Posted by Dr Fro 8:45 PM
Seven reasons that I am not upset right now.


1) If we lose our bowl game, then all the worry will be for naught.

2) If we win our bowl game, then the worst case scenario is a 12-1 season, a BCS win (to go 3-0 in the BCS) and a top-3 finish. That isn't a bad worst case scenario.

3) If OU loses to Missou, we should play in the NC game.

4) Even if OU wins, there is a possible (albeit highly improbably chance) that we pass them in the BCS and go to the NC game. It would only take about 9 voters.

5) There is also an improbable but possible scenario of Florida beating Alabama but failing to leapfrog Texas, putting Texas against OU in the NC game.

6) Even if OU wins the BCS championship, we would likely still win the AP championship (ala 2003 USC) since we lead them in the AP right now. That would be fun.

7) Maybe this whole situation makes people sympathetic to Colt for the Heisman.

I really don't care. If we want to place blame, look no further than failing to beat Tech a few weeks ago. That is the beauty of college football: losses haunt you.

A quick tangent...some people are looking at OU going to the Big XII championship game as proof of the flaw of the BCS. Wrong. The BCS puts #1 and #2 together in the championship game. It hasn't done that yet. That is in a week. The *flaw* is that the Big XII has a stupid tiebreaker. The fifth tiebreaker uses the BCS formula. Conferences should be decided based on conference play, but the BCS, obviously, considers non-conference play. Let's pretend that Oregon State beat Oregon. That would give us the right example. OSU would absolutely deserve to win the conference based on conference play, but USC would absolutely deserve to play in the NC game (if given the chance) over OSU based on non-conference play. Conference championships should not consider non-conference play. So the Big XII should change its rule. Prospectively...... The rules were the rules at the start of the season, so it is silly to complain about them now. It is like the guy who bitches about blind structure in a tournament after it is clear that it doesn't suit him. Funny, he could have complained when the tournament started. Or, he could have played faster at the beginning of the tourney to adjust for the structure. Of all the things he should have done, complain is not one of them.

JG and CKA were right that OU won the tiebreaker. However, I don't think that they thought it would be that close. I also doubt they knew that the NU-CU and KU-Missou games may well have been the difference. What I didn't know (and am still shocked by) is that OU would beat Tech by a million points. That one I did not factor in when I thought UT would win the tiebreaker - I was going under an assumption that the game would be as tight as the UT-Tech and TX-OU games.

If OU beats Missou, I wish them the best of luck against the SEC champ.


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Posted by Junelli 7:58 AM
I finally got around to watching the WSOP final table episode. And there's one thing that bothered me throughout the show: the riduculous advertising on the player's clothes.

Am I the only one who thinks that poker players look like Nascar drivers?? It is so tacky, and looks incredibly stupid with a player wearing 11 patches from different corporate sponsors.

Show a little class...


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Posted by Dr Fro 7:16 PM
I am very much looking forward to the UT-A&M game being back on Thursday night, where it belongs. We haven't played on Thanksgiving since I was in college, and I miss it. Ain't much better than sitting on the sofa completely stuffed (and a little bit loaded) and watch a football game.

Since we are favored by 33.5 points, I'm not going to evern try to talk Xs and Os. In summary, we are better in every imaginable way (oh, I forgot, not in the halftime-way of judging teams).

So I decided to compile a list of things I like and dislike about Texas Agricultural and Mechanical University.

Green is a like; red is a dislike.

• The Zone - It is a terrible place to watch a game from. The seats are tiny. Only Aggies would go for a marketing campaign that gets them excited to buy seats....in the endzone.
• Robert Earl Keen - If I ever go on the wagon, I will need to burn all of my REK CDs. Is it possible to listen to Bobby Keen without cracking open a cold one?
• List Eaters - Lists are a lot things. They can be ordinal. They can be chronological. They can not be - they should not be - edible. That is just wrong.
• Secretary of Defense Robert Gates - He is a brilliant man and a patriot. He also had the very easy task of doing better than his predecessor. He did so with flying colors. (Technically, he is a "T-shirt fan", but since I don't buy into that, I will let him be an Aggie)
• All fans are myopic. Aggies are blind. They don't describe themselves in superlatives; they describe themselves absolutes. "All Aggies stand for the entire game. We never leave early. We never talk bad about our team. We sell out every game." Whatever. Aggies, like all fanbases, have good and bad fans.
• The red, white and blue thing after 9/11/01 - In a society where everything is over-eulogized, this was a fairly simple but powerful display. I liked it.
• Their propensity for violence when they lose - UT in 95, Tech in 01, the SMU cheerleader, the Rice M.O.B/Corps tussle, the list goes on. I know, I know, the other guy is always to blame. Funny, every well-publicized eruption of violence in the SWC/Big XII of which I know, especially those involving actual representatives of the school, have involved A&M. I guess it is just a crazy coincidence.
• KTL - If for no other reason, he introduced me to the idea that you could dip a quesadilla into queso. I thought this was forbidden by Leviticus, but I was pleased to learn that God gave us cheese to let us know he loves us.
• The very gay painted overalls thing. I don't get it. Somebody explain it to me. We have hot sorority chicks in skimpy orange dresses; they have rednecks with "red ass" painted on their overalls. You pick.
• Aggie jokes - They are good sports about Aggie jokes. They are overly sensitive about actual criticism, but I have never met an Aggie that cared one lick about an Aggie joke.
• That they beat us the past two years.
• That we will beat them this year.

That's it. I hope it is a good, clean game. And I definitely hope the best team wins.

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Posted by Dr Fro 9:27 PM

That one on the right makes a pretty good point.

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Posted by Dr Fro 9:23 PM
"I am very excited about the mix of players that we will bring together for this next season," said Mori Eskandani, High Stakes Poker producer "Viewers are in for a thrill."

This is me doing my happy dance.


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Posted by Dr Fro 12:26 PM
You can't afford no ring....you can't afford no ring....I shouldn't be wearing white, and you can't afford no ring...

I have been MIA in San Diego since a week ago Sunday. I have more to blog than I could ever get done today, so we will just touch on a few goodies today with more to come during the week.

It does not appear that Tech will win the national championship or the conference championship or even the division. They will, as they always do, only win the ring for best college team in west Texas.

It is interesting how it has all played out in the B12 South this year between the 4 best teams: the team wearing white has lost every time. (Actually, UT literally wore white against OU, but I am using the phrase metaphorically to refer to playing at your opponent's house.)

It is also interesting that no combination of games could have played out better for the conference for TV. UT won its run of toughies until its last one. Tech took the baton and carried it to the end of their toughies. OU grabbed it and plays the finale against OSU. Every week, the game of the week in the Big 12 South is also the game of the season for the country. Verry interesting.

I am now looking pretty good for predictions 2, 3, 11 and 12.

To say that Tech was going to "pull a Tech" this year would be like predicting a highway gas station restroom would be unflushed when you get in there only to see someone blew dirt all over the bowl, seat and floor. Take a mental picture of that. It is an apt metaphor for how Tech looked last night.

CKA, the link to Texags was brilliant. It seems that 90% of the readers find it funny but some need to adjust either their sarcasm meter, their sense of humor or their reading comprehension.

We played poker in San Diego on Thursday night. We played $0.50-$1.00 NLHE, but you would have never guessed it by looking at the table: over $6,000 in play and pots regularly exceeding $100 pre-flop.

I went the whole night not getting good hole cards, but that didn't stop me from seeing flops. I didn't get AA, KK, JJ or AK until I got KK with a few minutes left. Even when I got QQ, I was up against AA. Uggg. Still, I managed to be slightly positive when a big hand came fairly late. Whale McWhalepants was pushing everybody around and I decided to make a stand. With a big main pot and a bigger side pot, he made a big bet. I shoved all in (raise of $460, total pot of $1,800 should he call). I had him on maybe top pair. That gave me 3 outs to the Ace plus 4 outs to a gut shot plus 7 others to the flush. So, it was a semi-bluff, but I felt quite sure that he would fold. I think my body language was my undoing. He called. I didn't catch anything and he got the side pot (KTL got the main pot w JJ).

I am now stuck $700.

I buy $500 more. I win several hands and run it up to $1,000. I double through WMcWp when my KK holds up. With $2,000ish I call his all-in bet with 9x. He had 7x. My monster 9x held up. My stack is now $2,500. I won $2,000 in thirty minutes. I went from losing $700 to winning $1,300 in thirty minutes.

Three of my top-ten wins or losses (measured by absolute value) are all wins that came on the last hand (or near-last hand) of the night in a home game. All three are north of $1,000 and they all involve small stakes (the biggest being $1-$2 NLHE). In fact, eliminate these three hands and, despite thousands upon thousands of hands played in the last 6 years, I would go from a net winner to a net loser. Kinda puts results-based analysis into perspective.


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Posted by Johnnymac 12:34 PM
Fro, in response to your comments to my Obama post below, you sound like you might be interested in this.

"You should have polled McCain voters and they would have been just as dumb."

I only polled Obama voters because I was trying to test the media's impact on the election. Since Obama won, it would be pointless (not to mention twice as expensive) to poll McCain voters.

On Fox News Monday night I challenged anyone to commission the same poll of McCain voters and if McCain voters as badly, or worse, I will pay their expenses. If not, they have to pay mine. One serious inquiry has been made, but I doubt they will have the guts to follow through. Gee, I wonder why.

You like a good bet and that sounds like it's better than even money if you truly believe your hypothesis. What say you?


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Posted by Johnnymac 12:29 PM
What the hell?

Police found a number of items in the car, including pornography, a home-made sex aid, women's stockings and a Jack Russell terrier.

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Posted by Johnnymac 7:48 AM
Sigh.

But hey - a lot of people now feel better about themselves and that's what matters, right?


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Posted by Johnnymac 4:17 PM
Yikes! Don't play poker in Denmark:

WSOP Champ to Pay $6.6 Million in Taxes

Bad beat of the year: The Danish government wants 73% of Peter Eastgate's WSOP winnings.

Peter Eastgate won $9,152,416 in the 2008 WSOP Main Event, but the question is how much of it he will get to keep.

Denmark has strict taxation rules for poker winnings - Eastgate has to pay 45% in taxes on winnings up to approximately $520 000 and 75% on the rest (over $8.5 million). The end result will be $6.6 million in taxes, if the Danish government gets what it wants.

Eastgate moved to England shortly after reaching the Main Event final table to protect his future winnings, but it's doubtful whether that will be accepted by the authorities.

Oh well, $2.5 million it still a lot of money for a 22-year-old Danish young-gun...

What I don't get is what the "authorities" can do about anything if he establishes his residence in England and none of the money ever enters or transits through the Danish banking system. They issue a warrant for his arrest? Will England extradite him for that? Really?


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Posted by Dr Fro 7:24 AM
Do not bet on the Horns today.

1) We play on the road in even years the game before A&M. Whave a bad habit of not playing well in those games. In 2006, we lost to KSU. In 2004, we beat a very bad KU team due to a miracle. In 2002, we lost to Tech. In 1998, we lost at Tech. Call it lack of focus; call it cold November weather on the road. It ain't good.

2) We are very banged up. In key positions.

3) We have a shot at the BCS (both the championship game and a regular BCS game). In this position, the Horns (in fact, quite a lot of teams), blow it down the stretch. We finished strong in 04 and 05, but the past two years we have lost late and blown our BCS chances. We also did it in 2001 and 2003.

That said, I really think Kansas is terrible, so I see us winning a close game. So close, in fact, that it hurts us in the BCS standings.

If you want to bet on a game today, bet on Iowa over Purdue.


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Posted by Dr Fro 7:24 AM
End the NFL Playoffs!

When will the madness end? Let's look at how successful the NFL playoffs have been this decade:

2007: The Giants won the championship despite not winning their division and having 6 other teams with a better regular season record.

2006: Indianapolis won the Super Bowl despite Baltimore and San Diego having better records in the AFC.

2005: Pittsburgh won the Super Bowl even though 3 other teams had a better record in the AFC. They also lost their division to Cincy via the tiebreaker. Yes, the won the Super Bowl even though they couldn't win their division.

2004: New England won the Super Bowl even though Pittsburgh had a better record in the AFC

2003: New England won the Super Bowl, and they were the best team in their division, conference and league.

2002: Tampa Bay won it all. They were tied for the best record in the regular season, but Philly won the regular season conference tilte (aka 1 seed) due to a better conference record (11-1 as opposed to 9-3).

2001: New England won the Super Bowl even though Pittsburgh was the best team in the conference (by 2 games). The Bears and Rams also did better than New England in the regular season.

2000: Baltimore won the Super Bowl. They didn't win their division (Tennessee did).

So, in summary, out of 8 years, only once did the best team in the regular season win the Super Bowl. Of the remaining 7 years:
- 4 of the 7 of the champions did not even win their division
- 7 of the 7 of the champions was not the best team in their conference

When will the madness end? When will we finally institute a system where the regular season matters? It is just a big money grab by the owners and the television execs. I wish there was a system in place somewhere whereby the regular season mattered and a bunch of suits didn't muck it all up with a playoff which, while exciting to watch, does a poor job of crowing a champ.


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Posted by Dr Fro 9:37 PM

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

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Posted by Dr Fro 8:10 AM
I have been out of town for the past five days. Friday we drove to Austin, Saturday we went to the UT-BU game, Sunday was the Day of Fro and Mon-Tues I worked in Austin. The Day of Fro was the brainchild of my main man, Heavy J. We ran 3.3m at Town Lake, showered and went to the University Co-op to load up on Xmas presents, went to the Salt Lick for some BBQ ribs, brisket, chicken and sausage accompanied by some cold golds, went to the Driftwood Winery for a tasting, swung by Beavis' house to see his kids then ended the night at Cain and Abels, playing pool for $50 a stick and having some celebratory tequila shots. Good times.

A week ago, I posted what I felt was the probable outcome for the Big XII South. As CKA pointed out, Tech beating OSU was the equivalent of UT being on a draw and hitting a blank on the turn.

Penn State's loss brings me to the subject of this post.

I would like to discuss some scenarios that are still possible, although each individual scenario is highly improbable. Collectively, they at add up to an aggregate probability that is not improbable.

1) Tech wins out, SEC teams falter and UT rematches Tech in the NC game.
2) OU wins out, SEC teams falter and UT rematches OU in the NC game.
3) Tech wins out but loses the CCG, thus sending UT to the NC game.
4) OU wins out but loses the CCG, thus sending UT to the NC game.

Scenarios 1 and 2 are reminiscent of 1996 when Florida lost to FSU in the regular season and got to rematch (and beat) them in the NC game. This happened because UT beat NU in the Big XII CCG.

Scenarios 3 and 4 are reminiscent of 2001 when NU went to the NC game by virtue of UT losing to CU in the Big XII CCG. NU did not even win their division.

If this happens in 2008, that'd be some serious history of an upset in the Big XII CCG sending another team to the NC game. Of course, there was 2003 when the loser of the Big XII CCG went to the NC game despite their loss. That was OU, and that brings us to scenario #5:

5) Tech wins out, as does Alabama. They are so far ahead in the BCS that even when Tech loses the Big XII CCG, Tech goes to the NC game.

Of course, if OU beats Tech, there are scenarios (although JG and CKA don't think it is likely at all) whereby UT wins the three-way tiebreaker. I see no way that Tech could win the three-way tiebreaker. I could see UT winning the tiebreaker as follows:
- Computers do not care about early losses versus late losses. They do care that OU would have lost to UT on a neutral field while UT's loss came on the road. They also care about our victory over Missou, a victory OU does not have
- Humans would, as they have many times in the past, make a point of putting UT ahead of OU to force the issue.
OU's strong card here is their victory over TCU, a card that is less strong after TCU lost to Utah.
Of course, we keep operating under an assumption that UT, Tech and OU manage to win the games where they will be heavily favored. The game most likely to be an upset is the KU-UT game. Do not be surprised if the wear and tear of a long season in a tough conference leads to a UT flop in Lawrence. I wouldn't bet on it, but I wouldn't bet against it. So there are more scenarios out there that involve UT in the CCG:

6) (the reverse of 2) OU wins out but UT goes to the CCG. SEC teams falter and UT rematches OU in the NC game.
7) (the reverse of 4) OU wins out but UT goes to the CCG and loses the CCG, thus sending OU to the NC game.

And our last scenario is the UT 2004 scenario:
8) Tech or OU wins out and goes to the CCG. UT, at BCS 3 or 4 gets an automatic at-large. They win and end up the season quite pleased with their results.

My favorite part of the 2004 analogy is that that I have read the sequel to that book (aka, the 2005 season), and enjoyed it very much.

Fun stuff.

Nobody has mentioned the Buck Burnette dismissal. Maybe that is because there is nothing to say other than: Hell yeah, he got kicked off the team. That was unbelievably irresponsible. To not be able to anticipate that what the consequences would be of his actions requires extraordinary stupidity. Unlike Rhett Bomar, who was able to re-surface at SHSU, BB is done. Name me a football team that doesn't have a whole bunch of African-American players. There isn't a locker room on the planet (this side of Arlington Heights H.S.) that would have him as a teammate.

Actually, back to Tech for a sec. I don't want anybody to get the impression that I am a Tech hater. My posts have had little to do with what I want to happen as much was what I project will happen. If it all plays out that Tech is in the NC game and UT isn't, I will cheer for Tech* just as I sincerely cheered for and was happy for OU in 2000 against FSU.

*I won't cheer for them if I bet against them, but that isn't because I hate Tech. It would be because I like money.

The WSOP wraps up today. I am unlikely to catch the game until Wednesday night, but I hope to have commentary on it then.


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Posted by Johnnymac 9:56 AM



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Posted by Johnnymac 10:31 AM
I was going to post this as a comment to Fro's post about the Big XII but decided to just write my own post.

---------------------------

Fro said:

1/8 chance of UT/OU tie that would be broken by BCS standing - more likely to go to UT

I disagree with you about the BCS tiebreaker more likely to go to Texas.

It goes without saying that all of these scenarios require Texas to win out.

If Tech wins out, then Tech is undefeated and wins the south, period.

If OU wins out and Tech beats OSU, then it's three way between OU, Texas, and Tech at 7-1. That means OU won the last game of the three over the number 2 (or maybe even number 1 at that point, depending on LSU/Bama) team in the nation. Yes, Texas did the same thing, but when the relevant poll comes out that will have been almost 2 months ago instead of 2 weeks for OU beating Tech, and the pollsters will see 3 one-loss teams as a chance to "right the ship" so to speak and reset everything back to the way it was in September. OU will be ranked higher than Texas in that case, I can pretty much guarantee it, although the computers might help Texas a little bit because of the Mizzou win.

If OSU wins out and Tech beats OU, then it's three way between OSU, Texas, and Tech at 7-1. It might be closer, but in that case I could see OSU being ranked higher on the same logic sans the pre-ranking stuff - that OSU closed the season with wins against Tech and OU with a road win at Colorado in between for good measure. Not any more impressive than what Texas has done, but it will still be a question of "what have you done for me lately?" and I can see OSU getting the nod, at least from the voters.

Tech needs to lose twice for Texas to go to the CCG. This is not that unlikely. In that case there would probably still be a 7-1 tie with either OU or OSU but Texas has the tiebreaker with wins over both.

I think that OU is going to beat Tech, simply on the basis of revenge for last year in Lubbock, where Bradford got knocked out with a concussion in the first quarter. I would be tempted to say that OU wins that game big but I have too much respect for Tech right now to say that. They are undefeated and are a very good football team.

Far less likely, but still not at all a dream, though, is OSU winning tomorrow night in Lubbock. Tech has a special place in its heart for Texas and A&M coming to town, so the emotion simply won't be there like it was last week, and I have already heard many Tech fans blowing off a very good OSU team in anticipation of next week in Norman in much the same way that many Longhorn fans blew off OSU post-Missouri (Mack Brown quote, 6th paragraph down). Tech came out flat at home against a much worse Nebraska team and survived, they could do it again and "pull a Tech" and still have their annual surprisingly bad loss. I think Tech will probably win the game, but would not be surprised to see OSU pull an upset. In fact, I might even go with OSU +3.5 points when I make my wagers later today.

I don't think Baylor is going to beat Tech in Lubbock, however.

So my point is, the OSU/Tech game in Lubbock tomorrow night is HUGE for Texas fans. If Tech wins, you can pretty much write off Texas for the CCG or NCG, although no matter who wins the South, Texas will likely get an at-large BCS bid (maybe the Sugar Bowl versus an SEC team?) if they take care of business from here on out.

And finally, Texas fans, don't forget that next year is supposed to be the year for the Longhorns. This year has already been a pleasant surprise by far, as Fro has already pointed out.

I should also point out that being a native myself of the windswept dusty plains of West Texas, I follow Tech football very closely and cheer for them in every game but one each year. I will make an exception tomorrow night and cheer for OSU for the reasons listed above, but if Tech wins I won't be that upset about it and will look forward to next Saturday in Norman with anticipation of a really good football game with me having no interest in the outcome aside from whatever wager I might put on the game. Either way, I like Tech and am pleased with the season they have been having. I would not be upset at all seeing Tech go to the CCG and maybe even the NCG if Texas doesn't. Tech beating OU would be a fine consolation prize for me.


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Posted by Johnnymac 9:48 AM


Go here to watch the whole episode. It's quite funny no matter who you voted for.


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Posted by Dr Fro 10:13 PM
OK, two more things, then I say good night









.


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Posted by Dr Fro 9:26 PM

Sorry for the dearth of posts. It's been a crazy-busy week at work with two big things going on, both of which are now done. I am travelling to Austin tomorrow to go to the big game against Baylor ;-) and then staying in Austin for work on Monday and Tuesday.

I'll start by telling all those of the west Texas plains Good Game.

People expect me to be upset, but those people don't know me well. I can be passionate about UT football and also keep it in perspective. Things I think about to keep in perspective are:

If you had offered me at the season's beginning to have our record, I would have taken that. We are much better than I thought we would be.

We just had a 4-game stretch that some thought we might go 0-4 or at best 2-2. With 2 seconds left in the Tech game, we just about went 4-0. I say 3-1 ain't bad.

And even if you judge success only by championships (which I do not), it is worth noting that our Big 12 Championship chances went from "sure thing" to "in the running" with Crabtree's touchdown. A downgrade, but not an elimination of hope.

It was one of those games where you can point to 20 things that, had they gone the other way, a different team would have won. For the past 5 years, there must be 10 different games where, when a game could be described that way, we were the ones that won. Once, we lost. I'll take 10-1 in crazy, anybody-coulda-won-that-one games.

I am cool with the loss.

Now enough about the past. How about the future?

How will the Big 12 South play out?

This diagram helps to answer that question

Diagram

If you don't understand it, go study Big XII tiebreaker rules, which are similar to most conferences. Lets do some simplified math. First assume that any game between Tech, UT, OU and OSU is 50/50, and lets assume those teams have a 100% chance to win all other games. This is a simplification of the math to show the teams relative chance of winning the Big XII South, not a precision prediction of the future (for instance, knowing that A&M has beaten UT the past two years, I am not suggesting we have a 100% chance of beating them. But any one of UT, Tech, OU or OSU could lose a big upset...I am calculating what would happen IF that doesn't happen).

So, using that diagram, you get
4/8 chance Tech wins
3/8 chance UT wins
1/8 chance of UT/OU tie that would be broken by BCS standing - more likely to go to UT

Interesting. Call it 50/50 between UT and Tech

Okie State can only win if they win out AND UT drops one to somebody else. OU relies on, inter alia, the tiebreaker of who is higher in the BCS or for UT to drop one down the road.

(I STILL think OU is the best team in the league. We will see how it plays out.)

I have an analogy for you to explain UT/Teach being 50/50:

All in with one card to come and
- Tech holds 5s 6c and
- UT holds 7d 8d to a board of
5d 6d 7c Qc

In that situation, Tech appears to be ahead, holding 2-pair versus a pair. But....

UT would have 22 outs. (9 diamonds plus 2 sevens plus 3 eights plus 3 fours plus 3 nines plus 2 queens).

That is 22 outs with 44 in the deck or 50/50. Do you call UT behind because two-pair is better than a pair of sevenes. If so, do you say they draw out if they win? Or do you see that they are 50/50 and not be suprised by either outcome?

Mmmmmm poker football anaolgies mmmmmmmmmmmmm (Homer Simpson voice)

Can we stop using the word "gauntlet"? PLEASE! That, and "woodshed" Let's stop saying those words when I stop using "sick"!

I have a leak in my poker game, but I just hit my bedtime, so we can talk about that later.

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Posted by Dr Fro 8:45 PM



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Posted by Johnnymac 9:31 AM
And in light of my post made earlier today, I find this clip to be rather appropriate for my mood this morning (language warning / hat tip to Jonah).



The world doesn't end until you're dead.


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Posted by Johnnymac 8:11 AM
Congratulations to President-elect Obama. I am certainly disappointed in the results of the election, as I am sure that many of our readers are (and I know my fellow Blogger, Fro, is) quite pleased. While I am worried about some of the policies that are sure to come, I certainly respect his victory and pledge my loyalty and civility.

I know you guys don't come here for that stuff but I wanted to say it, anyway.


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Posted by Dr Fro 3:51 PM
I found this on intertops:

2008 WSOP Main Event
Closing Date: Nov 09, 2008 12:00 GMT -4
Play restarts 9th November 2008
Coverage on ESPN

Option............................................ Win Odds ................................Place Odds
Dennis Phillips - 26,295,000..........................+400........................................................-125
Ivan Demidov - 24,400,000.........................+400.........................................................-125
Peter Eastgate - 18,375,000..........................+450.........................................................-111
Scott Montgomery - 19,690,000...................+450........................................................-111
Ylon Schwartz - 12,525,000...........................+800.......................................................+160
Darus Suharto - 12,520,000............................+900......................................................+180
David 'Chino' Rheem - 10,230,000.................+900.....................................................+180
Craig Marquis - 10,210,000.........................+1100.......................................................+220
Kelly Kim - 2,620,000...................................+4000......................................................+800

Evidently, they use "place" in the way you use "show" at the tracks. All the odds seem to be derived entirely from chip stack size, except for Chino Rheem's odds. I'll probably take Chino to place at +180.


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Posted by Junelli 12:48 AM
Curtis Brown is terrible. He was burned all night, and couldn't make a tackle to save his life. Mack should've pulled him at halftime.


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Posted by Dr Fro 7:25 AM
You might enjoy the letter I sent to my Tech co-workers...

Techsters, I have some advice for you on your biggest game ever:

1) I recommend going to College GameDay. It is lots of fun. We've been lots. You should take it in because this is the last time ESPN comes to Lubbock.
2) Actually, I forgot, we play there every 2 years. You can plan on them coming every 2 years.
3) That white skinny guy in the backfield on 4th down...he is called a "punter". Can you say that? P-U-N-T-E-R. Good for you. I know that the concept of punting is thus far foreign to you, but that will change today.
4) The enormous black guy that is in your backfield but wearing orange....he is Mr. Orakpo. He eats QBs for dinner. Do not anger Mr. Orakpo, or he will eat you, too. He plays defense. Can you say that? Ah, nevermind, getting a grasp on punting and defense on the same day might be too much for a Tech fan.

In the "if you win category":
5) If you win, this will be your first victory over a #1 team. Take some advice from a fan who's been there, done that. Climb the highest tree and shout "We're number one". Of course, you will have to wait until you get home on Sunday because there are no trees in Lubbock.
6) If you win, do not chant "OVERRATED". Fans of Tier 3 schools make this mistake all the time. By saying your opponent is overrated, you diminish what you just accomplished. I know the Transitive Property isn't taught at Tech, but if you think real hard on it, you'll probably understand. (Maybe I shouldn't force punting, defense and the Transitive Property on you all at once.)
7) If you win, you have a lot to be happy for. This is progress. All you need to do is win every game between now and 2035 against us, and you will have the lead in the all-time series. I would say that the momentum gained from winning today would make that a certainty.

And finally, let's put our differences aside...
8) Whoever wins this game, we can both sit back and laugh at the train wreck that is A&M. They think they are so clever transposing our acronyms, calling us TU and you TT, but deep down inside, it absolutely kills them that the biggest intrastate game in Texas involves their biggest rival and a team whose existence they don't recognize, even though The Yosemite Sams have beaten the sheepshaggers 11 out of the past 14 years.

Good luck. Whatever happens tonight, a very good team will lose. It should be a battle.


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