When Fuzzy Math Goes All Wrong
by KevinHD on Dec 29, 2008 10:06 AM EST
in Football
Email
PrintI made the enormous mistake of leaving the sound on during the halftime break of the Independence Bowl*.
Isn't that ridiculous?
To try and understand what in the world May is getting at, here is a list of schools who have not "gone to a BCS bowl and won" since Penn State did it:
Air Force, Akron, Alabama, Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Arkansas State, Army, Auburn, Ball State, Baylor, Boston College, Bowling Green, Buffalo, BYU, California, Central Michigan, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado, Colorado State, Connecticut, Duke, Eastern Michigan, ECU, FIU , Florida Atlantic , Florida State, Fresno State, Georgia Tech, Hawaiʻi, Houston, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, Kent State, Kentucky, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Marshall, Maryland, Memphis, Miami, Miami University, Michigan, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, Navy, NC State, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New Mexico State, North Carolina, North Texas , Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Oregon State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rice, Rutgers, San Diego State, San Jose State, SMU, South Carolina, South Florida, Southern Miss, Stanford, Syracuse, TCU, Temple, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech , Toledo, Troy, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, UCF, UCLA, UNLV, Utah, Utah State, UTEP, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington, Washington State, Western Michigan, Wisconsin, Wyoming.
For the record that's 111 schools, or 93% of all schools who play Division I-a FBS.
The clip above is from a halftime segment devoted entirely to the 2009 Rose Bowl, and no one even bothered to look up (or, like, remember) when Penn State's last BCS appearance was. May's trump card is that it hasn't happened in six years (not exactly an eternity, and not exactly true), Lou is completely helpless to even understand the argument on account of being batshit crazy, and Rece Davis...well, poor Rece Davis. He's trying to host a television show and has been tricked into babysitting.
*Yes, a bigger mistake was probably watching the Independence Bowl, but it was a long trip back home and sitting on the couch was about as productive an activity as I could muster last night.
42 comments
|
1 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Ow ow ow ow ow...
How has Rece Davis not suffered an aneurysm yet? I think my head would have caved in with all this “logic and reasoning” being thrown around that studio.
(Also, does Rece’s bonus depend on the number of diapers he has to change on set?)
Wow, I didn't think anyone would actually look at the list.
I guess I didn’t think much about it, although I suppose it makes sense to take it out.
Kevin @ Black Shoe Diaries
it makes sense in some weird way
in that psu has not won a BCS bowl game since it last won a BCS bowl game
thinking about that makes my brain go “ouwie”.
http://glassesofjoe.blogspot.com/
What a moron
Sorry Mark, the last time PSU won a BCS Bowl was just three years ago, all the way back when Joe Pa was at the spry young age of 79. He’s just upset because the last time his beloved Pitt won a BCS bowl (or at least one of the Bowls that is now considered a BCS bowl) was way back in 1982 at the Sugar Bowl.
I was cursing at the tv
May was in rare form last night – making snide remarks about uniforms, etc.
What the heck does it matter how many times past teams have gone to and/or won past games – credit to Holtz for the “timesth 8” comment.
I was left wondering “why 8”? Normally when you are being generic you say "timesth 10". Lou knows something we don’t.
Kevin @ Black Shoe Diaries
what we don't know
we will be converting to an octal system, and discarding the traditional decimal system. just to confuse the unwashed masses.
but hey, the BCS will make just as much sense.
http://glassesofjoe.blogspot.com/
Poor Rece, indeed.
--
Mr. Bob Dobalina
by Run Up The Score on Dec 29, 2008 11:14 AM EST reply actions
you know
Rece makes bonehead remarks/moves himself – last season he outwardly laughed at Herbie when he said that PSU was the team to beat – Rece was correct – but it doesn’t change the fact that he highlights his hair.
Rece
Yes, Rece is pretty bad too. I was watching these three idiots after the games on Saturday, and May smugly mentioned the transitive property of USC-OSU 35-3, PSU-OSU 13-6 = USC much better. Of course, Holtz could/should have countered with Oregon State, but did not. Rece replied that if they were doing the stupid final verdict or whatever the hell that asinine segment is called, May would have scored a point. Absurd. I am too busy lazy to find the video, but someone should. May’s smugness is something to behold.
by Nittany Lawyer on Dec 29, 2008 3:22 PM EST up reply actions
May
Should just come out and say he hates Penn State. I mean hiding behind false statements and confusing commentarty does him no good. Of course, I have grown tired of ESPN in general and their so-called “journalism.”
"Red, it took me sixteen years to get here. You play me, and I'll give ya the best I got."
AHHH
Mark May is a total douche. How he ever got to the “prestigious position” at “the world leader of sports” is beyond me, errr not. i guess they’ll let any alzheimered old man on tv… Lou… Lee…
by PSUgavemeAnAlcoholproblem on Dec 29, 2008 11:36 AM EST reply actions
Mark May = idiot
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. It’s just so frustrating that he doesn’t even try to hide his hate for Penn State. Nothing like unbiased reporting. Unlike May, I’ve always thought Todd Blackledge does a pretty good job of NOT talking up Penn State, even when he’s calling their game.
History does not matter in football. The only thing that matters is the current season, the current game. The “sports experts” can say all they want about previous performance, but it’s just silly words to fill air time.
Um...
Where’s the dude that talks in the ear of those people and corrects them? Do they just pull out the little earphone? Or is it just that it’s so RARE for ESPN to hire anyone from PSU that know one actually knows the answer?
Did they bother to correct that later?
heh, the earphone.
I’m sure they gave up trying to correct Mark May and Lou Holtz years ago. For one, Lou would probably talk back to it and forget he’s on tv, and I’m sure the battery in May’s would wear out 5 minutes into the show if they corrected him on all his asinine statements about things that don’t matter.
May
I’m not sure what this guy contributes beyond forced humor, arrogance and a parroting of whatever is the conventional wisdom of the day.
Can’t even get his facts right. This is your job, Mark. Seems like you’d bother to do at least some research when you make a statement like this.
That's the frustrating thing.
It seems that his job has nothing to do with “facts” or even “knowledge”. It seems like they pay him to be dumb and controversial, just to have some opinion no matter what it is. It’s frustrating because they still call him an expert and they still ask him questions of significance as if he is capable of a well-thought-out response even though they HAVE to know as well as we do he’s going to say something dumb.
It was a WHOLE SEGMENT ON THESE TWO TEAMS! Just know SOMETHING about one of them!
It seems like they pay him to be dumb and controversial, just to have some opinion no matter what it is
Skip Bayless anyone?
I support Takimoto in his effort to support Roger Kieschnick in his quest to becoming the best Kieschnick ever to play professional baseball.
by The VD Special on Dec 29, 2008 9:57 PM EST up reply actions
he should lose his job...
somone should right ot ESPN about this guy… he’s been doing things like this all year… he makes ESPN look stupid…
A little love from the Papa Johns Bowl
Announcers just said we can win, that JoePa has the team “worked into a lather”
Honestly...
It has been a long time since I have laughed that hard at a post. My co-workers must think I’m nuts.
You just have to take the talking heads at ESPN at entertainment value. So dumb it’s just funny!
Too bad that some people actually listen to these idiots.
update
tonight may said that psu will not score more than 10 points on the best defense in the nation.
discuss
http://glassesofjoe.blogspot.com/
Maybe PSU won't
Maybe they’ll only score 13 points. But does anyone remember how not good USC’s offense is, despite what the numbers suggest
I support Takimoto in his effort to support Roger Kieschnick in his quest to becoming the best Kieschnick ever to play professional baseball.
by The VD Special on Dec 29, 2008 9:59 PM EST up reply actions
ESPN
The events of the last year, from their blatant bashing of all things PSU in the OTL piece to this Mark May mularkey, has made me change my morning routine before work. I no longer watch Sportscenter during my morning coffee. The only time I tune into that channel is when there is an actual game on, and even then, I switch away at half time to avoid such windowlickers as May.
And I’m increasingly getting my sports information from blogs to circumvent their website. I’m going to continue doing all of this until that channel unf*cks themselves, if ever. Their sports journalism is lazy at best, and at worst its blatantly in-your-face wrong like this.
Luring recruits with my new "Posting HD" scheme since '08.
BSD is the only place you need to go!
All the PSU info, “…sounds hot” lines, and Zug worship you could ever want.
ESPN
This actually happened to me about a year ago. I used to check the website four or five times a day, now it’s more like once every two or three days. Any breaking news on teams I follow it covered best by local radio and sports blogs, meaning I either get it in my reader or as a text from a friend.
In fact, if it wasn’t for their play-by-play and box scores I might not ever go to that site unless I really was looking to kill time. Even this is changing now, cfbstats is a great site and statsheet is constantly improving and offers a lot more detail when you can figure it out.
(If you have a better site for me that isn’t CBS, I’d love to hear about it).
Kevin @ Black Shoe Diaries
Same here.
The only thing that keep me going there is the Adam Ritterberg blog. It’s compelling, and with literally hundreds of journalists and opinion-makers at ESPN there have to be some that take their job seriously. His blog is what brought me here. Otherwise, I get most of my stuff from cnnsi.com. It’s not perfect, but they are journalists first and talking heads second. They do a much better job of putting rumours and unsourced information away from their main news page than ESPN.
ESPN is unapologetic when they stir the pot and it explodes in their face. Do you remember any mea culpa’s when Texas defeated USC after a week of spots to determine if USC was the greatest team of all time? The whole series to me felt completely disrespectful to the University of Texas and poor journalism when the game had not even been played. To me: it means they don’t wish to learn from their mistakes, and would rather voice opinions for the sake of increasing ratings than preserve their integrity. Why do you think Mark May does what he does?
1) because Penn State has a huge legion of jumpy fans, fertile ground for controversy and the great ratings that follow it. The Lions are ripe territory. So are the Longhorns.
2) because no one in upper management will reprimand him if he spouts misinformation, even worse – I don’t think most notice
It’s an incredibly cynical standard – one which I do not wish to waste my time on any more. I look for sports as something to get away from, something inherently unserious, positive, and aspirational. Whether Penn State wins or loses won’t affect my pocketbook, but it makes me feel good and a part of an large, strange, fun community who’s only common traits are a love of football and a knowledge of how long a walk it is to East Halls. At some point, ESPN went from the business of sports to the business of making money. It’s a subtle change – every corporation has to expand and make money – but the net effect is that I just imagine ESPN as a horrible place to work filled with gray suits rather than the dream job I imagined it would be when I was 10 years old.
If you want to complain to ESPN
Send an email to ESPN’s ombudsman, who is their in-house auditor. They pay her to watch the channel and critique their coverage, and respond to viewer concerns.
This is the link:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?id=2826900
She does a pretty good job, and sometimes you can tell their coverage changes to respond to what she repeatedly complains about.
ESPN's Ombudschick
certainly sounds hot.
'People are about as happy as they decide they want to be'
by Pete the Streak on Dec 30, 2008 7:00 AM EST up reply actions
never missing a beat.... I love you guys
I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member
by TheMightyErik on Dec 31, 2008 3:14 AM EST up reply actions
I have the guts to say it:
The only reason Mark May is where he’s at is because of his color.
Period.
You can’t be that fucking stupid and biased and get away with it otherwise.
Coach Holtz
Coach Holtz is one of the last defenders of Penn State out there, he’s a great man, and way smarter than any college football analyst. Lay off him!
May and Holtz
With all due respect, ANYONE who listens to May and Holtz are the crazy ones.
May and Holtz are payed to be “shock media” personalities. While it may be a low life way to make a living…….they are making a living.
Just don’t watch!!!!!!!!!!!!
Harder than it sounds.
They are almost exclusively an in-game or halftime bit, and when you consider 95% of the bowl games and 75% of PSU games are on ESPN, you have to very actively guard yourself from the WWL sneaking them into your TV.
Kevin @ Black Shoe Diaries
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recommended FanPosts
Recent FanPosts
SHOP THE BLACK SHOE DIARIES STORE
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
