http://www.packersnews.com/archives/news/pack_15812788.shtmlA 72-year-old connection between how the Washington Redskins and their predecessor fare in the game before a presidential election and the election’s outcome puts the Packers in Kerry’s corner. The Packers play the Redskins at FedEx Field on Oct. 31; the election is Nov. 2.
If the Redskins lose or tie the game before the presidential election, the party in the White House gets ousted. A Redskins win is a win for the incumbent party, too. At least, that’s how it has played out in the past 18 presidential elections.<snip>
U.S. Rep. Mark Green, a Republican from Green Bay and an avid Packers fan, said he couldn’t decide whom to root for in the Oct. 31 game. One thing’s for sure — the Cheesehead in his Washington, D.C., office won’t move.
"This may just be the toughest decision of my life," :puke: he said. “What I’d like to believe is just as our president and our hometown football team have been making history, the Packers will shatter the historical fallacy and we’ll have both our history and our Packers win." :eyes:
The chance that the games and elections results matching up in the last 18 elections is 1 in 263.5 million, more than 2,600 times higher than the chance of being killed by a lightning strike in a lifetime, said Dave Dolan, an assistant professor of statistics at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.<snip>
For seven straight presidential elections from 1952 to 1976, the baseball World Series predicted the presidential election winner. When an American League team won the series, a Republican won the White House. When a National League team won, a Democrat came out on top.
Dolan thinks the Redskins theory has more staying power.
"I’m sure if you searched databases, you could find a lot of things in sports that you could make relate to the election," he said. "But this one revolves around a team in Washington, so that’s really something."<snip>
"There’s three things that Cheeseheads ought to know about this campaign going into game day before the election: One, George Bush is a Cowboys fan; two, George Bush has lost nearly 3 million jobs since he was elected; and three, a Packer win means a Kerry win," Kerry spokesman Bill Burton said. "How many more reasons do folks in Wisconsin need?"<snip>
Here's where it gets stupid:
"Like President Bush, the Packers have a record of being strong on defense," Bush campaign regional press secretary Merrill Hughes Smith said. "Thank goodness Joe Gibbs is back!"<snip>
Rep. Mark Green has a backup plan to avoid the political football.
"I’m going to have to track down (longtime Bush adviser) Karl Rove and see if the president can’t get an executive order to change the NFL schedule," Green said. "This is definitely a big worry." :eyes:
A couple comments:
The Packers beat the Lions today, a week after the Lions beat the undefeated Falcons. I hope this bodes well for the Pack.
About the World Series: Notice a new trend?
1980: NL won the World Series - Reagan won the White House
1984: AL won WS - Reagan won
1988: NL - Bush Sr.
1992: AL - Clinton
1996: AL - Clinton
2000: AL - Gore
In 4 or 5 (depending on who won the 2000 election) of the last six elections, it's been the other way around, with an NL win resulting in a Repub win and an AL win a Democratic win.
GO PACKERS! GO YANKEES!
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