Facebook Is Still Not Everyone

Annoying article in the New York Times recently, one that held much promise: "Up Close on Baseball’s Borders." The authors use Facebook data to determine the boundaries of US baseball (MLB) team fan geography. Except this doesn't work, because Facebook is not everyone. Is Facebook statistically representative on this measure? We don't know. Is this only those who "like" a team, have their location entered, and have their accounts public? It appears so. That's a pretty specific group, even if it is numerically large.

Millions of [Facebook users] do make their preferences public on Facebook...

And, from our knowledge of Facebook and common sense, that means that millions don't.

We were able to create an unprecedented look at the geography of baseball fandom...

Well, no, not at all of baseball fandom, it is a look at:

1. Facebook users....
2. Who also make their profiles public....
3. Who also "like" an MLB team.

This group does not even come close to equating with baseball fandom. Does it represent baseball fandom accurately in terms of geography in the US? That is unknown. Maybe, maybe not. But to claim that it does is simply inaccurate and shows a lack of solid understanding of samples, statistics, and data of all sizes ("big" in terms of big data does not mean better).

One group of die-hard baseball fans this data does not contain, I guarantee you, is children who are baseball fans, since children are not (usually) on Facebook. Young kids can be so into their teams ("their" teams, note!). Kids' affiliations will be influenced by their geography, their friends, and their parents, although my nephew likes Kevin Durant but my nephew lives in NYC and has never been to Oklahoma, so it is not always straightforward.

Dear New York Times people who wrote this article -- you have oversold your data! You can do better!

Call of Your Sofa

I was passing through Times Square the other day, sadly, it's a terrible place, and Red Lobster should really be illegal (not just because it's fast food, but because of what they do to seafood), and I was amused by this Call of Duty billboard.

The current ad campaign has lots of "normal" people, and a few television-based people (Jimmy Kimmel and Kobe Bryant, I think), running around with guns shooting at a ruined building. The people on this billboard are supposed to be normal people (they are either actors or models though). They are each holding two pistols of some sort, and have two rifles on their backs (I will assume one is an M16, and, given the game, I hope the other is a sniper rifle).

I like most of the Call of Duty games. But this ad campaign is ridiculous.

When I play CoD, and when most people do, we are sitting on our sofas. We are holding a very light weight video game controller, just one, in both hands. We do not move. We do not run. We do not sweat (the people on the billboard, IIRC, are all sweaty from running around with heavy guns).

The people in the billboard are not holding one light weight controller. The M16, according to Wikipedia, weighs about 8 pounds. So, let's say that's 16 pounds on their backs (not too much). Well they could be M4 carbines, which weigh a bit less. As for the pistols, well Wikipedia gives the weight of the M9 in ounces and grams, so about 1kg, let's say 2 pounds (not much). Of course there is kickback from when the weapon fires, which isn't anything like the vibration of an Xbox 360 controller.

The Xbox 360 controller weighs about 250g, one-quarter of an M9 pistol, so the Xbox 360 controller is 125g in each hand compared to 1kg for an M9 in each hand like in the billboard.

The whole thing is pretty ridiculous. Reminds me of the NFL's "Play 60" campaign -- you should get exercise, just not when games are on, then we need you to sit passively in front of the television so we can sell your viewership to advertisers. (Remember, football is not the product, you are the product, and your attention is sold to advertisers.)

Edit: It has been pointed out to me that I forgot the weight of the ammunition and grenades. This could be... well I don't know, but, more than nothing. I have no experience carrying around a bunch of ammo or grenades. They are all metal though.

Pigs are Flying

Just moments ago, I was watching the intolerably advertisement-filled NFL halftime show to see how the Pats are being demolished, so far, by Miami, and what snippet of a song does the NFL use for an NFL ad? Yes. You guessed it. Everyday Is Like Sunday. Ok they used some cover version probably made just for the ad, and they only used that one line, but, I'm speechless (besides this paragraph, which means I'm not speechless at all). 

17 and 39!

39 points! Insane! (We're talking basketball.)

Photo: Elsa/Getty Images

From the NYT:

But the Celtics were persistent, and unified, staying true to the South African theme of "ubuntu" that they established last fall. The word, introduced to the team by Rivers, literally means "I am because we are" and was invoked when the Celtics opened training camp, with the newcomers Garnett and Allen joining Pierce.

The Yankees

If you missed it, a Boston Red Sox fan, who lives in the Bronx and is a construction worker, buried a Red Sox jersey in the cement of the new Yankees stadium. The Yankees ownership found out about it, much brouhaha ensued, and they dug it out to the tune of $50,000 (and about five hours of drilling).

Seriously.

Apparently, some people take these things seriously. Yankees President Randy Levine is one of them, who said the worker "was trying to do a really bad thing" and that it was "a very, very bad act." A shirt? I had no idea a shirt could be so powerful! Billions of people wear them every day! This is incredible! And people wear them to baseball games! Scary!

According to the worker, the shirt did not cause any structural problems (it was in a floor), yet the Yankees front office were discussing possible criminal charges. I do not believe our legal system recognizes jinxes, since they don't exist except in people's heads (and no, that does not make them real).

Also amusing is the copywrong notice on the AP story ("This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed."), which is wrong, and of course I could comment on how the New York Post is taking this seriously, but if that surprises you then you don't know the Post (so I hope it surprises you).

Fútbol

I was watching UEFA League yesterday, and the irony of the Fox Soccer Network was too much. Soccer, the beautiful game, the international event, loved by many including the French. And Fox has a station devoted to it here in the US? Fox, the republican feaux-newshound, isolationist, French-hating ignorant lying scum? Yes. That is too weird. I guess money is more important to them than principles, but I'm not too surprised by that.

Boston Sports

BC football is #2.
Celts are supposed to be amazing.
Pats destroyed the Redskins, 52-7.
I think I'm missing something....
1918?