World Series Winners In Election Years

Politics is arbitrary. So let's find out if the winner of the world series determines who will win the election. Basically, most world series have teams whose color is either red or blue, so I figure we can make some useless statistic. And baseball is pretty much entirely useless statistics so...

1908- Cubs (blue) over Tigers (blue)

Taft (red) wins the election. 0-1.

1912- Red Sox (red) over Giants (?)

Wilson (blue) wins. 0-2.

1916- Red Sox (red) over Dodgers (blue)

Wilson (blue) wins. 0-3.

1920- Indians (red) over Dodgers (blue)

Harding (red) wins. 1-3.

1924- Senators (blue) over Giants (?)

Coolidge (red) wins. 1-4.

1928- Yankees (blue) over Cardinals (red)

Hoover (red) wins. 1-5.

1932- Yankees (blue) over Cubs (blue)

FDR (blue) wins. 2-5.

1936- Yankees (blue) over Giants (?)

FDR (blue) wins. 3-5.

1940- Reds (red, maybe) over Tigers (blue)

FDR again (blue). 3-6.

1944- Cardinals (red) over Browns (brown?)

FDR!!! 3-7.

1948- Indians (red) over Braves (red)

Dewey defeats Truman. Wait (blue). 3-8.

1952- Yankees (blue) over Dodgers (blue)

Eisenhower (red) wins. 3-9.

1956- Yankees (blue) over Dodgers (blue) ugh

Eisenhower (red) wins. No it's not 1952. 3-10.

1960- Pirates (yellow) over Yankees (blue)

Kennedy (blue) wins. 3-11.

1964- Cardinals (red) over Yankees (blue)

LBJ (blue) wins. 3-12.

1968- Tigers (blue) over Cardinals (red)

Nixon (red) wins. 3-13.

1972- A's (green) over Reds (red)

Nixon (red) wins. 3-14.

1976- Reds (red) over Yankees (blue)

Carter (blue) wins. 3-15.

1980- Phillies (red) over Royals (blue)

Reagan (red) wins. 4-15.

1984- Tigers (blue) over Padres (blue)

Reagan (red) wins. 4-16.

1988- Dodgers (blue) over A's (green)

Bush (red) wins. 4-17.

1992- Blue Jays (blue) over Braves (red)

Clinton (blue) wins. 5-17.

1996- Yankees (blue) over Braves (red)

Clinton (blue) wins. 5-18.

2000- Yankees (blue) over Mets (blue)

Bush (red) wins. 5-19.

2004- Red Sox (red) over Cardinals (red)

Bush (red) wins. Vomit. 5-20.

2008- Phillies (red) over Rays (blue)

...

By this logic, there is only a 20% chance that McCain has to win the election. Granted, in recent years the winner has gone 3 for 4, so you could argue McCain has a 75% chance to win.

Then again, this is bullshit. Thanks for reading.

- Matt

ELECTION 08 Drinking Games

Let's get this political week started with good ol' fashioned alcoholism.

Brought to you by... A&L Motors

Best commercial. EVER.

So many of you might be going to election parties. Most of you will be drinking, regardless of political affiliation. Those of you supporting Ron Paul will be drinking the heaviest. I thought I'd help you out with a guide to responsible election drinking... in the form of games.

Take 1 drink when:

• Fox News makes backhanded comment about Obama as he's winning
• Any news source reminds you that if Obama is elected, he will be the first black president of the United States
• Every time you see McCain awake past 9 PM EST
• Whenever CNN refers to the "Magic 60" (or whatever they're calling it) that Democrats need to capture true majority

Take 2 drinks when:

• A state's unofficial results are posted (note: only do this the first time a state is awarded to a candidate, you will get shitty otherwise)
• Campaign music is played: classic rock
• They show that goddamn electoral map in color with different shades
• You accidentally turn on NBC, CBS, or FSN (Comcast for those of you playing in MD)

Take 3 drinks when:

• Anderson Cooper stares blankly at the camera (feel free to jettison this rule if you need to drive home)
• Campaign music is played: country
• Random celebrity offers their two cents on political anything
• Political ad played even though polls have long been closed in your state

CHUG (drink the magic potioooooonnnnn) when:

• Candidate mispronounces word (see: nuclear, Muslim, library, etc.)
• Campaign music is played: rap, heavy metal, or techno
• Your state's results are official
• You get bored and decide you need to play Rock Band 2 with your friends

Alternatively, you can try this simple drinking game involving the electoral map and beer shots. It can get pretty dry between hours though, so you may want to supplement it with the game above:

At the beginning of the party, if you're in a room with mostly people who voted for the same guy you did, pull out a deck of cards. Hand one card out to everyone. If the card is red, they take a beer shot whenever a state goes for McCain. If it's black/blue/whatever then take a beer shot every time Obama wins a state. It should be pretty balanced in total amount of drinking. Things to consider are the fact that if you get black, you're going to be drinking a lot at the beginning and end of the party, but not in the middle.

You can also drink every time your candidate wins a state, or just drink whenever the opposing candidate wins a state if the results are depressing you. Either way, just trying to help out those in need of something to spice up the endless droning of analysts while we simply wait for them to release the goddamn results of each state. Can't wait!

- Matt

Dark Times

First update in a week. Good thing no one reads this blog.

Can't say much positive about the Chargers, other than statistically. So I'll talk about how much I like Drew Brees. It's no secret he's my favorite player in the NFL. If you look at his career quarterback rating, you might not think he's very good. Fortunately, that's a meaningless statistic. He's only had more interceptions than touchdowns one year (2003), and you can count on him to get at least 4000 yards in recent years. If he had better people to throw to, there'd be no stopping him.

Anyway, the Penguins are still doing well. Shootouts are kind of a crap shoot in terms of final result, so it's not a backbreaking loss. Still, to lose out on 2 points by blowing another 3rd period lead is disconcerting. The Rags will come back down to Earth sooner than later, and at any rate it's early in the season.

Lastly, while I'm glad the Devil Rays are in the world series, it sucks for the Orioles. A lot. 4 of the top 10 teams in the league sit in the AL East, which doesn't bode well for the O's. Fortunately, the Yankees might be on a downturn, and the Blue Jays can as easily be bad as good. And of course time will tell with the Rays.

No real substance to this entry. It's like I write for CNN or something...

- Matt

HAH.

I was browsing the NHL points standings, and I found some funny facts.

Semin is all over everyone. He's got 10 points in 5 games. (6 G, 4 A)

Malkin is second, also with 10 points, but in 6 games. (2 G, 8 A)

Crosby is 12th with 8 points (1 G, 7 A).

What's that? You chose Alex Ovechkin as your number one fantasy pick? Scroll down the list.

Further.

EVEN FURTHER.

142. Alex Ovechkin. 3 points (2 G, 1 A) in 5 games. Ouch.

I realize it's early and he'll go on a tear once they play more Southeast teams (goalies in SE in order of good to bad: Ward (CAR), Smith (TB), Vokoun (FLA), Lehtonen (ATL), Theodore (WAS). Would you want any of them minding your net? I thought not.). However, it's fun at laughing at the lack of success of your rivals, because those guys are jerks.

I'm looking at you, Philly. At least you have the Phightin' Phils.

- Matt

Quick Entry

Some notes, don't care.

1. Washington is very fortunate the Pens mailed in the last period. In case you think it was because of any other reason, I submit to you a stat line:

A. Ovechkin: 0 G, 0 A, 0 pts

Probably the only game the Caps have scored 4 or more without the Joke on the scoresheet.

2. San Diego, what the fuck.

3. Good to see the Pens winning games they should win. Keep Malkin with Crosby until he stops contributing to EVERY POINT the Pens score. Seriously, check the league leaders: Malkin has 10 pts, 7 of them coming in the past 2 games. He's a beast.

And King Crosby is the best player in hockey. If you disagree you're a Flyers fan or you assume goal scoring is the only important mark of a good player. In which case get Gretzky's dick out of your mouth. Watch his passes in the past 2 games and you'll see what I mean.

4. Satan should be kept off Crosby's line. Satan is the best winger on the team in potential, but he doesn't play as well as he could until he's on a lower line. Last night he was a beast.

5. Dupuis is an amazing signing. He gels with Sid in ways only Colby could. Speaking of awesome signings, Zigomanis is the biggest steal of the decade for the Pens. What a player.

6. Bob Smizik wrote some joke column about fighting turning more fans off to hockey than on. It's funny, you can write anything you want as long as you have no facts to back it up, and you only desire baiting people into arguments.

...

Moving on.

7. As much as I love the parity in this year's NFL, I have never been more bored by it. Not even the results, but the actual games too. The best team is starting Kerry Collins to great success. UGH.

Fuck it.

- Matt

Arch-rivalry part 1: Capitals on the Rise

So here's the event that happens only four times a year. Hopefully more than that, but it's only October. The Penguins have owned the Caps after the lockout, going 10-1-1 in 12 games (10-1-0 without King Crosby). Ovechkin is the best goal scorer in the game. Crosby is the best player in the game. Malkin is not far off, but not nearly as clutch.

Not blog style this time, but things bear mentioning early in the 1st. Crosby starts things off with a bang by out-Ovechkining Ovechkin. The next 10 minutes is hardcore defensive battle.

The Caps' power play is a thing of beauty. Semin is a hilarious name. The Pens' PK is even better.

Go-Go scores on a silly PP. The Pens control the puck on their man-up for the first time this season (at least it felt like it). After a good pass by Bing, Malkin fires it in and Goligoski gets a great chance. He bobbles, shoots once he gets control and Theodore demonstrates why he shouldn't be a starter. 1-0 PENGUINS!

Another thing of note is that Zigomanis might be the best pickup in recent Penguins history. They got him from the Coyotes for "future considerations" aka a sammich.

The Caps look really good, and will most likely win their division once the Canes pull their annual choke job. However, two things will keep them out of the SCF barring a lot of luck:

1. Jose Theodore. You can take Olie the Goalie out of Washington, but you can't... take the spirit of Olie the Goalie out of Washington. Hm.

2. Penalties. I know you're all fired up and stuff, but play smarter. Your defense is not exactly stellar and your goaltenders are atrocious. UPDATE: As I typed this, Malkin scored a PP goal. 2-0 PENGUINS!

3. Fewer games vs. Southeast opponents. That's at least 4 fewer wins this year, meaning crucial jockeying for position in the East. They absolutely have to win the division to get home ice at any point.

Getting time to go to practice. Bing (Crosby for you Pensblog virgins) has 2 A before the end of the first, and the Caps just got the gayest penalty (Too Many Men). Malkin has 1 G and 1 A, meaning the dry spell is over for both.

Earlier today I predicted 5-3, decided by an empty netter, in favor of the home team (PIT). I stand by this prediction even with a 2-0 lead. GO PENS, I'm out to buy beer. I mean play water polo >_>

- Matt

First Period Bloggery

Decided to put my watching Pens to good use. Broadcast is on Versucks, sadly, which means we can expect "unbiased" commentary. Nothing like the owner of the network owning the Flyers and Capitals...

Start watching a couple of minutes into the game. Whoever the shitty announcers are spend 5 minutes talking about the Flyers' players. You can hear the slurping noises from Squirrel Hill.

Satan gets a good scoring chance in front of the goal. Still can't bury those, but he's getting closer every time. Nittymaki makes an easy save. Some other crap happens without scoring chances until an offsides call.

Godard vs some homo. After Godard gets his helmet whacked off, he starts beating on the other dude's head with both hands. Both get some good hits in, but I give the edge to Godard, not only for his dodging skills, but also the major hits he landed.

After the fight, Flyers get a penalty. PP time for the Pens. A funny Versus commercial about Sports Soup comes on. As shitty as the network is, its commercials are actually really good. Malkin, Goligoski, Crosby, Sykora and Staal take a while to get going. Some bitch trips Crosby and for some reason Crosby gets hauled off for slashing. Another solid power play by the Penguins (rolls eyes). Solid PK by the Pens, Talbot gets a beast steal and a scoring chance on a breakaway.

Gill has a solidly accurate shot from the Pittsburgh goal line. Worth mentioning because someday that could come in handy in an empty net situation. Also, it prevented icing. Excellent setup by Malkin leads to a save by Shittymaki and a scrum in front of the net. Mike Richards gets his panties in a knot and tries to land a cheap shot on a player lying on the ice. Unsportsmanlike conduct and the usual crying by Philthadelphia, to no avail.

Midway through the power play, I begin to think the Versus guys are commenting on the broadcast and not actually at the game. They should just nationally broadcast the FSN Pittsburgh feed, it's so much better than this junk. 

TK plays like a beast to keep the puck in the Flyers' zone for a long-ass time. The kid should get serious first-line consideration if he keeps playing like he has this season. The Tank-Talbot-TK line is looking like the best 3rd line the Pens have ever had. Once Syko gets healthy and the first line starts clicking, this is going to be a fantastic offensive unit.

Speaking of Tank, he gets called for Holding. Richards gets booed the second he touches the puck. Looks like people miss Jagr already. Free Candy basically ends the period with a monster interception and clear that settles in the corner of the Flyers end. End of period 1, and I guess I'll check the recap later since I have to go to practice soon (bleh). Go Pens!

- Matt

Suck It.

New England loves slurping the cock juice. With a 30-3 lead, I feel comfortable saying that. Boston is a shitty city, don't pretend it isn't, kids.

In other news, the Thieves/Colts beat the Ravens by a ton. I bet Will would feel bad if this wasn't the hottest girl in Indiana:

I tried looking up "Indianapolis Colts female fan" on Google images and that's all I got. Go fig.

In other news, the Pens are 1-1-1. Wow they will never make the playoffs now (rolls eyes). What the real problem is, how did they let the Devils shoot over 40 times? They can't expect to beat the Caps and Flyers if they repeat that performance. Still, they're the team to beat in the East, their eyes are just on the ultimate prize right now, and they have to remember these games count for something.

In baseball news... no one cares. Go DEVIL Rays.

Back to football. Everything I know is wrong. Don't listen to any predictions I make/have made (cough Ravens winning AFC North cough). Wine is delicious. Suck it, Boston.

Probably the gayest song I've ever heard involving the San Diego Chargers just occurred. I'm out.

- Matt

Bullshit College Stuff (BCS)

Here's my annual case against the current bowl system.

I'm aware of the pluses about the major bowls and minor bowls that exist. First, more than half the schools can claim success and get national exposure. It makes kids feel good or some bullshit. It reinforces the ranking system everyone's so obsessed about. Also, it funnels tons of money into the NCAA come early winter. Fine. I get it.

But seriously, this is fucking college. People are trying to make it AAA NFL (just televise CFL games, Jesus). One thing they forgot: college is supposed to be about education, not catching balls. Unless you went to Vassar. Then there's a 75% chance you went to catch balls.

Point is, making college a money machine undermines a college education in general. So many people leave with a B.S. in ... BS. I've said it before and I'll say it now: undergrad degrees are the new high school degrees. The market's friggin' saturated with college grads. And how many of them do you think focused only on football to have no real future in sight once the draft day passes? Cover that, ESPN.

Anyway, I propose a 32-team tournament. That's 5 games for every team if it's organized to place (as in, every team gets a definite number in the top 32 by the end of the tourney, with no. 32 going 0-5). 6 weeks would do, so you could begin this in the middle of November (some good matches during Thanksgiving? Win-win). As for home-away, at the beginning of the year set the home turf for each matchup by virtue of lottery, so it's possible no. 32 seed would host the top seed in the first round. The top 32 teams after 6-7 games into the season is usually just the AP top 25  with some extras, so it's reasonable.

I could talk more, but it's all needless detail. Comment with your thoughts, let's break our previous high (4, woooo).

- Matt

GO PENS

Money.

Penguins escape with a win, despite a power play that looked like crap. Anyone who says the Penguins aren't missing Gonchar is a fool. TK was the man of the game, he was everywhere every second. Late sub for Syko, and he completely deserves to be on the second line, maybe even with Crosby if Tank goes down.

I won't bother recapping the game, the Pensblog is way better than I am at that. All you need to know is TK is a BEAST, Malkin is fucking royalty, and Crosby makes the sickest passes in the NHL. I was a little disappointed Satan didn't get a goal, but I'm honestly not that picky. See if the Pens can continue their undefeated season tomorrow.

- Matt

Breaking a Dry Spell

Holy fuck, hockey is finally back. I went to nhl.com and opened up the realtime window, and practically creamed my pants. The game on right now is Rangers versus Pittsburgh South (aka Tampa Bay). nhl.com has a cool new format, but it's essentially the same site.

Today I head down to Mellon Arena to watch the game on the jumbotron and hang out with other Pens fans. Later tonight, there's a huge (HUGE) fireworks display to commemorate Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary. It's going to be sick.

In other news, I have no idea who's playing anymore in baseball. I hear the four losing teams are all in danger of being swept. Has that ever happened before? Wait, don't tell me, I don't care.

Chargers are playing the Dolphins? I think so, I probably should know. Whatever, the Penguins are back.

- Matt