I am no basketball expert and what I don't know about b-ball could fill an entire genre of books and several cable channels. My remaining bracket picks pretty much prove that.

But here is an interesting chart showing the probability of scoring by physical position on the court as a heat map. Red is a high number of points per attempt while blue is low.

Unsurprisingly you see a orange-red zone at the three-point line and right under the basket, but interestingly you see a lot of variation in scoring in other areas. And when you break it down by position and player (say Kobe Bryant vs Lebron James) it gets even more uneven and interesting. You can read the original paper here.

Posted by: Maetenloch at 02:16 PM | Comments (115)
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Open thread. Twice as open as the last two.

Update: This thread is so open, it makes Andy's open thread look closed.

This thread is more open than Sonny after Barzini's men met him at the tollbooth.

This thread is more open than a bottle of Wild Turkey at Andy's family reunion.

This thread is more open than a hippie on blotter acid at a Summer of Love be-in.

This thread is more open than McGinley's Pub on St. Paddy's Day. more...

Posted by: rdbrewer at 01:12 PM | Comments (138)
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Yeah, it's old, but funny. So is Retired Geezer, who sent it to me.

Also: All your NCAA brackets are busted. If you chalked em, like Obama did. Huge first round upsets by Norfolk State over Mizzou and Lehigh over Duke. The Humpbot was released.

also, Go Lady Bears!

Posted by: Dave in Texas at 10:24 AM | Comments (101)
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It's time for one. Per Vic. more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 08:53 AM | Comments (194)
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Steyn on Obama: Future generations will laugh at us for taking him seriously. It's a good read.

Posted by: andy at 04:48 AM | Comments (500)
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What are the best movie opening sequences or scenes? No link for this one. I want your input. Here are three of my favorites.

more...

Posted by: Open Blogger at 05:50 PM | Comments (1005)
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Since I know you can't get enough of those sweet, sweet maps, and I feel like a giver today, here's this month's edition of the AOSHQ Presidential Projection.
Map courtesy (as always) of JohnE.

Since I have plans this evening, I will keep my comments brief. I used Mitt Romney as the Republican candidate as he looks likely to win the nomination. He was flying high before the ritual beating-about-each-others-testicles-until-sterile we call a primary. Not so much anymore. Behold, the last of this week's big maps (and yes, before the gnashing of teeth begins, it is a big map. So no whining. It's a special day today. Jerry Lewis turns 100): more...

Posted by: CAC at 04:08 PM | Comments (192)
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This movie, White Dog, was never released, owing to concerns it would be racially inflammatory or denigrating to blacks. (Despite the fact the whole point of the movie is an anti-racist message.)

It was directed by Samuel Fuller, who was furious at the decision. And that's Kristy MacNichol and Jameson Parker of Simon and Simon there, and Paul Winfield (he got the creature in his ear) as the Racist Dog De-Programmer.

Here's something: Apparently all the parts of this are available on YouTube so it's possible we could do a joint viewing.

I don't know. It's about 90 minutes long and I'm not sure it's bad enough to warrant that.

Corrected: It wasn't released theatrically. It was shown on TV. more...

Posted by: Ace at 04:03 PM | Comments (149)
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I would not have guessed this.

I wonder if more than 12% of them would vote for Paul, on the theory it could result in a brokered convention.

Posted by: Ace at 03:49 PM | Comments (121)
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He wants to get money for the pleasure of his company?

That makes him a paid escort, right? A gigolo?

A man-whore with a he-gina, right?

Oh God.

They're the K-Tel of Presidential Couples.

And that's not all! Order now and we'll throw in an onion-cutter, free of charge.

Friend –

I see this happen a lot:

Someone in a crowd yells at my husband, “We love you, Barack.”

That’s when he interrupts himself, smiles really big, and says, “I love you back.” And he does.

That’s why Barack’s dinners with supporters mean so much to him — because they give him a chance to show it and to say thanks.

I can say from experience you won’t want to miss out on the next dinner. I hope you’ll consider donating $3 — or whatever you can to support the campaign — and be automatically entered today:

https://donate.barackobama.com/Dinners-with-Barack

Thank you,

Michelle

Someone ought to compile the creepy "Love Letters" from Michelle and Barack and set them to syrupy music like this.

Or something better. I don't know. You know the genre I mean. I can't think of the right song.

Or maybe go the other way with this.

Posted by: Ace at 03:31 PM | Comments (113)
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