Cheese Heads Unite!
Coming from Minnesota, I never in my life thought I'd be caught saying "Go Packers!" but this is too damned weird.
Did you know that in every single presidential election year since they moved to Washington from Boston in 1937, the outcome of the last Washington Redskins home football game before election day has predicted the outcome of the election perfectly: if the 'Skins won, the incumbent party prevailed; if the 'Skins lost, the challenging party was triumphant.
That is a correct prediction for every single one of the past 16 presidential elections. Better than any polling agency I know of (most of them got Truman-Dewey wrong!).
2000: 30 Oct vs Tennessee -- lost -- incumbent Democrats lost (Gore lost to Bush Jr)
1996: 27 Oct vs Indianapolis -- won -- incumbent Democrats won (Clinton beat Dole)
1992: 1 Nov vs New York -- lost -- incumbent Republican lost (Bush Snr lost to Clinton)
1988: 6 Nov vs New Orleans -- won -- incumbent Republican won (Bush Snr beat Dukakis)
1984: 5 Nov vs Atlanta -- won -- incumbent Republicans won (Reagan beat Mondale)
1980: 2 Nov vs Minnesota -- lost -- incumbent Democrats lost (Carter lost to Reagan)
1976: 31 Oct vs Dallas -- lost -- incumbent Republicans lost (Ford lost to Carter)
1972: 22 Oct vs Dallas -- won -- incumbent Republicans won (Nixon beat McGovern)
1968: 27 Oct vs New York -- lost -- incumbent Democrats lost (Humphrey lost to Nixon)
1964: 25 Oct vs Chicago -- won -- incumbent Democrats won (Johnson beat Goldwater)
1960: 30 Oct vs Cleveland -- lost -- incumbent Republicans lost (Nixon lost to Kennedy)
1956: 21 Oct vs Cleveland -- won -- incumbent Republicans won (Eisenhower beat Stevenson)
1952: 2 Nov vs Pittsburgh -- lost -- incumbent Democrats lost (Stevenson lost to Eisenhower)
1948: 31 Oct vs Boston -- won --- incumbent Democrats won (Truman beat Dewey)
1944: 5 Nov vs Cleveland -- won -- incumbent Democrats won (Roosevelt beat Dewey)
1940: 3 Nov vs Pittsburgh -- won -- incumbent Democrats won (Roosevelt beat Willkie)
To verify these, go to the site http://nflhistory.net/shared/annual.asp?TeamNumber=20 and check year by year. Remember, it is the last *home* game before the election which is the predicting game.
Coincidence, of course, but I found it highly amusing. Enough so that you can bet on 31 October, I'll be rooting for Green Bay.
And in case you were wondering, the Redskins are currently 2 wins, 4 losses (1 win 2 losses at home) and the Packers are 3 wins 4 losses (2 wins 1 loss on the road). Green Bay's overall record against Washington is 15 wins-12 losses -1 tie in regular season play, and at their last meeting in regular season play (on Oct. 20, 2002) Packers won, 30-9.
According to USA Today's Danny Sheridan, Green Bay is favored to win.
Did you know that in every single presidential election year since they moved to Washington from Boston in 1937, the outcome of the last Washington Redskins home football game before election day has predicted the outcome of the election perfectly: if the 'Skins won, the incumbent party prevailed; if the 'Skins lost, the challenging party was triumphant.
That is a correct prediction for every single one of the past 16 presidential elections. Better than any polling agency I know of (most of them got Truman-Dewey wrong!).
2000: 30 Oct vs Tennessee -- lost -- incumbent Democrats lost (Gore lost to Bush Jr)
1996: 27 Oct vs Indianapolis -- won -- incumbent Democrats won (Clinton beat Dole)
1992: 1 Nov vs New York -- lost -- incumbent Republican lost (Bush Snr lost to Clinton)
1988: 6 Nov vs New Orleans -- won -- incumbent Republican won (Bush Snr beat Dukakis)
1984: 5 Nov vs Atlanta -- won -- incumbent Republicans won (Reagan beat Mondale)
1980: 2 Nov vs Minnesota -- lost -- incumbent Democrats lost (Carter lost to Reagan)
1976: 31 Oct vs Dallas -- lost -- incumbent Republicans lost (Ford lost to Carter)
1972: 22 Oct vs Dallas -- won -- incumbent Republicans won (Nixon beat McGovern)
1968: 27 Oct vs New York -- lost -- incumbent Democrats lost (Humphrey lost to Nixon)
1964: 25 Oct vs Chicago -- won -- incumbent Democrats won (Johnson beat Goldwater)
1960: 30 Oct vs Cleveland -- lost -- incumbent Republicans lost (Nixon lost to Kennedy)
1956: 21 Oct vs Cleveland -- won -- incumbent Republicans won (Eisenhower beat Stevenson)
1952: 2 Nov vs Pittsburgh -- lost -- incumbent Democrats lost (Stevenson lost to Eisenhower)
1948: 31 Oct vs Boston -- won --- incumbent Democrats won (Truman beat Dewey)
1944: 5 Nov vs Cleveland -- won -- incumbent Democrats won (Roosevelt beat Dewey)
1940: 3 Nov vs Pittsburgh -- won -- incumbent Democrats won (Roosevelt beat Willkie)
To verify these, go to the site http://nflhistory.net/shared/annual.asp?TeamNumber=20 and check year by year. Remember, it is the last *home* game before the election which is the predicting game.
Coincidence, of course, but I found it highly amusing. Enough so that you can bet on 31 October, I'll be rooting for Green Bay.
And in case you were wondering, the Redskins are currently 2 wins, 4 losses (1 win 2 losses at home) and the Packers are 3 wins 4 losses (2 wins 1 loss on the road). Green Bay's overall record against Washington is 15 wins-12 losses -1 tie in regular season play, and at their last meeting in regular season play (on Oct. 20, 2002) Packers won, 30-9.
According to USA Today's Danny Sheridan, Green Bay is favored to win.