One of my pet peeves has always been the way our country runs our presidential election. The way the electoral college is set up, to honor their pledge based on a winner take all methodology seems to pigeon hole states entire delegates one way or the other.
I have zero party allegiance. I have no problem voting for a Democrat or a Republican. What I have a problem with is that the states that I live in were voting Blue and while they say every vote matters, it doesn't. Connecticut has voted Blue by at minimum 10% in each election that I've been able to vote in and the same holds true in my freshly adopted state of Illinois.
This conundrum sparked my interest. How many other states have a long history of voting one way or the other? Which states actually flip or "swing" states if you will? So here are the findings or you can jump to the linked spreadsheet at the bottom of the page to poke around yourself.
Who is BLUE?
10 States have been BLUE for six straight elections (since H.W. Bush), while 7 more have been BLUE for seven straight elections (since 2nd term Reagan). Minnesota is at a whopping 10 straight BLUE decisions and Washington D.C. has voted BLUE all thirteen times it has partook.
Who is RED?
7 states have been RED for four straight elections with another 2 states being RED for five straight. Those nine states voted for Bill in one election or the other. 4 states have been RED for nine straight elections (since Jimmy Carter). Finally 9 states have been RED for twelve straight elections (since Lyndon B Johnson).
Who is SWING?
This leaves just 10 states who have voted both democrat and republican during the Bush & Obama elections. Indiana and North Carolina were with Obama Round 1, but not with him Round 2. Iowa, New Mexico, Colorado, Virginia, Florida, Nevada and Ohio were with Obama in both rounds and with G.W. for his 2nd election. New Hampshire was with G.W. Round 1, but has been democrat the last three elections.
Who is SUPER SWING?
Of the 6 states to have gotten the last three elections "right", Iowa and New Mexico voted for Gore and lost. Colorado and Virginia were with Dole and Florid was with H.W. Bush. Then come election predictor states. Nevada has slotted their delegates for nine consecutive elections to the president elect, last sending their delegates to Gerald Ford when he lost to Carter. Finally, Ohio has slotted their delegates to the president elect for thirteen straight elections. The last time Ohio gave their delegates to a loser was when they snubbed J.F.K. and gave their delegates to Richard Nixon instead.
Most of my analysis focused on the current streaks but the spreadsheet has each election year throughout history if you care to peruse. You can see things like when the south flipped from democrat to republican. When Vermont, a state that voted Republican every year from 1856-1988, minus just 1964, all of a sudden became a Blue State in 1992. And the bloodbatth that was Reagan vs. Mondale in '88.
Presidential Candidates Spreadsheet
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
History of Super Bowl Head Coaches
I put this sheet together in preparation for both the super bowl as well as during the time where teams were going out and hiring head coaches. What does the typical head coach look like?
The spreadsheet includes each coach in the 50 Super Bowls, win or loss. I tabulated their number of appearances and their records and then delved into a few different data points.
Did they have previous head coaching experience? If not, what was their previous job?
32 of the 53 coaches were given their first head coaching job with the team they eventually took to the Super Bowl. Notable exceptions to this are Belichick, Coughlin, Pete Carroll, Gary Kubiak, Jon Gruden, Tony Dungy... aka, maybe that isn't the best current trend line to look at.
Were they an OC, DC, special teams coach?
The split between offense and defense is remarkably similar. 17 coaches previous jobs were as head coaches. There were 12 OCs and 12 DCs. One LB Coach (Madden) vs. One OL Coach and One WR Coach. 5 were listed as assistants that I didn't dig too much into. 3 were labeled Assistant Head Coach and finally John Harbaugh is the lone special teams guy.
Who were they employed by prior to getting their HC job?
The Raiders and Colts lead the way with 5. The Raiders are mostly due to their HC turnover and because they hired from within. The Colts had a few guys go elsewhere like Chuck Noll and Weeb Ewbank. The Niners and Giants have 4 a piece, with the Giants being my favorite as Lombardi and Landry were both hired away from New York for their gigs with Green Bay and Dallas.
Did they have previous NFL Coaching experience or were they strictly a college coach prior to landing their gig?
Four coaches came from outside the NFL, got their first HC job and coached that team to the Super Bowl. Hank Stram took over the Chiefs from the Miami Hurricanes. Bud Grant came from the CFL to lose a lot of Super Bowls with the Vikings. The final two were Jerrah's boys, Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer.
Were they a former NFL player?
Of the 53 coaches, 19 were former players, including the latest winner Gary Kubiak. This crew went a collective 15-24.
Finally, which university did they attend?
There is no real pattern here. There is a 11-way tie for 1st with 2 a piece.
All in all, there have been a total of 54 different coaches to coach in a Super Bowl.
The data set is below to play with.
SB Coach Spreadsheet
The spreadsheet includes each coach in the 50 Super Bowls, win or loss. I tabulated their number of appearances and their records and then delved into a few different data points.
Did they have previous head coaching experience? If not, what was their previous job?
32 of the 53 coaches were given their first head coaching job with the team they eventually took to the Super Bowl. Notable exceptions to this are Belichick, Coughlin, Pete Carroll, Gary Kubiak, Jon Gruden, Tony Dungy... aka, maybe that isn't the best current trend line to look at.
Were they an OC, DC, special teams coach?
The split between offense and defense is remarkably similar. 17 coaches previous jobs were as head coaches. There were 12 OCs and 12 DCs. One LB Coach (Madden) vs. One OL Coach and One WR Coach. 5 were listed as assistants that I didn't dig too much into. 3 were labeled Assistant Head Coach and finally John Harbaugh is the lone special teams guy.
Who were they employed by prior to getting their HC job?
The Raiders and Colts lead the way with 5. The Raiders are mostly due to their HC turnover and because they hired from within. The Colts had a few guys go elsewhere like Chuck Noll and Weeb Ewbank. The Niners and Giants have 4 a piece, with the Giants being my favorite as Lombardi and Landry were both hired away from New York for their gigs with Green Bay and Dallas.
Did they have previous NFL Coaching experience or were they strictly a college coach prior to landing their gig?
Four coaches came from outside the NFL, got their first HC job and coached that team to the Super Bowl. Hank Stram took over the Chiefs from the Miami Hurricanes. Bud Grant came from the CFL to lose a lot of Super Bowls with the Vikings. The final two were Jerrah's boys, Jimmy Johnson and Barry Switzer.
Were they a former NFL player?
Of the 53 coaches, 19 were former players, including the latest winner Gary Kubiak. This crew went a collective 15-24.
Finally, which university did they attend?
There is no real pattern here. There is a 11-way tie for 1st with 2 a piece.
All in all, there have been a total of 54 different coaches to coach in a Super Bowl.
The data set is below to play with.
SB Coach Spreadsheet
Intro
I used to blog a lot, then I stopped. Work wanted me to work.
Now I have the occasional desire to delve deep into data sets and play around in excel. I'll post my findings here.
Now I have the occasional desire to delve deep into data sets and play around in excel. I'll post my findings here.
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