Title text:
The plural of anecdote may not be data, but the singular of data is anecdote.
Transcript:
Transcript will show once it’s been added to explainxkcd.com
Source: https://xkcd.com/3262/
this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2026
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I’ve complained about this for years. This is only in America btw. In other countries they just watch and don’t care about the statistics.
That's not entirely true, us Germans love statistics but more like goal to attempt rate or something like this. Received passes, etc. Not whatever they're trying to do here.
Here in the UK we get a bunch of stats every game, but its pretty much the same stats every time with no fuckery. Shots on target (that would have gone in if it wasnt for that pesky keeper) and stuff.
Exactly. I don't care if they could have saved it if their mother was born in August, statistically speaking, or if they had a goldfish at seven.
You can count on F1 commentators (mostly Crofty) to pull out some obscure stats though
Sorry, what I said was an exaggeration, but yeah keeping track of shots on goal, passes, etc are just basic parts of the game. Essentially the same as keeping score. Americans don’t do that. They literally keep track of exactly stuff like the xkcd shows. It’s not even an exaggeration.
Did they do it with most sports? I only seen it in baseball and american football, probably also basketball huh.
Yeah. This makes it even less enjoyable to watch
Literally comments all over this thread talking about Austria and Australian Cricket and Argentina.
Must be that it is only countries that begin with A and the stats are just working through alphabetically.
I was the first comment in the whole thread…
Ok. And is there more to that?
... how were there "literally comments all over this thread" talking about other countries when I first commented, if I was the first to comment.
Sure. But also it wasnt only in America. You still came in with an assumption that was incorrect and have been proven so and have made no comment towards that.
You are still trying to keep your opinion while being presented with anecdotes that dispell it.
I ask if there is more because I dont think its a conversation for you to just double down on the part that restricts its relatability artificially to something that only your select group does when others are pointing out their personal experience with it. Humans do human things. Its nice to compare rather than pretend its exclusive.