Doug Flutie...A football life

[sj-roc]

I vaguely remember there being a torts issue, but cannot remember the details. I think I dissed him for something he said, but cant remember what or how you (I assume) defended him.

Well.... it's just that you were really ticked at him and even created a thread about it... but it looks like you've mellowed on the matter so good on you. Anyway my main point was you changed your mind on Phillips based on some unknown info that surfaced after your initial evaluation of the matter. Our exchange on Torts was along a similar theme.

I took my position not specifically to defend him or even to attack you but it was about the broader principle of not jumping to conclusions without all the facts. It's a part of human nature I suppose, but technology has made this phenomenon worse IMHO as it's become rather easy for people to express premature views that can get embedded in the public consciousness before the truth becomes fully understood. The Torts thing is small beer; there are instances of this where the stakes are far higher (falsely accused crime suspects, etc). There's the old saying about a lie travelling halfway around the world before the truth even gets its boots on; it's as true as ever.

[notahomer]

....... There's the old saying about a lie travelling halfway around the world before the truth even gets its boots on; it's as true as ever.

I certainly agree. Locally one guy was arrested and confessed to a sexual assault he didn't commit

http://bc.ctvnews.ca/calls-renewed-for- ... -1.2059590


I think its like a lot of issues (crime, politics etc...). General public wants easy, effective and fast answers. Here the publics appetite was whetted, person in jail for the crime BUT THE REAL PERP was still out there. In politics, people will often promise the moon (MORE SERVICES/ROADS/PROGRAMS & less taxes). When does it become partly us for continuing to fall for these games of three card monte? Slow down, check the facts and if it sounds too good to be true, IT MIGHT BE.

A lot of people CLAIM they would never sign a confession to a crime they didn't commit. Well there are tactics/methods that may end up with you doing something you never thought you would.

For e.g. as a teen-ager I had a reputation for getting involved in fisticuffs that I should not have been part of. I saw one person being attacked by a group of three/four and I would jump in to even the score. WHY? because, it just didn't seem fair a group of guys would attack a single person........ Fast-forward twenty years, and I'm in a line-up to get into a Christmas Party being held by a large organization. One guy got jumped by FIVE guys and I stood around and did nothing. Why? Suddenly got brains that it wasn't my business? No, its a common psychological bias. There were well over FIFTY people standing in line IN FRONT OF ME and NOBODY DID ANYTHING. It wasn't until a woman tried to intervene that a group of us finally did something (all we did was all the gang to retreat). When there is a group of people MOST will do nothing fully expecting someone else to carry the load. That is why you are much better of screaming "FIRE" than "HELP" on a dark night, because even though deep down we are nice people, it will usually be someone elses job (but who wants their house to burn down too?).........
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As for the Flutie show, there will be ways to catch it. Libraries carry the series on DVD. If NFL network ever has a free month/week of programming, I'll let you know. IMO, its an okay channel but I like NFL. Still you will hear groupthink lots of times and that is why amazing things like Flutie end up happening. They were RIGHT until proven WRONG......

[sj-roc]

....... There's the old saying about a lie travelling halfway around the world before the truth even gets its boots on; it's as true as ever.

I certainly agree. Locally one guy was arrested and confessed to a sexual assault he didn't commit

http://bc.ctvnews.ca/calls-renewed-for- ... -1.2059590


I think its like a lot of issues (crime, politics etc...). General public wants easy, effective and fast answers. Here the publics appetite was whetted, person in jail for the crime BUT THE REAL PERP was still out there. In politics, people will often promise the moon (MORE SERVICES/ROADS/PROGRAMS & less taxes). When does it become partly us for continuing to fall for these games of three card monte? Slow down, check the facts and if it sounds too good to be true, IT MIGHT BE.

A lot of people CLAIM they would never sign a confession to a crime they didn't commit. Well there are tactics/methods that may end up with you doing something you never thought you would.

For e.g. as a teen-ager I had a reputation for getting involved in fisticuffs that I should not have been part of. I saw one person being attacked by a group of three/four and I would jump in to even the score. WHY? because, it just didn't seem fair a group of guys would attack a single person........ Fast-forward twenty years, and I'm in a line-up to get into a Christmas Party being held by a large organization. One guy got jumped by FIVE guys and I stood around and did nothing. Why? Suddenly got brains that it wasn't my business? No, its a common psychological bias. There were well over FIFTY people standing in line IN FRONT OF ME and NOBODY DID ANYTHING. It wasn't until a woman tried to intervene that a group of us finally did something (all we did was all the gang to retreat). When there is a group of people MOST will do nothing fully expecting someone else to carry the load. That is why you are much better of screaming "FIRE" than "HELP" on a dark night, because even though deep down we are nice people, it will usually be someone elses job (but who wants their house to burn down too?).........

Diffusion of responsibility: "There's tons of other people here who can see this problem and could fix it. Surely one of them will do something about it." Multiply that out to everyone present and nobody does anything. This is partly why the fridge at work hardly ever gets cleaned unless there's someone (eg custodial staff) who gets paid to do it.

As for the Flutie show, there will be ways to catch it. Libraries carry the series on DVD. If NFL network ever has a free month/week of programming, I'll let you know. IMO, its an okay channel but I like NFL. Still you will hear groupthink lots of times and that is why amazing things like Flutie end up happening. They were RIGHT until proven WRONG......

Speaking of free programming, I see TSN3 through TSN5 is no longer part of the basic cable package; hasn't been for several days now. I don't recall this ever being announced as such initially, in fact I recall to the contrary that there was to be no added charges for having these extra channels. But I didn't believe it anyway; from the immediate outset I just didn't see how they would suddenly give us these three extra channels at no added cost.

I'm not surprised by this. I saw it coming right from the start that it was the classic trick that Dan Ariely discussed in Predictably Irrational: they offered these channels free for a while, long enough (about 2mos?) so that people would get used to the idea of "owning" them. Once you get this invested in something, you tend to go to greater lengths to retain what you "own" that what you would have done just to obtain it in the first place without the initial free opportunity to internalise the ownership. They call it "Loss Aversion"; marketers are well aware of how strong this effect can be, so often use free trials as a selling tool — often with negative option continuation of the service (have to take action to cancel it, but do nothing to retain it) once the costs kick in.

[Lions4ever]

I would have NEVER ordered NFL network but it comes as part of the basic TV cable package my landlord includes in the rent.

Really? The TV gods invented a channel that plays football stuff 24/7/365.

I am so in.

[Lions4ever]

Joe T was in Vancouver IIRC and was on radio with the CKNW Neil McRae and was here pumping ESPN or something across Canada. McRae kept trying to get him to dump on the CFL and while he was not here to promote that but the NFL or ESPN or something like that on a promo tour - he finally got annoyed and responded quite strongly as to his love for the CFL.

Aaah. The grand ol' days of Vancouver's biggest sports media douchenozzle. Good times.

[notahomer]

Speaking of free programming, I see TSN3 through TSN5 is no longer part of the basic cable package; hasn't been for several days now. ....

I'm not surprised by this. I saw it coming right from the start that it was the classic trick that Dan Ariely discussed in Predictably Irrational: they offered these channels free for a while, long enough (about 2mos?) so that people would get used to the idea of "owning" them. Once you get this invested in something, you tend to go to greater lengths to retain what you "own" that what you would have done just to obtain it in the first place without the initial free opportunity to internalise the ownership. They call it "Loss Aversion"; marketers are well aware of how strong this effect can be, so often use free trials as a selling tool — often with negative option continuation of the service (have to take action to cancel it, but do nothing to retain it) once the costs kick in.

Yes, I noticed the TSN freebies were over when I tried to catch a replay of a game. It was no big deal, I just watched a James Bond movie instead, but I would have watched the CFL football had it been free.....

I also enjoyed the book you described (Predictably Irrational). These kinds of books are really good at shining lights into dark corners of our brains, IMO. "OH, I would NEVER fall for that" is a common refrain but the tactics continue to work effectively.

Really? The TV gods invented a channel that plays football stuff 24/7/365.

I am so in.

It certainly helps in the off-season. During football season, you can find stuff on other channels etc... but once that Superbowl (and okay PROBOWL) are done, its pretty quiet for football fans. What is nice is they sometimes replay classic games (I wish they did this more often actually) or show documentaries like this Flutie one.....