OT: One Fan's Transformation
by Bluebirdz on Nov 16, 2011 8:20 AM EST
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PrintI have almost always been a baseball fan, but this year I changed. Before the 2011 season, I was not who I was now. I was the fan who believed in RBIs, saves among other baseball fallacies. I was the fan, whom you hear at the games talking about how Adam Lind is a good first basemen because of his fairly high RBI total, the kind of fan you just want to turn around and tell them how wrong they are.
But then during last year's offseason with nothing other to do than watch hockey all winter, I found MLB Trade Rumors, the first site on my way to internet baseball glory. From their I found a little site called FanGraphs, one you may know. On that site I really got my first taste of saber-metrics, because looking at the stat sheets I sure wasn't used to seeing things like UZR, wOBA, wRC+, and even WAR. As I kept reading and reading about those baseball statistics I eventually became quite familiar with them.
From FanGraphs, the next place I found was the site I visit probably twice as much as any other website everyday, and that site is this great community that is Bluebird Banter. From there I was immediately greeted with nice thoughts from nice people (Yes, even Pikachu) and was welcomed into this online baseball community. I got into my first gamethread a couple days after and was just astonished by how much better it was to watch baseball, but also to have intelligent baseball conversation with some of the many minds on this site. It may not be the same as talking with your friend at the game about how Brett Lawrie is a 10 NERD player (That is if they understood what that meant). But this online community has greatened my baseball knowledge and everyday I am greeted with up to the minute news from Tom, prospecting from Woodman, and new fanposts written by the other members of this site.
It has given me a whole new understanding on the world of Baseball and has opened new opportunities. I no longer believe that the closer with the most saves is the best, I know paying a guy who pitches 60 innings a year a lot of money isn't a good investment, and I know (unfortunately) that despite his RBI total Adam Lind, was just plain bad, and I know that Pikachu's infatuation with Daric Barton is at least feasible. I went from checking and reading the comments over at TSN, to now weekly listening to Up & In, ESPN Baseball today whenever I can and constantly checking players FanGraphs pages to get a better understanding of what they truly are.
This site and many more around the web have given me a new way to love baseball and a place to call home. I don't know if I'm the only one who this has happened to, and I suspect not, but if you did read through this whole post, tell us your BBB Story in the comments below.
Follow me on Twitter @HousOfTheBB
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I come here for the repartee...
but I stay for the Pikachu.
thisrighthere!
by TonyFernandezSavedMyLife on Nov 16, 2011 10:15 AM EST reply actions 6 recs
Isn't Pikachu...
…what you’re doing when cleaning your sleeve after sneezing?
Hugo thinks I'm a lazy academic
by bluejaysstatsgeek on Nov 16, 2011 7:40 PM EST up reply actions
no
it’s when you go to the bathroom and someone is looking at you
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
:-)
..and to bluebirdz: I like the story.
My story: I sometimes teach stats and maybe my love of stats was founded in baseball from my childhood days. Back then, they didn’t recalculate batting averages during the game broadcasts, so I would. I drive some of my students batty with baseball examples in class, but other like it.
Hugo thinks I'm a lazy academic
by bluejaysstatsgeek on Nov 16, 2011 7:46 PM EST up reply actions
Jeez I wish you were my teacher.
Math would be awesome
A day that will live in infamy: August 4th, 2011, Sept. 28, 2011 wasn't bad either.
7 members waiting for Aaron Hill's return...
That's a good story.
Same thing happened with me. But it was more due to me being to young to understand much more than the basics originally. When I turned like 13 or 14 the advanced stuff started to make more sense
A day that will live in infamy: August 4th, 2011, Sept. 28, 2011 wasn't bad either.
7 members waiting for Aaron Hill's return...
Got into baseball last Spring
learned the rules of the sport and advanced statistics at the same time. Made it much easier to understand sabermetrics (i.e. the “leap of faith” for DIPS came pretty easily)
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
it was Moneyball for me, as I'm sure for many others
that got me started on the Leap of Faith™. then I started getting interesting in statistics in general (not just baseball), and Baseball Between the Numbers gave me the big push
still have to read Baseball Between the Numbers
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
I'm trying to learn some advanced stats on other sports too
i know it’s prevalent in hockey and basketball, but i’m not sure about football
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
What are the advanced stats in Hockey and Basketball?
In hockey, are you talking about Corsi/Fenwick numbers and the variants on them?
In basketball, I have no idea what they are but I can imagine a similar concept to Corsi numbers.
by T_Mizz on Nov 16, 2011 3:23 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
it is actually becoming very popular in football. As well, because football is less of a “traditionalist” sport like hockey and basketball i have observed that the mainstream football community has been faster to jump on board with the use of advanced and “new” stats and formulas in football. I listen to many, many different sports podcasts daily and even the old school football guys seem to be really embracing advanced football stats which is a striking contrast to what I see in baseball and hockey.
by Sean Coleman on Nov 16, 2011 7:59 PM EST up reply actions
I'm far from a football fan
but I haven’t really noticed this (feel free to correct me). the only real thing I know about football advanced analysis is going for it on fourth down which is still incredibly uncommon, despite all the analyses which say it’s very inefficient. I remember there was one study that said going for it every time on 4th-and-1 would not only result in (many) more points scored, it wouldn’t even result in any fewer points against.
anyway, advanced stats are hard to introduce in any pro sport. the coach is trying too hard to not fail rather than succeed because his incentive is to not lose his job (remember the flak Belichick took for the 4th-and-2 against the Colts?). it’s unlikely that they have a real economic interest in winning
You especially should go take a look
at the first link I replied to Pikachu with (advancednflstats), and just read through the Top Articles on the bar on the right. It’s heavy on game theory and debunking logical fallacies, and between them all, covers just about all the things which coaches or GMs are likely mess up, without getting too bogged down in the numbers themselves.
And yes, everything you mentioned is very much correct at least as it pertains to coaches and other decision makers. I don’t have a sense of what podcasters have to say, but the talking heads still base their “analysis” on outcomes and conventional wisdom, so they’re naturally against it, which drives the narrative which 90-some percent of fans adhere to.
Check yoself before you rec yoself.
Football Outsiders, I think
Ran a bunch of simulations where a team would never punt, and the results were 1 extra point scored per game (i.e. 16 extra points per season) with no increase in points allowed. Basically, the extra points you would allow by occasionally giving up the ball on downs in your own territory would be offset by avoiding turning the ball over via punt and sustaining drives. Makes sense when you think about it that way.
Even as a True Believer in advanced metrics, I probably wouldn’t go that far. I would still probably punt the ball away on 4th and 10 on my own 20. But on 4th and 1 or 2, teams should basically always go for it. If you can’t get a single yard when you need it the vast majority of the time, you probably won’t win many games anyway.
there's that Pulaski high school coach
who never punts and almost always onside kicks. his team (and the school is like 375 students mind you) earlier in the season went up 29-0 before the other team ran a play from scrimmage
I'm surprised you're so early on your fanhood
You must be a quick learner
Follow me @BBBMinorLeaguer
by Minor Leaguer on Nov 16, 2011 3:19 PM EST up reply actions
I'm a super quick learner, when it comes to things I like
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
by Pikachu on Nov 16, 2011 5:26 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
that's very impressive
I’ve been a baseball fan my entire life (I learned how to read by looking at the MLB standings in the Globe and Mail every day so I could tell how the Blue Jays were doing), and I feel like I still don’t have a very good grasp on all the methods of analysis and metrics. To glam onto everything, as you have done, within two years is quite amazing.
I was surprised too
I’m the same though. If it’s something I like, I learn it fast. I wanted to learn how to score baseball games. Figured it out in less than half hour.
A day that will live in infamy: August 4th, 2011, Sept. 28, 2011 wasn't bad either.
7 members waiting for Aaron Hill's return...
I arrived here at the trade deadline in 2010, trying to find out more about the Wallace-Gose trade
Pretty soon I found out that most folks on this site were receptive to my random fact postings and the game thread and discussions were really fun. I am not too into advanced stats but I do like reading it when other people take the time to do in-depth analyses.
Follow me @BBBMinorLeaguer
I do :-)
But I like to find more fun, random stats than trying to datamine and analyze/predict
Follow me @BBBMinorLeaguer
by Minor Leaguer on Nov 16, 2011 4:25 PM EST up reply actions
Statistical background here
As soon as I could watch the Jays games here in the UK I was looking for background stats. Just seems a natural thing to me coming from the background I do.
Wait a second
Pikachu actually like Barton?
lolsingleseasonUZRbrainwaishing
You're pretty close to trolling now
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
Never mind that DRS, TZL, and UZR all agree that his 2010 defense was excellent
but please, continue.
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
Oh totally
Every team needs a first basemen who put up one good defensive season while simultaneously having a career high BABIP, with no power and is perpetually injured. What a stud.
by dudedudedude on Nov 16, 2011 6:10 PM EST up reply actions
If he had been consistently good, could hit for power, and wasn’t perpetually injured, you think he’d be available? No, he’d be a damn superstar.
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
anyways, I'm done talking with you
feeding the troll is always a bad idea
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
Absolutely
Someone brings up a valid point to bash one of your favourite players and you run to the hills. Using sabermetric stats to describe a player is one, using them to evaluate a player is a totally different scenario. Be prepared to back up what you believe.
by dudedudedude on Nov 16, 2011 6:16 PM EST up reply actions
career 105 wRC+, 8.3 UZR/150, 14.2% BB%. 4 time top 100 prospect, 3 time top 50 prospect.
Happy now?
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
Funny stuff
You were not a fan or Reyes because he is injury prone yet Barton has average 108 games between the minors and majors since he made his debut. What you’re getting is a part time player playing a non-premium position with a league average bat, with good defense of course.
Point is, 20 first basemen put up a wRC+ of 105 or higher last season. No amount of defense from a injury prone player can make up for that kind of bat at 1st base.
by dudedudedude on Nov 16, 2011 6:26 PM EST up reply actions
Reyes is going to cost $100M
Barton will likely not cost $5M
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
I never said Barton was a superstar
But I see him as a better option than Lind/Encarnacion/Cooper.
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
Is Barton the difference between making or missing the playoffs?
Highly, highly, unlikely. It’s just wasted money on a team that does not need another average player. The Jays are more than 1 win away from missing the playoffs and the difference between a platoon of Encarnacion and Lind isn’t far behind Barton, if at all.
Regardless, neither are likely to be the key cog in a Jays playoff run, so there is no need to waste money on him.
by dudedudedude on Nov 16, 2011 6:35 PM EST up reply actions
well, soooooorry your majesty
Next time I’ll ask for your permission before I speak
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
and really
by your logic, there’s no point in getting any upgrades at any position that don’t add more than 5 wins to the Jays record.
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
That's the point
You’re wasting resources if you sign or trade for players that aren’t going to be the reason of a playoff birth.
You’re not going to sign Barton to a long term deal, and the Jays are winning in the next 2 seasons, so what’s the logic behind that?
You want players that will help you down the road, like a Jose Reyes or an Albert Pujols, since they will still be around in 4-5 years when the Jays will be much more likely to make a run. Barton is fine, if you want a bench first basemen to play defensively and fill in as an injury replacement, but he is not the guy you target to put you over the top.
You don’t have ask permission, but boasting about knowing baseball and sabermetric analysis is just wrong when you don’t understand the value of a player like Barton to a team like Toronto.
by dudedudedude on Nov 16, 2011 6:46 PM EST up reply actions
"but boasting about knowing baseball and sabermetric analysis"
I don’t think I’ve ever “boasted”, but whatever.
Signing several “Bartons” on short term deals sound more cost effective to me than guaranteeing $100~200M contracts to players with major health concerns and/or over the age of 30.
But you know what? You can have your beliefs, I can have mine. You can’t prove that either is more correct.
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
I disagree
Even if you aren’t signing him to a long-term deal, he can still provide value for you. The Jays need to build assets, period. Barton has three more year of team control, which is plenty to warrent acquiring him at the right price, if you think he’s an undervalued asset due to 2011. Brandon Morrow only had one more year of control when we acquired him, which was on the basis of potential.
(Note: I’m not actually taking a position here on Barton, it’s a general point)
Further to this
dudedudedude’s logic implies that any unused budget room will be carried over to the next year, which we know to be untrue. It would also be insignificant or infeasible unless you always sign players to 1 year deals — otherwise you’d have to spread the saved 5MM over the next n years, reducing it’s worth to near-nothingness.
Check yoself before you rec yoself.
Incidently
Reyes was worth about 5 WAR last year. The Jays missed the playoffs by 10 games. So Reyes wasn’t the difference either. Would he be this year? That’s really hard to tell, in fact I’d argue it’s futile and counter-productive to build a roster in this way. You want to build as much asset value as possible.
You wouldn't be signing Reyes to a short term contract
He would get at least 5 years. In those 5 years, you have a core that could very well consist of Gose, Marsinick, Lawrie, Escobar, Rasmus and D’Arnaud, along with Bautista who should still provide value. Barton isn’t a long term solution to a problem, he’s a guy you get when you are ready to compete for his defense.
But even then, in 5 years, there’s a good chance Jose will be booted from his corner spot. Throw Bautista at first base and you have your first basemen.
There is no good reason to acquire Barton. This isn’t a matter of opinion, it’s fact. You can’t win championships with a bunch of role players.
by dudedudedude on Nov 16, 2011 7:13 PM EST up reply actions
if Pikachu is right about Barton
he can be moved for assets even if he’s not a long-term solution. that’s what we did with Seabass, isn’t it?
We'd be trading assets for Barton
Totally different situation.
by dudedudedude on Nov 16, 2011 7:26 PM EST up reply actions
but that's precisely his point
the A’s (on paper, anyway) appear to have no use for Barton. he shouldn’t cost much (if he does, it’s a bad trade). Pikachu isn’t saying he’s guaranteed to be a 5 fWAR player. he’s saying he’s worth taking a flier on to see if it’s just injuries that have been holding him back
He's a DFA candidate
and if the A’s want too much for Barton, I’ll say no to Barton as well
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
You're entitled to your opinion
But you need to differentiate between opinions and facts. You don’t think he’s anything more than a role player, that’s fine. But the fact is, he has a .362 career OBP, .331 wOBA and 105 wRC+ with above average, maybe exceptional defense. That seems more like an average regular to me than role player, at least for his prime years. Whether the Jays need a guy like him is another thing
And I also endorse what benk said in response. Anytime you can get an undervalued asset (including opportunity costs of playing time and roster spot), you do. Whether Barton is that guy, I don’t know, and frankly only the front office really does
1.4 WAR a season is more than a role player?
by dudedudedude on Nov 16, 2011 7:28 PM EST up reply actions
Played through injury
even if you assume his UZR in 2010 was a fluke, his peak fWAR of 4 is still desirable.
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
So lets do that with Reyes too
Jose played through injuries. My god, he’s an 8 win player, go get him!
by dudedudedude on Nov 16, 2011 7:35 PM EST up reply actions
you're being unbelievably hypocritical
we’ve addressed your concerns in a calm, reasonable way. piss off.
Trying to be consistent
That’s pretty important don’t you think?
This is what happens when people who don’t understand try to make their claim. It just ends up going in pointless circles.
by dudedudedude on Nov 16, 2011 7:42 PM EST up reply actions
umm
okay. That’s nice. We’re sorry that we are dumber than you.
Now can you piss off?
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
That's a pretty simplistic analysis
Especially since one of those “seasons” was an 84 PA call-ups. He’s been worth 7.2 WAR in 1765 PA. If you pro-rate that to a 600 PA season, that’s 2.45 WAR per 600 PA. Which is basically a league average regular.
Faulty Assumptions
You’re assuming that he is likely to get 600 PA. Unfortunately, WAR is not an average stat. You can’t just pro-rate players plate appearances based on league average and assume he is equally as valuable as a healthy player.
by dudedudedude on Nov 16, 2011 7:38 PM EST up reply actions
I'm not assuming anything
When you talk about “role player” vs. “average regular” vs. “star”, we’re talking about talent level. So when you look at production to assess talent level, you look at rate production, which is what I did. You can adjust your perception of a player’s value for injury, and that’s legitimate. But your argument was not that the Jays shouldn;t get him because he’s injury prone, but that’s a role player
Made injury case a few posts up
Think it was one of the first one’s I made.
by dudedudedude on Nov 16, 2011 7:45 PM EST up reply actions
you do win championships with role players
when you surround your stars with them. Bautista, Lawrie, and Escobar could all be top 5 players at their positions this year, with Bautista hopefully to continue to produce at MVP levels. Johnson, Rasmus, and (we hope) Snider have the skills to be solid 3-4WAR starters. That’s an excellent core to build around. Good role players like Barton would be excellent players to fill in the gaps and bring the team into a contending situation.
Not saying he’s necessarily better than E5 or Lind at 1B, but to say you don’t win with role players is not correct. You win by combining stars and effective role players.
It would be Reyes' war subtract whoever he replaced
If he replaced Escobar then he would only add one or two wins (too lazy to open a new tab to fangraphs) If he played second he would be worth about 3 extra wins. So the Jays at best would be an 84 win team with Reyes. And that’s assuming he puts up the same WAR as last year consistently over the course of a 6 or 7 year deal. And that’s assuming he doesn’t get injured.
Wrong
They Jays had .4 WAR of production from 2B last season.
by dudedudedude on Nov 17, 2011 4:17 PM EST up reply actions
plus it's not fair to just tack on Reyes to our win total
given all the roster changes we’ve experienced since last year
Please Don't call people names
if you feel someone is trolling please use the flag feature.
Rent this for cheap!!
by Bowling_Guy25 on Nov 16, 2011 7:18 PM EST up reply actions
My bad
I hate it when people call me a troll. That was hypocritical of me.
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
no worries
just a friendly reminder
Rent this for cheap!!
by Bowling_Guy25 on Nov 16, 2011 7:23 PM EST up reply actions
Sabermetrics - The good and the bad...
I love sabermetrics and i find it has really enhanced my enjoyment of baseball. I have always loved baseball and its history and the introduction of sabremetrics has really just brought another dimension of the game into the fold for me. I read Moneyball in 2007, got into fangraphs a couple of years ago and find that BBB has been a tremendous asset in the development of my understanding of sabremetrics. My only knock against sabremetrics is that i do find there are guys who drink so much of the sabermetrics projecting kool-aid that they treat the use of sabermetrics to predict future outcomes too much like an exact science. To me, sabremetrics is much, much better at evaluating past performances and does do a much better job of projecting a player’s future performances then the traditional stats (AVG, RBI, ERA, W, S,). However at the end of the day when you’re talking about the future and projecting players performance there is a certain aspect that are simply unpredictable. I equate it to predicting the weather. To me, sabremetrics brings to baseball what advanced science has brought to weather forecasting and while it is certainly much more accurate predicting the weather with dopler radar, advanced satellite photos and detailed data bases of historical patterns and data then it is with a farmers almanac and observing the color of the sky at night, predicting the weather is still not an exact science and neither is predicting baseball using sabermetrics. Too often in discussions involving predicting a player or team’s future performance you see the saberguys drop a bunch of WAR stats and then seemingly draw a scientific conclusion using sabermetrics that no other result is scientifically possible, drop the mic and walk of stage. You cannot use sabermetrics to predict player performance like you can use physics formulas to say predict the trajectory of an object. That is why i say it is not an exact science but too often it is treated this way.
Don't get me wrong though
I love what you wrote and I totally agree that sabermetrics should be used in combination with traditional statistics and simply what you see. It bugs me the way some people use pure sabermetrics to evaluate a player. The difference between the Jays and the A’s is that we can afford players that appeal to sabermetricians(is that a word?) and have tools and athleticism. The A’s couldn’t afford to keep players that had both, so they singled out aspects of a player that they believed were the most valuable. This worked well for them, but I think that we have the potential to take this logic a step further.
This site is great
It made me drop what I was doing and I’m going to college next year for a scouting course along with a bachelor of sports management… Now I’m looking to start out as a scout in the area for free (Apparently thats how you start nowadays)
This site also introduced me to fangrapghs. I learn a lot on this site. (Thanks benk, Pika and everybody else :))
I love being told I’m wrong just because I find out why.
YES
I’m trying to. I’m an 80 student (all 3 terms last year) and its an 80 cut off so I’m crossing my finger. If not, I’m taking a gap year(And an online course to improve grades) and taking scouting courses in the states then coming back to apply again. Either way I’m going to Brock.
Why, do you go to Brock? (If you don’t mind me asking:))
by Mike Andrew on Nov 16, 2011 10:15 PM EST up reply actions
nope, I'm doing economics at Queen's
I just remember it was a program that caught my eye when I was applying to schools. it sounded like a very cool program but I don’t really think I’m cut out for the industry [besides that AA actually has an econ degree ;) ].I’m sure you’ll have no problem getting in.
nice
I was thinking of applying for queen’s comp sci
Illuminate My Heart, My Darling!
Rookie writer at Baseball Canadiana
Twitter? I hardly know her!
I have one friend doing compsci here
he seems to enjoy it very much, though he did switch majors from biochem so no idea how that would affect his opinion
I'm applying to McGill for bio
I’ve prepared for rejection so hopefully I’ll be pleasantly surprised instead. I was looking at Queen’s but decided I didn’t like it enough to pay 40$ to apply.
by Nadia on Nov 17, 2011 11:02 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Mac's quite good for bio, too!
Hugo thinks I'm a lazy academic
by bluejaysstatsgeek on Nov 17, 2011 5:53 PM EST up reply actions
sigh
I’m also applying to Mac. But my dad and sister are there so I’d rather not go… It’s my back up plan if I’m rejected from McGill though.
Guelph might be a good option...
…I think it’s good to get away from home for most if they can afford it. Guelph is far enough that you can’t feasibly stay at home, but close enough that you can get home easily if you want, even mid-week, if you had to.
Hugo thinks I'm a lazy academic
by bluejaysstatsgeek on Nov 17, 2011 8:09 PM EST up reply actions
I went to McGill
you’ll enjoy it. I did physics, but since I went to medical school after, I know a lot of people who bio/physiology and the like. Everyone seemed to enjoy it, though the 1000 people 2nd year classes can be daunting.
I'm of the opinion
that 95% will enjoy any school they choose to go to. self-selection at its finest
Agreed 100%
Its like choosing candy in the candy store. Your not going to walk out disappointed.
But then again I can’t really speak from experience…
Most attractive aspect is the dirt cheap tuition
Montreal is pretty nice too.
Eco at Queens is pretty crazy
Or so I hear. Everybody in my grade is either going to the States or Queens and I hear its hard to get in.
I think you could be if you wanted to, and be really good at it. A lot of GM’s have various random degrees with a lot of connections so you never know :)
Thanks ahha I really hope I get in this year… But if I don’t I get to fly down to Florida for the whole 2013 spring training and scout, after taking a US scouting course this summer :)
If you can walk and talk, you can go to Brock
Love some good University rivalry.
How many Queen’s students does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
1, but they get 3 credits for it.
/uOttawa Student
by dudedudedude on Nov 16, 2011 10:47 PM EST up reply actions
oh psh
that’s not how it goes.
How many Queen’s students does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Only one, they hold up the lightbulb and the world revolves around them
No, no, no...
…Just one, but she call a guy from St. Lawrence College to do it for her. (An alternate version)
Here’s a full list:
http://touamb.com/index.php?topic=2186.0
I have also heard a different version for York:
How many York University students does it take to change a lightbulb?
5:
one to philosophise about life as a lightbulb
one to debate the merits of changing the bulb and the environmental impact
one to write the screenplay
one in the role of the lightbulb
and one to make the documentary
Hugo thinks I'm a lazy academic
by bluejaysstatsgeek on Nov 17, 2011 12:01 AM EST up reply actions
You missed one
It’s actually 6. One goes missing at the corner of Jane and Finch.
by dudedudedude on Nov 17, 2011 12:18 AM EST up reply actions 2 recs
if you can hold a fork
you can get into york
Rent this for cheap!!
by Bowling_Guy25 on Nov 17, 2011 1:07 AM EST up reply actions
Are you kidding?
…Look around in the student centre…most don’t even know what a fork is!
Hugo thinks I'm a lazy academic
by bluejaysstatsgeek on Nov 17, 2011 8:07 AM EST up reply actions
I was planning on going to Brock for the exact same program. Was sold on the school and program, thought it was perfect.
Then I thought (personally, not telling you to do this) that a wider program such as business would be better just in case and I could narrow it down to sports later on. So I picked a good business school instead (Laurier). If you do go to Brock please tell me how it is. I saw they got AA as a guest speaker there once, that’s pretty awesome.
A day that will live in infamy: August 4th, 2011, Sept. 28, 2011 wasn't bad either.
7 members waiting for Aaron Hill's return...
Everybody on this site should of at least considered it
Due to the nature of the program so its not surprising to hear.
Originally I wanted to take Business at Queens, but then I decided I wouldn’t be content with any job that would result from that so I decided I would just keep taking courses and getting degrees in sports programs until I got a job somewhere. I hear Laurier is a good school, not just for the parties ;) (I guess the same can be said for Queens).
Once I get into Brock (Whether its one year or two), I will be sure to post some of the things they teach and guest speaker quotes on a blog or maybe even BB (Like fanpost) if Mr. Dakers is cool with that. Same with the scouting course. I already decided if I somehow avoid failing hardcore at this I will contribute more to the site.
Just a note...
Advanced stats and SABRmetrics have done a lot to brush away muddled thinking in the game. But, and as most people heavily involved in those analysis will tell you, it’s not the be all, end all. Statistics, as a friend of mine who teaches it at UNB describes it, can only inform on what should happen based on what has happened.
But baseball is a fickle beast. And value is always relative. A 33 year old roleplayer can suddenly find themselves in the right moment at the right time to shine. Or a previous mediocre player undervalued by every statistical profile you can name can emerge as the best offensive player in the game.
Stats are part of the picture, but they aren’t the entire picture. Baseball is a gam played by men and team, and neither has ever been wholly logical.
by dexfarkin on Nov 17, 2011 3:13 AM EST reply actions 1 recs
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