingers I loved his name: WPUJC Vaas (Warnakulasuriya Patabendige Ushantha Joseph Chaminda). Six takes the prize. UWMBCA Welegedara (Uda Walawwe Mahim Bandaralage Chanaka Asanga) has played 21 Tests as a left-arm quick. Its a pity ARRAPWRRKB Amunugama (Amunugama Rajapakse Rajakaruna Abeykoon Panditha Wasalamudiyanse Ralahamilage Rajitha Krishantha Bandara Amunugama) was unable to persuade the national selectors to pick him despite playing 102 first-class matches.With so much cricket telecast these days, I often notice the multi-initialled cricketer. Recently I saw SCG MacGill (Stuart Charles Glyndwr) as an analyst on TV. He is, perhaps, the most appropriately initialled cricketer ever, given the success he had at the Sydney Cricket Ground. I think he was commenting on SPD Smiths (Steven Peter Devereux) team in Sri Lanka. The visiting Australians could not handle the guile of HMRKB Herath (Herath Mudiyanselage Rangana Keerthi Bandara). When I played lower-grades cricket for the University of Queensland, we would sometimes use the full initials, as we did with the Benson Street CC, a social side that hasnt had the recognition it deserves. PJ Keightley (Paul Joseph), RJ Tobiano (Richard John), PC Martin (Peter Colin), RJ Goldsworthy (Richard John), JRA Murphy (Justin Robert Anthony) and IS Lamb (Ian Stuart) will be delighted to be mentioned in the same article as IVA Richards and IM Chappell. But my favourite is the Australian cricket writer whose name is entered in the South Yarra CC scorebook - somewhere in the middle order - as GCJD Haigh (Gideon Clifford Jeffrey Davidson).I am the father of young children - TC Harms (Theodore Christopher), AM Harms (Anna Matilda), EG Harms (Evie Grace) - who are just starting to appreciate cricket. The tennis ball in a stocking hangs off a lower branch of the birch tree in the backyard. I look forward to them discovering the joy of the scorecard and the beauty of the time-honoured practice of including full initials.It is a tradition that should be preserved. ' ' '