Posted by italyprof on 7/7/2013 6:26:00 AM (view original):
It was not a joke. I did not see the + sign in the paragraph of explanatory notes above the columns.
I know that some of you swim in these more recently in fashion stats like fish in water, but since I get paid precisely for explaining really complicated stuff to people with no background in it (try explaining the Bretton Woods system to kids in Iowa from towns of 400 people who think the population of the United States is 3 million people - I actually asked them to estimate it on a quiz two years in a row and 3 million was the highest anyone came up with; or who think that the Vietnam War took place before WW II or that we fought against the Russians in WW II, or who ask you if Spain is in Europe or Latin America, and you start to get the picture) I understand the value of someone taking the time to explain the importance of things that are not immediately familiar.
Thanks. boogerlip's graphics helped too.
I'd hardly say I swim in the newer (sabermetric) stats like a fish in water, but I do find them useful especially when we are debating the career values of players.
As for the education of children in the U.S. (and apparently Iowa), given the the near universal access to the internet in this country, I'd either blame inequality, the parents or perhaps both.