Smalltalk Tidbits, Industry Rants http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView Cincom Product Manager jrobertson@cincom.com Sun, 13 Apr 2008 10:41:08 EDT http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/images/cst_small.jpg Smalltalk Tidbits, Industry Rants http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView 50 81 en-us James A. Robertson Copyright 2007 Cincom Systems, Inc. 2008-04-13T10:41:08-04:00 39.214103 -76.878807 Sports Funnies http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=Sports_Funnies&entry=3385364423 sports Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:00:23 EDT

Now this is amusing:

A devilish Boston fan working on a concrete crew at the $1.3 billion stadium covertly buried a Red Sox T-shirt under what will become the visiting team's locker room to jinx the Yanks, two construction workers told The Post yesterday.

The only solution is to tear that part apart and remove that jersey!

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]]> 3385364423 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIPBServlet?guid=3385364423 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?guid=3385364423 blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=Sports_Funnies&entry=3385364423 blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=Sports_Funnies&entry=3385364423 Tom Sattler 2008-04-11T14:26:04-04:00 <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <p>That's what they get for tearing down Yankee Stadium.</p> </div> http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIServlet?guid=3385364423 Missing the Psychological Aspect http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=Missing_the_Psychological_Aspect&entry=3384349268 sports Sun, 30 Mar 2008 17:01:08 EST

I find this article in the Times fascinating. Using a statistical approach, they determined that hitting streaks like Joe Dimaggio's 1941, 56 game one should be commonplace - even longer ones. However, the fact of the matter is, they aren't. Why is that? I'd guess the pshychology of it. I ran track in high school and college, and what the stats guys miss is this: your mental state plays heavily into individual performances.

In the case of something like a hitting streak, the pressure builds as the numbers mount. I can't pretend to know what that's like, but I can tell you this: I'm a duffer when it comes to golf. I've had rounds where I've been hitting really well for 3, 4, 5, maybe 6 holes - and then I start over-thinking stuff, and mess up shots. Sure, professionals are better at coping with that sort of thing than I am, but still - in the case of something like a hitting streak (especially after 1941), the mental pressure has got to be enormous.

So bottom line, such hitting streaks are theoretically common. The reality is very different, because the statistics miss the psychological aspect of the game.

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]]> 3384349268 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIPBServlet?guid=3384349268 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?guid=3384349268 blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=Missing_the_Psychological_Aspect&entry=3384349268 blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=Missing_the_Psychological_Aspect&entry=3384349268 Kenneth Johnsen 2008-03-30T19:33:53-05:00 <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <p>That is so true. Human ambition getting in the way of human performance.</p> <p>I do the same when I play golf. "If I could only....", and then everythings screwed.</p> <p>Try Guitar Hero for Wii if you fancy that sinking feeling where things go wrong.</p> <p>I just got it yesterday, and I can play just fine, and then the game says "50 note streak!", and it all goes down the drain.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div> So true blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=Missing_the_Psychological_Aspect&entry=3384349268 blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=Missing_the_Psychological_Aspect&entry=3384349268 Byron 2008-03-31T11:53:55-05:00 <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <p>The more likely case is that they're assigning far too much probability to the event that they use to generate hitting streak simulations. You'll notice that they don't overlay the true distribution of hitting streaks (we've been at this baseball thing for a while so there's plenty of data). I suspect that it is much more concentrated near 1 than their simulated model.&nbsp;</p> </div> http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIServlet?guid=3384349268 I'm down with that http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=Im_down_with_that&entry=3381788667 sports Sat, 01 Mar 2008 01:44:27 EST

I can get on board with Hank Steinbrenner here :)

"Red Sox Nation?" What a bunch of [expletive] that is," he said in an interview with The New York Times' Play magazine. "That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans.

"Go anywhere in America and you won't see Red Sox hats and jackets, you'll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We're going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order."

I swear, ever since 2004, I think I've been dropped into a parallel universe :)

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]]> 3381788667 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIPBServlet?guid=3381788667 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?guid=3381788667 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIServlet?guid=3381788667 I like this front page http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=I_like_this_front_page&entry=3379580910 sports Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:28:30 EST

Now here's a great front page (Boston Globe) for a Giants fan:

Ok, it's schadenfreude, but still :)

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]]> 3379580910 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIPBServlet?guid=3379580910 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?guid=3379580910 blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=I_like_this_front_page&entry=3379580910 blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=I_like_this_front_page&entry=3379580910 GFS3 2008-02-04T17:47:33-05:00 <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <p>If you are looking for true perspective and insight.&nbsp; Try this instead: </p><strong>http://tinyurl.com/2ae2xf</strong> </div> The Globe Doesn't Represent True Fans http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIServlet?guid=3379580910 What a Fourth Quarter! http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=What_a_Fourth_Quarter!&entry=3379532353 sports Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:59:13 EST

Wow - that was an intense fourth quarter - I'm still not sure how Manning got out of a sack and had Tyree catch the ball with his head on the last drive. The Giants end the Patriots perfect season - that's some level of compensation for the Red Sox winning another World Series :)

Tyree Catch

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]]> 3379532353 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIPBServlet?guid=3379532353 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?guid=3379532353 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIServlet?guid=3379532353 Not a halftime score I would have guessed http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=Not_a_halftime_score_I_would_have_guessed&entry=3379522348 sports Sun, 03 Feb 2008 20:12:28 EST

Well, I would not have guessed this as a halftime score:

More of an old NFC-East (1980's era) style game at this point. Let's see what happens during the second half. It's good for NY that Brady is getting a lot of pressure; eventually, it might mean a good turnover with more than 10 seconds left on the clock...

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]]> 3379522348 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIPBServlet?guid=3379522348 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?guid=3379522348 blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=Not_a_halftime_score_I_would_have_guessed&entry=3379522348 blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=Not_a_halftime_score_I_would_have_guessed&entry=3379522348 Geoff Wozniak 2008-02-03T22:43:17-05:00 <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <p>Manning didn't deserve MVP (should have been Strahan), but it was a great 4th quarter. Now I don't have to hear about the perfect season garbage. </p> <p>Congrats<b> :) </p> </b> </div> http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIServlet?guid=3379522348 And So it Begins... http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=And_So_it_Begins...&entry=3379515394 sports Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:16:34 EST

Let's hope Eli brings his "A" game today...

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]]> 3379515394 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIPBServlet?guid=3379515394 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?guid=3379515394 blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=And_So_it_Begins...&entry=3379515394 blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=And_So_it_Begins...&entry=3379515394 Kenneth Johnsen 2008-02-03T19:15:28-05:00 <div xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> <p>That interception was not good.</p><p>Now everything swings Patriots&#39; way.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p> </div> Well.... http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIServlet?guid=3379515394 Go Giants! http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?showComments=true&printTitle=Go_Giants!&entry=3379488313 sports Sun, 03 Feb 2008 10:45:13 EST

NY Giants

No, I'm not the least bit interested in seeing the patriots go undefeated - I'd love to see the Giants get another SuperBowl ring though :)

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]]> 3379488313 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIPBServlet?guid=3379488313 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/blogView?guid=3379488313 http://www.cincomsmalltalk.com/blog/servlet/CommentAPIServlet?guid=3379488313