TaxPlaya

I've noticed a disturbing trend on this board to resort to violations of Occam's razor.

For those not familiar with the concept, it is basically the premise that, "given any situation with a question, the simplest answer is probably the correct one, all other things being equal."

You'd be surprised how often this comes in handy.

A few examples of applying Occam's razor to Belioli moves this offseason:

1. Letting Givens go. He isn't a #1 receiver, so we weren't going to pay him #1 money.

2. Letting McGinest go. He is entering his 13th year in the league and wanted top money. To hell with that. Let him be a players coach on a team without leaders.

3. Vinatraitor. Take him at his word. He wanted a team to "show him the love" so he left. When it comes down to it, he was an 85% kicker who didn't choke. Can we replace that? Sure.

4. Maroney #1. Best player on the board. Value, value, value.

5. Jackson. #1 type guy fell to us and we took him with a small trade. I'd bet if Matt Leinart fell to us at our #1 slot we would have taken him, too.

6. Temple Beth-El for Sully. Bust for bust. No significant money differences. We'll see if a change of scenery works out.

7. Thomas in 3rd. To replace Fauria.

8. Mills in 4th. To eventually replace Pass/Faulk.

9. Gostkowski early. We reached. Period. Maybe he will be ok, but this was a panic move over Vinatieri and lack of vet kickers.

No need to get into 4-3s, standard 2 TE sets, Jarvis Green/Dan Klecko switching positions, Patten signings, etc. If those things happen, great. But it's only because Belioli feel it is in the best interest of a winning football club.

Some of you people are nuts. Get back to work!

__________________
The best thing about Troy Brown is not that he was the last ever 8th round draft pic. It's not that he is immortal. It's that when he had the chance to talk to President Bush after the SB 36 win, he asked,

"So when are we going to get Social Security reform?"

That, my friends, is the balls.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

PonyExpress

Boy, and there I was befuddled and confused. Thanks for setting me straight, Taxplaya!

TaxPlaya

The whole point of Occam's Razor is that the solutions sound obvious, because they are the most simple explanations.

My point was many people on this board want to look for complex explanations when a simple one would suffice.

__________________
The best thing about Troy Brown is not that he was the last ever 8th round draft pic. It's not that he is immortal. It's that when he had the chance to talk to President Bush after the SB 36 win, he asked,

"So when are we going to get Social Security reform?"

That, my friends, is the balls.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Willie55

So what's your simple answer to the queston "Do the Pats run enough slant routes ?"

__________________
Great teams aren't always great. They are just great when they have to be. - NFL Films Narrator


To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.



To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Lloyd_Christmas

First off, Occam's Razor sounds like an artifact card from the game "Magic the Gathering".

Second, applying Occam's Razor to the issue of why we come up with these ridiculous and complex possible reasons for all things Patriot, I submit that message boards without nuanced debate are quiet and boring. Every complex possibility, however unlikely, must be examined and debated to death.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled anti-Parsimony...

spacecrime

Number 9 is not an example of Occam's Razor. It is not the simplest solution, but rather a judgement forced by an unvalidated opinion (the opinion that Gostkowski wasn't worth a fourth round pick and therefore a reach).

Your opinion may be right, or not. but to say it is a reach is not the simplest solution, it is the solution required because you feel that Gostkowski wasn't worth a fourth round pick. Had you felt that Goskowski was worthy of a number one pick, you would have a different interpretation of the pick. Occam's Razor analysis needs to be removed from your judgements of a players worth. It needs to be based on observation, observation that can be observed by anyone, not a subjective judgement.

An Occam's Razor explanation for Goskowski would be the same as Maroney. Value, value, value. Value to the Pats, not to any other team.

patsox23

I nominate TaxPlaya as one of THE BEST newbies this board has seen in quite awhile. Here's another example:

Jarvis Green will play DL and not LB because he's an F-ing DL and not an LB.

T-ShirtDynasty

As a member of the Church of The Razor, I find both your posts mildly annoying. However, I'll just assume that one is not quite self-educated enough, and the other is probably 'dumbing down' his acquired knowledge, as that seems the most likely explanation, and be on my way with no hate or discontent. I would however like to point out that the man was born in Ockham, not Occam, for crying out loud. We (the Church) never have figured out the reason for the world accepting the misspelling of the name of one of our greatest philosophers.

spacecrime

He's pretty fast compared to the other DEs. Maybe BB is planning on making him a gunner.

VJCPatriot

And to continue examples of Occam's razor...

Laurence Maroney's jersey numbers is 39 because it is TIGHT.
Ty Law is hard to sign because the Postons are moneygrubbing buffoons.
Ron Borges is the antichrist.

That is all... and now back to your regularly scheduled football talk!

__________________

To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.