On Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at 4:23:43 AM UTC-7, Rick B. wrote:   
   > Snidely  wrote in news:mn.98217e749d870df8.127094    
   > @snitoo:   
      
   > > This is for our current crop of sports fans, both of us. And as such,    
   > > this is about when a game/match/meet is won, under what conditions do    
   > > you consider it an upset?    
   > >    
   > > This question began bugging me during the recent NCAA basketball    
   > > tournament. Firvethirtyeight.com, for instance, in that context    
   > > considered it an upset anytime a lower-seeded team beat a higher-seeded    
   > > team. Would you consider a #5 seed beating a #4 seed an upset? What    
   > > about a #6 team beating a #4 team or a #5 seed beating #3?    
   >    
   I'm not really interested in that exact topic, but if I was, I'd rely on my   
   extensive   
   knowledge of the teams. If I didn't have any, I'd check the Las Vegas   
   betting odds. But I regularly follow only baseball and ice hockey .   
      
   About 40 to 50 years ago, I used to run my newsroom's office pools for    
   Major League baseball and the National Hockey League.    
      
   > At that level, you can argue that the guys doing the seeding just got it    
   > slightly wrong and it's not an upset at all. They're pretty much reading tea    
   > leaves regarding stuff like strength of schedule and margin of victory to   
   try    
   > to get it right. Even if they get it right in theory, sometimes style of   
   play    
   > trumps raw talent--you get a 7 seed that might have lost big to the 3 or 4   
   in    
   > their bracket matching up well with a 2 seed and pulling off a win. They'll    
   > call that an upset in the media, but the coaches might not agree.   
      
   Actually, the sports media nearly always talk to the coaches for their   
   assessment of   
   games, players and teams. That's part of the job description for both parties.   
   They   
   need each other.   
      
   One of the outcomes of that is that the sports media reporters can be   
   influenced    
   by the coaches, but that is often better than relying on the reporters' smarts   
   alone.   
      
   bill   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)