PC Board OT thread

[penbeast0]

So I'm reading this really fascinating book right now --- "Thinking Fast and Slow" by Nobel prize winning economist Daniel Kahneman and I'm participating in the Top 100 project. And I'm noticing that we have many of our brightest stat guys and many of our brightest basketball guys(and yes some guys are both) with wildly different opinions and conclusions with access to the exact same information. In this book he includes a very influential paper he wrote with Amos Tversky: "Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases"

Many of you may have read this before, but it was new to me. Caveat is that they published this 40 years ago and the author admits some of his ideas on this have changed slightly, but still I think its an interesting piece about how we think and some of the common errors we make and its caused me to re-visit some of how I analyze players. Thought I'd share it with any of you who might be interested in it.


http://www.hss.caltech.edu/~camerer/Ec1 ... tainty.pdf

Thanks. Not only did I find it interesting but it also makes excellent response to a friend who is always sending me Wes Hopper inspirational messages.

[john248]

r


Thanks for the reply, the 49ers do look like a good team. My favourite game I watched at Wembley was the Patriots and Buccaneers. I will watch more of the 49ers this season now though.
As for the nba the main thing I know is rules at the minute. Would you say fans in America follow teams or their favourite players?
My idea because I couldn't decide on a team from either league was to watch both leagues and their finals this season and follow whichever team wins the nfl and the same with the nba, this way I can enjoy the games and this will kind of make the decision for me, is that a good idea?.
Thanks for the welcome, this is a really well organised board. Will hope to post more as I learn a bit more about the nba regarding players and teams.
Is there any documentarys or shows that will broaden my knowledge that you know of?
Thanks

It looks like you chose the Steelers. For basketball, maybe choose another USA east coast team since they will be closest to your time zone for some late night games. Football, you can pretty much choose any team since you can catch all the morning games during your evening times.

If I were in your spot, I'd probably find a favorite player then root for that team. Once that player retires, you can still continue to root for that team.

My fav basketball docu is HBO's about Magic and Bird. There are some great one's listed by someone else above, but I'd start with Magic and Bird. It'll give you background on 2 of the biggest stars who made the NBA rise in popularity. But it'll also give some insight as to why they were great (ie. making teammates better).

I didn't choose the steelers I didn't know how to change the preferences till recently lol. I do like the way the Eagles play football after watching their first 2 games this season.

I agree that choosing an East Coast team would maybe be better as catching games would be easier with my time zone.
A few of the players I really like are Dwyane wade, Dwight howard, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin durant.
I think my favourite though has to be wade right now, but I don't want to seem like someone who jumps on bandwagons with heat being so good the last few years, maybe that will change with the departure of lebron?.
Which East coast teams are tipped to do well this year?
Coverage of the nba in the UK is poor though, I think in order to see the games of the new season I will have to sign up to nba game pass. Have any of you got nba game pass or know if it is worth the money?

I don't think you'll be a bandwagon guy if you root for the Heat since LeBron is gone. East has been bleak for a shade more than a decade.

No idea about league pass since I don't have it. Lots of games are available on cable here.

[ardee]

Anyone here ever been in a fraternity? Bid night is on Sunday, curious about any crazy stories

[penbeast0]

I was a Beta in college. Lots of crazy stories but now they are pretty much just embarrassing . . . and you get equally crazy stories from almost any college career unless that person was focused like a laser.

[Hawk]

r


Thanks for the reply, the 49ers do look like a good team. My favourite game I watched at Wembley was the Patriots and Buccaneers. I will watch more of the 49ers this season now though.
As for the nba the main thing I know is rules at the minute. Would you say fans in America follow teams or their favourite players?
My idea because I couldn't decide on a team from either league was to watch both leagues and their finals this season and follow whichever team wins the nfl and the same with the nba, this way I can enjoy the games and this will kind of make the decision for me, is that a good idea?.
Thanks for the welcome, this is a really well organised board. Will hope to post more as I learn a bit more about the nba regarding players and teams.
Is there any documentarys or shows that will broaden my knowledge that you know of?
Thanks

It looks like you chose the Steelers. For basketball, maybe choose another USA east coast team since they will be closest to your time zone for some late night games. Football, you can pretty much choose any team since you can catch all the morning games during your evening times.

If I were in your spot, I'd probably find a favorite player then root for that team. Once that player retires, you can still continue to root for that team.

My fav basketball docu is HBO's about Magic and Bird. There are some great one's listed by someone else above, but I'd start with Magic and Bird. It'll give you background on 2 of the biggest stars who made the NBA rise in popularity. But it'll also give some insight as to why they were great (ie. making teammates better).

I didn't choose the steelers I didn't know how to change the preferences till recently lol. I do like the way the Eagles play football after watching their first 2 games this season.

I agree that choosing an East Coast team would maybe be better as catching games would be easier with my time zone.
A few of the players I really like are Dwyane wade, Dwight howard, Carmelo Anthony and Kevin durant.
I think my favourite though has to be wade right now, but I don't want to seem like someone who jumps on bandwagons with heat being so good the last few years, maybe that will change with the departure of lebron?.
Which East coast teams are tipped to do well this year?
Coverage of the nba in the UK is poor though, I think in order to see the games of the new season I will have to sign up to nba game pass. Have any of you got nba game pass or know if it is worth the money?

The Cavs should be an interesting team to watch this year with Irving, Lebron and Love. I remember league pass having an option to buy the rights to be able to watch just one team's games, a lot cheaper than buying the whole package, but apparently that is no longer available or at least I'm not able to find it.

I also like to watch the Knicks because of Melo.

[D Nice]

Anyone here ever been in a fraternity? Bid night is on Sunday, curious about any crazy stories

Yeah I was in undergrad. If you're trying to secure a bid the best things to do are to...

a) Stand out. Do something "wild" that shows you have balls. You can bring one or two people, but don't bring an army. Preferably, bring at least 1 girl you just met if there are any big parties (especially a hall crawl) left before hand. This will up your stock tremendously

b) Connect with at least 2 bros and make sure one of them is in a position of power WITHOUT FORCING ANYTHING. By now if you want to pledge you should have at least an idea of what a few of them are about, let alcohol lubricate the experience and find common ground. Don't force anything. If a situation doesn't present itself to you, create one (cleverly).

c) Do not be obsequious. This trait is frowned upon when guys are looking for the future of the frat while you're still a "free man." Subservience starts once you're a pledge, NOT beforehand.

If you already feel very confident that they want to give you a bid, make sure it's something you actually want to do. Can not stress this enough. Quitters suck. It's a life-altering event, the gravity of which you probably don't really even appreciate at the time. But if it's a good frat with good standing at the school, it will be up there with the best/most memorable times of your life, hands down.

But you want personal stories of craziness though? No no no. Even on a board full of guys, many would still make us look like the biggest douchebags on the planet. Either that or, like Beast said, they are completely humiliating. Make your own!

So I'm reading this really fascinating book right now --- "Thinking Fast and Slow" by Nobel prize winning economist Daniel Kahneman and I'm participating in the Top 100 project. And I'm noticing that we have many of our brightest stat guys and many of our brightest basketball guys(and yes some guys are both) with wildly different opinions and conclusions with access to the exact same information. In this book he includes a very influential paper he wrote with Amos Tversky: "Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases"

Yeah, read thinking fast and slow in one of my Business-related Econ Classes, don't recall which one, all I remember was it was right after the 400s. It's a timeless read though. Definitely an analytical scalpel if one is always open to changing the way they think about/perceive the world. I think it was especially powerful because I was like 19 or 20 when I read it, still a pseudo-formative time in life.

[trex_8063]

I was a Beta in college.

[Quotatious]

Hey guys, just slightly off-topic, but I'm wondering - what's the first NBA game you watched? I mean a full game, not highlights (but you can also share your memories of first NBA experience, even just one play, or something, if you don't remember your first full game).

For me, it's:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhQ5_f_st50[/youtube]

http://www.basketball-reference.com/box ... 30CHI.html

I'm glad there are some highlights of that game. Absolutely beautiful display of shooting and off-ball movement by MJ. Immediately fell in love with his game (and the Bulls as a team, as well, I remember Kukoc really impressed me, too). As a kid, I was just amazed by Jordan's fadeaway/turnaround, he made it look so easy...

[Hawk]

This was my first NBA game:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1VtZht_8t4[/youtube]

By that time, I didn't have any way to watch NBA games other than having a friend of mine record this game into a VHS that he would hand me the next day.

Garnett's statline: 32/21/2/4/5

http://www.basketball-reference.com/box ... 90MIN.html

[MisterHibachi]

First game: Cleveland vs Detroit game 5 2007. LeBron turns into a demigod and I became a basketball fan.

[Quotatious]

First game: Cleveland vs Detroit game 5 2007. LeBron turns into a demigod and I became a basketball fan.

That was incredible. I was really shocked that Cleveland beat Detroit in that series. I remember thinking the Pistons would win in 5, but LeBron really showed what one dominant superstar can do in basketball. Boobie Gibson also came up big (not in game 5, but game 6, when he even outscored LeBron, dropping 31 on just 9 shots from the field and 15 free throws).

I was rooting for the Cavs in the finals (I already liked Duncan, so I didn't really mind the Spurs winning, but I love me some underdog story...well, SAS were way too much for LeBron to handle, who didn't even have a true second option, and all the pressure was on him).

lol, I thought my first game was amazing, but what LeBron did (also KG, looking at Dr Olajuwon's post) was even more impressive (especially considering both LBJ and KG performed like that in the playoffs).

[penbeast0]

First game I watched live was at the old Baltimore Civic Center. The Bullets were having a great year with Gus Johnson, last year's exciting rookie Earl Monroe, and this year's (1969) super rookie of the year/Most Valuable Player.

What I remember: the fans around me were all mainly cheering Earl Monroe (they called him Black Jesus or Earl, no one used the "Earl the Pearl" nickname that was on his basketball card); and I walked up to Wes Unseld after the game as he was signing autographs. He may have been the smallest center in the league, but he was the largest man I had even seen. Not just tall but wide/massive. OH, and we won.

[Greatness]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWxYCyijHps[/youtube]

First full game I ever watched. I was 14 years old. Yes I cried.

[Texas Chuck]

No idea first game I watched---probably a late 70's Finals Game, but no idea. I do know I watched the very first Mavs game. First game I ever attended? Don't recall that either, but I do know it was in 91 or 92 and the building was nearly empty and my friend and I spent the whole game yelling for the coach to put Brad Davis in the game and some of the Dallas Cowboys were sitting by us and they assumed since we were white and yelling about Brad Davis that we were his relatives.

Oh and Im literally the only Mavs fan 35+ who wasnt at Moody Madness.......at least if you believe what people tell you.

[ceiling raiser]

Hey guys, just slightly off-topic, but I'm wondering - what's the first NBA game you watched? I mean a full game, not highlights (but you can also share your memories of first NBA experience, even just one play, or something, if you don't remember your first full game).

First game I watched was also the first one I went to:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/box ... 10NYK.html

Was a big Shaq fan instantly, didn't like the hometown Knicks (have much more of an appreciation for those squads in retrospect).

[trex_8063]

I don't remember the first game I watched; would have been in the mid-late 80's, and it was Michael Jordan and the Bulls that first enamored me with the game. The ones that stand out the most were those grudge-matches with the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons.

I can tell you the first rs game I ever went to live was at the Target Center in Minneapolis, March 10, 1996: Twovles vs. Jazz. Got to see Stockton/Malone in action and a rookie Garnett. The thing that stands out in my memory is when Isaiah Rider got ejected, though, because his MOM had to come out on to the court to actually get him to head to the locker room:

http://articles.latimes.com/1996-03-11/ ... r-s-mother

Box score:
http://www.basketball-reference.com/box ... 00MIN.html

I got to see one pre-season game live (Bulls vs. Supersonics) prior to that, like '94 or '95: was during Jordan's first retirement. Got to see Pippen, Payton, kemp, etc, though.

[john248]

No idea what the 1st game I watched. Probably Run TMC versus some other Pacific team...maybe the Jazz.

[bondom34]

Couldn't pick a single game from memory, but remember a lot of Pacers playoff games as a kid, because my birthday's in June and we'd have it on TV during parties. Also remember Reggie's layup getting chase down blocked by Prince.

[ronnymac2]

I don't remember what the first tv game I watched was, but the first game I ever went to was Knicks vs. Pacers at the Garden in 2005 (post-brawl). I remember thinking that for a skinny big man, Jermaine O'Neal seems to be pushing the Knicks around quite a bit. I got to see Reggie Miller at the Garden (may have been his final game at MSG, too lazy to check). I remember him running around screens all day and O'Neal backing everybody down. After a whistle, either Jamal Crawford or Tim Thomas did an off-the-backboard alley-oop to himself, which was pretty awesome. And Jerome Williams was the most energetic player in NBA history. Dude was first to every loose ball.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200502260NYK.html

[penbeast0]

I don't remember what the first tv game I watched was, but the first game I ever went to was Knicks vs. Pacers at the Garden in 2005 (post-brawl). I remember thinking that for a skinny big man, Jermaine O'Neal seems to be pushing the Knicks around quite a bit. I got to see Reggie Miller at the Garden (may have been his final game at MSG, too lazy to check). I remember him running around screens all day and O'Neal backing everybody down. After a whistle, either Jamal Crawford or Tim Thomas did an off-the-backboard alley-oop to himself, which was pretty awesome. And Jerome Williams was the most energetic player in NBA history. Dude was first to every loose ball.

http://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200502260NYK.html

Had forgotten bout the Junkyard Dog, loved him!