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Sunday Morning Quarterback

Sunday Morning Quarterback

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

ONE MAN'S TRASH...
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SMQ mocked and derided the New Mexico State-Idaho game's mere existence as "insensitive" to fans last week; Pete Fiutak called the double overtime Sun Belt slugfest the best game of the weekend.

Fiutak also trots out a Top 10 column with the headline "Human Polls Will Determine Matchup," in reference, apparently (Fiutak hardly elaborates) to quelling mass outrage by purist fans who cannot tolerate some dumb machine that can't even watch the games making choices about who plays for a championship - Aaron Taylor and Craig James, for example, living antitheses of the term "egghead," predictably scoffed at an ABC report on Jeff Sagarin and computer polls during halftime of the Minnesota-Ohio State game Saturday, dismissing the idea that a computer - any computer, using any methods - can better determine the strengths and fates of hulking and colliding brutes than can, say, certain former hulking and colliding brutes.

SMQ used to be among this luddite group, which naturally went along with the fervent support for a playoff he still holds, but not no more. SMQ, in fact, fully embraces the idea of sabermetrics and computer analysis, which can tell us much more objectively what's going on based on data than humans can from limited information and skewed perceptions.

Computers look at actual production, whereas style points can count disproportionately for humans dazzled by feats that do not necessarily add up to the ultimate goal of winning. SMQ is consistently amazed by Michael Vick, for instance, but notices how often his incredible jukes, spins, starts and stops and speed bursts result in about three yards. Often after he escapes from a tackler to throw an incomplete pass, announcers say "Only Michael Vick can do that!" But any quarterback can throw an incomplete pass - an incomplete pass is an incomplete pass is an incomplete pass; one who reads defenses better than Vick, though, might be able to get the ball off for a completion without having to escape or throw the ball away - this looks ordinary, though, and although it results in better production, it doesn't garner as much praise from fans or pundits.

That is not a foolproof example (Vick's record shows that he does produce wins; Barry Sanders may be a better fit for this argument) but it does serve to say: our eyes lie to us. We are easily swayed by dazzle and the opinions of others, overly wooed by stylishness, sometimes at the expense of noting less spectacular traits that might better lead to winning. This is why "explosive" USC and Texas are garnering more hype than also undefeated but more plodding teams Alabama and Virginia Tech; it's why Auburn was left out in the cold last year, and Ohio State was given no shot to beat Miami in 2002.

Not so with computers - IF they have good data. This is why SMQ said he's on board with the idea of using computers to pick championship participants - or, preferably, wildcard playoff participants - but not necessarily with the current computer models in use for doing so, which may not take every relevant amount of data into account, or weight them disproportionately.

This is the upshot of what SMQ has been going for in his preseason methodology for ranking teams and his recent effort to expel skewed perception from his Top 25 in favor of more data-based, objective analysis. As far as such measures go, these methods are extremely limited and unreliable - SMQ does not have time nor access to a supercomputer (other than his brain) that can gather, sort and analyze information according to a sensible formula. But he is willing to trust humans who do have such technology with the task of deciphering what our ordinary minds may only think we know. The trick is the formula, which is, after all, the human element here, and deciding what it is, exactly, that makes a team "good," when strength of schedule variances makes mere win-loss records inadequate for doing so.

When SMQ gets around to hosting a roundtable, he'll put the computer and formula question to the rest of the inimitable and wise (and crunk, beeyotch!) CFB blog community.
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WELCOME...
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And don't let the name fool ya - second guessing the phenomenal athletic feats and split-second decisions of college kids under extreme physical duress is for every day of the week.


AWWW!! The totally nicest people, like, ever!...

How much football does he watch? Dude's got insights on -everybody-, and by everybody, I mean everybody. Throw in some of the best writing in the blogosphere, and we're talking about a daily must-read.
- Burnt Orange Nation

SMQ starts to sound more and more like the Gregg Easterbrook of our ideal memories every day - whip-smart, systematic, omnivorous in his intellectual tastes and yet unafraid of the cheap joke.
- Every Day Should Be Saturday

Sunday Morning Quarterback is one of our favorite football blogs on the internet.
- State Fans Nation

Sunday Morning Quarterback is a killer football blog if you are a college football junkie. It is run by one of the most thoughtful, intelligent, and analytical writers in the college football blogosphere...The guy is thorough and detailed and provides a level of analysis you are not going to find anywhere else .
- Bruins Nation

Just another hack writer who hasn't done one lick of research... - SOT2

...the pride of Southern Mississippi ever since Brett Favre turned into an ESPN soap opera, has the sort of prose knack that can keep you riveted to a preview about any one of D-IA's scrubbier members ... should be given gifts.
- MGoBlog

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e-mail Sunday Morning Quarterback at sundaymorningqb@yahoo.com

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PREVIOUSLY FROM SMQ:

2006 Preview
Anatomy of an Underdog
BlogPoll: 1-10/11-25/Roundtable
The ACC
The Big Ten
The Big XII
The Sun Belt

Running Departments
The Rap Sheet
July 29/Aug. 1/Aug. 9/Aug. 16/Aug.19/Aug. 25/Sept. 28/Oct. 4/Oct. 5/Oct. 18/Oct. 26/Nov. 2/Nov. 7/Nov. 8/Nov. 28/Dec. 2/Dec. 8/ Dec. 11/Dec. 18/Dec. 21/Feb. 6/Feb. 10/April 7/April 14/April 21/April 29/May 6/May 12/May 19/May 26/June 2/June 10/June 16/June 24/June 30/July 8/Aug. 4

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SMQ-APPROVED
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PAGES

News from the Big Guys
ESPN/ College Football News Wire
Sports Illustrated
FOX
CBS Sportsline
USA Today
Opinion: Columnists and bloggers
Around the Oval (Ohio State)
Badger Sports (Wisconsin)
The Blue-Gray Sky (Notre Dame)
Block U (Utah)
BoiFromTroy (Southern Cal)
Bruins Nation (UCLA)
Burnt Orange Nation (Texas)
The Corporate Headquarters of the San Antonio Gunslingers
Dave Sez (Virginia)
Dawg Sports (Georgia)
ESPN: Ivan Maisel/Pat Forde
Every Day Should Be Saturday (Florida)
FOX: Pete Fiutak
Golden Tornado (Georgia Tech)
Heisman Pundit
I'm a Realist (Georgia)
Journalism is for Rock Stars (Alabama)
Mark May Be Wrong
MDG CFB (Fresno State)
Mountain Lair (West Virginia)
MGOBlog (Michigan)
Orange::44 (Syracuse)
Paradigm Blog (Michigan)
Paul Westerdawg (Georgia)
Pitch Right (Navy)
Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer (Alabammer)
Section Six
Sexy Results (Virginia)
SI: Stewart Mandel/John Walters
Sporting Fools (Florida State)
Straight Bangin' (Michigan)
Texas A&M and Baseball, In No Particular Order (Texas A&M)
The 614 (Ohio State)
The House That Rock Built (Notre Dame)
The Sporting Gnomes (Clemson)
Tiger Pundit (Clemson)
We Must Ignite This Couch (West Virginia)
The Wizard of Odds

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The Blog Poll

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WANNA DO SOME RESEARCH? NERD! HERE'S SOME QUICK REFERENCES:

College Football Data Warehouse
College Football Research Center
College Football News
cfbstats.com
Football Commentary
THE STANDINGS
THE POLLS

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Passing
Receiving
All-Purpose
Scoring
Tackles
Sacks
Interceptions
Tackles For Loss
Field Goals
Punting
Kickoff Returns
Punt Returns
TEAM STATISTICS
Rushing Offense
Passing Offense
Total Offense
Scoring Offense
Rushing Defense
Passing Defense
Total Defense
Scoring Defense
Turnover Margin

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Past Seasons
2005
Thursday Morning Quarterback
Sept. 29/Oct. 6/Oct. 20/Oct. 27/Nov. 3/Nov. 10/Nov. 17/Nov. 24/Dec. 1
Sunday Morning Quarterback
Oct. 2/Oct. 23/Oct. 30/Nov. 6/Nov. 13/Nov. 27
Stat Relevance Watch
Part One/Part Two/Part Three
SMQ Bowl Blitz
New Orleans/GMAC/Las Vegas/Poinsettia/Motor City

SMQ's [Hurricane-Abbreviated] 2005 Preview
Top 25 Countdown/Methodology
All-America Team
ACC
BIG EAST
BIG TEN
BIG XII