February 8, 2006

Apparently Wayne Gretzky was not the first Super Bowl MVP from a losing team.: Just noticed this. That's pretty neat. Basic test of sports knowledge and Google-Fu. I've been thinking about it, and I think I approve.

read story | posted by DrJohnEvans to Navel Gazing at 2:17 PM CDT (35 comments total)

Funny, very funny.

posted by billsaysthis at 3:11 PM CDT on February 8

That was fast -- the questions have been up for less than a day.

posted by rcade at 3:17 PM CDT on February 8

Any effect? Test run? Typo and !!!1!1!! filtered? Do tell.

posted by gspm at 4:01 PM CDT on February 8

Eggselent. The only thing I noticed is that it doesn't appear to be case-sensitive (which is nice, I guess). Exact spelling is apparently a necessity (very nice). It lets you know the question you incorrectly answered, if any, which, if not deterred by the questions themselves, will most likely keep away those prospective users *cough*STEEELORS ROXORS!!1!1!*cough* too lazy to Google. I think I'll second DJE's approval.

posted by redsnare at 4:41 PM CDT on February 8

Suggested addition: What is the best MLB team?

(acceptable answers: Bahstan, baseball sux)

posted by yerfatma at 4:49 PM CDT on February 8

If I may wax enthusiastic for a moment, I'm already impressed with the quality of the new membership as of today.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 4:59 PM CDT on February 8

Is that what you call yours, DJE? enthusiastic?

posted by geekyguy at 6:57 PM CDT on February 8

Is that what you call yours, DJE? enthusiastic?

I laugh

posted by Folkways at 7:05 PM CDT on February 8

Well, one out of 200 is not great, DrJ.

But actually there are a few good apples joining the fray, it seems.

posted by Amateur at 7:36 PM CDT on February 8

damn, is that member count of 9400 members right? A guy goes away for a while and the place goes crazy.

posted by usfbull at 7:47 PM CDT on February 8

hey, usfbull! I was wondering where you went, you bastard.

I like the "skill testing question" idea as well.

posted by chicobangs at 11:11 PM CDT on February 8

I failed with flying colors.
What !?! I was allowed to google !?!

Is there a limit to how many tries you get?

posted by njsk8r20 at 7:42 AM CDT on February 9

Is this serious?

If it is, the first two questions are very US-centric IMHO. Neither would be a question of "basic sports knowledge" to most Europeans. Even allowing for google-fu you run the risk of discouraging new users who might just think, oh well if it's that US-oriented it isn't worth the effort.

FWIW I just did an office straw poll amongst the sports fans here and none of them had even the faintest idea what the first two answers were. Out of 5, one had never even heard of ESPN, and only 3 knew what MVP meant.

posted by squealy at 7:44 AM CDT on February 9

That's a really good point. Could we have a number of questions from different continents/ sports and have a minimum score?

posted by yerfatma at 8:20 AM CDT on February 9

I wondered how the questions would look to non-American sports fans -- especially the newbies we'll attract in the run to the World Cup. I added an international alternative.

posted by rcade at 8:20 AM CDT on February 9

The questions should be all cricket related. That is, if you want to truly keep these "STEEELORS ROXORS!!1!1!" people away.

posted by NoMich at 8:47 AM CDT on February 9

Nice one rcade. But now it's too easy. I kid.

posted by squealy at 8:58 AM CDT on February 9

Well, I for one welcome our new filtering device. It will do exactly as intended - stop the one-time posting anus faces from diluting our sweet, sweet ambrosia with their fetid urinations.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 9:00 AM CDT on February 9

Good one on allowing Brazil or Brasil for international Q#1.

posted by redsnare at 9:31 AM CDT on February 9

Nos flamanos.

posted by yerfatma at 10:08 AM CDT on February 9

Hasta luego, fuego.

posted by rocketman at 10:27 AM CDT on February 9

I'm better at the international one than the domestic one.

I think we should add a third questionnaire asking only about the infield fly rule.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:51 AM CDT on February 9

I like the questions. I think you should make them case-specific to weed out the people who don't know to capitalize.

posted by bperk at 11:04 AM CDT on February 9

And prevent all German-speaking peoples from joining? For shame. How will we ever learn tolerance?

posted by yerfatma at 11:49 AM CDT on February 9

I'm better at the international one than the domestic one.

Me too. I'm not exactly sure what to think about that.

posted by chris2sy at 2:55 PM CDT on February 9

Viva le difference, Christoosi.

posted by rcade at 3:23 PM CDT on February 9

I nailed the International one, but flunked the US-centric one.

I'm now only allowed to talk about cricket and F1 racing.

:(

posted by grum@work at 3:33 PM CDT on February 9

Along the lines of the international one, one of the questions for the North American one could be about what team has won the most titles in whatever (ie Yankees, Canadiens, Celtics)?

posted by gspm at 5:24 PM CDT on February 9

Thank you google, I can get a new membership. Although I had to do it twice because I misspelled the first one and the third one I put the city instead of the country. Guess I need to learn to read better.

I like this idea. You need to put in an effort before you can rant. Hopefully it will stop some idiots from joining. If a person is sincere they won't mind taking the time to complete. It only took me about 3 minutes total to google all three answers.

posted by skydivemom at 6:18 PM CDT on February 9

I knew 1 out of 3 before I googled them, I too like the filtering process.

:o)

posted by Steeler_Fan at 6:45 PM CDT on February 9

There needs to be a Canadian version. "Who scored the winning goal in the 72 summit series" or something.

posted by mkn at 12:29 AM CDT on February 10

Paul Henderson. Can I be Canadian now?

posted by 86 at 8:26 AM CDT on February 10

Race traitor.

posted by yerfatma at 8:32 AM CDT on February 10

There needs to be a Canadian version. "Who scored the winning goal in the 72 summit series" or something.

I prefer:
Name the Canadian player(s) who scored the last three game winning goals for Team Canada during the 1972 Summit Series.

Of course, you'd have to put 3 separate answer boxes for them to fill in...

posted by grum@work at 9:53 AM CDT on February 10

There needs to be a Canadian version.

1. J.P. Riccardi is clearly the best GM in baseball. This is not a question -- just a fact.

2. Explain why Canadian Olympic curler Brad Gushue's last name is so damned funny.

3. Bob or Doug Mackenzie? Why?

posted by wfrazerjr at 1:56 PM CDT on February 15

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