FYUI

“Useless, meaningless statistics flood the attention of the viewer. Sportscasters call them ‘graphics’ in an effort to suggest that the information, graphically presented, is a vital supplement to the action of the game. For example: ‘Since 1984, the Buffalo Bills have won only two games in which they were four points ahead with less than six minutes left to play.’ Or this: ‘In only 17 percent of the times he has pitched at Shea Stadium has Dwight Gooden struck out the third and fourth hitters less than three times when they came to bat with more than one runner on base.’ What is one to do with this or to make of it? And yet there seems to be a market for useless information.” [Neil Postman, Technopoly (New York: Vintage Books, 1992), p. 137].