The NYTimes.com PLAY sports magazine recent put out two great examples of flash video seamlessly blended with information and motion graphics. These examples aren’t flashy or gratuitous, which is befitting the NYTimes; the magazine is primarily an information source, not a source for entertainment. Instead of superlatives, the examples use just the bare minimum of colors, graphic form, motion, and verbiage to communicate some very complex concepts in a generally usable manner.

The first example explains the body mechanics of Ana Ivanovic, the current #2 women’s tennis player.

The second example is a simple video voting mechanism that provides a smooth blending between two competing arguments for and against the statement that Tiger Woods is tops athlete ever.