[Balin] A bad sport (*CRACKED*)

[Balin]

While (American) football has had a larger fanbase than baseball in the U.S. for a few decades now, it can be said that football did not pass baseball in popularity until 2015. However, neither the popularity of one or the other is a good thing. Why?

(OAATP rules apply; please PM early shpoylas.)

(Slight edit to puzzle statement to clear up wording)

[Earnest]

So idk if it can be considered a question (in case please skip the rest): i don't understand the meaning of "neither's popularity a good thing". So I guess the verb is "is" in the form of 's...so it means that popularity is not a good thing for both football and baseball?

If the previous is not a question..--> did something happen in 2015 like: football in a particular tv channel? The team began to won relevant competitions? Lots of fan began to go to stadiums rather than stay home to see football? The day in which competitions in either football or baseball were played was changed? Someone died? Something happened to the Super Bowl? A President was a fun of football rather than baseball? Statistics were updated?

[peter365]

Is social media relevant?

[trebor]

In popularity with: a certain group of people? Type of person? People who might be lumped together for a negative behaviour (domestic abusers, bigots, etc.)

[GalFisk]

Infamy relevant?

[Balin]

So idk if it can be considered a question (in case please skip the rest): (I'll allow it as it clears up ambiguity in the statement) i don't understand the meaning of "neither's popularity a good thing". So I guess the verb is "is" in the form of 's...so it means that popularity is not a good thing for both football and baseball? That is correct

If the previous is not a question..--> did something happen in 2015 like: Not relevantly, and No to all football in a particular tv channel? The team began to won relevant competitions? Lots of fan began to go to stadiums rather than stay home to see football? The day in which competitions in either football or baseball were played was changed? Someone died? Something happened to the Super Bowl? A President was a fun of football rather than baseball? Statistics were updated?

Is social media relevant? Somewhat

n popularity with: a certain group of people? Yes, for svv of "group" Type of person? No People who might be lumped together for a negative behaviour (domestic abusers, bigots, etc.) No

Infamy relevant? No

[Haenlomal]

I'm a bit out of the loop. What does OAATP mean?

Any sport other than American football and baseball relevant? If yes, may I invoke the LTPF list of sports?

[GalFisk]

Is the svv group a demographic?

[Earnest]

Is internet/any statistic based on the internet (e.g. google searches) relevant?

[Balin]

I'm a bit out of the loop. What does OAATP mean? It's short for "one at a time, please," a variant on the classical format introduced by WiZ where questioners must ask only one question at a time (though multiple variables within a single question are OK).
And welcome back, Haenlomal - good to see you around again!

Any sport other than American football and baseball relevant? No If yes, may I invoke the LTPF list of sports?

Is the svv group a demographic? No

Is internet/any statistic based on the internet (e.g. google searches) relevant? Internet Yes, statistics No, Google searches No

[Earnest]

was the fanbase of football relevantly younger and hence more capable to exploit internet sources (e.g. streaming football/baseball matches)?


PM send

[Balin]

was the fanbase of football relevantly younger and hence more capable to exploit internet sources (e.g. streaming football/baseball matches)? Possibly true, but Irrel

PM send Good guess, but incorrect

[Earnest]

Internet relevant --> did internet make baseball less popular or football more popular or the one is a consequence to the other? Maybe an explanation is due: so by asking " did internet make baseball less popular or football more popular" I am trying to figure out if one of the following scenario took place: the popularity of football remained unchanged but baseball lost a lot in popularity (e.g. scandals emerged on the net and so on...) or viceversa baseball popularity remained unchanged while football popularity grew. With the second part "or the one is a consequence to the other" I am asking if the drop in popularity of baseball is a consequence of the growth in popularity of football (or viceversa)

[Balin]

Internet relevant --> did internet make baseball less popular or football more popular or the one is a consequence to the other? Maybe an explanation is due: so by asking " did internet make baseball less popular or football more popular" I am trying to figure out if one of the following scenario took place: the popularity of football remained unchanged but baseball lost a lot in popularity (e.g. scandals emerged on the net and so on...) or viceversa baseball popularity remained unchanged while football popularity grew. With the second part "or the one is a consequence to the other" I am asking if the drop in popularity of baseball is a consequence of the growth in popularity of football (or viceversa) ...I'm going to say "Possibly, but not in the way you're thinking." It's not strongly relevant to the solution.

(I slightly tweaked the puzzle statement to clear up wording. The situation presented is unchanged.)

[Earnest]

did not pass baseball in popularity until 2015 --> popularity = is more watched in stadiums (i.e. live)? Or maybe in pubs/TVs/news as highlights and so on? More bets on football than baseball? More watched also in other countries? The teams have the same names of other sports' teams?

[Balin]

popularity = is more watched in stadiums (i.e. live)? Or maybe in pubs/TVs/news as highlights and so on? More bets on football than baseball? More watched also in other countries? The teams have the same names of other sports' teams? None of these

[JenBurdoo]

Popularity in the sense of how many times they were mentioned online (by tweet, for example)? If so, LTPF list of possible electronic platforms (Facebook, snapchat, etc), please.

[Balin]

Popularity in the sense of how many times they were mentioned online (by tweet, for example)? No, but I will add "svv of mentioned" If so, LTPF list of possible electronic platforms (Facebook, snapchat, etc), please. Yes

[JenBurdoo]

So there was no specific hashtag or other direct mention?

[trebor]

Popularity in sales? Mentioned = spoken? Written about? Written about on all social media platforms combined? Mentioned positively? Negatively?

Are any deaths relevant to this puzzle? Mentioned more in obituaries? Or perhaps older people were mentioning baseball more, and they've been dying, so...?

[Earnest]

pass baseball in popularity = pass in a relevant metric that can be measured? e.g.: increased number of something? number of challenges in instagram stories? number of scandals? number of injuries? decreased number of something? less advertising? less clothing/protections articles sold?

[Balin]

So there was no specific hashtag Correct, there was none or other direct mention? Again, svv of "mention"

Popularity in sales? No Mentioned = spoken? Written about? Written about on all social media platforms combined? Mentioned positively? Negatively? No to these

Are any deaths relevant to this puzzle? No Mentioned more in obituaries? No Or perhaps older people were mentioning baseball more, and they've been dying, so...? No

pass baseball in popularity = pass in a relevant metric that can be measured? Yes e.g.: increased number of something? And Yes; No to rest number of challenges in instagram stories? number of scandals? number of injuries? decreased number of something? less advertising? less clothing/protections articles sold?

[gregoryuconn]

Were other organizations with the same initials (MLB, NFL, etc.) mentioned in any relevant way?

[trebor]

Increased attendance? Viewership? Per game?

[Balin]

Were other organizations with the same initials (MLB, NFL, etc.) mentioned in any relevant way? No

Increased attendance? Viewership? Per game? No to these

[Earnest]

Increased number of a measure that involves: the internet? a word in the internet? a website? emoticons? keyboards? subscribers? amazon? gmail? spams? a code? letters? numbers? percentages? shares? a pun?

[trebor]

Scholarships relevant?

[Balin]

Increased number of a measure that involves: the internet? Yes, partially a word in the internet? No a website? A number of websites emoticons? No keyboards? Yes subscribers? No amazon? That could be one of the sites gmail? As well as this spams? No a code? Not exactly letters? numbers? Both percentages? shares? a pun? None of these three

Scholarships relevant? No

[trebor]

Did something relevant happen in 2015 that affected this? Or in 2014?

[Earnest]

Is the association CTE - football relevant? collision-free version of the sport? Positioning of the keys on keyboard (as maybe modified for preventing people to look for CTE associated to football)?

[Balin]

Did something relevant happen in 2015 that affected this? Or in 2014? No to both

Is the association CTE - football relevant? collision-free version of the sport? Positioning of the keys on keyboard (as maybe modified for preventing people to look for CTE associated to football)? No to all

[trebor]

Increased searches online? (Google, search fields on sites, etc.?)

[Balin]

Increased searches online? (Google, search fields on sites, etc.?) No

[Earnest]

did not pass baseball in popularity until 2015. --> wait. Is 2015 a year? a relevant number? a relevant number on keyboards? the relevant measure? The relevant number passed which football become more popular than baseball? Is it a counter (which maybe resets)? a number appearing on the websites? number of words? a metric that is visible on the relevant websites? the number being a t-shirt?

[Balin]

did not pass baseball in popularity until 2015. --> wait. Is 2015 a year? Yes, so No to rest a relevant number? a relevant number on keyboards? the relevant measure? The relevant number passed which football become more popular than baseball? Is it a counter (which maybe resets)? a number appearing on the websites? number of words? a metric that is visible on the relevant websites? the number being a t-shirt?

[Earnest]

Does the increased number of the measure: directly appear on the websites (i.e. as soon as one visit them?)? appear only if typed on the keyboard? appear as an internet protocol? appear only after specific searches on the websites are made? appear the 31st of December 2014 before midnight? relate directly to the huger fanbase of football wrt baseball? relate directly to mistakes (shortcuts) made (adopted) on the websites? relate to giving for granted that football is more popular than baseball (or that football has a huger fanbase than baseball)?

[trebor]

Does this have to do with the health of either fanbase?

[Balin]

Does the increased number of the measure: directly appear on the websites (i.e. as soon as one visit them?)? appear only if typed on the keyboard? This, No/Irr to rest appear as an internet protocol? appear only after specific searches on the websites are made? appear the 31st of December 2014 before midnight? relate directly to the huger fanbase of football wrt baseball? relate directly to mistakes (shortcuts) made (adopted) on the websites? relate to giving for granted that football is more popular than baseball (or that football has a huger fanbase than baseball)?

Does this have to do with the health of either fanbase? No

[Earnest]

measure appearing only if typed on the keyboard (i.e. googled?) --> if one types on Google: "fanbase of baseball and fanbase of football"? "popularity of football and popularity of baseball"? part of the puzzle statement? "football vs baseball"? "measure of popularity for sports"? "football did not pass baseball in popularity until 2015"? the word football alone (maybe the letters on the keyboards f,o,o,t,b,a,l,l are more typed than the words Bank,s,e,b,a,l,l)? the word baseball alone?

[Balin]

measure appearing only if typed on the keyboard Yes (i.e. googled?) No --> if one types on Google: "fanbase of baseball and fanbase of football"? "popularity of football and popularity of baseball"? part of the puzzle statement? "football vs baseball"? "measure of popularity for sports"? "football did not pass baseball in popularity until 2015"? No to all
the word football alone (maybe the letters on the keyboards f,o,o,t,b,a,l,l are more typed than the words Bank,s,e,b,a,l,l)? the word baseball alone? Not Googled, but YES to these

[trebor]

Did the letters in football get replaced/damaged/used more often overall that year than the letters in baseball?

[Balin]

Did the letters in football get replaced/damaged/used more often overall that year than the letters in baseball? I may have misinterpreted the prior question - the physcial letters on the keyboards aren't relevant. What's been established is "the word 'football' is typed more often than the word 'baseball' is"; the question now is the context

[Balin]

RECAP:
In some aspect, the word "football" become more popular than the word "baseball" in 2015, and the popularity of neither word is a good thing. The word is typed.

[LemonCurry]

Do the people who relevantly type the word: like football/baseball? dislike it? hate it? have a problem including it? have no relevant opinion about it?

[Earnest]

Is the word football typed: to fill a list? to search for something concerning the related sport? To take advantage of something? To inform? To have news about something? To be updated? To classify something? To take into account something? To carry out a task connected to the sport (football)? To respect the alphabetical order with other words? Instead of baseball?

[Balin]

Do the people who relevantly type the word: like football/baseball? dislike it? hate it? have a problem including it? have no relevant opinion about it? It's safe to assume they like the sport they type

Is the word football typed: to fill a list? to search for something concerning the related sport? To take advantage of something? To inform? To have news about something? To be updated? To classify something? To take into account something? To carry out a task connected to the sport (football)? To respect the alphabetical order with other words? Instead of baseball? None of these

[LemonCurry]

Are football and baseball used as passwords?

[Balin]

Are football and baseball used as passwords? Yes!

****SPOILER****

"Football" passed "baseball" on the list of the most common passwords in 2015. But as higher frequency of a password indicates it's not secure, their popularity in this use is not at all a good thing!

(It should be noted that "baseball" peaked at #8 in 2014, but fell out of the top 25 in 2016, while "football" peaked at #5 that year but dropped out of the top 25 in 2019. Their fall does not, however, suddenly make them secure passwords. Don't use 'em.)

Well done!