I am currently too tired to write a dissertation on the importance of sports in society (Go NL! (~crying)) However, perhaps sports really should decide everything (as someone suggested about the recent Olympics and the war and their original purpose when Athens played Sparta) instead of everyone wasting their time to stop at the voting booth. Apparently since the inception of the Washington Redskins in 1936 (aka since they moved from Boston), their performance in their last home game before a presidential election has predicted the incumbent party's fortune - 17 straight times. As the author points out, if you look hard enough in a set of data one is bound to find a pattern (such as no MLB team ever coming back from 3 down in a best of 7, grrrrrrr), but if one truly believes these events are independent and not factoring in how good the Redskins usually are versus how often an incumbent gets re-elected, the odds of this occurring any given time is 1 to 1. Thus the odds of this occurring 17 straight times is 1 in 131072 - not amazing, but exceptional. The last home game for the Redskins before the election this year is on Halloween against the Packers, so root accordingly.
Posted by boo at October 21, 2004 03:42 PM | TrackBackWhat happens if they tie? This is what I hope happens, because I don't particularly want either candidate to win and I definitely don't want the Pack to lose.
Posted by: Mr. Sparkle at October 21, 2004 03:47 PM