BlainThePain Posted February 3, 2009 Report Posted February 3, 2009 http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_...?urn=nfl,138363The Arizona Cardinals may have been losers on the scoreboard last night, but they did earn one important victory: in the pre-game coin toss. Because the Steelers incorrectly called tails on the flip by General David Petraeus, the Cardinals became the 12th straight NFC team to win the Super Bowl coin toss.After consulting a sixth-grade math textbook and calling my dad to make sure that I hadn't misunderstood the simple concept of 50/50 chance, I determined that the odds of a single conference winning 12 straight coin tosses is one in 4,096. That's pretty steep.To put that number in perspective, those are about the same odds that Peter King has of making it through a Monday Morning Quarterback without mentioning Brett Favre.Update: This is why I write a blog and don't crunch numbers for a living: As my dad and some loyal commenters point out, the odds of the NFC winning 12 straight tosses is, indeed, one in 4,096. But the odds of either the AFC or NFC winning 12 straight is one in 2,048. I'll let commenter Edward R explain: Because there are two conferences, it is a certainty (not 50/50) that the first toss will start a potential streak for one conference or the other, and the chances of that conference winning the next 11 tosses is 1 in 2,048. Quote
ArmyBengal Posted February 3, 2009 Report Posted February 3, 2009 Seriously, I can't believe anyone has bothered to keep up with a trend like this... Quote
BengalPimp Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 Its amazing the meaningless stats they keep track of...... Quote
HairOnFire Posted February 4, 2009 Report Posted February 4, 2009 They keep track of things like that precisely because people bet on things like that. Quote
BengalszoneBilly Posted February 5, 2009 Report Posted February 5, 2009 They keep track of things like that precisely because people bet on things like that.If that isn't a sign of a gambling problem, I don't know what is! Quote
skyline Posted February 5, 2009 Report Posted February 5, 2009 As a stats teacher, I fully approve of this thread Quote
BengalszoneBilly Posted February 5, 2009 Report Posted February 5, 2009 As a stats teacher, I fully approve of this thread You know stats, percentages, and can formulate probable outcomes from this skill? If so, please give me the odds on a winning record for Cincinnati next season. Quote
ArmyBengal Posted February 5, 2009 Report Posted February 5, 2009 They keep track of things like that precisely because people bet on things like that.Gambler: Hello, gambler's anonymous ?? Yeah, I've been betting on coin tosses at the Super Bowl...Gambler's Anonymous: D*mn, that's f*cked up !!! Quote
HairOnFire Posted February 6, 2009 Report Posted February 6, 2009 They keep track of things like that precisely because people bet on things like that.If that isn't a sign of a gambling problem, I don't know what is! Perhaps, but facts are facts and when it comes to the Super Bowl you can bet on everything from the coin toss to which team calls a timeout first. And I'm not talking about bets you make with your kid brother or the gang at work. I'm talking Vegas, baby. Quote
BengalszoneBilly Posted February 7, 2009 Report Posted February 7, 2009 They keep track of things like that precisely because people bet on things like that.If that isn't a sign of a gambling problem, I don't know what is! Perhaps, but facts are facts and when it comes to the Super Bowl you can bet on everything from the coin toss to which team calls a timeout first. And I'm not talking about bets you make with your kid brother or the gang at work. I'm talking Vegas, baby.I'm well aware of how things roll in the Sports Books in Las Vegas. I lived there for two years. Didn't care much for betting the parlay tickets though. Most likely due to betting with my heart instead of my head.Now give me a craps table, and I could have a gambling problem! Quote
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