Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Blind Squirrel, Giant Nuts

On December 5, 2008, what's widely regarded as the most remarkable event in prognostication history came to pass right here in this cobwebbed little corner of the internet. Mark and I made independent predictions about the result of the upcoming SEC Championship football game between Alabama and Florida. It so happened that we both expected Florida to win by a 31-20 score.

Towards the end of the game, our late (in internet terms), lamented friend Wheelhouse Jerry offered this comment, "If the game ends at this score, I'm prepared to designate this the most outstanding achievement in the history of the internet."

The game, my friends, ended at that score. Florida 31, Alabama 20. Mark and I are linked throughout history by our brilliance and vision.

I didn't think I'd ever do anything to even get close to matching that accomplishment. But life's a funny thing. It's like, unpredictable and stuff.

Allow me to explain.

For a while now, I've been part of an email thread with a group of CAA superfans and media members who represent teams from across the league (and some that aren't even in the league any longer). They all know a lot more about hoops than I do, but they let me slum with them because I think they like the W&M cache. I get a ton of inside skinny about what's happening across the league, and we exchange good-natured banter about how sketchy JMU's athletic administration is.

On February 27, I sent this email to the group:


Elon was the hottest team in the league at the end of this weird season, and I really did think they'd get past both Towson and JMU. The Dukes had only played once since February 14, and they were missing CAA POY Matt Lewis due to injury. Drexel was the six seed, but they were ranked as high as anyone else in KenPom and other metrics. It was a tossed-off prediction, but it wasn't made without logic. (Ignore the Hofstra over Drexel pick in the first round - I obviously meant Delaware. Bygones.)

Nailed every game of the CAA Tournament, including only the second 8 over 1 upset in league history. Only thing I got wrong was the length of the final, but I hedged that by dropping a sawbuck on Drexel -3.5 in advance of the game.

I'm pretty good at this stuff, once every 13 years or so. Like a prognosticating cicada.

25 comments:

Whitney said...

Not bad. Plus you won a buck on the Zags last night, right? Using "the process"...

TR said...

You should quit your day job and head to the track, Rob. Well done. I stopped gambling after a cold streak. I am waiting on some NBA Futures bets to play out. I will likely split the two bets, lose my vig $$$ and feel underwehelmed.

Whitney said...

True Fact: Rob's summer of 1990 job in Williamsburg, at least his first one until it fizzled, was playing the lottery.

rob said...

indeed, whit. i trusted the process and it paid off for me.

zman said...

Food & Wine prepared a list of the best bagels in America. Teaneck Hot Bagels made the list. Warren did not. More controversy: Ess-a Bagel made it over NY Jumbo Bagel.

https://www.foodandwine.com/travel/restaurants/best-bagels-america

rootsminer said...

I know gambling is fun and all, but have you guys tried weed?

And to TR's comment on last post stanning for DMB - I know a lot of people like them, but I am not one of them. I also think REM is highly overrated. Not bad, but they coasted on some mediocre work for a long time.

rob said...

weed isn’t legal, rootsy. duh.

rootsminer said...

Oh, right. There may be a loophole.

TR said...

Rootsy is not a very shiny, happy person today.

rootsminer said...

Follow me, don't follow me. I've got my spine, I've got my orange crush.

Whitney said...

R.E.M. was my favorite band in high school. Then I went to college, at which point two things happened. Their output got markedly less appealing to me over the next 8-10 years (after which I ignored them completely), and my ears and mind were opened to many more worlds of music. I still love their I.R.S. work as much as anything, but the coasting is accurate.

Whitney said...

that's me in the comment, that's me in the spotlight

Whitney said...

And some of us gamble to pay for the weed

rootsminer said...

But Whitney, It's the cheapest drug there is!

rob said...

as noted in a text thread with a couple of gheorghies and our man mr kq, life's rich pageant has been in my personal top 5 records since i can remember ranking records. but i, too, found the band's later work a bit mediocre.

explain the change, the difference between what you want and what you need, there's the key

Whitney said...

Mr. KQ isn't a gheorghie?

Whitney said...

69° here today

rob said...

well, hell, whit. of course he is. i meant lammies.

Whitney said...

I went back and read that 2008 post. An interesting step back in time.

Juan Carlos said...

>REM is highly overrated.

Does anyone rate REM highly now? I never hear their music playing anywhere. I think they were overrated at their peak popularity, along with the Dave Matthews Band. Alto sax players should not be permanent members of any "rock" band. Sorry TR.

Juan Carlos said...

Johnny Damon getting arrested because he's a Trump supporter.

TR said...

I never saw you as a sax elitist, JC. I was wrong.

rootsminer said...

Juan Carlos was impugning the soprano sax I. The context of a rock band, I believe. You really need a tenor, or even better, a baritone sax to get things rocking.

Whitney said...

Case in \point, the Big Man played a baritone sax for the E Streeters

rootsminer said...

A good bari sax part really gets me going, even if it's just those few perfect low notes at just the right spot. It even briefly crept back into pop music for a few minutes at some point in the past decade, which was good while it lasted.