Election 08 Spreads

Yeah. We're playing pick 'em with all 50 states using the poll results of Saturday, November 1.

The way to pick is to say [winner] by [more/less]. A push is a push, just like in the NFL.

AL: McCain (-22) over Obama

AK: McCain (-18) over Obama

AZ: McCain (-4) over Obama

AR: McCain (-12) over Obama

CA: Obama (-22) over McCain

CO: Obama (-7) over McCain

CT: Obama (-25) over McCain

DE: Obama (-18) over McCain

DC: Obama (-69) over McCain (no, that's not a typo)

FL: Obama (-4) over McCain

GA: McCain (-5) over Obama

HI: Obama (-31) over McCain

ID: McCain (-42) over Obama (holy balls)

IL: Obama (-24) over McCain

IN: Obama (-1) over McCain

IA: Obama (-14) over McCain

KS: McCain (-32) over Obama

KY: McCain (-9) over Obama

LA: McCain (-7) over Obama

ME: Obama (-21) over McCain

MD: Obama (-15) over McCain

MA: Obama (-19) over McCain

MI: Obama (-12) over McCain

MN: Obama (-8) over McCain

MS: McCain (-13) over Obama

MO: McCain (PK) over Obama

MT: McCain (-3) over Obama

NE: McCain (-26) over Obama

NV: Obama (-7) over McCain

NJ: Obama (-18) over McCain

NH: Obama (-15) over McCain

NM: Obama (-5) over McCain

NY: Obama (-31) over McCain

NC: Obama (-6) over McCain 

ND: Obama (-2) over McCain (going alphabetically, Obama wins by now)

OH: Obama (-4) over McCain

OK: McCain (-27) over Obama

OR: Obama (-14) over McCain

PA: Obama (-10) over McCain

RI: Obama (-14) over McCain

SC: McCain (-22) over Obama (we all know why)

SD: McCain (-7) over Obama

TN: McCain (-16) over Obama

TX: McCain (-19) over Obama

UT: McCain (-23) over Obama

VT: Obama (-21) over McCain

VA: Obama (-9) over McCain

WA: Obama (-21) over McCain

WV: McCain (-9) over Obama

WI: Obama (-11) over McCain

WY: McCain (-26) over Obama

Electoral Votes: Obama (367) over McCain (171) is an over/under of (-196) margin of victory. This is the first tiebreaker.

Total states won: Obama (30) over McCain (21) is an over/under of (-9) margin of victory.

This is the second tiebreaker.

If we're still tied after this, pick the exact number of electoral votes won by the winning candidate. Whoever is closest wins.

EDIT: Watching the Pens game was clearly more of a distraction to typing this than the alcohol I was drinking. Yeah.

- Matt

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