5 ms·

The Genius of MIT's Football Team

22 points by anishkothari 12y ago

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
- Anechoic 12y ago
  Don't be. We knew the risks, the training staff and facilities are good, we set our priorities and we had fun. Edit: the comment I was responding to said something like "it makes me sad there are people at MIT smashing their heads against each other"
  - shitehawk 12y ago
    That comment should not have been downvoted like it was, there is a real problem with concussions and the science is clear. If I had a son I don't think I would let him play football.
    - jessaustin 12y ago
      In general, commentators are too quick to delete downvoted comments. Often, a comment that is initially downvoted will return to positive within a day or so, if only it is left alive. Although my brothers and I played football (one of them professionally), I share your concern about concussions. If football doesn't solve this problem in the next decade it will deserve its eventual obscurity.
    - 0xdeadbeefbabe 12y ago
      Can't daughters play football too?
    - ghshephard 12y ago
      A great comment on this from Jets linebacker Bart Scott back in 2012, "“I don’t want my son to play football,...I play football so he won’t have to. With what is going on, I don’t know if it’s really worth it. . . . I don’t want to have to deal with him getting a concussion and what it would be like later in life.” http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/05/26/bart-scott-i-dont-want-my-son-to-play-football/ http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/05/26/bart-scott-i...
      - scott_s 12y ago
        Howie Long said something similar, even though two of his sons went into the NFL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/nfl-tries-to-improve-player-safety-without-admitting-to-any-liability-for-past/2013/07/21/08fb66b8-e8d8-11e2-818e-aa29e855f3ab_story.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/nfl-tries-to-i...
barisser 12y ago
The team is in a great superposition to collapse into a winning eigenstate. Its interference pattern is constructive. The phase they're in is totally coherent. Their offense has got this great duality going, that you simply can't measure without screwing up. They've got this non-classical strategy that I don't understand. However I'm not going to comment on their position at this time; I don't want to alter the team's momentum going into the game.
Mithaldu 12y ago
Maybe it's because i'm not american, but that article is completely and utterly nonsensical to me. Is there some kind of injoke going on i don't understand?
- jasallen 12y ago
  No, it's just utterly nonsensical.
- TillE 12y ago
  It's not nonsensical, but it is a random collection of facts with no explanation. The article doesn't even attempt to answer the obvious question: what changed? Why are they successful now?
  - KMag 12y ago
    Unless something changed with regard to the crew (rowing) program (which historically had more mindshare amongst MIT students), it's likely largely random. In Division III sports, you tend to have high variance in performance, since athletics are seldom the top priority of any of the students. It's probably a combination of solid coaching with luck off the field (which athletes the team was able to recruit) and luck on the field. Next year, the football team will have a recruiting advantage over the crew (rowing) team, and you may see a long-term shift in football performance relative to crew performance. On the other hand, most US high schools have football teams but no crew teams. Incoming MIT students who didn't play on their HS football teams (most of them) perceive they're at less of a disadvantage competing in crew vs. competing in football. At least, these were my perceptions as an MIT freshman almost 2 decades ago.
- KMag 12y ago
  Does it help to imagine it's being read by John Oliver? There's a heavy dose of self-deprecating humor about Americans prizing university athletic performance over academics. "Yes, yes, 80 Nobel Prizes, blah blah, but congratulations to MIT on doing something that's finally important: winning at American football."
leroy_masochist 12y ago
Is it just me or does it seem like there's an outlier in the table that accompanies the article?
- jessaustin 12y ago
  Eh, "Rose Bowl prank" and "eliminated program" seem to be on about the same level, with "Beat UCLA" perhaps a trifle more impressive?
- mikeryan 12y ago
  Just a note for those who don't know; The NACDA Learfield Sports Directors' Cup is an award given annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to the colleges and universities in the United States with the most success in collegiate athletics. So Stanford has been the successful collegiate sports program across all sports. Its also held that title for 20 years.
  - jessaustin 12y ago
    Just what college athletics needs, more fake awards designed to only be winnable by a few parties.
corbinpage 12y ago
From the chart, Stanford and Duke looks like they're in a class of their own..
andrewtbham 12y ago
I was expecting to read about a "genius" plan they had for winning games, like moneyball or something.
- ape4 12y ago
  Me too. Maybe they try sqrt(-1) percent.
leoc 12y ago
A bit of an ominous sign, isn't it?
jweese 12y ago
School: Chicago; year: 1939; achievement: eliminated program. We do take it as a point of pride. We also had the first Heisman winner ever.

22 points by anishkothari 12y ago

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

Anechoic 12y ago
Don't be. We knew the risks, the training staff and facilities are good, we set our priorities and we had fun. Edit: the comment I was responding to said something like "it makes me sad there are people at MIT smashing their heads against each other"
- shitehawk 12y ago
  That comment should not have been downvoted like it was, there is a real problem with concussions and the science is clear. If I had a son I don't think I would let him play football.
  - jessaustin 12y ago
    In general, commentators are too quick to delete downvoted comments. Often, a comment that is initially downvoted will return to positive within a day or so, if only it is left alive. Although my brothers and I played football (one of them professionally), I share your concern about concussions. If football doesn't solve this problem in the next decade it will deserve its eventual obscurity.
  - 0xdeadbeefbabe 12y ago
    Can't daughters play football too?
  - ghshephard 12y ago
    A great comment on this from Jets linebacker Bart Scott back in 2012, "“I don’t want my son to play football,...I play football so he won’t have to. With what is going on, I don’t know if it’s really worth it. . . . I don’t want to have to deal with him getting a concussion and what it would be like later in life.” http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/05/26/bart-scott-i-dont-want-my-son-to-play-football/ http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/05/26/bart-scott-i...
    - scott_s 12y ago
      Howie Long said something similar, even though two of his sons went into the NFL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/nfl-tries-to-improve-player-safety-without-admitting-to-any-liability-for-past/2013/07/21/08fb66b8-e8d8-11e2-818e-aa29e855f3ab_story.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/redskins/nfl-tries-to-i...

barisser 12y ago

The team is in a great superposition to collapse into a winning eigenstate. Its interference pattern is constructive. The phase they're in is totally coherent. Their offense has got this great duality going, that you simply can't measure without screwing up. They've got this non-classical strategy that I don't understand. However I'm not going to comment on their position at this time; I don't want to alter the team's momentum going into the game.

Mithaldu 12y ago

Maybe it's because i'm not american, but that article is completely and utterly nonsensical to me. Is there some kind of injoke going on i don't understand?

jasallen 12y ago
No, it's just utterly nonsensical.
TillE 12y ago
It's not nonsensical, but it is a random collection of facts with no explanation. The article doesn't even attempt to answer the obvious question: what changed? Why are they successful now?
- KMag 12y ago
  Unless something changed with regard to the crew (rowing) program (which historically had more mindshare amongst MIT students), it's likely largely random. In Division III sports, you tend to have high variance in performance, since athletics are seldom the top priority of any of the students. It's probably a combination of solid coaching with luck off the field (which athletes the team was able to recruit) and luck on the field. Next year, the football team will have a recruiting advantage over the crew (rowing) team, and you may see a long-term shift in football performance relative to crew performance. On the other hand, most US high schools have football teams but no crew teams. Incoming MIT students who didn't play on their HS football teams (most of them) perceive they're at less of a disadvantage competing in crew vs. competing in football. At least, these were my perceptions as an MIT freshman almost 2 decades ago.
KMag 12y ago
Does it help to imagine it's being read by John Oliver? There's a heavy dose of self-deprecating humor about Americans prizing university athletic performance over academics. "Yes, yes, 80 Nobel Prizes, blah blah, but congratulations to MIT on doing something that's finally important: winning at American football."

leroy_masochist 12y ago

Is it just me or does it seem like there's an outlier in the table that accompanies the article?

jessaustin 12y ago
Eh, "Rose Bowl prank" and "eliminated program" seem to be on about the same level, with "Beat UCLA" perhaps a trifle more impressive?
mikeryan 12y ago
Just a note for those who don't know; The NACDA Learfield Sports Directors' Cup is an award given annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics to the colleges and universities in the United States with the most success in collegiate athletics. So Stanford has been the successful collegiate sports program across all sports. Its also held that title for 20 years.
- jessaustin 12y ago
  Just what college athletics needs, more fake awards designed to only be winnable by a few parties.

corbinpage 12y ago

From the chart, Stanford and Duke looks like they're in a class of their own..

andrewtbham 12y ago

I was expecting to read about a "genius" plan they had for winning games, like moneyball or something.

ape4 12y ago
Me too. Maybe they try sqrt(-1) percent.

leoc 12y ago

A bit of an ominous sign, isn't it?

jweese 12y ago

School: Chicago; year: 1939; achievement: eliminated program. We do take it as a point of pride. We also had the first Heisman winner ever.