Posted on 12/15/2010 12:29:23 PM PST by reaganaut1
PASADENA, Calif. — Of all colleges, it would seem, the California Institute of Technology should have the least problem doing the math. Yet its basketball team was left guessing about the precise length of its conference losing streak, which began in 1985.
In the university’s cafeteria the other day, shortly after the Nobel Prize -winning chemist Robert Grubbs stopped by to chat, Caltech Coach Oliver Eslinger and part of his team debated the answer to a problem that began years before any of the players were born.
“You guys all got 800s on your math S.A.T.’s,” Eslinger reminded the players.
The freshman guard Mike Paluchniak did the rough multiplication in his head — years times conference games per season — and said that the streak must be around 300. Collin Murphy, a sophomore guard, said he received a text message from a friend before a game late last season reading: “If you guys lose today, it’s 300 straight. Good luck.”
Eslinger, the third-year coach, thought it had slipped past 300, too.
Frankly, it is one answer they do not really care to know. After all, current coaches and players had nothing to do with most of Caltech’s losses. And, besides, they think the streak is about to end.
“It’s not if we’re going to win,” Paluchniak said. “It’s how many we’re going to win.”
...
Caltech is widely considered one of the nation’s top research institutions. Faculty and alumni have won 32 Nobel Prizes. About 35 percent of its graduates go on to earn a Ph.D. One quarter of its 967 undergraduate students arrived this fall with S.A.T. scores of 2,330 (out of 2,400) or better, and 98 percent of them were in the top 10 percent of their high school graduating class.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
“It’s an old Indian game called Put the Ball in the Hole.” - R.P. McMurphy
The two schools played for the final time in 1927, when the Trojans outlasted the Beavers 51-0 in the Coliseum. USC now holds an edge of 11-1-1 over Cal Tech.
I watched the Occidental College Tigers beat the Beavers 45-21 in 1969. The game was played at Tournament Park, the site of the Tournament of Roses Game now known as the Rose Bowl Game. Shortly afterwards, Cal Tech dropped intercollegiate football.
less than 25% (probably a lot less) of its students received a perfect SAT score yet all of its basketball players aced the math portion? That doesn’t add up.
In the late '80s, Caltech played against the Pasadena City Police in a "Toys-for-Tots" game, winning against the police three times in a row.
Sounds like the Holy Trinity School of Orphaned Sisters of Perpetual Mercy could give these guys a run for their money.
5 x 7’8” Negroes = Bed-Stuy Playground = NCAA Championship. Any white guys still on a team somewhere? We need BBall affirmative action!
Caltech Seeks Winning Basketball Equation
voila!
d=vt
where d= dunk power in kilowatts
v= velocity of the dunk in meters per second
t = sneaker tread spread in cm`s
e=mc2
where e = energy of the dunk in joules
m = muscle diameter of the triceps in cm`s
c = clavicle dunking impetus in ergs
Where L is the Logo function expressed in dollars given to coach per year.
Almost all CalTech students get 800 on the math portion of the SATs. They don't do as well on the verbal portions, but they are still better than average on those.
Yes, it’s called the Duke Men’s basketball team. I hear they’re doing sort of OK.......
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