Gigs’ Stats: Round 13 Stat. Declaration

ERATOSTHENES’ GUIDE TO TIPPING 8 WINNERS

Mathematicians use the “Sieve of Eratosthenes” to come up with all the prime numbers in a list from 2 to any specified integer. The process involves eliminating all multiples of 2 (which is a prime) and then 3 (which is next prime) and so on until only the prime numbers remain.

A similar method could have been used to tip the card in Round 13. A simple three-step elimination process could have you raking in the cash:

1.    Remove all teams whose mascot names contain a “K”. That eliminates the Hawks, Kangaroos and Dockers.
2.    Remove all teams whose mascots are not tangible objects: Blues, Power, Demons.
3.    Remove all remaining teams whose coach has a surname beginning with “R”: Tigers, Swans.

This leaves us with eight teams: Essendon, Collingwood, Adelaide, Brisbane, West Coast, Geelong, Western Bulldogs and St Kilda, i.e. ALL of the Round 13 winners. The “Sieve of Gigs” has never been known to fail in Round 13 of any year beginning with 2 and ending in 9.

[Those who want to argue the point about Saints being tangible are reminded that Wikipedia defines a Saint as a human that has been called to holiness. They may not be tangible now but they were once.]

1 vs 100

Eddie’s show may have disappeared from our screens but the race goes on to see which margin is reached first this season. Thirteen rounds in and we have not yet had a one-point margin or a 100 point (or higher) margin. The last time we went so deep into a season without recording that milestone was in 2003. In that year the drought was broken when Geelong won their Sunday Round 14 match by a point. A Sunday round 14 match with the Cats winning by a point? Now there’s a mouth-watering omen for this week’s blockbuster!

ROUND 13 RIDICULOUS BUT TRUE FACT

If all the goal posts in the world were laid end to end, it would be very difficult to stage a game of footy.

THE LOW SCORE LOWDOWN

Another paltry score recorded this week. Richmond’s 5.6 (36) was the sixth occasion this year that a score below 40 has been registered. 2002 was the last year we recorded more than six scores below 40 but it’s worth noting that by Round 13 of that year, only three has been recorded.

SCORE WARS – Round 12 Update

111 and 86, scored by Geelong and North Melbourne respectively, have regained a share of the lead with 104, 90 and 85, which also jumped into joint-leadership being scored by both Adelaide and Fremantle at the weekend. 116, 94, 75 and 67 are all just one behind.

THE MARGINAL MEDAL

While North’s score of 86 helped that score into joint-leadership, the fact that it was 22 points adrift of the Bulldogs total gave 22 the outright lead in the battle for the Marginal Medal. 22 jumped to the lead in round 11 but 19 joined it in front last week. 22 has hit back and, having been scored 5 times, is again one ahead of 19.

POSTCODES OF THE WEEK

Melbourne threw its support behind a team out of Western Sydney by scoring 2, 0, 0, 6 goals in their four quarters against Brisbane on Saturday night. 2006 is the postcode of the University of Sydney, which is in the inner west of the NSW capital. Brisbane weighed in with a vote against the concept by scoring 3, 6, 4, 3 in the same match. 3643 is the postcode of Whangamata in NZ, a long way east (and south) of Sydney. Collingwood made an even more emphatic statement of opposition to a West Sydney team, scoring 6, 4, 6, 10. 64610 is the postcode of Monterrey in Mexico which is a long LONG way east of Sydney.

NO LONGER LIVING IN THE ’70s

In the past couple of years we’ve seen a bit of a ’70s resurgence with celebrities wearing big hair, big sideburns and big sunglasses. Even footy got in on the act with final scores in the 70s range being the most common in 2007 and 2008. Alongside those scores there were seven margins in the 70s in 2007 and ten last year.

But this season, the 70s appear to be out of favour. We’ve had only one game with a margin in that range and in terms of final scores, the 70s range has dropped back to sixth in the ranking, behind the 100s, the 90s, the 110s, the 80s and even the 60s.

THE GOOD OLD DAYS

The concept of the “good ol’ days” is one that generates great debate. Some psychologists argue that, in most cases, the old days weren’t actually better than current times but are the product of human’s natural tendency towards nostalgia and a general yearning for the past. But here at the GigStat Institute, we can now provide quantifiable evidence that the good old days are not just a figment of our imagination.

And those days weren’t that long ago. Under the tutelage of the legendary Tony Shaw, Collingwood went through three consecutive Junes (from 1996 to 1998) without winning a game of footy. Contrast that to the June just finished where the Pies won all the games they played.

1996 – 1998. Now they really were the good old days (at least in June).

THIS WEEK’S RIDICULOUS FOOTY ANAGRAM:

It’s been billed as the biggest home and away game in the 113-ear history of the VFL/AFL. But let’s face it, Andrew Demetriou and his mates have made a MEAL of it by pandering to the wishes of the TV BEAN-counters and leaving themselves with EGG on their faces. It’s enough to drive supporters (and commissioners) to DRINK. No wonder “St Kilda vs Geelong” is an anagram of EGGS, LENTILS, VODKA …