http://statsology.xmlteam.com Tracking sports data innovations and developments. Fri, 03 Oct 2008 12:36:53 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en ld the Diamondbacks become the first MLB team ever to be outscored and still have the league's best record? Further, could there be some kind of intent behind that stat? “That could, charitably, be described as giving up on certain games, leaving pitchers out there to take a beating while saving ... http://statsology.xmlteam.com/?p=29 New Yorker article about Media Predict which does a good job summarizing prediction markets. Book publishers, record companies and Hollywood are lousy at predicting hits. But what if they watched how the punters bet on the next big thing? Prediction markets avoid many of the faults of focus groups, which tend ... http://statsology.xmlteam.com/?p=28 James Fallows has a point. Watching a long-ago sports event can still be compelling, under the right conditions: We know, watching decades later, what the outcome means. Navratilova — who, as I watch, is down one set — will soon rally to win the match, the first of her nine singles ... http://statsology.xmlteam.com/?p=27 Media Predict expands on the entertainment/props option at the bottom of the sportsbook menu bars (just above "other sports"). Eg: which myspace band will get signed next? They get a mention in the Economist. It's not just about betting, it seems: Media Predict wants to help identify that most elusive ... http://statsology.xmlteam.com/?p=23 Numbers Guy summarizes all the factors dumped in to predict when HR #756 happens. Projections will always smash against two factors: injuries and "random variation in player performance". http://statsology.xmlteam.com/?p=26 Ever wonder why they remove the bottle caps before giving you the Pepsi at a ball game? Me neither. That's what separates economists from the rest of us. (Hat tip: Economist) http://statsology.xmlteam.com/?p=25 Forget mechanics, let's talk cogsci (cognitive science, that is). Back in the day, hockey fans noticed something strange uncanny whenever Mario Lemieux had the puck in enemy territory. The defenceman would freeze and the whole game would slow down. Why? Maybe because he could see their moves before they made ... http://statsology.xmlteam.com/?p=24 A curious article by Michael Lewis on a new kind of fantasy game: player exchanges. In these, you bet on players as if they were company stocks. If the value of the player goes up, you can sell and make money, just like on a real stock market. In this ... http://statsology.xmlteam.com/?p=22 Sorry, all I do these days is let my inbox fill up: The next big thing after stats? Doubt it: as the author admits, no one really knows enough about bio-mechanics and it's certainly doesn't seem as amenable to passionate amateurism. The next big thing after boxscores? Looks like fun but the ... http://statsology.xmlteam.com/?p=21 Some free items to liven up your day: iBet.pro points us to information about IBM's Many Eyes project. Put in spreadsheets, get pretty chart. A Sports Economist post on rights kerfuffles lead us to this fascinating primer on ownership of English soccer fixtures. Hint: you can't put them on your web site ... http://statsology.xmlteam.com/?p=20