Monthly Archives: November 2009

The NFL Flops on Thanksgiving, Again

Posted on November 27, 2009 by harvardsportsanalysis

By Jonathan Adler Is the NFL taking its Thanksgiving fans for granted? It seems that year after year, the Thanksgiving Day schedule features lousy matchups and even lousier outcomes. This year, America was treated to three supremely boring football games. … Continue reading →

Posted in NFL Football | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Strikeouts and the Anna Karenina Principle, or: Why K’s Don’t Hurt MLB Batters

Posted on November 25, 2009 by David Roher

By David Roher “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” So begins Leo Tolstoy’s 1878 masterpiece, Anna Karenina, an engrossing novel about late 19th century statistical analysis in baseball. Or about Russian aristocratic … Continue reading →

Posted in MLB Baseball | Tagged , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Listening to Larry Johnson: How Good Was Your Head Coach as a Player?

Posted on November 23, 2009 by harvardsportsanalysis

By Jonathan Adler Former Kansas City Chiefs RB Larry Johnson was frustrated with his head coach, Todd Haley, and decided to vent via his Twitter account. The former Chief announced to the online community that, “my father got more credentials … Continue reading →

Posted in NFL Football | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Yet Another Article on a Controversial 4th Down Call from a New England Team…Yale

Posted on November 22, 2009 by David Roher

By David Roher Harvard and Yale played their 126th football game (known around these parts simply as “The Game”) yesterday. We elected not to do a preview on the blog because the outcome was obviously a near certainty. However, it … Continue reading →

Posted in NCAA Football | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Committed To Losing

Posted on November 20, 2009 by dadler3

By Daniel Adler This article also appears on the Huffington Post. In last week’s New York Times, economist Richard Thaler discussed Swoopo.com, a so-called “entertainment shopping” site.  The premise is relatively simple and somewhat diabolical.  Unlike normal auctions sites such … Continue reading →

Posted in NFL Football, Papers | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Predictors of PGA Tour Scoring Average: Does the Driver Matter?

Posted on November 19, 2009 by John Ezekowitz

By John Ezekowitz The beauty of golf lies in its apparent simplicity: the goal is to get the ball in the hole in as few strokes as possible. So many factors go into getting the ball into that hole, however, … Continue reading →

Posted in Golf | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Television and the Potential NFL Lockout

Posted on November 18, 2009 by jakefisher723

By Jake Fisher

The Washington Post reported two weeks ago that NFL television ratings are the highest they’ve been in 20 years. Obviously, this is good news for business.

The National Football League, as a business, is the king of the sports world. The NFL raked in $7.6 billion in 2008, making it the planet’s richest league. But the NFL, just like any business in a recession, is not immune to downturn. Like the Corleone family had the Tattaglias, the NFL business has its own daunting obstacles.

Possibly the greatest threat to the NFL’s short-term economic stability is the potential lockout in the 2011 season. Let’s take a look at the debate surrounding this impending work stoppage and the history of sports lockouts/strikes to see how NFL business could be affected. Continue reading →

Posted in MLB Baseball, NFL Football, NHL Hockey | Tagged , | 5 Comments

Moneyball: Dead, Alive, or on Life Support?

Posted on November 17, 2009 by dadler3

By Daniel Adler The following article also appears on Huffington Post. This summer, much was made of the end of Moneyball. The teams with the five highest win totals—the Yankees, Angels, Dodgers, Red Sox, Phillies—rank 1st, 6th, 9th, 4th, and … Continue reading →

Posted in MLB Baseball | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Checking up on Monday Night Football

Posted on November 17, 2009 by harvardsportsanalysis

By Jonathan Adler On Monday Night Football this week, while the mighty Browns were humbled (for the 14th time in 15 games) against the Ravens, commentators Ron Jaworski, Jon Gruden, and Mike Tirico did their best to keep the broadcast … Continue reading →

Posted in NFL Football | Tagged , | 1 Comment

HSAC in the Wall Street Journal

Posted on November 17, 2009 by dadler3

By Daniel Adler We’ve hit the big-time…an article in the Wall Street Journal (the real deal–print edition!).  The article looks at whether increasing payroll leads to more wins.  The short answer: no. The following graph uses a 9.37% rate of … Continue reading →

Posted in MLB Baseball | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments