Re: My Prediction

1

No. That takes decades and decades to develop.


Posted by: Mr. B | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 8:29 PM
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what the Dickens?

"Divide the lively turtles in the bills of mortality, by the number of gentlefolks able to buy 'em."

A tricky division problem, one thinks. High-level maths. But worry not about that, because the answer is given.

"and whose share does he take but his own!"

Fair enough, fair enough. How the gentlefolk's share is derived, preceisely, one need not worry overmuch about. You won't need to know that till next semester.

What concerns me is what the hell is a "lively turtle in the bill of mortality"?

(from Dickns "The Chimes", as if that would be helpful)


Posted by: Michael | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 8:34 PM
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3

more on-topic, what sport are you talking about? This could be useful to me, as it was inquired of me earlier today if I would be watching "the game". Is it still football season?

The Australian Open begins monday. That's what's important.


Posted by: Michael | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 8:36 PM
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So, given that Philly fans are notorious for booing their own players at the drop of a hat, why the rest of the world doesn't already consider them annoying is pretty much beyond me.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 8:37 PM
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5

what sport are you talking about?

Synchronized underwater embroidery.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 8:41 PM
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6

Why would the rest of the world find that annoying?


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 8:43 PM
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7

Football sucks.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 8:44 PM
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8

Actually, I rather like Philadelphia boobirds.


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 8:48 PM
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9

8: fair point.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 8:50 PM
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10

I'm curious as to how JRoth's cow heart adventures turned out.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 8:51 PM
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11
While we don't talk sports here

What's that, now?

3: more on-topic, what sport are you talking about? This could be useful to me, as it was inquired of me earlier today if I would be watching "the game". Is it still football season?

How embarrassing, as I had a conversation similar to this recently. Actually I just remarked that I heard there was a big game coming up, wasn't clear what it was, knew it wasn't the World Series, must be football? I thought the Ravens were involved and doing well in this, so that's football, then I asked: so the Super Bowl is coming up?

I can't tell you how hard it is to ask these questions knowing that people won't take it well.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 8:57 PM
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12

No.


Posted by: Cala | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:00 PM
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13

actually, until this thread, i was assuming it was basketball season. but vague memory suggests that "eagles" and steelers" are football franchises.


Posted by: Michael | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:01 PM
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14

Remember the good old days when the Unfogged front page was used to prattle on about niche sports that one one cared about, much to the annoyance of the regulars? I'm still available to tennis-blog.


Posted by: Michael | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:07 PM
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Just as soon as the new 43-Man Squamish season starts, I'm ready.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:17 PM
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16

Eagles and the Steelers ? If the question was asked by Will Shortz and Kevin Bacon, the answer could by Stuck in the Middle with Glenn Frey.

This would have been a great weekend for Rangers vs Islanders at Yankee Stadium.


Posted by: Econolicious | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:22 PM
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17

Lance's Return will be christened in the Tour Down Under next week. Blog about that.


Posted by: sam k | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:23 PM
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14: I remember those days. I don't know if I can talk tennis off the cuff -- though my upper arms and fingers experience a thrill and tension at the very thought -- but I'd certainly attend to any blog posts regarding such.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:23 PM
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43-Man Squamish

Excellent gay porn title


Posted by: Michael | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:23 PM
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20

No. First, there are no PA teams, so I don't think you can combine Phillies, Steeler and Eagle fans. In my experience, Pittsburgh and Philly may as well be on different planets for pretty much any purpose that doesn't directly involve state government. Pittsburgh only notices Philly when they manage to swipe an especially large chunk of state money or when they get especially murderous. I think Philly sees us as basically North West Virginia, but I've never really asked.

Second, the Pirates suck more than enough to counteract any good news.


Posted by: MH | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:24 PM
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21

17. the talk is about sports, not bicycling.


Posted by: Michael | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:24 PM
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22

Sports with points are for pussies.


Posted by: sam k | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:32 PM
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23

Cycling is certainly a pointless sport. Ho ho ho.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:38 PM
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24

actually, dividing sports up into different categories sounds interesting...bicylcing doesn't share many characteristics in common with, say, basketball, but both want to be called sports. So you could say there's one category of sports that consist mostly of brute physical strength or endurance, like bicylcing, marathons, and strong man competitions. Then there are those that involve considerably more strategy, like most team sports. And there are sports that depend on reaction time....wait, hmm...no, no...i was wrong. This isn't actually interesting at all.


Posted by: Michael | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:38 PM
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25

20 is excellent, answering clearly the question poised in the original post.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:38 PM
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26

Bicycling requires a lot of strategy. Team strategy, even.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:48 PM
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27

Lots of things require strategy that aren't sports.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:48 PM
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28

27. implicit was that it also required lots of physical activity, too, you hobgoblin.

26. surrrre it does...But, reallty i was accounting for that. Marathons and strong man competitions also require a little strategy. But the amount involved seems, to me, an admitted outsider, to be significantly less than many other sports.


Posted by: Michael | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:54 PM
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28: no, but really, competitive cycling requires tons of strategy... who on your team breaks away when, how you manage your best riders, who gets what points to maximize whatever. There's a lot to it, much more so than world's strongest man.

Look at me, the little pedant on my bicycle!


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 9:59 PM
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30

Yeah but Sifu, the world's strongest man has to decide whether or not to pull the train.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 10:01 PM
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30: no. The world's second-strongest man has to decide whether to pull the train. The world's strongest man already knows.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 10:04 PM
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32

Not even the world's strongest man can be a beautiful soul.


Posted by: ben w-lfs-n | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 10:05 PM
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33

I'll admit that cycling isn't exactly chess, but I dispute that it involves any less strategy than basketball, or even tennis.


Posted by: sam k | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 10:07 PM
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34

i really like cycling as an activity, so i'll let this go...mostly. Maybe I'm biased, ok, I'm almost certainly biased, but it's not the same as tennis, which requires constant strategic thinking. Looking at Sifu's list, it seems like the number of strategic decisions ina full day of cycling (a dozen?) is about the same number that could easily happen in a minute of a tennis match.


Posted by: Michael | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 10:15 PM
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35

of course, i'll also defend tennis as the most difficult of all sports. so....


Posted by: Michael | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 10:17 PM
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36

I'm trying to think what would be the world's least strategic sport. Weightlifting maybe, although there might be some stuff around which weight you start at like high-jumping. In general the shorter sprints are less strategic in swimming and running. Maybe luge, bobsled and skeleton(?). Time trial racing is generally the least strategic bicycling race. And Michael is way misunderestimating the give and take and constant gamesmanship that goes on within the pack(s) of a road race.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 10:20 PM
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37

i'm starting to wonder if the Tour de France is on the Stuff White People Like site. You'd think I'd insulted stand-mixers.


Posted by: Michael | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 10:22 PM
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38

Says the tennis aficionado.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 10:23 PM
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39

and subscriber to Outside magazine (which features St Lance on the cover this month). I'm conscious of the fact that I'm in a glass house.


Posted by: Michael | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 10:26 PM
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40

Competitive cycling has a points race.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 10:26 PM
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41

I'm trying to think what would be the world's least strategic sport.

I'd guess that the ones based on throwing things farthest, like dwarf tossing, would be right up there.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 10:28 PM
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Posted by: | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 10:29 PM
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43

I think St. Lance was probably a dirty doper cheater at some poin, if not still, but *reading* live coverage of cycling online is still more exciting than the Superbowl, which is only made tolerable by coconut cookies and other assorted snacks.


Posted by: sam k | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 10:37 PM
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44

Least strategic sport:: making fun of W-lfs-n.


Posted by: sam k | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 10:40 PM
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45

43. is it cheating if everyone else is doing it?


Posted by: Michael | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 11:11 PM
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46

I never cheated at bike racing.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 11:20 PM
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47

If everyone else is doing it means it's not cheating, then everyone else is not doing it.


Posted by: eb | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 11:22 PM
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48

Nah, not really, but still.


Posted by: sam k | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 11:26 PM
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49

48 to 45.


Posted by: sam k | Link to this comment | 01-17-09 11:29 PM
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50

It's gonna be the Eagles and the Steelers.

Cardinals versus Ravens in a showdown of the ridiculous.

max
['I will not be denied my Superbowl of Suck!']


Posted by: max | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 1:16 AM
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51

Since Philly fandom is motivated by intense self-hatred, victory can only briefly lift the darkness.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 7:37 AM
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52

given the Phillies' World Series win and the some-guy-told-me fact that the Flyers are, like, pretty good or something (I mean, seriously, who watches hockey?), are sports fans from Pennsylvania poised to become more annoying than sports fans from Boston and New York the economic saviors of a near-bankrupt city?

Maybe.

given that Philly fans are notorious for booing their own players at the drop of a hat

Sifu is just trolling. We boo poor performance, we boo jerks, and we have long memories. (Yes, we're still booing J.D. Drew, long after the rest of the country is like...who?) Philadelphia has its share of truly obnoxious fans, but the booing is not a symptom.

And I think it's awfully mean of Stanley to post a thread that mentions the Phils just when I have to be preparing for guests and then going to work.

(Also, 20 is right.)


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 7:47 AM
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Also, if you guys are going to go back to the how-do-you-define-a-REAL-sport argument, you might be interested in the short comments section in this boys, jump rope, and ballet discussion.


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 7:55 AM
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54

the world's least strategic sport


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 8:06 AM
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55

are sports fans from Pennsylvania poised to become more annoying than sports fans from Boston and New York?

are you kidding me? No.


Posted by: PGD | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 9:12 AM
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56

it's awfully mean of Stanley

One should bear in mind that I'm a fan of Chicago, and this thread is, at its core, little more than a reification of my deep and abiding disappointment in Rex Grossman. I shouldn't take it out on Philly or Pennsylvania in general, but, hey, your number's up.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 10:34 AM
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Did Grossman ever have a game like Delhomme's against the Cardinals, though?


Posted by: apostropher | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 3:17 PM
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58

Well, it's not going to be the Eagles.

Go Ravens!


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 4:21 PM
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57: Yes, I suspect that game will haunt Delhomme for a long time. Even the "tipped" interception was a terrible throw.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 4:33 PM
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Yeah, if you think my prediction abilities might be consistent, you should go put money on Baltimore.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 4:33 PM
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58: Shhhh... even though I live in Pittsburgh I'm with you. But don't tell anyone. But if the Ravens win and I turn up missing, my family did it.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 4:37 PM
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Very snowy here the last several days, but you wouldn't know if from the stadium, no piles even. They must cart it all the way out of the stadium.

Ravens defense is actually not fundamentally sound at all, relies on its aggression which admittedly often works and is fun to watch. Reed effing up on the pass for Ward by going for the interception is a prime example.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 4:51 PM
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Yay, Cardinals! I actually like the Steelers, but they're the team with the best regular season record left, so they have to go.

(So far I am 8 and 1 with my Playoffs of Suck predictions.)

max
['Coming soon. Loserbowl!']


Posted by: max | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 5:23 PM
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41: Dwarf tossing is highly strategic. If the tossed dwarf is prone to flailing his/her limbs, you have to use a totally different technique than if you have a calmer dwarf. But, even a typically calm guy has his moments of panic and even a flailer has his moments of calm. So, you can use a generic toss that is sub-optimal for either, but is sort of a loss-minimizing compromise or you can go all-out, but risk a big loss.


Posted by: MH | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 5:23 PM
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And don't get me started on how you have to account for relative humidity, which is nearly impossible to even measure accurately in a crowded bar.


Posted by: MH | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 5:29 PM
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Hey! I was half right! I expect I'll be on the networks for the Big Game. Later, dudes.


Posted by: Stanley | Link to this comment | 01-18-09 8:23 PM
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8-2. The Steelers are messin' up the fun.

max
['They can win next year!']


Posted by: max | Link to this comment | 01-19-09 1:47 PM
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