Redskins Lose!

by Kieran Healy on October 31, 2004

“In every Presidential election-year since 1936”:http://www.snopes.com/sports/football/election.asp, if the Washington Redskins lost their last game before the election, the “incumbent lost as well”:http://www.sacbee.com/24hour/weird/story/1774448p-9625249c.html. In “today’s game”:http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playbyplay?gameId=241031028, the Packers beat Washington 28 – 14. A late rally by the Redskins in the 4th Quarter couldn’t save them. This is the strongest spurious evidence yet that Kerry’s going to win on Tuesday.

{ 23 comments }

1

WillieStyle 10.31.04 at 9:58 pm

I thought it was if the Redskins lost their last home game.
As a liberal skins fan, all I can say is this loss better have been worth it.

2

Andrew Boucher 10.31.04 at 10:03 pm

Isn’t data mining wonderful ?

3

Professor von Nostrand 10.31.04 at 10:04 pm

“Well there it is, adoption leads to serial killing.” (Kramer from Seinfeld)

I certainly hope this relationship continues (the Redskins one, not the Kramer hypothesis).

4

Rob 10.31.04 at 10:05 pm

Obviously since Bush is a sincere tradtionalist, he will now concede the election lest this fine tradition be broken.

5

Mac Thomason 10.31.04 at 10:05 pm

I don’t know about the Redskins Curse, but I figure that a Packer victory means happy Wisconsinites, which means higher turnout in Wisconsin, which is good for Kerry.

6

asg 10.31.04 at 10:08 pm

Actually, it bodes well for Kerry, but not so much for the country. What happened was that the Redskins were driving in the final minutes, down 20-14, and Brunell threw a long touchdown pass to Portis for the go-ahead score. Or so we thought — the officials then threw a flag for illegal motion. Replays show no illegal motion took place. The winning touchdown is taken away and the Packers intercept Brunell on the next play to score the icing touchdown.

If the course of the election mirrors the course of the game, then Kerry will win (because the Redskins lost) but only due to highly questionable rule interpretations and legal tactics, leading to tremendous ill feeling. (Full disclosure: I’m planning on voting for Kerry, although the sentiments expressed in this post at Division of Labor has given me some pause: http://divisionoflabour.com/archives/000278.php)

7

Rob 10.31.04 at 10:24 pm

Except the replay did show illegal motion. The reciever did not set when he moved to the line before the ball was snapped. Hence he was still moving forward. That Fox’s fifth string crew didn’t see that wasn’t surprising.

8

asg 10.31.04 at 10:36 pm

If that was the call, then the play should have been dead before the snap and the refs should have stopped play immediately. Moreover, even if Thrash (on whom the penalty was not called!) was in motion in the way you describe, similar motion had occurred all game long without any calls.

9

Mac Thomason 10.31.04 at 10:41 pm

They don’t stop the play for illegal motion, only for false starts or for defensive offsides with contact or unfettered access to the quarterback. It was the correct call. Fox sucks.

10

Walt Pohl 11.01.04 at 12:21 am

Damn, this means I lose an argument with my wife. We were speculating about precisely when they’ll blow the play dead, and she guessed right.

11

hbutler 11.01.04 at 1:03 am

I am glad that this is the horseshit that you Commies depend on. It gives us conservatives hope.

On a lighter side. The challenger has never beat an incumbent in a year that the Red Sox won the world series.

12

bza 11.01.04 at 1:20 am

hbutler: Should we assume that you don’t know the meaning of “spurious,” or think rather that you don’t understand irony?

13

Kieran Healy 11.01.04 at 1:41 am

I am glad that this is the horseshit that you Commies depend on. It gives us conservatives hope.

You’re forgetting the script, hbutler — it’s liberals who are supposed to have no sense of humor, remember?

14

Blar 11.01.04 at 5:50 am

The Corner has what may be the Right’s strongest response to this bit of damning data. Roughly, they argue that, because of the irregularities with the 2000 election, maybe Bush doesn’t deserve to count as the “incumbent”.

15

John 11.01.04 at 9:38 am

The Corner has what may be the Right’s strongest response to this bit of damning data. Roughly, they argue that, because of the irregularities with the 2000 election, maybe Bush doesn’t deserve to count as the “incumbent”
This just in: rightbloggers say Bush will win this election because he lost the last one.

I am glad that this is the horseshit that you Commies depend on. It gives us conservatives hope.

Guess it beats depending on voter intimidation and rigged eVoting machines.

I love being called a Commie. I’ve been called Commie, lib, lib homo, homo-loving liberal hippie, Nazi, Islamofacist, and (can’t figure out this one) a “johnny one-note”, sometimes all of those by the same person. They must teach, in conservative school, how to overuse insults until they lose all potency.

(Funny thing is, I’m not a “liberal” or a “conservative”, but it’s easier to hate when you pigeonhole somebody with a convenient tag that you decide applies to all your enemies)

Back on topic: I’m a Packers fan, so I’m happy.

16

Doug 11.01.04 at 11:00 am

Best comment on this is from King Kaufman at Salon:

Every time the Boston Red Sox have won the World Series, Woodrow Wilson has been elected president. It’s Wilson in a landslide!

17

Dubious 11.01.04 at 3:32 pm

I love the phrase ‘strongest spurious evidence ‘ :) Good to see a sense of humor in otherwise properly earnest times.

18

C.J.Colucci 11.01.04 at 4:30 pm

And here I was trying to divine the implications of the New England Patriots losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Heinz (yes, the ketchup Heinz) Stadium. Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward had a pretty good day.

19

C.J.Colucci 11.01.04 at 4:37 pm

And here I was trying to read the entrails of the New England patriots’ loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Heinz (yes, the ketchup Heinz) Stadium. Pittsburgh WR Hines Ward had a pretty good day, too.

20

DR. Smith 11.02.04 at 2:11 am

Weekly reader has predicted the outcome 100-percent of time including the margin.

This time,

Bush-61 percent

There ya go….

21

DR. Smith 11.02.04 at 2:12 am

Weekly reader has predicted the outcome 100-percent of time including the margin.

This time,

Bush-61 percent

There ya go….

22

DrR. Smith 11.02.04 at 2:13 am

Weekly reader has predicted the outcome 100-percent of time including the margin.

This time,

Bush-61 percent

There ya go….

23

Greg 11.03.04 at 12:10 am

Where can I get a video of the ILLEGAL MOTION. I saw it, but now it is gone.

I need to quiet a coworker who insist there was no foul.

Thanks!

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