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#200999 - Wed Sep 16 2009 09:06 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
agony Administrator Registered: Sat Mar 29 2003 Posts: 16595 Loc: Western Canada	I would like to point out that no one is good at the statistics -jersey-number type questions. There may be a few people onsite who know these things, but in general, most Americans are just as bad at this as those from other countries. If many Americans were sailing away with those categories, getting 15/15 in 35 seconds, while the rest of the world struggled in the doldrums, the complaint would be justified. However, on the whole, Sports is a difficult category for everyone, no matter where they are from.
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#201000 - Wed Sep 16 2009 09:30 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
fredsixties Enthusiast Registered: Wed Oct 01 2008 Posts: 349 Loc: Staten Island New York USA	Seems pretty simple to me. It's a question of numbers. If there are 100 U.S. Baseball questions and 10 soccer(football) questions, the baseball questions are going to show up a lot more often if it's randomly done. (Which I'm sure it is). The only way to get a balance of questions is to have the same number of questions for all sports (or any other topic) and that doesn't seem likely given the amount of quizzes submitted by U.S. participants versus other countries.
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#201001 - Wed Sep 16 2009 10:28 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
REDVIKING57 Participant Registered: Thu Apr 24 2008 Posts: 33 Loc: Leicester England UK	Just an observation: The invitation to 'write a quiz' to re-dress the balance viz-a-viz the North American 'bias' in GC Sports or Hourly Quizzes doesn't really stand up,on two counts: Currently,on-line on FT,there are 1,091 quizzes on American Football. There are 1,253 quizzes on 'Soccer' (I,too,hate that word!) and 501 on Cricket. In over two years on the site,I doubt if I've seen more than a couple of dozen questions in the GC and Hourlies on 'Soccer',and none on Cricket. But many hundreds,if not thousands,on Gridiron. This is the same in the Team games and Knockout. Secondly,obviously the volume of quizzes on a particular subject is not reflected in the selection for GC,Hourly or Daily games. The only mention of Cricket I have seen is the occassional cricketer on the 'Who Am I' game. So,I was wondering,what is the selection criteria for these quizzes? Or do you not think there is a 'North American Bias' on some categories,sport in particular? _________________________ In A Time Of Universal Deceit,Telling The Truth Is A Revolutionary Act - George Orwell.
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#201002 - Wed Sep 16 2009 12:21 PM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
BxBarracuda Forum Champion Registered: Wed Sep 05 2007 Posts: 5117 Loc: Bronx Newï¿½Yorkï¿½USAï¿½ï¿...	RV, In terms of the GC, as Jonno mentions above, play sports in the upper levels of the GC, you shall find a good bit of Cricket questions in there. I would say from 2 - 5 cricket questions each set.
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#201003 - Wed Sep 16 2009 12:52 PM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
REDVIKING57 Participant Registered: Thu Apr 24 2008 Posts: 33 Loc: Leicester England UK	Thanks Bx. But I gave up doing any sport on GC or 'hourlies' a long time ago! Would you believe it,I just did the GC,and got a Football (soccer) question - in the History set! _________________________ In A Time Of Universal Deceit,Telling The Truth Is A Revolutionary Act - George Orwell.
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#201004 - Wed Sep 16 2009 01:21 PM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
shuehorn Multiloquent Registered: Tue Jul 04 2006 Posts: 3613 Loc: Lawrenceville Georgiaï¿½USAï¿½...	You might want to try Sports again once you are higher in the GC, as the mixture changes and includes other sports. I am hopeless at all sports, but since I am doing Hardcore, I play everything they throw at me, anyway. _________________________ Sue (shuehorn)
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#201005 - Wed Sep 16 2009 01:31 PM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
Nightmare Multiloquent Registered: Wed Jun 06 2001 Posts: 4515 Loc: Texas USA	And that's the attitude to have Sue! Keep plugging away and you keep rising up the ladder, while others complain without being a part of the solution by creating the quizzes that they seek. _________________________ Staff Editor ****** Your quiz score is not important. What you learned from the quiz is!
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#201006 - Wed Sep 16 2009 02:05 PM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
whee Forum Adept Registered: Mon Aug 20 2007 Posts: 174 Loc: Castle Rock Colorado USA	Quote: Just an observation: The invitation to 'write a quiz' to re-dress the balance viz-a-viz the North American 'bias' in GC Sports or Hourly Quizzes doesn't really stand up,on two counts: Currently,on-line on FT,there are 1,091 quizzes on American Football. There are 1,253 quizzes on 'Soccer' (I,too,hate that word!) and 501 on Cricket. In over two years on the site,I doubt if I've seen more than a couple of dozen questions in the GC and Hourlies on 'Soccer',and none on Cricket. But many hundreds,if not thousands,on Gridiron. This is the same in the Team games and Knockout. Secondly,obviously the volume of quizzes on a particular subject is not reflected in the selection for GC,Hourly or Daily games. The only mention of Cricket I have seen is the occassional cricketer on the 'Who Am I' game. So,I was wondering,what is the selection criteria for these quizzes? Or do you not think there is a 'North American Bias' on some categories,sport in particular? I like both American football and cricket and have reasonable trivial knowledge in both. In general, I find the cricket question on this site are a lot harder. There are some very easy American football questions in the quizzes. This would explain why you don't see the cricket coming up until later in the challenge. This would explain why
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#201007 - Wed Sep 16 2009 04:38 PM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
Jakeroo Multiloquent Registered: Sat Aug 30 2008 Posts: 2064 Loc: Alberta Canada	Quote: For example, US sports such as baseball, football and hockey have a long tradition of statistic keeping - I wholeheartedly agree that some folks perhaps put too much emphasis on the "statistics" side of games/sports. And you also made me giggle, because I think the Canadians, Russians, Finns, Swedes, Czechs, Germans, Swiss and ex-Soviet countries might be surprised to find out that hockey is a "U.S. Sport". Historically, American-born players haven't exactly been "spectacular" by any means on an international level (with the possible exception of the women players!). In fact, only about 0.15 % of their total population even plays hockey. Even unlikely countries like Japan, France, Italy and South Korea have active hockey teams/leagues. hmm, that just gave me an idea for QQ (no peeking now lol) _________________________________ here's my favourite "stat": "100% of the shots you don't take, don't go in" - Wayne Gretzky
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#201008 - Wed Sep 16 2009 06:00 PM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
flopsymopsy Administrator Registered: Sat May 17 2008 Posts: 5470 Loc: Northampton England UK	I shall assume it means ice hockey and not real hockey, which every right-thinking person knows is played on grass. Frankly, as a Brit, I am dreading the onset of cricket and proper football in the GC, I know as much about them as I do about baseball - which is nothing. But at least baseball answers are fairly simple: If Babe Ruth is mentioned, it's probably him. If Joe DiMaggio is mentioned it's probably him. If Cy Young is mentioned it's probably him. If all three of them are mentioned, it's the other one. _________________________ The Hubble Telescope has just picked up a sound from a fraction of a second before the Big Bang. The sound was "Uh oh".
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#201009 - Wed Sep 16 2009 06:10 PM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
BxBarracuda Forum Champion Registered: Wed Sep 05 2007 Posts: 5117 Loc: Bronx Newï¿½Yorkï¿½USAï¿½ï¿...	I would say you would be better then average results from that method Flopsy. You could add Jackie Robinson to that list of baseball players. In World Cup questions if Brazil is an option, I go with it.
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#201010 - Wed Sep 16 2009 11:18 PM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
dg_dave Champion Poster Registered: Sun Oct 05 2003 Posts: 24575 Loc: near Stafford, Virginia USA	Quote: You could add Jackie Robinson to that list of baseball players. As in which player wore # 42. It's about the only jersey number I know...I think Pete Rose wore 14...? _________________________ The way to get things done is NOT to mind who gets the credit for doing them. --Benjamin Jowett No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. --Eleanor Roosevelt The day we lose our will to fight is the day we lose our freedom.
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#201011 - Thu Sep 17 2009 03:44 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
jonnowales Prolific Registered: Mon Oct 30 2006 Posts: 1529 Loc: Swansea Wales UK	Bucknallbabe - why would you exclude non-country specific quizzes from the statistics? I just worked out the number of quizzes on sports which are specific to the US (not world sports with an American spin eg American Olympic Gymnastics Gold Medallists 1972-1988) as a proportion of all quizzes on the site. It seems a fair way to do it. I probably should have included NASCAR (368 quizzes) - but it would still result in a slightly lower percentage of quizzes on US sports in relation to the US demographic at FT. The GC gives questions in certain divisions based on the percentage of right answers for that question by players. If more people get it right than wrong it'll end up in the lower divisions - if most people get it wrong, like they do for cricket and soccer (most people here after all are American) then they'll be in the later divisions. You can't really change the hierarchy.
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#201012 - Thu Sep 17 2009 06:07 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
spanishliz Champion Poster Registered: Thu Dec 13 2001 Posts: 23115 Loc: Ontario Canada	Quote: I shall assume it means ice hockey and not real hockey, which every right-thinking person knows is played on grass. I'm sorry, but I find this comment extremely offensive, and uncalled for, in any discussion.
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#201013 - Thu Sep 17 2009 07:43 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
satguru Forum Champion Registered: Thu Feb 17 2000 Posts: 8089 Loc: Kingsbury London UK	Quote: There are some very easy American football questions in the quizzes. This illustrates perfectly a similar point I've been addressing with writers for years and is now not allowed in new questions, easy is in the eyes of the writer and player, and in fact incredibly rare for the two opinions to coincide. For most of us this side we're more likely to know about nuclear physics or renaissance art as they do actually cross borders. I don't imagine many countries outside N. America would know anything at all about American football either but you clearly assumed we all must do. Nothing wrong but just shows how easy it is to think everyone else must share our own common knowledge. _________________________ Does the brain create or receive consciousness?
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#201014 - Thu Sep 17 2009 08:51 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
MadMags Star Poster Registered: Sat May 03 2008 Posts: 17092 Loc: Orosi Costa Rica	Quote: I shall assume it means ice hockey and not real hockey, which every right-thinking person knows is played on grass. If you'd ever been to a(n ice) hockey game and heard the slap of the puck, the sizzle and swoosh of the skates as they cut, carve and spray the ice, bodies slamming into boards, the yells of the enthusiastic fans, and felt the electricity in the chill air of the arena or outdoor rink, I think you'd agree that (ice) hockey is very real. This is not to say that pick up hockey, street hockey, roller hockey, field or any other form of hockey is not real either. Edited by MadMags (Thu Sep 17 2009 09:08 AM) _________________________ A smile is a curved line that sets things straight. ~ Anon.
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#201015 - Thu Sep 17 2009 09:08 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
flopsymopsy Administrator Registered: Sat May 17 2008 Posts: 5470 Loc: Northampton England UK	Quote: Quote: I shall assume it means ice hockey and not real hockey, which every right-thinking person knows is played on grass. I'm sorry, but I find this comment extremely offensive, and uncalled for, in any discussion. I meant no offence, it was intended as a joke. In the same league as when we say that when Americans say 'football' they don't mean real football... oops, I've offended them now. I'm sorry if you were offended and next time I'll use three smilies to spoil the subtlety of my very British humour. _________________________ The Hubble Telescope has just picked up a sound from a fraction of a second before the Big Bang. The sound was "Uh oh".
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#201016 - Thu Sep 17 2009 09:11 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
lesley153 Mainstay Registered: Fri Sep 07 2007 Posts: 737 Loc: Bedford England UK	Saying - for instance - hockey, when you mean ice hockey, makes it even harder for people who are floundering. Not that I know anything about either of them, but I remember playing (normal) hockey on the school field (grass) and hating every minute of it. _________________________ I appreciate people who are civil, whether they mean it or not. I think: Be civil. Do not cherish your opinion over my feelings. There's a vanity to candor that isn't really worth it. Be kind. ~ Richard Greenberg
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#201017 - Thu Sep 17 2009 09:15 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
agony Administrator Registered: Sat Mar 29 2003 Posts: 16595 Loc: Western Canada	Kinda like saying "hockey" when you mean "field hockey"... I think if we all remember that we are part of a larger world, and that things we take for granted might not be obvious to others, we can work around these things.
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#201018 - Thu Sep 17 2009 09:17 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
TabbyTom Moderator Registered: Wed Oct 17 2001 Posts: 8479 Loc: Hastings Sussex England UK	Quote: I shall assume it means ice hockey and not real hockey, which every right-thinking person knows is played on grass. The North American usage with "hockey" is no different from the world-wide usage with "tennis". The game played at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows is lawn tennis, even if the court is clay or tarmac. But because it is far better known than the original game, it has become simply "tennis", and we have to call the original "real tennis" or "royal tennis" (if, indeed, we ever need to mention it at all) . Similarly, in areas where ice-hockey attracts more attention than the original game, it's natural enough that it should take over the original name. _________________________ Dilige et quod vis fac
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#201019 - Thu Sep 17 2009 09:19 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
MadMags Star Poster Registered: Sat May 03 2008 Posts: 17092 Loc: Orosi Costa Rica	By 'normal' hockey, I'm assuming you are referring to field hockey, as I see nothing abnormal about ice hockey, nor the various other variations of hockey. I think we need to keep in mind that this is an international site, and should use the proper names, not the shortcut ones, so as not to confuse or offend our other respected members. _________________________ A smile is a curved line that sets things straight. ~ Anon.
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#201020 - Thu Sep 17 2009 10:30 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
BxBarracuda Forum Champion Registered: Wed Sep 05 2007 Posts: 5117 Loc: Bronx Newï¿½Yorkï¿½USAï¿½ï¿...	Handball is another sport that fits the category of having different meanings from the game I grew up playing in America in parks and schoolyards, to the one that is played in the Olympics. Outside of the Olympics I never knew of that style of Handball. Growing up, handball was played one on one usually, alternately hitting the ball against a wall and keeping it in the boundary lines.
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#201021 - Thu Sep 17 2009 10:41 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
Snowman Prolific Registered: Wed Oct 31 2007 Posts: 1615 Loc: London, England	That sounds a lot like the game that we call "Fives"
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#201022 - Thu Sep 17 2009 11:20 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
kyleisalive Forum Champion Registered: Mon Mar 07 2005 Posts: 8760 Loc: Toronto, Canada, eh!	In Canada, 'Hockey'/'Ice Hockey' is played on ice. 'Field Hockey' is played in a field, and 'Ball Hockey' is played on pavement or a court. I don't think there's many of us here who grew up thinking different...Ice Hockey's just one of those parts of our sporting culture. Edited by kyleisalive (Thu Sep 17 2009 11:21 AM) _________________________ Senior FT Editor (Video Games, Television, and Entertainment) Chat Board Moderator (Author's Lounge) Amazing Trivia Race Taskmaster/Commission Hander-Outer/TRICster
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#201023 - Thu Sep 17 2009 11:53 AM Re: "Americacentricity" of quizzes
BxBarracuda Forum Champion Registered: Wed Sep 05 2007 Posts: 5117 Loc: Bronx Newï¿½Yorkï¿½USAï¿½ï¿...	Yes, what I was talking about is a variation of "fives". Outdoors it is played with just one flat wall, two lines to note the side boundaries, and two horizontal line markers, the further back one is an out line, the other down the middle of the side lines is the service line. Some courts I have seen don't have a service line, and sometimes not a back out line. Indoors it played in room, though indoors raquets, not tennis, are used more often.
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