(This article can be found in the Fixtures Sidebar)
Over the past three years, we’ve tossed around a lot of theories, acronyms and inside jokes. Sometimes, it gets old having to reexplain the same concepts over and over. For new readers (especially drop in Pats fans) here’s everything you need to understand the world of 18to88.
38-34: The 2006 AFC Championship game. The greatest game in Colts history
Aikmanville: Where Tom Brady lives. It’s a gated community reserved for great quarterbacks whose star fades over time because their rep was built only team accomplishments.
Argentina: Where DZ currently lives. He’s an Indy native and maintains a permanent address there, but works in Argentina for a religious organization.
The Baltimore Colts: The Baltimore Colts are not the Colts. They don’t want us. We don’t want them. They started the pissing match with Indy, so don’t expect us to respect that era of the franchise.
BBS: Big Blue Shoe, aka Brad Wells, the lead blogger at Stampede Blue
Big Sexy (aka J Whit, aka Jason Whitlock): Kansas City Star Columnist and Indianapolis native Jason Whitlock. He hates the Colts, loves Jeff George, the Pacers and Ball State. He writes for foxsports.com, and is basically insane. Still, he’s an Indy boy, so we have his back.
Broad Ripple Tree Service: Official sponsor (and employer) of 18to88.com. Also check out Treestuff.com. The Dunlevy family businesses. Call for an estimate today!
Bob Kravitz (aka Bobby K, Kravy, Uncle Bob): The columnist for the Indianapolis Star. Famously referred to us as weenies in a 2009 column.
Causation/Correlation: There may be a relationship between two events, but one doesn’t necessarily cause the other. For instance, 100% of teams that kneel in the fourth quarter win games. Kneeling on the football is NOT a strategy to win games.
CHFF (Cold Hard Football Facts): Colts hating media whores. We’ve done battle many times before, and their loathing of Peyton Manning drives us crazy. Oh, and DZ sometimes writes for them.
The Curse of Cory Simon: Simon was the Colts free agent pick up before the 2005 season. He played one year before his career was ended by chronic fatness. He then affected the destiny of the next three DTs the Colts tried to bring in, including Booger McFarland (knee), Quinn Pitcock (retired after one year), and Ed Johnson (a case of the munchies). The Colts also traded for a DT with the Bills, but the deal was rescinded after he failed a physical.
Demond Sanders (aka DS): The founder of 18to88.com, Luke Dunlevy. The name honors Bob Sanders. Demond is his real first name.
Deshawn Zombie (aka DZ): Nate Dunlevy, co-author of 18to88.com. The name was originally a joke. Deshawn sounded like an appropriate name for Demond’s brother. The Zombie part refers to Bob Sanders (see The Zombie below).
Dwight Freeney: The second most important and third greatest Colt…by far.
DVOA: Defense-adjusted Value Over Average is the primary statistical tool of the footballoutsiders. Follow the link for an explanation.
Eyes: Eyes in the Backfield, a regular pre-game feature
FO: The Football Outsiders run the smartest football site on the web. 18to88 frequently refers to the the site and to their advanced metrics for understanding football.
Gilbert Gardner: Aka the worst player to wear a Colts uniform. Linebacker who couldn’t figure out how to maintain his gap in the 2006 season. His benching led to the Colts winning the Super Bowl.
GO FOR IT!: What DZ yells on almost every fourth down. Going for it on 4th down is a cardinal tenant of 18to88.
Hate: We hate the New England Patriots.
JC: Our resident Patriots fan. JC is foul mouthed, crazy offensive, and sort of retarded. He also has been a regular for more than two years now, so has full immunity to show up and say whatever he wants. He’s a lot of things, but he’s not a troll. He’s contributed a lot to the 18to88 community, so don’t whine when he says something to piss you off.
J-Holeville: Jacksonville. The sorriest city in the NFL.
Johnny O: The writer of the Indy Football report (IFR). Friend of 18to88, Johnny O also freelances for Colts.com and is one of the most respected names in blogging.
Kuharsky: Paul Kuharsky of ESPN’s AFC South blog. I still haven’t come up with a good nickname for him (Ku-har?)
“Luck”: 18to88 recognizes that there is a lot of randomness in football. Not every game is won or loss on effort, cunning or skill. “Fumble luck” is the idea that the recovery of a fumble is a random event. “Return luck” speaks to the fact that TD returns off of turnovers are random events.
Mad Jack: Jack Del Rio, coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who once chopped his kicker’s leg off. More or less.
Marvin Harrison is retired: Is he? Do you think we should change the name of our blog to 18to87? No one has ever suggested that before! Shut your hole. Marvin Harrison is the second greatest Colt ever. We are NEVER CHANGING THE NAME!
Mike Tanier: Football Outsider, writer of the excellent Walkthrough column and friend of 18to88.
MMQB: Peter King’s weekly feature on SI.com, Monday Morning Quarter Back.
MSM: Main Stream Media
Movies: Sometimes we review them. Don’t ask why.
Our First Post: Both hilarious and informative, it explains why we talk about sports other than football from time to time. In the offseason, we refuse to be limited to just the Colts. Deal with it.
“People are stupid”: Don’t tell us what most people think about a subject. Most people are usually wrong. Opinions are valid if they are well reasoned or well supported. We want stats or sound logic. We care very little about “popular opinion”. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but everyone is also entitled to be wrong.
Phil B: Phil B Wilson of the Indianapolis Star. The originally credible Colts blogger.
Pythagorean Wins: A mathematical formula shown to be more reliable for predicting future results than actual wins and losses. It is based on points for and and points allowed.
Quarterbacks don’t win games: Teams win games, not quarterbacks. No individual player can be judged by wins and losses. Teams can. Coaches can. GM’s can. Players can’t. QBs get too much credit and too much blame for the outcome of games.
Rolly Polly Bat Out of Hell: Gary Brackett.
Shake: Long time reader and writer for Stampede Blue, Shakenbake. His real name is Joe Baker, and he does great work.
Small Sample Size: The fewer data points, the less reliable the conclusion. This is the problem with judging players based solely on postseason performance. There are too few games to reach a credible conclusion.
Sorgi Time: The fourth preseason game/the final three quarters of the last regular season game.
Sparkle Kitties: The Jaguars. They have sparkly helmets for no apparent reason. Then again, they have a team for no apparent reason too!
Spelling: DZ sucks at it. He’s basically illerterate.
Star Wars: It rules, and if you disagree I hate you. The Empire Strikes Back is the greatest movie ever made, and I won’t argue about this with you.
Two for None: The reason I love it when the Colts lose the toss. It occurs when one team gets the final possession to end the first half AND the first possession of the second half. It is is an incredibly dangerous scenario for a defense.
Vandershank: Mike Vanderjagt the most hated Colt of all time. Missed two critical kicks in the final moments of playoff games. Had the temerity to question Manning and Dungy, when he was the one who sucked.
Vic: Vic Ketchman, writer of “Ask Vic” on Jaguars.com. Famously declared the Colts to be fools for wasting Peyton Manning’s career just a month before they won the Super Bowl.
VY: Titans QB Vince Young. File this under V for very very overrated.
Win Probability: A great stat that tells you the likelihood of your team winning a game at any point in the game.
YPA: Yards per attempt. Perhaps the most important stat for evaluating passing efficiency.
The Zombie: Our nickname for Colts safety Bob Sanders. Sanders is often injured, but rises from the dead at just the right time and is unstoppable on the field. Also, he likes to eat brains.
If you run across other phrases you don’t understand, just comment here and we’ll add them to the list. Long time readers, please suggest other inside jokes or things that need to be listed here.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
