Back in my days as a sportswriter, the euphemism trend had begun to infiltrate what once had been the meritocracy of sports, where decisions previously had been made and explained without regard to feelings.
Somewhere along the line, players no longer were cut from the roster because they were not good enough. Instead, we began to hear it was just “the numbers game,” as in a team simply had too much talent at any position and someone had to go.
This talk of the numbers game was a win-win in the minds of the team, which didn’t need to impugn the abilities of said player when he was released, and for the player, who didn’t have to admit he simply was not good enough. Trust me, if that player was better than the competition, someone else would have been a victim of the numbers game.
Life in general has become a numbers game, with underachievers blaming the system or society, and never being required to take a long, hard look in the mirror.
That’s the figurative numbers game. We also have the literal numbers game, in which we are bombarded on a daily basis with numbers, often designed to manage our perceptions without providing context.
Here’s a sampling of numbers I have seen just today.
Start with 2.7% and $1,160 – The White House released a study, based on work by consulting firm McKinsey & Co., that as of 2023, productivity at firms that had been heavily committed to the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) grift had 2.7 percent lower productivity. The consulting firm also estimated DEI was hurting the average family to the tune of $1,160 a year in increased costs. The surveying of this by McKinsey had begun in 2015.
Next, we have .5 % – This was the monthly producer price index (PPI) increase which came in well below consensus estimates of 1.1 %. For the past 12 months, the PPI is up 4 %. Still, economists are screaming about runaway inflation, conveniently forgetting the 9.1 rate it was running at in June 2022 under Clueless Joe Biden, which was a 40-year high.
Along this line, think 47.6 – This is the April 2026, ALL-TIME RECORD LOW reading from the consumer confidence survey from the University of Michigan, the school with the scandal-plagued football program and a national champion men’s basketball team. I wonder how the Michigan football program would rate these days in a confidence survey? But, I digress. This survey long has been accused of being a politicized operation and it’s hard to argue. Consider that, according to a Wikipedia post on its history, the Michigan survey was higher at more than 50 (probably 51 or 52 but the chart is not easily readable) in mid-1979. Recall that in 1979 inflation was a reported 13.29 percent, the Russians had invaded Afghanistan, Iranians were holding American hostages after taking over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the Three Mile Island nuclear incident was sparking intense fear. Yet, according to the folks at old UM, consumer sentiment is lower now. Also, during the 2008-11 great financial crisis, according to UM numbers, consumer confidence never dipped as low as 55. We’re to believe that we are lower now, with the stock market near all-time highs, real estate prices way up, wages increasing and unemployment low. I’m calling BS on this latest fear porn reading. At best, the UM survey merely confirms my fear that this nation has devolved into a pool of way too many whining complainers.
Finally, think $200,000 and $250,000 – The $250,000 is the AVERAGE retirement (401k and IRA) savings of Americans in the 70-plus age group, according to figures as of March 2025 from Fidelity.com. Meanwhile, $200,000 is the MEDIAN number for ages 65-74 according to Kiplinger.com in a December 2025 post. Yes, the age range and report dates are not exactly the same, but it’s safe to say the $50,000 difference is mostly a function of mean vs. average, with the latter often misleading statistically. If we had a group of 5 retirees in any age group and one had $1 million in retirement savings, while the others had $1, $2, $3, and $4, respectively, the average account would be $200,002 — $1,000,010 divided by five — while the mean account would be $3 – half accounts above that number and half below. Statistical outliers provide undue influence on averages.
I’m sorry, time is a finite commodity and so this concludes today’s numbers game.
Sam Ross Jr's site 