I thought it was an entertaining and effective way to show something mathematical to the general public, in a way that most people can relate to.

I was especially tickled near the end of the article where they described discussions on changing the overtime rules. When they mentioned the players' reaction, I thought it would turn on something related to winning, and I was surprised to learn that their objection was more playing time and more chance of injury.

Yeah, I was struck by that as well. It's true that a lot of money is riding on the outcome of sporting events, but the fact that that's so, and that society (or at least the Mercury News) has placed that in the category of "important" is... pretty sad, IMO.