Quotes of the day

But stimulating conversation, however silky, only gets you so far. In any seduction, there is the moment on the sofa or doorstep when subtext becomes text, when intentions have to become clear and a decision made, one way or the other—the Schtupping Point.--Sean McCauley

Accountants and clergy are both well educated and intelligent, yet we pay accountants a lot more than the clergy. Is this because we care more about money than about God? Ironically, the compensating wage differential argument turns this answer on its head — the clergy are compensating by social prestige, the sense of doing something important, knowledge that they’re working for a good cause, etc. — thus they get paid less BECAUSE we collectively care more about God than money. --Robert Whaples

We do know that Christians can't be socialists (nor should Jews be). Thou shalt not covet. Thou shalt not steal. That's socialism conclusively ruled out by the big boy himself.--dearieme

In this paper, we explore minimax play in two high stakes, real world settings that are data rich: choice of pitch type in Major League Baseball and whether to run or pass in the National Football League. We observe more than three million pitches in baseball and 125,000 play choices for football. We find systematic deviations from minimax play in both data sets. Pitchers appear to throw too many fastballs; football teams pass less than they should. In both sports, there is negative serial correlation in play calling. Back of the envelope calculations suggest that correcting these decision making errors could be worth as many as two additional victories a year to a Major League Baseball franchise, and more than a half win per season for a professional football team.--Kenneth Kovash, Steven D. Levitt

When the Jets play the Titans on Sunday, the Jets will be wearing Titans uniforms (the throwback unis of the New York Titans), while Tennessee wears the franchise's old Houston Oilers uniforms. It's a particularly confusing twist on the NFL's "Legacy Games" concept.--Mike McDermott