by Danny Boyce
Since we’re still in lockdown mode and none of know what’s to come, I figured I would write about what I have actually liked over the last few weeks. As I pointed out in the last post, I have binged a lot of stuff over the last few weeks, so here’s some of what I have enjoyed. Hopefully you will, too.
“The League” and their draft order
Quick summary of the show for those who don’t know: “The League” is about a group of friends who have their own fantasy football league and literally NOTHING matters to them more than the league. Of the funny things they do (that other leagues do, too), one is how they determine each season’s draft order. The first episode involves them all going to one of the guy’s house for a kid’s birthday party. It seems simple enough right away; they each pull a number from a bowl. One guy gets #1, but that doesn’t mean he gets the first pick. No instead, the kids in the sack race are all numbered and the number pulled is the kid you have. Whatever place they finish is the spot the guys pick in the draft. Watching the guy celebrate with a kid that isn’t his own is just fantastic. In Season Two they decide to go to Vegas for their draft and the first pick went to whoever was able to get through the entire airport security and baggage check first. Absurd stuff, but I loved both of them.
Jim’s scavenger hunt for Dwight on “The Office”
Jim had some epic pranks on Dwight throughout the series. Whether he gift wrapped Dwight’s desk, made Dwight go insane, or got his friend to pose as him even though his friend is Asian, Jim seemed to always get the better of the Assistant to the Regional Manager. But nothing tops the Dunder Code. While it’s fantastic that he gets everyone involved, my favorite part is that there is no final part to it. While Jim is disappointed in himself, I was quite proud. The guy is my hero.
Fibonacci Win Points System
I won’t get in depth into who Fibonacci was, but this method is pretty neat. In reading a bunch of the baseball books I have either the version that killed a tree or the one that eats up space in a Kindle, I found this formula for pitchers. While I’m not big on pitcher’s won-loss records, there are some of you out there who still are. Let’s use two Hall of Fame pitchers, Tom Seaver and White Ford as an example. Tom Terrific had a record of 311-205, Whitey 236-106. Seaver has 75 more wins, but 99 more losses. Whitey has the better winning percentage, but how much better is the percentage as opposed to the extra decisions? This method is an easy way of figuring wins and winning percentage into one number. Simply take a pitcher’s wins and multiply it by their winning percentage then add the number of games above .500. For Seaver .603, for Ford .690:
TS: 311 x .603 = 187
WF: 236 x .690 = 163
Plus 106 for Seaver, 130 for Ford:
TS: 187 + 106 = 293
WF: 163 + 130 = 293
Here are the cool things for this figure: If the winning percentage is 1.000 simply double the wins, if it is .500 cut the wins in half, and if the percentage is .618 (basically a 100-62 season), the wins are the same as the result. See Cy Young:
CY: 511 x .618 = 316; 316 + 195 = 511
I love when you can have fun with numbers like this.
The ending of “McMillions”
I don’t want to spoil it for the one person who hasn’t seen it, but when their son comes home from work, my first thought was “the gift that keeps on giving”.
The Good Friday Massacre
If not for the current state of the world the Stanley Cup and NBA Playoffs would be going on right now. One thing I used to love about the Cup Playoffs when I was younger is that the first two rounds were within the divisions, meaning that the first two rounds were rivals. That led to added intensity for an already intense postseason. Back in 1984 the Quebec Nordiques and Montreal Canadiens both pulled off division semi-final upsets to meet in the Adams Division Finals. Besides being in the same division , they were also in the same Canadian province. In Game 6 right off the bat there was a fight, seemed innocent enough. But at the end of the second period all hell broke loose. The referees took forever to gain control and get the teams into the locker rooms after assessing fighting and game misconduct penalties for 14 fights/skirmishes. Then when the teams came out to start the third period the ref finally announces the penalties and everything went “Slap Shot” all over again. At one point Mark Hunter (Montreal) and his brother Dale (Quebec) were ready to go at it. When it was all said and done, 28 penalties were assessed totaling 198 minutes. There were 10 game misconducts (ejections for those who don’t speak hockey) and 12 fighting penalties. Montreal ended up scoring five third period goals to win the game and the series. I don’t condone massive brawls like this – ultimately it does take away from a great sport – but occasionally I do like to see that it’s OK to not like your opponents.
I’ll share more later this week . . .