12/21/24
January 20, 2009
Inside the Cardinals and Steelers Playbooks: The New York Times uses Michael Tanier of FootballOutsiders.Com -- and a cool computer simulation -- to teach two plays by the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers. The Times' preview of the game will spook some Cards fans. "The Steelers are capable of completely shutting the Cardinals down," writes Judy Battista.
The gray team is soft. They haven't been the same since they signed Pac Man Jones.
posted by rcade at 08:37 AM on January 21, 2009
The usually authoritative NYT has the team logos at the top of the article displayed with Pitt as the home team.
Arizona at Pittsburgh.
Whoops - Arizona is the designated home team this year.
That might be important to wagering fans who play percentages.
When the Super Bowl is played in Tampa, the home team wins 2/3 of the time.
(Ain't been but three SB's played in Tampa...)
The Steelers might be happy to be in their road whites. In their last championship run, they won 3 road games to get to the SB, and Cowher kept them in their road uniforms for the SB even though they were the designated home team that year.
You would think that the teams with black team colors would look and play all the more freaky and imposing in their black home jerseys, but the Steelers, Bears and Raiders have done very well in their road whites. Steelers would have done even better in white if Dallas hadn't insisted on wearing white as the home team way back when.
All three of these teams have stunk it up in the big one in their black uni's.
There you have it: a clinical, scientific statistical wagering foundation.
posted by beaverboard at 09:06 AM on January 21, 2009
I love crazy gambling schemes. Anyone who would bet on the basis of the home team designation in a Super Bowl deserves to lose the money. (Considering home/road uniform color, on the other hand, is totally rational.)
posted by rcade at 09:16 AM on January 21, 2009
I didn't understand the computer simulation. I didn't see any long-haired maniac come screaming from deep safety to blow up Boldin before he releases or some fat NT unexpectedly dropping into the zone where the safety should have been for the easy pick :-)