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BGonline.org Forums
How about them Celts?
Posted By: Daniel Murphy In Response To: Though we had agreed. (Bill Riles)
Date: Monday, 9 June 2008, at 1:14 p.m.
You got it! No politics, no climatology, and especially no astrogastronomy.
Let's talk basketball.
(1) Of 29 teams that have taken a 2-0 lead in the best of seven NBA final, 26 of them went on to win the series. And 26/29 is about 90% -- about the same match winning chances as leading 6-0/7 in a backgammon match. Leading 2-0/7 in a backgammon match nets only 63% match winning chances.
You're thinking: so what? Me too. Series over, man. And backgammon matches are too short.
(2) Below, from the Game 2 play by play, L = Lakers scored, B = Boston scored (scoring consecutive free throws nets one letter):
L B L L B B B L B L B B L B L B B B L L L B B L B L B L B L B L B L B L B L B B L L L B L L B L L B L B B B L B B L B L L L B B B B L B L L B L B B L B L B B L B B L L B B L L B L B L B B
I could have tossed a coin and gotten the same result:
T H T T H H H T H T H H T H T H H H T T T H H T H T H T H T H T H T H T H T H H T T T H T T H T T H T H H H T H H T H T T T H H H H T H T T H T H H T H T H H T H H T T H H T T H T H T H H
So what's the difference between a basketball score-by-possession summary and a random distribution of heads and tails from a fair coin tossed?
(3) Some backgammon organizations have a Thousand to One Club. To get in, you have to win 10 matches in a row, a 1027:1 chance against equal competition. Does winning 10 matches in a row deserve recognition as some kind of accomplishment, or is the Thousand to One Club more like, say, the Two-time Survivors Club, whose members have all been hit by lightning twice?
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