Order 50 Ltd.

To all the sports fans who hate stats

Take away good numbers and leave the intangibles, and you’ll never have a player worth a damn. Take away intangibles and just leave good numbers, and you have a Hall of Fame career. Numbers matter. More than anything else in sports. Anyone who says different, tell me exactly how you objectively determine Willie Mays was better than Claudell Washington. The “intangibles” are the tools a player has, but the numbers are what he or she actually does. Remove numbers from the discussion about athletic greatness and we’re having a chat about a player’s personality. That’s why a selfish asshole with 500 career home runs is a better player than a sweet guy who can hustle but has a lifetime OBP of .200; a better person, sure, but not a better player.

When they stop keeping score (and determining champions based on that), then I’ll be happy to admit numbers aren’t important. Until then, there is no such thing as professional sports without numbers.

NFL 2010 Season Prediction

This is the result of predicting every NFL regular season and playoff game for the 2010 season. I haven’t done this since the 1990 season, where i came very close, as I predicted Buffalo would win the AFC and that the Giants would lose to the 49ers in the NFC championship, and the Niners would take the Super Bowl. I was off a bit, as the Giants won (by two points!) and went on to win the Super Bowl (by one!). Here’s the way it will wrap up, if my prediction holds:

Division Champions
AFC East: New England Patriots
AFC North: Cincinnati Bengals
AFC South: Indianapolis Colts
AFC West: San Diego Chargers
Wild Card: Houston Texans
Wild Card: Pittsburgh Steelers

NFC East: Dallas Cowboys
NFC North: Green Bay Packers
NFC South: New Orleans Saints
NFC West: San Francisco 49ers
Wild Card: Carolina Panthers
Wild Card: Minnesota Vikings

Wild Card Playoffs
Houston d. Cincinnati
Pittsburgh d. San Diego
Minnesota d. San Francisco
Dallas d. Carolina

Division Playoffs
New England d. Houston
Indianapolis d. Pittsburgh
New Orleans d. Minnesota
Green Bay d. Dallas

Conference Championships
Indianapolis d. New England
Green Bay d. New Orleans

Super Bowl
Indianapolis Colts d. Green Bay Packers

Soccer is *socialist*? Um…

I already had this discussion recently at work. And keep in mind, I truly do love American football:

American football has a draft, trading, and a salary cap, in addition to the playoff system that includes a large chunk of the league, thereby giving more teams a shot at the title. International football, by contrast, is PURE capitalism: players go to the highest bidder, players are lent for CASH, and whoever’s on top at the end wins it all.

Which one’s socialist, then?

I am now a Detroit Lions fan.

I have decided to shift my main NFL allegiance from the 49ers to the Lions. What follows are 20 reasons I do so. (No giggling.) Continue reading…