tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post8130480999145113884..comments2023-11-05T04:16:44.937-05:00Comments on Advanced Football Analytics (formerly Advanced NFL Stats): Roundup 8/21/10Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-12645472412639080532010-08-23T12:27:49.197-04:002010-08-23T12:27:49.197-04:00That soccer post is terrible, for reasons already ...That soccer post is terrible, for reasons already pointed out and others such as the original author probably doesn't watch much soccer, thinking that the 2nd game counts double and ignoring that a lot of times the 2nd leg is boring as hell because if a team won the first leg comfortably, especially on the road, they just sit on the ball. Also because the NFL already has a system of home and home--division play.DA Baracusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-68455831313487541772010-08-22T20:31:10.608-04:002010-08-22T20:31:10.608-04:00Anonymous: you are more wrong than right.
The Wo...Anonymous: you are more wrong than right.<br /><br />The World Cup is technically considered every match of qualifying, but popularly it almost always means the actual tournament (technically the World Cup Finals) of group play and then single elimination that occurs every 4 years. In the World Cup finals, there is no home and home.<br /><br />As for World Cup qualifying, each of the 6 regional associations makes up its own rules and frequently changes them for the next World Cup. Africa does not use home and home series at all for World Cup qualifications. Asia used groups. Europe used home and home series for about 1/3 of its spots. CONCACAF used a group stage of 6 where the top 3.5 qualified. CONMEBOL used all 10 countries in a group stage.<br /><br />There is more complexity than just that, as the winner of Oceania had to play a home and home against an African team to qualify.<br /><br /><br />In short, your comment was rather misleading. Yes, home and home is used in World Cup qualifying, sometimes directly for a spot in the World Cup finals. But the vast majority of the process is not home and home.Football Polemicshttp://footballpolemics.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-17266173919046505732010-08-22T10:34:12.259-04:002010-08-22T10:34:12.259-04:00"The Peltzman Effect in action. It's why ..."The Peltzman Effect in action. It's why better helmets and other equipment will probably not protect NFL players from serious injury in the long run."<br /><br />One of my favorite suggestions for drastically reducing concussions is to remove face masks. Although there are a few serious consequences that could occur if the face mask was removed (having something thrust into your eye), most of the injuries prevented by face masks are cosmetic - broken nose, lost teeth, facial cuts. Heck, even a broken jaw is not, in the grand scheme of things, usually that serious. But more importantly, if you removed the face masks, almost no one would be dumb enough to lead with their head. Protecting your face is a powerful human instinct and I don't believe that would change, even for athletes who are earning millions of dollars for making tackles. Football players who have a legitimate fear for their own safety tend to lead with their shoulder or their chest (when you make a tackle that resembles a bear hug).bytebodgerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15989876051555196561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-58195740334378036212010-08-22T09:47:45.989-04:002010-08-22T09:47:45.989-04:00The World Cup does in fact use home and home for q...The World Cup does in fact use home and home for qualifying play, leading right up to the tourney. This is because HFA is so much stronger and evident in international matches. Playing on the road in the NFL is tame compared to what some soccer teams have to endure when playing abroad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-75471554598160543822010-08-22T00:14:46.892-04:002010-08-22T00:14:46.892-04:00Home and home would never happen for the playoffs ...Home and home would never happen for the playoffs of course, because the season is already pretty long as it is. Obviously we should eliminate 2 games (or maybe all the preseason, and let teams do as they please scrimmage-wise) from the NFL season, but hard to imagine they'd add them in later.<br /><br />It's worth noting that not even soccer uses home and home for their championship games. The World Cup is a variancefest akin to the NFL playoffs, with it being a single elimination tournament once the field is narrowed to 16. The final game is just one game. Likewise, the final game of the Champions League (by far the biggest club competition) is one game. Likewise for Europa League. There some exceptions, of course (South America's Copa Libertadores is currently home and home for the finals, but does NOT use the away goals rule in the finals that Edward Lee mentioned above) but generally soccer does not use home and homes for the championship games.<br /><br /><br />But to be honest, though traditionalists would be annoyed, it'd probably be a huge moneymaker for the NFL. Double the ad time!Football Polemicshttp://footballpolemics.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-4848030562017126052010-08-21T18:39:52.976-04:002010-08-21T18:39:52.976-04:00Given that HFA is worth about 3 points (possibly m...Given that HFA is worth about 3 points (possibly more, in case of opposite-weather teams?) and that seeding is so sensitive to strength of division, soccer-style home-and-home playoff rounds wouldn't be a bad idea at all. Doesn't seem particularly necessary for the Super Bowl though, and having the second game count double is dumb beyond all measure. (That's not what actually happens in soccer; in two-legged soccer playoff rounds the total points are added up, and then the tiebreaker is points/goals scored on the road. If it's still tied after that, extra time and/or penalty kicks ensue after the end of regulation of the second game.)Edward Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09858930644002883626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38600807.post-21490052063704204322010-08-21T18:36:28.466-04:002010-08-21T18:36:28.466-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Edward Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09858930644002883626noreply@blogger.com