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:Who cares?

[Lumpy]

"FUCK THEM ALL. Not watching.. not even the fucking commercials."

Wait What? Fucking Commercials? has the FCC lifted the ban on copulation in commercials? I am SO watching the superbowl now!

Algorithm requires a specific hook

[cellocgw]

did they remember to include the "any given Sunday" function in their algorithm? :-)

BTW, What you *should* be watching today is http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/puppy-bowl

Re:Rugby for doped sissies

[DiamondGeezer]

Have you actually seen rugby? Its like American football minus all the interruptions, advertising and Tebowing. And when you get tackled you don't bounce off the shoulder pads.

Seriously I know that American TV is paid for by advertising, but its seriously unwatchable. After 30 minutes my brain was so addled by constant interruptions that I watched QTV and actually wanted to buy something, anything.

No wonder America has a drug and violence problem - its caused by constant TV interruptions that eventually cause your brain to .... hey, a squirrel!

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

[justthinkit]

I don't like football. I love it.

Played it for just shy of 50 years...so far. Coached it, sideline ref'd it. Took up punting as a solo/zen hobby. You name it, I love it.

I played soccer when young (English parents), but it is not one-tenth of the game football is.

I played more tennis, from age 6 to 16, than any other sport and than anyone I knew. I got good at it and am still good at it. I've take time off work to watch the majors. And it is not one-fifth of the game football is.

I suck at golf so nuff said.

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.

World cup soccer only comes once every four years. Same for the Olympics. Pity, or they might come close to American football

But there can be only one. Long live football. American football.

...a former Canuck who always hated the Canadian version -- the 3 downs forcing the game to be unbalanced toward passing, the ultra wide field that made the game hard to appreciate up close and the imperfect football -- try throwing one of each country's footballs and you'll see what I mean.

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.

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.