Call of the Day: IBM’s Watson on Jeopardy (The Sports Parts)

Yesterday was the much-heralded debut of WATSON on the fantastic game show Jeopardy! (the exclamation point is theirs, not mine). The half-hour program was basically an ad for IBM with a few questions sprinkled throughout, so hopefully the next two nights of man-vs.-man-vs.-machine will be more about the actual game and less about the giant server room that houses the dozens of racks it takes to make Watson intuitive.

The process is pretty neat, and there’s a little bit of that in this video (though I only put that in to show everyone that one of Watson’s initial choices for a question about non-dairy creamer was LPGA golfer Paula Creamer, which automatically qualifies Watson as one of the biggest LPGA supporters on the planet.) Still, there was a category about sports on the show last night, so here are all the sports parts.

Here’s my only issue with this gimmick: I’ve watched thousands of episodes of this show and always assume that every Jeopardy contestant knows at least 75% of the answers (or questions), making ultimate successREAD MORE

What The Simpsons Monorail Episode Can Teach Us About FIFA & The IOC

In one of the many conversations this week trying to wrap my brain around the fact that FIFA awarded the World Cup to both Russia and Qatar — on the heels of an event in South Africa and in the midst of Brazil feverishly trying to stay on schedule for the 2014 World Cup — I came to the realization that FIFA, and the International Olympic Committee for that matter — are a lot like Lyle Lanley.

Who is Lyle Lanley? Well he’s sold monorails to Brockway, Ogdenville and North Haverbrook, and by gum it put them on the map.

Can’t you just hear Sepp Blatter making the mule with a spinning wheel joke? “You know a town with money…”

The context came during my conversation with James from Unprofessional Foul, in which we tried to figure out why FIFA insists on awarding the tournament to countries without a proper infrastructure to handle the number of games, and tourists. FIFA awarded 2018 to Russia over established European powerhouses like England and Spain who both have the stadiums (orREAD MORE

DL 338: American Sportswriters Return, Hockey Finale, Gander, Spying & Anderson Cooper’s Soul

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If you get the chance today, please read my Press Coverage column at The Sporting Blog. It’s about 2,500 words and much of it would be stuff I’d put in the space below. So read it there, please.

Today’s show talks about the return of the American sportswriter after a long fortnight in Canada. We also talk about the hockey finale as well as Gander, Newfoundland…the new symbol for NBC’s complete lack of respect for the American sports fan.

On non-sports topics, we discuss more about the spying on your kids story from last week — I think I dug my hole deeper here — and the news that Anderson Cooper may be in line for Katie Couric’s job, which leads to my point that cable news people have no souls.

DL337: MLS Labor Talks, Daulerio vs. Whitlock, The End of the Olympics

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Snow today has everything a bit behind, so to make up time, this is what we discuss today.

• The MLS Labor situation. Read more about that here.

• Whitlock vs. Daulerio. We talk about how many of us try to make a story about us. Self-promotion is how we survive in this business. But Whitlock has seemed to take it to a whole new level. We talk about that, his decision to use the blog world as puppets to do his bidding, and how Daulerio really doesn’t seem to care what people think of him. Which, frankly, makes it hard to get over on the guy. Whitlock clearly cares what people think of him, no matter what he says or writes.

But mostly, Whitlock’s job is to get you to pay attention to Whitlock. He always succeeds, but it doesn’t make it right that he does it or how he does it.

• The Olympics are coming to a close. Will you miss them, or will you be happy to get back toREAD MORE

DL 336: Canada vs. Russia, DL on SAS on BWest, Snow & The Culmination of Online Curling

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Let’s have a short recap today, shall we? Nick and I talk about the Canada-Russia hockey game last night. It seems Canada woke up from whatever US-induced haze they were in and seem like, literal, world beaters again. And we link to a report that Mike Milbury used the term “Eurotrash” to describe the way the Russians played. Bill Patrick and Jeremy Roenick seemed very taken aback by that. Is it that derogatory? Where does that term rank on the epithet list? Or was it more a shot at European HOCKEY player?

Soapbox:

Stephen A. Smith wrote a column about Brian Westbrook getting released, and turned it into yet another shot at the Eagles front office. So, if for no other reason than it’s fun to point out how ridiculous his words can be, we turn it into another shot at him. This could be a recurring show theme, so buckle up.

Housekeeping:

The big Blogs with Stones curling tournament is tonight. Here’s a bracket…vote to see who you think will win. Follow #blogswithstones onREAD MORE

DL 334: Iverson, Zerkle on Curling, Big East, More Curling, LT & Curling.

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Nick and I start the show with a conversation about Allen Iverson’s leave of absence from the Sixers to be by his four-year old daughter’s side. She’s sick. They aren’t sure what it is. Iverson could be done with the Sixers, and in theory, with the NBA if nobody else picks him up.

First and foremost, we wish his daughter a speedy recovery. Being a parent of a child around that age, you spend every minute of every day thinking and worrying about their safety. Second, Nick points out that Iverson’s career may end with a whimper, like most stars that shine bright…then burn out. But if he leaves the game to be with his family, doesn’t that illustrate that Iverson has his priorities straight. That a player everyone called selfish is hanging it up so he can take care of his kids? It’s bittersweet, perhaps.

CURLING:

Josh Zerkle joins the show to promote our curling tournament tonight. There may or may not be spots left, so email me if you’re interested. AndREAD MORE

DL 333: USA Hockey, Media Chauvinism & Double Standards, Curling!

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Nick and I discuss the victory by Team USA over the Canadians in what had to be the most intense first-round matchup I can remember. That was the greatest All-Star game I’ve ever seen (and yes, I understand that the likes of Ovechckin, Malkin, et al were not involved). Can a game like that restore my interest in the NHL? It sure can’t hurt.

There’s a lot more we discuss about the game, including all the references by NBC people to the Miracle on Ice this week — including last night — but the lasting image I have is Martin Brodeur failing. And that makes me smile. Nick points out that the combination of the United States beating Crosby and Brodeur in the same game is maybe the best scenario ever.

We also take a look at the Olympic bracket to realize just how tough Canada has it now. By my view of it, they’ll have to beat Germany and then face Russia AND Sweden just to get to the Gold MedalREAD MORE

DL332: Tiger Boycott, Olympic Hockey and Snowboarding, Schools Spying on Kids, Flash Mob Lawsuits

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There is a lot going on in sports today, namely a press conferences — SORRY, NOT A PRESS CONFERENCE — in two hours, so we give you bullets today.

• My new love of online curling. • Tiger talk, specifically if the GWAA was just in boycotting. Are they missing out on media opportunities outside of Tiger? • What station will you watch? Will you got to a sports station or a news station for the coverage?

Olympics

• The Olympic hockey tournament just got interesting last night. Too bad NBC doesn’t seem to care. • Are snowboarders just programmed differently? Does winning matter as much to them, or is it a lot of hanging out on the mountain? The NBC announcer seems to think that training isn’t what most snowboarders do. Okay then. • More Olympic stuff.

Tech Talk

Is it okay for a school to spy on your kids through a school-issued computer? I think it is, with limitations. If the kid visits a website or keys in something that triggers the web camREAD MORE

DL331: Tiger’s PR, Chris Chase of Yahoo! on the Olympics, Shaun White & A Lot More…

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Whenever we have a long show (run time on this sucker clears 62 minutes) I always seem to come up with a shorter write up. It’s no disrespect to our guest, Chris Chase of Yahoo’s Fourth Place Medal, but more to the point that there’s so much we discussed, I can’t remember everything when I try and do a recap. So, I’ll do my best.

First, Nick and I discuss the Tiger Woods news that he’ll be conducting a (NOT IN ANY WAY) media conference on Friday morning, with three wire services, TV camera and select friends in sports media world. Nick, like most people, thinks this is cowardly and typical of what Tiger Woods would do. If he were a changed person, he’d open it up to all media, or at the very least, allow those privileged enough to get a Golden Ticket the ability to ask questions. Basically, the media is window dressing for what could have been a recorded message thrown up on his website for the world to embed.

ButREAD MORE

DL330: American Pride, Sharing Personal Information, Pitchers & Catchers and a lot more

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Nick and I start the show (well, after a quick rant about having a kid who is almost three years old acting like a three-year old) talking about the Olympics. For those who didn’t see it, I filled in for Shanoff at the Wake Up Call on The Sporting Blog today. In that, I pose the question of if we have to root for Americans in the Olympics just because we’re expected to be Patriotic.

What if the person is unlikeable? What if there is more to it than that? It’s not a loaded question at all, I really don’t know the answer about our national responsibilities. Please click over there to read more, and listen to the two of us discuss. Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Inside the Press Box:

Nick and I talk about the post Daulerio put up on Deadspin that included Dick Ebersol’s email address and a suggestion to email him directly with complaints about the Olympics. While we see it as a thinly-veiled attempt at looking like the ‘anti-establishment’READ MORE