Category Archives: Sports

THE ONLY RULE IS IT HAS TO WORK.

Posted on January 4, 2019 by Philip

THE ONLY RULE IS IT HAS TO WORK. My first book of 2019 is THE ONLY RULE IS IT HAS TO WORK by Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller. Lindbergh and Miller are two sabermatricians (think Moneyball) who were given the … Continue reading →

Posted in Baseball, Sports | 2 Comments

WAITING FOR THE RAPID CHESS ROUNDS (COMMENT).

Posted on December 3, 2018 by Philip

WAITING FOR THE RAPID CHESS ROUNDS (COMMENT). Nick commented on yesterday’s post that Carlsen had been criticized for offering a draw in the twelfth and last game of “classical” chess—-even though Carlsen seemed to have the advantage. Nick added that … Continue reading →

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AVOIDING ARMAGEDDON CHESS—CARLSEN VERSUS CARUANO.

Posted on December 2, 2018 by Philip

AVOIDING ARMAGEDDON CHESS—CARLSEN VERSUS CARUANO. Magnus Carlsen has defeated Fabiano Caruano to retain his world chess championship. Peter Doggers reported on the match here at the chess.com site. The first twelve games were played with traditional chess time limits, and … Continue reading →

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INDIAN MUD WRESTLING—KUSHTI.

Posted on November 9, 2018 by Philip

INDIAN MUD WRESTLING—KUSHTI. I enjoy learning about unusual or homegrown sports like noodling (the sport of catching a catfish with your bare hands) so the entry on the Smithsonian site of a photograph from the sport of kushti got my … Continue reading →

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“POTOOOOOOOO”.

Posted on November 8, 2018 by Philip

“POTOOOOOOOO”. Nick sent us that name because, he says, he knows of our interest in the names of horses. (The first race Mary Jane ever saw live, she was a graduate student working on her dissertation. She bet on a … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Sports | 1 Comment

TINKERING WITH SCRABBLE RULES AND SCRABBLE DICTIONARIES.

Posted on October 8, 2018 by Philip

TINKERING WITH SCRABBLE RULES AND SCRABBLE DICTIONARIES. I have posted here about our family’s changing the rules—and the spirit— of Scrabble to emphasize offense. We find those changes make the game more fun for us. Scoring is more fun than … Continue reading →

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A CLAIM THAT “SCRABBLE IS A LOUSY GAME”.

Posted on October 7, 2018 by Philip

A CLAIM THAT “SCRABBLE IS A LOUSY GAME”. The headline for an article in the Wall Street Journal (October 6-7. 2018) by Jonathan Kay is “SCRABBLE IS A LOUSY GAME”, spelled out in Scrabble tiles. What Kay doesn’t like about … Continue reading →

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SHAWN BRADLEY AS A BLACK SWAN.

Posted on September 30, 2018 by Philip

SHAWN BRADLEY AS A BLACK SWAN. Jody Genessy in the Deseret News summarizes the study’s explanation of Shawn Bradley’s height: Bradley “simply had “nearly every common genetic variant that positively affects height.” As I understand it, if you think of … Continue reading →

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SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISMS.

Posted on September 29, 2018 by Philip

SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISMS. I had always thought that there were only a few genes which affected height. I assumed, if I thought about it, that a person’s height would be some kind of average of the heights of their parents … Continue reading →

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WHAT MADE SHAWN BRADLEY SEVEN SIX INCHES TALL?

Posted on September 28, 2018 by Philip

WHAT MADE SHAWN BRADLEY SEVEN SIX INCHES TALL? Ben Cohen had an article in the Wall Street Journal (September 19, 2018) about Shawn Bradley’s genetic inheritance. Bradley was seven feet six inches tall and played significant minutes in the National … Continue reading →

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