Trying out a new feature (actually a metafeature): updates for various running items that I plan to refresh each Wednesday.
PEN PALS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
Adrian Murray of Painless Performance writes with news that the "Rodders For Relief" car show in Fort Worth was a smash hit, raising nearly $20,000 for Katrina charities. Bigups to Adrian and the folks at Painless for the great work.
Speaking of hurricanes, America's sociologists are perplexed: despite damage that surpassed New Orleans, why was there no looting in Mississippi? Magnolia Stater and Katrina survivor JSS3 sends some photo data that may help solve this mystery.
FEETSBALL
I've computed the initial Bounty and Blind Ballot ratings for the 2005 college football season, including games through Oct. 2:
BOUNTY METHOD TOP TEN
1 Penn State 391
2 Virginia Tech 381
3 Wisconsin 363
4 Alabama 356
5 Southern Cal 318
6 Notre Dame 309
7 TCU 307
8 Michigan St 305
9 Florida 301
10 Georgia 291BLIND BALLOT TOP TEN
1 Michigan 1063.5
2 Penn State 1000
3 Virginia Tech 882.5
4 Alabama 816
5 Wisconsin 807.5
6 Michigan St 805
7 Notre Dame 801
8 Miami FL 750
9 Florida 748
10 Southern Cal 746.5
That's not a missprint on 3-2 Michigan. Under the blind ballot method, the Wolverines have 32 ballots (two home wins, one road win), and they are ranked #3 out of 6 teams on those ballots -- below the two teams they lost to. Michigan gets 4 points on each of these ballots, for a total of 128 points. Of the teams that have played Michigan, here are the number of ballots, Michigan's rank on those ballots and the total number of points alloted to Michigan...
MICHIGAN OPPONENT BALLOTS MICHIGAN RANK POINTS TOTAL POINTS TO MICHIGAN
Northern Illinois 5.5 #1 out of 5 5 27.5
Notre Dame 48 #3 out of 6 4 192
Eastern Michigan 32 #1 out of 6 6 192
Wisconsin 52 #2 out of 6 5 260
Michigan State 44 #1 out of 6 6 264
Michigan therefore gets 1063.5 total ballot votes. By contrast, undefeated Texas (#2 in the AP and USAToday polls) has 44 ballots -- two home wins, two road wins -- and they rank themselves #1 out of 5 on those ballots. Five points each, for a total of 220 points. Of the teams that have played the Texas, here is how they allocate points to the Longhorns:
TEXAS OPPONENT BALLOTS TEXAS RANK POINTS TOTAL POINTS TO TEXAS
Lousiana-Lafayette 5.5 #1 out of 5 5 27.5
Ohio State 30 #1 out of 5 5 150
Rice 0 #2 out of 4 3 0
Missouri 20 #1 out of 5 5 100
For a total of 497.5 ballot points, which only ranks #29 among Division 1-A teams. The low point total partially reflects that Texas / Texas opponents have played fewer games than Michigan / Michigan opponents. Early season points generally favor Nothern teams who play more games earlier in the year, but that advantage evaporates as teams finish a common 11 game schedule.
For details on the Blind Ballot and Bounty methods, click here. For the complete Division 1-A rankings, click here.
Iowa's ranking? #52 in the Bounty method and (ugh) #86 in the Blind Ballot.
YOU"RE A POET AND DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT
More Hai-Gu -- free form poetry made from some of the actual Google searches that brought visitors to this site. This week's selection has a slight automotive tincture.
HAYFIELD DRAGSTRIP
hodaka 250 stuck engine
rural lowriders drag racing tractors in iowa
nash metropolitan tests rocket oldsmobile cartoons
hotrod bloggers a320 green dot speed
badonka donk ass
badonka donk ass
COUPE OF JUSTICE
NEW LINKAGE
Please note lotsa new linkage on the blogroll; special note for Pejman Yousefzadeh's handsome new digs Chequer-Board of Days and Nights, milblogger Odyssey, and a long-overdue link to the funny guys at Whizbang, Silent Running and Six Meat Buffet. Other new links include Knights Simplar, Daily Missive, Gay Patriot, Mister Speaker, and Political Edge. Good stuff all. Give 'em a visit and tell 'em Dave sent you.
