No, the link didn’t work for me. I should have made it clear in my response, that I couldn’t address the actual article, not having read it.
As for explaining my post, the point of the XKCD is that if you examine enough relationships, one of them will be ‘statistically significant’ just by chance, even if there’s absolutely no real correlation. Whether you consider that ‘cherry picking’ or not is up to you, but it’s a pretty close concept.
So if you have a hypothesis, set up a test, and the test doesn’t show a statistically significant link, but decide to go set up a bunch of different tests (“OK, we’ll exclude indoor games”. “OK, now we’ll exclude fumbles by anyone except the QB”) until you find one that does seem unusual, that’s essentially cherry-picking, and not valid statistically.
Then come back and tell me if you are seriously suggesting that Sharp cherry-picked the data he used, and if so, we can talk about that.
I understand your larger point about selective data. And yes, people can and have looked for ways to slice and dice data to get the data to dance to whatever tune is playing in their head.
I won’t bore you with details of my education, but suffice it to say that I have had enough stats courses to understand that data massaging occurs all the time. That doesn’t make it right, nor does it make me blindly believe anything written.
However, “cherry-picking” was, IMO, exactly what the B/R writer accused Sharp of doing. Sharp, in the linked artifle which you can’t access, seems to not only feel that he has been accused of bad science, but he points out the problems HE sees in the B/R article.
The biggest problem is that most people are lazy and won’t look into the data any deeper than whatever the author of whatever article you happen to be reading has. That original B/R article was used by many Patriot apologists to say “see? It’s not true! It’s all a lie by Patriot-haters! You are all jealous of our success!”
Seriously, read the article, read Sharp’s responses to each attack on his data, and if you still believe this was all a hatchet job written by A Patriot hater, I am all ears (well, eyes).
Hoo boy. Someone said that Robert Kraft’s letter supporting Brady had “almost a holy feel to it.” :rolleyes:
Others said that Brady had convincing explanations for everything. I’d love to know what they are. Honestly. Of course, whatever he said HAD to be better than what the Patriots were claiming about the text messages.
You don’t think this is going to court immediately? And you think this would be the first NFL win in court in many years? Why?
The bluster and vitriol, of a pretty childish nature at that, in this thread have come from you as much as anyone else, Hentor and Hamlet included. It’s all there on your permanent record Just so you know, m’kay?
So Brady destroyed his cell phone instead of giving it over. This makes the Patriots liars as well.
Darn the luck. Shame that on the way to the “Goodell is going to back down” conclusion, the evidence for dirty stinking cheating kept getting in the way.
Just finished the appeal decision document. Interesting points: Brady destroyed the cell phone on the day he met with Wells for the investigation, but never mentioned having destroyed the phone.
Brady and the Patriots did not have Jastremski or McNally at the appeal hearing, despite how pertinent their testimony would have been. They declined when offered the chance to hold open the hearing until the two could be produced.
When it doesn’t go to court, I wonder what the excuse will be then. Or if it does but is summarily dismissed.
I wonder what the excuse will be for Brady destroying evidence.
Brady’s going to start serving his suspension in six weeks. When he starts sitting out games I wonder if there will still be some sort of excuse.
He cheated, he got caught, he got suspended. He’ll be back in October. If he has a brain at all, which I believe he does, he’ll sit out the four games, come back, win more games, and in a few years, frankly, nobody will much care.
So you’re saying the NFL upheld a four game suspension, but want to go to court to have it reduced?
Oh, no, wait, they’re trying to pre-empt the Patriots/Brady from filing a lawsuit.
Honestly, I find the Brady camp is just crazy; he has at every opportunity here had the chance to mumble an “I’m sorry” and reduce this nonsense. Had he not broken the cell phone - itself about as damning an action as anything in this silliness - and just told the truth he’d have gotten a couple of games and the story would be already dying. But given that he did that, if he’d just accept the suspension NOW, he’d sit out four games and come back and the story would be old news by November. Come time for him to be inducted into the HoF, the whole thing, when it was remembered at all, would probably be viewed as kind of funny, the way people wax nostalgic about Gaylord Perry’s spitballs.
Believe it or not, from what I have seen (second hand, haven’t been able to load the actual court documents yet) Brady isn’t even named in the above mentioned suit. It is the NFL suing the NFL Players Association.
And any suit filed going in the other direction would be Brady and the NFLPA’s doing, the Patriots would not be involved. Kraft has already accepted the team punishment.
I admit it, I chuckled when I heard Brady destroyed his cell phone after the NFL requested the relevant texts, and then didn’t tell them about it for 4 months. I didn’t, and don’t now, expect the upholding of the suspension and the new information to change anyone’s mind, the delusions just run too deep. But still, I got a laugh. Which is nice.
Procedurally speaking I do not believe it could be otherwise. If an employee in a collective bargaining agreement is to appeal a disciplinary action, they must do so through the union; the NFLPA is the party in opposition to the NFL at this point, not Brady personally.
And here is the NFL’s complaint. As expected it is all about the NFL’s authority under the current CBA with the players union to suspend Brady for the offense, and to serve as the arbitrator of the appeal. Please note sports fans, the judge will not be deciding whether or not Brady actually did anything, just whether or not the NFL can enforce the punishment they have placed upon him. The NFL has already determined that Brady violated their rules; if the judge overturns the suspension it is not a finding that Brady is innocent.
COUNT 1 – CONFIRMATION OF ARBITRATION AWARD
The NFL Management Council repeats and re-alleges Paragraphs 1-14 as if set forth fully herein.
The NFL Management Council seeks an order confirming the Decision under well-established principles of federal labor law. The Decision was issued in full accord with the parties’ CBA and draws its essence from the parties’ agreements, as it interprets the terms of the CBA and Brady’s NFL Player Contract.
The NFL Management Council is entitled to confirmation and enforcement of the Decision and entry of judgment in conformity of the Decision pursuant to the Labor Management Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 185.
Why do we care if he destroyed his phone? He was never going to hand it over, so what difference does it make? People are acting like that’s the only reason the suspension wasn’t reduced.