Wolfram Alpha Number-Crunches the Super Bowl

Nerval's Lobster writes "Whatever your actual feelings about football and this weekend's Super Bowl, you have to admire Wolfram Alpha's willingness to crunch any dataset and see what it can find. The self-billed 'computational knowledge engine' has analyzed the historical data for both teams involved in this Sunday's Super Bowl XLVII. Its conclusion? The San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens are 'annoyingly similar' when it comes to numbers, although some players stand out as potential game changers — if the math plays out right."

Comments

Why?

[Skiron]

Why do you yanks have to analyse everything? Just get on and play the bloody game.

Re:Betting lines

[Rockoon]

Unfortunately (or fortunately) betting lines arent set based on the games likely outcome but instead are set based on public perception of the games likely outcome. The goal of the the betting line is to get equal amounts of money wagered on each team, and if successful the bookie walks away with 10% of the action because the winning wagers only get paid $10 on their $11 wager.

Re:I'm not a member of the hive on this one

[Ogive17]

I enjoy watching American football, it's big at all levels where I live. However, one of your comments just doesn't make any sense.

It is funny to hear people praising rugby instead of football. Talk about whistle-prone. Rugby has its moments, as does Aussie rules football. But they are not one-third of the game football is

A typical American football play lasts 3-4 seconds followed by 30-40 seconds of nothing. While Rugby also has some downtime, you don't see frequent substitutions and the players play offense and defense. Even if the typically play goes on for only 3-4 seconds, the following down time usually is just another 3-4 seconds.