Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Circular Reasoning from TSN
Despite their perfect, 20-0, start to the season, there were no Illinois Basketball players on the Sporting News Mid-Season All-American Team. Mike DeCourcy, the sports-writer whose byline is listed at the bottom of that page, felt compelled to explain why there were no Illini in this column.
Ironically listed as one of his "nuggets of wisdom," the column is actually a text-book example of circular reasoning. Why were Deron Williams and Dee Brown left off the list? Even though they have the talent to make the list, they haven't scored enough; their stats weren't good enough. Why was Luther Head excluded? Even though his stats are great, he's not the best player on his team. So, to be clear, for Williams and Brown, stats are the criteria and for Head, it's talent.
posted by Illiniwonk at 1:12 AM
Ironically listed as one of his "nuggets of wisdom," the column is actually a text-book example of circular reasoning. Why were Deron Williams and Dee Brown left off the list? Even though they have the talent to make the list, they haven't scored enough; their stats weren't good enough. Why was Luther Head excluded? Even though his stats are great, he's not the best player on his team. So, to be clear, for Williams and Brown, stats are the criteria and for Head, it's talent.
posted by Illiniwonk at 1:12 AM
