All The Nut Shots Fit To Print

This is Regressing, a new, numbers-minded column by our clever friends at the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective. Today: What injuries got the most press in 2010?

Deadspin's focus might just be on one particular part of an athlete's body, but it turns out other parts caused problems as well. The above graphic (click to enlarge) represents the past year in sports injuries — as the media saw it. The numbers on the graph correspond to the number of 2010 sports articles in which the author mentioned an injury to that body part. I didn't look at the articles themselves, so they may have referred to injuries that occurred in '09 or in fiction. (And keep in mind that the numbers tell us which injuries caught the media's eye, not necessarily which injuries were most prevalent.) Despite all the controversy surrounding concussions and brain damage, the old standards got the most press: those to the quadriceps, shins, hamstrings, and (bend down and wince in empathy) groins were the most-mentioned injuries. Your suspicions are correct — the silhouette in the graphic was your fantasy team's running back this year.

The Harvard Sports Analysis Collective is a student club dedicated to quantitative analysis of sports strategy and business. Follow them on Twitter, @Harvard_Sports. If you have any comments or ideas for future columns, email them to [email protected].

Chart by Jim Cooke