Monthly Archives: January 2012
Noam Chomsky: Wrong About Sports
| January 29, 2012 | Posted by ReubenFB under Geo-Analysis |
Interviewed in the documentary Manufacturing Consent, renown activist/philosopher/linguist Noam Chomsky had this to say about sports: There’s the real mass media- the kinds that are aimed at, you know, Joe Six Pack – that kind. The purpose of those media is just to dull people’s brains… Take, say, sports — that’s another crucial example of the indoctrination system, in my view. For… more
Map of the Week: GIS and College Basketball
| January 25, 2012 | Posted by ReubenFB under Map of the Week |
There are two different ways people love maps: for their beauty as a piece of art, and for their capacity to convey information (see if you prefer this rail map or this one). If you love maps as informational tools then you better have heard of GIS, and if you’ve heard of GIS than you better have heard of ESRI; the… more
NFL Championship Weekend: the Twitterverse Responds
| January 23, 2012 | Posted by JoshR under Quick Map |
Sunday was a great day for football fans. Two conference championships gave us two down-to-the-wire finishes – one in overtime, one decided in the last minute. The intensity had fans in four different cities (and many more, if you count everyone who hates the Giants) crying out in anguish and celebrating in ecstasy as New York and New England advanced… more
What It Means to be an Urban Sport
| January 22, 2012 | Posted by ReubenFB under Geo-Analysis |
For those following the whole Turner debacle, to kiss and make up I asked the residents of Turner to help me finish this map, which broke down the country by NBA fandom and left western Montana blank. The responses have trickled in, and by and large it seems that people in this part of Montana, well, just don’t care about… more
Saints Fans to 49ers: We Are Definitely Still Bitter
| January 20, 2012 | Posted by DanB under Quick Map |
We’ve all been there. Your team got knocked out of the playoffs, and now you have to pick who to root for the rest of the way. Most importantly, you have to decide how you feel about the team that booted your squad from the playoffs. There are really only two options here: Hold a childish grudge. “Fuck those assholes.… more
SportsNation Goes Back in Time to Discuss Tennis
| January 18, 2012 | Posted by ReubenFB under Pointless |
The Rt Hon. Robert Crawley: Dearest Mary, of whom do you have a better opinion: Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal? Lady Mary Josephine Crawley: Father, I do not see how you can ponder upon such trivial things when this Great War threatens the very essence of our beloved Abbey! The Rt Hon. Robert Crawley: Honestly Mary, ’tis a simple question and… more
Guess Who Likes the Ridiculous BCS Formula?
| January 18, 2012 | Posted by JoshR under Geo-Analysis |
When it comes to the Bowl Championship Series, SportsNation seems to be of one mind. They don’t like it. This is a sentiment echoed widely across the country. There have been books about it, there have been on-air rants about it, and there’s even an academic literature on it. It seems that a four-team playoff is the most likely replacement… more
ESPN Poll Apparently More Important Than the GOP Primary
| January 16, 2012 | Posted by DanB under Pointless |
At the time I’m writing this, 208,616 people have voted in today’s featured SportsNation poll asking fans to to predict which team will win the Super Bowl. The voting population in Iowa’s Republican presidential caucus totaled 122,255. Yes, I realize that only Iowans are allowed to vote in the Iowa caucus , whereas anyone can vote in an internet poll, so I’m not trying… more
Which States Are Best At Picking Bowls? The States That Don’t Care
| January 11, 2012 | Posted by ReubenFB under Geo-Analysis |
On Monday, Alabama decimated LSU 21-0 to win the BCS Championship, the last of 35 bowls in a season which has featured many boring pointless games, some exciting pointless games, some boring important games, and even a few just all-around awesome games. Like always it was, even according to ad executives, the best time of year. Because they can,… more
Map of the Week Update: Turner Responds
A week or so back, I took a rather cheap shot at Turner, Montana: the town in the contiguous US furthest from a professional baseball team. As an extremely dorky baseball fan, the 647-mile trip to the nearest team would be tough for me, but obviously it doesn’t make Turner the “Saddest Town in America.” Well if you happened to… more