This is only indirectly related to the normal curve, but it’s too good to pass up.

On an episode of the TV show “Ed” (guest-starring Danny DeVito), Ed’s physician buddy got a postcard that just said “Packers.” Next day the Packers win. A week later he gets a card that says “49ers.” Indeed, San Francisco wins their game. After another two accurate predictions, Doc is thinking “I don’t know who this guy is, but he’s 4 for 4 and he’s startin’ to freak me out.”

The postcard on Week 5 is a little different. It says “If you want my next prediction, please send $200 cash to John Smith, Box 123, etc.” Ed and Doc’s other friends warn him that this is a total scam, but he sends the money anyway. Ed stakes out the post office and nabs DeVito as he picks up his money.

How does the scam work? Fiendishly simple. In Week 1 Danny sends out 10,000 post cards. 5,000 say “Packers” and 5,000 say “Colts.” Packers win. In Week 2 he sends out 5,000 cards to the Packers group. 2,500 say “49ers” and 2,500 say “Rams.” You see where this is going. After 4 weeks there are 600 people who think he walks on water, and enough of them will send him money that he won’t have to worry about the price of postage.

Remember what the normal curve says about .400 batting averages and decades of successful stock picking: given that a lot of people are trying to achieve these things over a long period of time, these performances are (1) inevitable, and (2) rare. So if someone sends you a postcard that says “Pistons,” please ignore it.