tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post427274158235540899..comments2023-11-05T04:16:44.937-05:00Comments on Advanced Football Analytics (formerly Advanced NFL Stats): SportUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-37698247939013187152013-09-10T04:44:45.469-04:002013-09-10T04:44:45.469-04:00Thanks, Ed.Thanks, Ed.John Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06396900809037959125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-70738437874886294962013-09-08T10:23:57.993-04:002013-09-08T10:23:57.993-04:00John
I believe you mean "NFL football is mann...John<br />I believe you mean "NFL football is manna to a starving man." (First line under the pic.) Mana is a godlike force believed to dwell in an object and while the term may apply to the NFL it's context in that particular sentence is incorrect.<br /><br />Ed Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15442990388729810908noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-76348852816568525702013-09-08T10:13:11.472-04:002013-09-08T10:13:11.472-04:00This reminds very much of reading Carson Cistulli&...This reminds very much of reading Carson Cistulli's pieces for fangraphs.com back in 2009, before they added him on permanently. Now, he does podcasts, and is perhaps the reason for the spin-off NotGraphs. The fact that it's different from what Brian writes doesn't necessarily mean that it is without value.<br /><br />Keep up the good work.rcbussnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-45117845282353593152013-09-07T22:14:05.687-04:002013-09-07T22:14:05.687-04:00Same anonymous again. I'm looking through the...Same anonymous again. I'm looking through the last two pages of articles on this site and noticed this is the same author who wrote the article Do Those Who Deny Advanced Statistics Even Watch the Game? I wrote a similarly negative comment on that one. I'm sure someone will want to say the article wasn't sincere and blah blah blah, but I stand by how I fel when I thought it was sincere because that article and this one both hang up a pinata of stupid for the author and readership to beat silly. Why is this necessary; what does it accomplish? In my previous comment I mention hubris, but that's only half the story. Lurking underneath that is desperation to find any justification for it. Look at how I can examine why I like something in extremely ornate prose. Look at how vapid sports pundits and mindless consumers of pop culture are. This goes for both the person who enjoys writing it and the person who enjoys reading it. Both of these pieces serve no purpose but to prop up an ego collapsing under its perception of its lack of real-world accomplishment. Whew, crisis averted, I must be worthwhile for having these complicated thoughts and not being those dumb people.<br /><br />This is in contrast to the piece by the same author Why Standard Fantasy Football Rots and How To Fix It. This actually describes a problem and then attempts to solve it. This is actually interesting and insightful because an improvement to former thinking on a subject is attempted. Rather than wondering what or why about yourself like why you like something in the most complicated prose possible or declaring to yourself you're not part of a conspicuous group of dumb people, you are attempting to improve something that exists in the real world in a way that could somehow succeed. This is what worthwhile writing is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-2835513400405597272013-09-07T21:21:19.679-04:002013-09-07T21:21:19.679-04:00To add to previous Anonymous's comment, nobody...To add to previous Anonymous's comment, nobody who comes to this site needs to have explained what's to like about football. Not only that, this article could say the same things in one tenth of the length, max. I don't need to spend time reading justifications for the way me and the author feel about something, written in such a way as to prove to me and the author that we're both such smart fellows complete with a denigration of lesser people as if some people being dumber than you made you smart. This reeks of a perceived lack of need to grow as a person/thinker/whatever. IE, hubris.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-43487379342362020342013-09-07T19:35:29.143-04:002013-09-07T19:35:29.143-04:00To TMK: I echo some of what Anonymous-1/J writes W...To TMK: I echo some of what Anonymous-1/J writes WRT inherited ability. But you're right, my argument that sport is wholly fair and dependent on merit is romantic-leaning. Your criticism/clarification is valid.<br /><br />To J: Thanks, and thank you for your excellent comment.John Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06396900809037959125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-10116444433525365632013-09-07T18:00:24.523-04:002013-09-07T18:00:24.523-04:00Brian, Brian, Brain... who is this Mr. Morgan and ...Brian, Brian, Brain... who is this Mr. Morgan and how did he convince you to put his disturbed ramblings on your otherwise excellent blog?<br /><br />For two seasons I have enjoyed, almost addictively, the great football analysis on ANS. This year, suddenly, it's different. Instead of great analysis I see a man obviously in love with himself and his atrocious prose, pontificating about nothing.<br /><br />Please assure us that everything will be back to normal!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-81624345740165283452013-09-07T02:20:38.608-04:002013-09-07T02:20:38.608-04:00Another excellent post Mr. Morgan. The Greeks use...Another excellent post Mr. Morgan. The Greeks used sporting contests to praise their Gods. When the 10,000 finally made it to the sea and escaped the clutches of the Persian King, they held feasts and sporting events in honour of Zeus and Heracles. I fail to see why any god would not be pleased by our modern display of sporting excellence - trying to acheive the form in the image of which we were created. Art, sport, the gods, unlike the masses, will always praise the persuit of excellence.<br /><br />Sports reaches a place in our hearts that is older than the mindless mediocrity that inflames the lust of the masses. Amazing feats straight out of the Illiad. Athena gives wings to the feet of Ray Rice so that he can convert the 4th and 29. Hera distracts Rahim Moore long enough for Jacoby Jones to get over the top. How else to describe 'clutch' performance?<br /><br />TMK - "The greatest thing you can do to ensure your son or daughter competes in the Olympics? Be a former Olympian. Want Johnny to play in the MLB? Spend a few summers bouncing back and forth between AAA and The Big Show, if you really want to give him a shot. "<br />How much of this is due to inherited ability? I would figure it is quite a bit. It seems that much more than higher-level brain activity, physical reflexes are much more a result of breeding than of upbringing. But yes, I am sure it does not hurt to know people who are in the loop!<br /><br />Cheers,<br />JAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-40723023571614358722013-09-06T23:13:52.742-04:002013-09-06T23:13:52.742-04:00Great article, but one observation:
Access, while...Great article, but one observation:<br /><br />Access, while from the viewpoint of the average fan seems to revolve around "talent" and determination some work has been done to reveal that their is a significant bias in many sports. It turns out that there are more "John Rockefeller Jr.'s" and less "Andrew Carnegie's" on the world stage of sports than it appears.<br /><br />While in the U.S. the opportunity to play an organized sport is available to many, access to quality equipment and coaching is not. One only has to look at the Southlake Carrol High School football team to see the opportunity that nepotism can create in sports. The greatest thing you can do to ensure your son or daughter competes in the Olympics? Be a former Olympian. Want Johnny to play in the MLB? Spend a few summers bouncing back and forth between AAA and The Big Show, if you really want to give him a shot. <br /><br />It turns out that not only does having a parent who was a world class athlete greatly increase a child's chances of succeeding in sports, but the time of year a kid is born makes a big difference. In a few weeks I will turn 31, and at this point the fact that my younger brother is 20 months younger than me will matter very little in the way we are viewed by the world. For all intensive purposes we are grown men with well established strengths and weaknesses. but 20 years ago playing on the same baseball, football, ice hockey and basketball teams I was clearly the "talented athlete." <br /><br />It turns out that coaches at the developmental level mistake age related coordination, strength, speed, and mental acuity for "talent." Had my brother been a few months younger he would likely have spent his youth being considered on of the "talented" athletes in his age bracket, because he would have been one of the biggest, strongest, oldest, most "heads up" players in the age range. <br /><br />I love sports. True competition breeds inspiration and gives us something pure to aspire too. It can bring us together, even as it pits us against one another. I just thought I would roll out a spike strip to start the season!<br /><br />Basketball, it turns out, is the most accessible sports in the U.S., and much of the world.TMKhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02421642418425551119noreply@blogger.com