Now, my boss certainly wouldn't put it that way, but bottom line, it's accurate. My gig has me testing the behaviors of folks online as they relate to my company's websites. I have run tens of thousands of tests on unsuspecting web users, and the industry I work in is huge and growing. The average "win percentage" in the industry for testing tends to sit around 10%. One out of every ten tests generates a sufficient revenue increase to merit becoming a permanent part of their online business. In my first year with the new company, my team landed a win percentage just shy of 24%. Everyone was ecstatic.
But as far as I'm concerned, that just means that three quarters of the time, I'm wrong. But there's wrong, and then there's HOLY SH–, WAS I WRONG. Take my preseason Nuggets predictions, for instance.
At the beginning of the season, the writers of the Denver Stiffs crew were asked to posit their guesses for how the Denver Nuggets would do this season. These words, fellow Stiffs, were typed by yours truly:
“(In first), the Spurs, duh. Clippers finally rise (to number two), especially with OKC’s slow start. The Thunder are back in time to squeeze past the Nuggets, but barely.”
The four seed. I thought we'd be the four seed. A week before that, I also threw out the possibility that we'd bounce back to a degree to threaten the recent 57-win season. We're a lot closer to a 57-loss pace, frighteningly.
Holy frijole. Shibanna banana.
I had a first as a Nuggets fan the other night. My lovely wife, a fellow fan, asked me when the Nuggets would be playing next. My response: "No idea." She asked if I'd like her to look into it. The reply: "Not really."
Maybe I need the break as well. I loved the 11- and 17- win teams, mostly because I knew what we had. It wasn't good, but it was pro basketball. Pro-ish basketball. So, why can't I love this team? Because this is the first season I've had this big a disconnect between what I thought would happen, and what has. I haven't been this pained since the slow erosion post-1994 Nuggets. Just dead wrong, dangit. Maybe I'm just pouting.
We've reached the "halfway point" of the season, the NBA's All-Star break. If Jusuf Nurkic hadn't been a late invitee to the Rising Stars Challenge, the Nuggets wouldn't have a representative to this upcoming celebration of NBA excellence. Nor would they deserve to have one, unfortunately. (Note: Nate Timmons posted this morning that Nurkic has pulled out of the Rising Stars game to honor a commitment to get home over the break)
The rest of the Nuggets staff and crew gets a 10-day break from basketball after their near-pyrrhic victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night, and some time to reflect and think. For many, it will probably feel tantamount to a child’s timeout and an opportunity to “think about what they’ve done.”
For several, it may be some of their last games in a Nuggets uniform, or on the Nuggets bench. For the Nuggets faithful, the 10-day break presents an opportunity to step back from a most confounding season and reset as well.
Enjoy your 10 days, Nuggets Nation. Take a breather. A Nuggcation, as it were. I still hope to see you all around Stiffs, as I'm a fan of the conversation about my team, even when I have a tough time stomaching the general play of my team. As a bonus, I can guarantee you that the Nuggets will not lose a single game between now and February 20th. But the 29 games left after that? I haven't the faintest idea. I was certain the Nuggets would be shocking the world this season. The shock has turned out to be mine. On the upside, the Nuggets winning percentage puts mine to shame, at 38%. But compared to their industry, that number is not quite so glossy.
I had them down for 50+ wins. Not getting paid for this one. Boy, was I wrong.
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