Decades Before Moneyball, The Dallas Cowboys Used Advanced Stats To Win Super Bowls

A. Salam Qureishi grew up in India and knew nothing about football — or America. And yet in the early 1960s, Qureishi, a computer programmer and statistician, helped the Dallas Cowboys overhaul their scouting system, replacing hunches with hard numbers.

The result: five Super Bowl appearances and two titles. FiveThirtyEight and ESPN Films present “The Cowboys and the Indian,” directed by Mark Polish. It’s the second film in our short series “Signals.”

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Bag of Randomness for Monday, November 23, 2015

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  • WifeGeeding normally doesn’t get sick, but she was down and out for a large part of the weekend.  I literally didn’t see her get out of bed on Saturday, but it looks like she’s getting better.
  • I’m about a quarter of a way through Netflix’s new Marvel series ‘Jessica Jones’.  When the series was first announced I had no idea who she was, and then I ran across this YouTube that talks about the character and how she may be too dark of a character even for Netflix to handle.  That video does disclose some very dark and morbid stuff, I was questioning if Krysten Ritter could deliver.  So far, I say she does a good job and Netflix does a good job with the dark stuff.  I kinda like the macabre subject matter, it’s something new to be entertained with.
  • In his return, Tony Romo’s first pass was with his left hand.  And while watching that game, I’ve  heard “Turn Down For What” so many times in my life.  Miami needs to upgrade their playlist.
  • I’m told in high school football playoffs, these sort of banners aren’t all that unusual.
  • Michigan State might crack the top four in the next College Football Playoff Rankings, if not, they’ll be close.  But what I find amazing is that in their games against Michigan and The Ohio State, they never had the lead until time expired.  And in their only loss, I think they lead most of the game until the last 17-seconds.
  • TCU comes close to beating the Sooners in Norman without their Heisman-caliber quarterback and their best receiver.  Gary Patterson is a better coach than I thought he was.
  • Cruz Compares UT Football Team to Teenaged Girls
  • Irving news – VICE – Gun-Toting Protesters Held A Rally Against ‘Islamization’ Outside A Texas Mosque
  • @matthewjdowd – Happy early Thanksgiving. Let us remember a holiday where natives welcomed illegals into their country and fed them in a cold winter. @GMA
  • Utah junior high school asks students to draw ‘terrorism propaganda poster’
  • That’s one way to cool a PC.
  • My grandfather would have turned 121 yesterday.
  • GIF – This is perhaps the perfect tennis return, at least the most graceful.
  • That one picture makes it look like a Chipotle – Freebirds debuts prototype in Dallas suburb – Freebirds World Burrito debuted a new prototype restaurant Thursday in The Colony, Texas, that features what executives call a “modern farmhouse aesthetic.”
  • Coauthored by Amanda Peet – New kid’s book tackles Jewish Christmas envy
  • I was expecting a good SNL with Matthew McConaughey
    as host, but it was underwhelming. – Adele’s Raw Mic Feed From Her ‘SNL’ Performance Leaked, And It’s Breathtaking
  • TV Women Meteorologists Love This $22.99 Dress From Amazon – One of them posted the discounted dress on a Facebook group and a lot of them decided to buy the same dress, with local Fox 4 meteorologist Jennifer Myers being one of them.  The skeptic in me thinks this is a clever way for Amazon Fashion promotion.
  • GIF – Not quite the Triple Lindy from Back to School – And for those that have never seen the Triply Lindy, here’s the scene.
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Bag of Randomness for Friday, November 19, 2015

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Posted in Personal | 3 Comments

Bag of Randomness for Thursday, November 19, 2015

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Posted in Personal | 5 Comments