The Algonquian word was “wuchak.” “Woodchuck” is the English attempt at pronouncing it, especially since, in those days, the eastern States were covered by extensive woods.
The game moves faster if you play the rules as written. No handing out free money (snake eyes, free parking, etc.), and auction off any property you land on and decide not to buy. Competitive Monopoly finishes in a couple of hours.
Someone pointed out at the time that passes on 2nd-and-goal resulted in more than 100 TDs and 0 INTs until that pass. It would have been the right call, except Pete Carroll played Dennis Eckersley to Malcolm Butler’s Kirk Gibson: Carroll got predictable. Butler (and Belichick) knew that Carroll liked to throw on 2nd-and-short, so Butler stood in the middle and waited for the pass.For those of you who don’t follow the Eckersley-Gibson comparison: On 2-1 counts, Eckersley threw a backdoor slider every time. Gibson got a 2-1 count and, sure enough, Eckersley threw his predicted pitch. Gibson was waiting for it and hit it out of the park.Moral: don’t get predictable in clutch situations.
“Failure is not an option. It is mandatory. The option is whether you let failure be the last thing you do.”