Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2016 November 10

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November 10

Little League World Series

Does anyone know what the record attendance is for a Little League World Series game? — Yellow Dingo (talk) 06:28, 10 November 2016 (UTC)

It was 41,848 in 2011, according to ESPN. If you believe someone named John Beague, it was an estimated 45,716 in 2015.[1] (How you can "estimate" that accurately has me scratching my head.) Clarityfiend (talk) 10:24, 10 November 2016 (UTC)

If you have space-filler digits you may as well use them, even if your confidence in them is small. Better than using zero as a wild-card. —Tamfang (talk) 20:30, 10 November 2016 (UTC)

That's not how it works (or is supposed to work). Such a precise number gives a false sense of accuracy. Also, it can't get any more precise (46,716.3, for example, wouldn't make a lot of sense). Estimates by their nature are "fuzzier" than that. Clarityfiend (talk) 09:21, 11 November 2016 (UTC)

Mind you, it does qualify as a ballpark figure. Clarityfiend (talk) 09:27, 11 November 2016 (UTC)

It may be being used as shorthand for "this is the value for something we're pretty sure corresponds to attendance", e.g. ticket sales (which will tend to overestimate, since some people won't show up). MChesterMC (talk) 16:28, 11 November 2016 (UTC)

the president-elect

A passing misuse elsewhere of the term president-elect reminds me I once saw a British show in which (off stage) an American "president-elect" was called upon to mediate in some crisis or other, and I'm virtually scratching my head cos I can't recall any more detail or context than that. Does it ring a bell with you? —Tamfang (talk) 20:30, 10 November 2016 (UTC)

Did you see this show on a stage or a screen? InedibleHulk (talk) 04:36, 11 November 2016 (UTC)

Small screen. —Tamfang (talk) 08:21, 11 November 2016 (UTC)

It is commonly believed that Reagan was involved in the negotiation to release hostages from Iran. It was actually Warren Christopher who negotiated the agreement. Because they were released the day after Reagan took office, the continuation of the story that Reagan got the hostages released continues. As noted in the Iran hostage crisis, the entire event was considered pivotal in Reagan's election. So, overall, it would not be unrealistic for Reagan, as President-Elect, to be considered as mediating a crisis. In reality, his opponent, Carter, went on to mediate many world problems after his Presidency and wrote that he found that he had much more power to do so once he was no longer President. 209.149.113.4 (talk) 14:11, 11 November 2016 (UTC)

• (Already answered this at WP:RD/M, but I'll post here too) You're probably thinking of the Doctor Who episode "The Sound of Drums", which seemed to mistakenly believe that "president-elect" was a grander title than president. Smurrayinchester 15:34, 11 November 2016 (UTC)

Thank you, that feels right. —Tamfang (talk) 01:29, 12 November 2016 (UTC)