I understand Charlie has a "shit list" file on his computer and he tracks stuff like this for eventual paybacks, even when it does not effect him or ND.
Subway Alumni | Email | Homepage | 12.03.07 - 4:27 pm | #

Always love the analysis, but one thing bothers me about it: The whole basis of this is to see 'who voted most away from the mean.' Why is the mean assumed to be the 'correct' score? What if the mean is wrong? It like the old parents line "If everyone else jumped off a cliff, who you to?" If everyone else doesn't realize Ohio St sucks, who are you 'a lunatic' for NOT voting them #1??


Just saying...The Coaches is who of the dumbest/conflicting interest tools in all of sports and I hate it.
Bryan (ND Alumni '02) | Email | Homepage | 12.03.07 - 4:35 pm | #

How bout an award who single dumbest vote? I vote for Franchione (formerly of A&M) voting Hawaii 22
Bryan (ND Alumni '02) | Email | Homepage | 12.03.07 - 4:37 pm | #

You gotta wonder whether coaches have an inherent bias towards their conference (which they probably do) or whether some part (possibly even a large part) of the bias comes from the fact that the poll is made public, so they need to show their fellow conference coaches that they had their back.
Mark | Email | Homepage | 12.03.07 - 4:43 pm | #

Bryan -
We're not saying that anyone's votes are wrong. That analysis would probably involve looking at the number of bowl game upsets on a coach's ballot. But, what the analysis shows is that coaches constistently favor their own team, teams from their own conference and other teams on their schedule.

If I say the PAC-10 is best and you say the Big Ten is best, one of us is right and one is wrong. However, if we say it several years in a row and you are right some years and I am right other years, we are biased.
Jeff | Email | Homepage | 12.03.07 - 5:14 pm | #

On a completely unrelated note, check out this link depicting "Things I would rather watch than another season of Ty-Ball".

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=1...1&t=1568748& p=1

Hilarious.
OC mj | Email | Homepage | 12.03.07 - 5:19 pm | #

I guess the chocolate milk after practice didn't work for the Huskies. This is your next drink of choice, Washington: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavor_Aid
Fighting Binny | Email | Homepage | 12.03.07 - 5:38 pm | #

And another...Who could coach Washington better than Ty? Yes, I'm still holding onto some of that resentment.

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?S=1...=1361& t=1563279
OC mj | Email | Homepage | 12.03.07 - 6:00 pm | #

Here's more food for thought about biases. I have a friend who is a Div-1A football official in a major conference. He will tell you officials have built in biases in favor of their own conferences, too. Ask, for example, Oklahoma or ND when it comes to PAC-10 officials.
Lush | Email | Homepage | 12.03.07 - 7:33 pm | #

OC mj -- Thanks for the links. Positively hilarious.
I tried to add a picture of Senator "Foot-Tapping Craig", but couldn't get it to accempt.
Glad to see other fans still with a sense of humor after their disasters.
Subway Alumni | Email | Homepage | 12.03.07 - 8:38 pm | #

In case you haven't looked, Charlie is serving Kool Aid over on the UND.edu website. I thought it tasted pretty good but after last year, I can't help but wonder if it will give me Hersey squirts again...
Jan | Email | Homepage | 12.03.07 - 10:17 pm | #

Dear All:

I have been able to tap into your subjective criticism (numerous e-mails ricocheting from one contact to the next throughout our wonderful country) of my ability to mold ill-directed boys into fine men. It is of utmost importance to note for this job to become complete, these youngsters must learn how to deal with defeat. I want them to become familiar with how ones emotions must adjust to the many losses we deal with-throughout our lives. I have no intentions of losing these games, and most likely would not, but I desperately deal with the many criteria of trying to mold these boys into the type of men that can deal with life's many strifes and cruelties along its agonizing path.......okay.

Best wishes,

Ty

P.S. I would like you all to know that Ty Willingham has never had a bad day.

I must credit my sister with the above; she has "ty-speak" down pretty well.

Because I find the BCS to be a crashing bore this year,(and I don't think I'll see a playoff in my lifetime) I must find entertainment and amusement elsewhere.

Too bad you couldn't get that picture up, Subway. It would have been a great addition. The painted rock was one of my favorites!
OC mj | Email | Homepage | 12.04.07 - 12:57 am | #

How about a picture of Howdy Doody?
Doug | Email | Homepage | 12.04.07 - 6:59 am | #

Marvelous work, OC mj. My photos include:
-grass growing
-that commercial where the lady keeps the idiot from walking out into traffic
-the Mark May photo that the BGS boys put up each week
-Michael Moore
-sideline troll Holly Rowe
-Vanilla Ice
-John Edwards video combing his hair
-8 X 10 glossy of The Poodle
-Joy Behar
-Omarosa
-Gray's Anatomy
-Ahmadinejad
-NBC's Football Night in America
-Dennis Rodman
-Warren Beatty's "Ishtar"
-Warren Beatty's sister Shirley MacClaine
-Warren Beatty
-Bon Jovi (sorry, Charlie)
-Charlie Sheen
-Carrot Top
-Bobcat Goldthwait
-Paris Hilton
-Britney Spears
-Lindsay Lohan
-the British Royal Family
-Hugo Chavez
-Taylor Hicks
-Charlie Weis' (THREE!) Super Bowl rings

I could go on for days.
Voice in the Wilderness | Email | Homepage | 12.04.07 - 7:00 am | #

By jobbing BC, my complete lack of disrespect for TW has softened just a bit. Can't beat them on the field, might as well screw them in the polls.
Matt J. | Email | Homepage | 12.04.07 - 9:22 am | #

Who's should be whose under the Yosemite Sam Award.

sorry :)
grammar police | Email | Homepage | 12.04.07 - 12:04 pm | #

Bryan, where should Hawaii be? They beat Boise State, and Washington (kind of). Who knows how good a team that is... but there are probably 25 teams in the country that would beat them more often than not. It might be unfair to rank them that low, but not unreasonable, if you are voting for who is a better team than who.
Oreo | Email | Homepage | 12.04.07 - 12:29 pm | #

The coaches clearly chose Missouri as a better team than Kansas or Illinois. In the coaches ranking, Missouri, then Kansas, then Illinois was chosen on 38 of the 60 ballots.
-Kansas, Missouri, then Illinois was chosen on 20 ballots.
-Only one coach - Dantonio of MSU - preferred Illinois over the other two, then Missouri, then Kansas.
-Zook picked Missouri first, then his team,Illinois, then Kansas.
-So, head to head, Missouri was chosen over Kansas by a 2-1 margin (40-20).
-By conference, 6 of the 7 Big 10 coaches chose Missouri as the best team of the three. 4 of the 6 Big 12
coaches chose Missouri as the best, including all 3 of the coaches whose teams played both Missouri and Kansas. Kansas did not play Texas, Oklahoma or Texas Tech.
-Overall, Missouri was clearly considered the best team of the three this year by the coaches, including Zook and the coaches in the Big 12 who played both.
Brian | Email | Homepage | 12.04.07 - 12:58 pm | #

I wasn't sure where to post it, but I'll put it here... Weis in his presser admitted to only seeing one or two michigan games and practically none of the major players games, like LSU and OSU. But he votes. I am not bagging on Weis, I'm sure that is standard amongst all the different coaches... you only watch who you will play. My problem is with the process, because 1/3 of the decision on who plays in the NC is decided by people who are either voting for money or voting based on nothing (not watching the games).

A generation from now people will ask older people how anyone took it seriously, and I for one will not have an answer.
Oreo | Email | Homepage | 12.04.07 - 4:46 pm | #

Oreo,

Therein lies the problem with coaches polls. How many coaches actually have the time to sit and watch a game that doesnt involve an opponent?
Doug | Email | Homepage | 12.04.07 - 7:39 pm | #

This is great stuff. I like any analysis like this that answers curious questions. Good work.
Animal | Email | Homepage | 12.06.07 - 5:45 pm | #

So you losers still find time to obsess about Ty?

You really need to let it go. Notre Dame has a much bigger (and fatter) problem now.

And shouldn't this text be credited to Mgoblog since much of the original post was plagerized from there.
fan of the game | Email | Homepage | 12.06.07 - 10:11 pm | #