I forget where I heard this analogy but I thought it was a good one to simply explain the idea behind the electoral college:
Using the World Series as an example:
Cleveland wins game one 10-0 then the Cubs win the next 4 games by each by 1 run (1-0, 2-1, etc). The Cubs would have won 4 out of 5 games by a total of 4 runs but Cleveland scored more runs than the Cubs - so, who would be the winner of the World Series - by rule, the Cubs - they won more states (games) and therefore more votes (victories required to win).
Not bad.
Hmmmm...in the past world series, after 7 games each team scored a total of 27 runs...guess the House of Representatives gets to decide. ;)