The Redskins Rule

Dirtie_Frank

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redskins_Rule

The Redskins Rule is a trend involving National Football League games and United States presidential elections. Briefly stated, there is a high correlation between the outcome of the last Washington Redskins home football game prior to the U.S. Presidential Election and the outcome of the election: when the Redskins win, the incumbent party wins the electoral vote for the White House; when the Redskins lose, the non-incumbent party wins. This coincidence has been noted by many sports and political commentators and has held true since 1940.[1][2]

History

The Redskins moved to Washington in 1937. Since then, there have been 18 presidential elections. In 17 of those, the following rule applied:
If the Redskins win their last home game before the election, the party that won the previous election wins the next election and that if the Redskins lose, the challenging party's candidate wins.
The Redskins Rule was first noticed by Steve Hirdt, executive vice president of the Elias Sports Bureau, in 2000[2]; as a matter of Washington folklore it was already established by the time of the 1992 election.[citation needed]
In 2004, the Redskins lost their last home game before the presidential election, indicating the incumbent should have lost; however, George W. Bush (the incumbent) went on to defeat John Kerry. Steve Hirdt, credited with the discovery of the rule, then modified it to refer not to the incumbent party in the White House but to the party that last won the popular vote. In the election in 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote, and thereby the revised Redskin Rule has been upheld.[2]
On November 4, 2012, the Redskins lost against the Carolina Panthers. It was the last home game for the Redskins before the 2012 Presidential Election, which will take place on November 6. If the Redskins Rule holds true in the upcoming election, it either predicts a loss for incumbent Barack Obama or a victory for challenger Mitt Romney. [3]

Results

Year Presidential Election
Result Redskins
(Score) Opponent
(Score) Redskins
Win or Lose? Incumbent
Wins or Loses*? Rule
upheld?
2012 TBD Redskins 13 Carolina Panthers 21 lose TBD TBD
2008 Obama defeats McCain Redskins 6 Pittsburgh Steelers 23 lose loses yes
2004 Bush defeats Kerry Redskins 14 Green Bay Packers 28 lose wins Debated
2000 Bush defeats Gore Redskins 21 Tennessee Titans 27 lose loses yes
1996 Clinton defeats Dole Redskins 31 Indianapolis Colts 16 win wins yes
1992 Clinton defeats Bush Redskins 7 New York Giants 24 lose loses yes
1988 Bush defeats Dukakis Redskins 27 New Orleans Saints 24 win wins yes
1984 Reagan defeats Mondale Redskins 27 Atlanta Falcons 14 win wins yes
1980 Reagan defeats Carter Redskins 14 Minnesota Vikings 39 lose loses yes
1976 Carter defeats Ford Redskins 7 Dallas Cowboys 20 lose loses yes
1972 Nixon defeats McGovern Redskins 24 Dallas Cowboys 20 win wins yes
1968 Nixon defeats Humphrey Redskins 10 New York Giants 13 lose loses yes
1964 Johnson defeats Goldwater Redskins 27 Chicago Bears 20 win wins yes
1960 Kennedy defeats Nixon Redskins 10 Cleveland Browns 31 lose loses yes
1956 Eisenhower defeats Stevenson Redskins 20 Cleveland Browns 9 win wins yes
1952 Eisenhower defeats Stevenson Redskins 23 Pittsburgh Steelers 24 lose loses yes
1948 Truman defeats Dewey Redskins 59 Boston Yanks 21 win wins yes
1944 Roosevelt defeats Dewey Redskins 14 Cleveland Rams 10 win wins yes
1940 Roosevelt defeats Willkie Redskins 37 Pittsburgh Steelers 10 win wins yes

Dirtie_Frank

Nuts Huh?

prism

as much as i like the Redskins....

fuck the redskins rule!

Prince Of Dorkness

According to CNN Money in 2004, Halloween mask sales have accurately predicted the winner of every U.S. presidential election since 1980. This method was upheld in 2004 and again in 2008.

This is a little bit surprising, because it seems like for every nerd who dresses up as his favorite candidate, there would be 10 college kids ironically dressing up as somebody they hate to make some kind of "wacky" commentary (i.e., college Republicans in the '90s wearing Bill Clinton costumes with a blow-up Monica Lewinsky doll attached). After all, Halloween is all about being scary, right? You'd think all of the Obama supporters would be out buying Mitt Romney costumes and trying to craft a "binder full of women" to carry around.

Also, you'd think that either way the numbers would be badly skewed, since people who dress up for Halloween are only one segment of the population. You're leaving out the elderly vote, plus all of the religious types who don't believe in the holiday.

And in case you're wondering, according to the good folks at BuyCostumes.com, we're looking at four more years of an Obama nation.



http://www.cracked.com/article_20139_6- ... ction.html

prism

the redskin rule is one of those meant to be broken

Prince Of Dorkness

It already has been broken. 8 years ago. And it means nothing.

brianlux

Tea leaves, anyone?

brianlux

And then there's this:

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/20 ... l-unclear/

Not to be left out, Major League Baseball also has their own election rule. In a press release before the World Series last month, the league noted that about three-fifths (59%) of the time the American League team won the World Series, the Republican candidate won the White House. Likewise, 67% of the time the National League won the World Series, the Democratic ticket won the White House.

Personally, I throw chicken bones in the air. My prediction: wait until Tuesday evening.

prism

brianlux wrote:

Personally, I throw chicken bones in the air. My prediction: wait until Tuesday evening.

how strange.... my crystal ball says the same thing!

Jason P

RG3 blew it for the dems!



He also might cost me $150 in my gambling pool. :evil:

(speaking of topics that are pushed aside ... how crazy is it that a football team is named the Redskins in a time of political correctness in the political center of the world?)