Lose on purpose?

[Ya Digg?]

I gotta admit, I love this place after a Bills loss, it really does help remind me I’m not crazy! I used to hate coming here after a loss, but the insane, asinine jumps off a cliff are so incredibly entertaining.

 

The best part is this thread wasn’t even created after a loss! I’m so happy it’s back though, keep it up OP, you’re doing the lords work right now

[Puckman5]

This thread has legs, and I'm starting to believe for good reason.  The OP has opened my eyes to the possibility of controlling expected negative events to minimize that events impact on an overall outcome.  Perhaps the Bills statisticians should have alerted the coaching staff of a predicted inflection point of rapidly increasing probability of a negative event.  The coaching staff could have then determined the best time to take this negative event off the table by simply planning it when they felt it would do the least amount of damage to the season.  I take back my previous snarky comment.  You can't argue with logic.  

[The Frankish Reich]

On 10/9/2025 at 12:50 PM, 4merper4mer said:

None of the geniuses in this thread came back to apologize?  
 

We were even with the Saints in the turnover battle which left us still due to lose one.  We did.  And we lost the turnover battle and game to a divisional rival the very next week.  We’d be 5-0 if we hadn’t lost the turnover battle with the Pats wouldn’t we?

The Particle Sun always returns. 

Where's my fatted calf?

[ColoradoBills]

1 hour ago, The Frankish Reich said:

The Particle Sun always returns. 

Where's my fatted calf?

 

Hydrogen?

[The Frankish Reich]

4 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

Hydrogen?

Our OP explained it all for us. A true classic!

 

On 11/8/2022 at 10:49 AM, 4merper4mer said:

The Prodigal Son is drawn from an ancient parable of the Particle Sun which was actually very insightful and shows that long dead societies knew more than we realized even if their science wasn’t fully developed.  I explained it here a while back and you might be able to find it.  I’ll summarize:

 

The best way to describe light for the ancients was as a concentrated force residing within the sun.  They theorized that not all of the sun’s energy was concentrated on Earth but that much of it went elsewhere.  When some of this light missed the Earth it was destined to be gone forever……but……some small percentage…..a few particles….bounced off other nearby objects, primarily planets.  These planets, of course, do not generate their own light.  That light came from the sun but was only a small portion of the whole.  Mars, for instance, could not be given credit although it seemed to shine in the night sky.  These particles of light that bounced off Mars and allowed us to see it became known as the particle sun.  They had passed Earth by and yet returned.  You can see how the Prodigal Sun is an offshoot of this.

 

At some point we came to “know” that light is not made of particles, but of waves, then it became unclear again and really isn’t completely understood even to this day.  It is an example of how ancient wisdom holds up over long periods sometimes even if inexact.  The Bible did a good job of taking this ancient parable and applying it to the human condition, so call Frank the Prodigal Son is appropriate but the Particle Sun is the origin and also applies.

 

[ColoradoBills]

8 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

Our OP explained it all for us. A true classic!

 

 

 

Oh my.

[The Frankish Reich]

1 minute ago, ColoradoBills said:

 

Oh my.

The thread is even better. I'd bump it for a laugh but I've already done that a couple times and fear I might've outstayed my welcome.

[Low Positive]

Let's lose the next 12 games on purpose. Also, let's trade Josh Allen. Just think of how many high firsts we could get. The Bills would control the draft board!

[The Frankish Reich]

6 minutes ago, Low Positive said:

Let's lose the next 12 games on purpose. Also, let's trade Josh Allen. Just think of how many high firsts we could get. The Bills would control the draft board!

Plus I think we could get a high 3rd or even a low 2nd for Cook.

 

 

[somnus00]

On 9/27/2025 at 7:29 PM, Royale with Cheese said:

This is like putting the condom on after sex.

Well you have to know if it fits, for when you really need it. 

[CA OC Bills Fan]

On 10/11/2025 at 6:33 AM, 4merper4mer said:

Again with the coins.  I get it because it’s an easy example but the real crux of the matter isn’t the 50/50 odds, it’s the number of events.  First, the results of being even or winning the turnover is 67% not 50%.  2 out of 3 results satisfy the criterion.  But let’s say the Bills are in fact better that the average tea.  Be generous, odds are 80% instead of 67, like your weighted coin.  
 

.8 to the 26th power is a low number.  But it gets even lower when the power is 27, 28, 29 etc.  You can’t keep tempting fate.  Had we had a bigger lead against the Saints, we could have reset the dial back to zero.

 

Maybe a better example…..a lot of industrial jobs have “days without an accident” chalk boards.  They do it to try to get safer.  It’s admirable.  But it always resets to zero at some point.  If someone gets a small cut on their finger it might still count.  Wouldn’t it be better to do that than risk someone losing a limb?  

No! While correct the odds of 38 straight or 29 straight are very low, and I'll also agree that "it's got to end sometime," still the odds on the next game (or the next day of no work accidents) are no different than the first game after losing the turnover battle or the first day after an accident. And to think that cutting a finger after a great streak of no accidents is good because somehow that means you won't have a catastrophic accident is complete garbage.

[ICanSleepWhenI'mDead]

27 minutes ago, CA OC Bills Fan said:

. . . the odds on the next game (or the next day of no work accidents) are no different than the first game after losing the turnover battle or the first day after an accident. And to think that cutting a finger after a great streak of no accidents is good because somehow that means you won't have a catastrophic accident is complete garbage.

 

This is a good example of using statistics to draw erroneous conclusions.  "Lies, dam lies and statistics" is a cliche for a reason.  When you draw conclusions based on considering only the statistics information silo, without considering human psychology, you can reach erroneous conclusions, despite the best of intentions.

 

It is well documented that company safety boards that trumpet the number of days worked on a job site without a missed-work injury have some negative consequences.  That's because the 300th day after the last significant on-the-job injury really is different than the 1st day after that same injury.  Why?  Human psychology.  The physical dangers in the work place generally don't change, but the mindset of the workers in that workplace vary significantly over time.

 

The day after some bozo chops off a finger, and the counter on the safety board resets to 1, the other bozos are reminded that if they are careless, they just might go home with less fingers than when they ate breakfast.  Their psychology changes, and they go about their work more carefully.

 

Conversely, on the 3,000th day after the first bozo chopped off his finger, the other bozos become complacent, figure that the job really can't be very dangerous if nobody has been injured in forever, and another finger (or worse) goes in the trash bin that day.

 

Football is amalgamous.  After 20, 25 or 30 games of not losing the turnover battle, players get complacent, despite the exhortations of the coaches, because they are human (except for maybe # 17).  

 

Be honest - - don't you think that losing the game to the hated Patriots BECAUSE they lost the turnover battle will make the players much more aware this week, compared to last week when the streak was intact, of the need to avoid turnovers?  Human psychology is the reason, and that's why you can draw erroneous conclusions based on a statistical analysis of coin flips alone - - the coin flipper's psychology doesn't change, no matter how times they flip the coin.  That's not true for football players.

[bmur66]

Ahhh. It’s refreshing to hear from someone that understands bozos and doesn’t underestimate them.