ESPN No Longer Statistic Kings

Over the past few years it has been impressive to see how sophisticated ESPN has become at coming up with different statistical categories. If you have ever watched a MLB contest on Gamecast you know what I am talking about. They will have the hitters batting average for every single category you could think of (1-0 count, 2-0 count, 3-2 with RISP, 2-2 with bases loaded, etc.). You get my drift. When it comes to statistics ESPN is second to none. That why this blunder is so suprising. If you go to the College Bowl Mania (fantasy game) page where you make your picks and run your mouse over the arrow looking icon to the right of each game you will see a little preview for each game. If you run your mouse over the arrow looking icon for the New Mexico Bowl (Fresno State vs. Wyoming) you will see that the last sentence of that preview says "Wyoming is bowling for the first time since 1994." Not only is Wyoming not bowling for the first time since 1994 (they played UCLA in the Las Vegas Bowl in 2004) but they actually beat UCLA 24-21 in this bowl game. Very surprising to see ESPN (Master's of the Universe in the Statistical World) mess up on something like this. ESPN has the ability to tell you Tom Brady's completion percentage in 67 degree weather on Sundays between 2:00PM and 5:00PM against pass defenses ranked in the bottom half of the league who are missing 3 starters to injuries but they don't have the ability to tell you Wyoming's bowl history. Not counting this year, Wyoming has only been in 3 bowls since 1990 which makes this even worse. Hard to believe ESPN missed this one.

Author's note: Most people probably do not remember where they were when Wyoming beat UCLA in 2004 but I remember that I was sledding at Crowley's Ridge College in Paragould, AR, with a group of friends and we got in my vehicle to go home and heard the news. My bowl pickem was shot to pieces early, just like it has been for my entire life. Maybe this is foreshadowing for the UCLA-Temple game.