nerds Page 8 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Bert Blyleven Got In <em>Because</em> Voters Are Irrational, And Other Hall Of Fame Revelations
This is Regressing, a new, numbers-minded column by our clever friends at the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective. Today: how a weird tic of Hall of Fame voters helped put Bert Blyleven in Cooperstown....

Rick Reilly Writes A Lot About Moms, And Other Things Determined By Science
Ben Blatt of the Harvard Sports Analysis Collective used word frequency and Bayesian statistics to determine, well, nothing really except that Rick Reilly, Bill Simmons, and Jason Whitlock write like Reilly, Simmons, and Whitlock, respectively. But he found some cool stuff, too....

The Nerdiest Thing You'll Ever See
This is...this is just excellent. And keep in mind, Deadspin commentariat: this is how the rest of the world sees you....

Last Night's Winner: Felix Hernandez's Chances Of Not Getting Jobbed Out Of A Cy Young
In sports, everyone is a winner—some people just win better than others. Like Felix Hernandez, who probably locked up his Cy Young last night along about the time the Rays hung their seventh run on CC Sabathia....

Jets' Command Center Offers Real-Time Analytics for Sales, Stats Freaks
Austin Carr over at Fast Company is a stats junkie. When he heard about the "Command Center" at The New Meadowlands Stadium—a real-time analytics tool that tracks ticket sales, concessions, and more—he had to see it for himself....

Josh Hamilton Once Again Finds Himself Beset By Scantily Clad Fans
Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and internets to bring you everything you need to know to start your day....

Mantle, Maris Didn't Have As Good A '61 As We Thought
SABR research already took away one of Roger Maris's RBIs from 1961, and now the archives discover another mistake that changes the league leader. Baseball nerds only beyond this point....

Last Night's Winner: The Year Of The "Year Of The Pitcher" Stories
In sports, everyone is a winner—some people just win better than others. Like all those people writing all those "year of the pitcher" stories, for whom Matt Garza's no-hitter provided more anecdotal evidence of a trend that probably doesn't exist....

<em>Star Wars</em> "Dog" Video Will Unite Fans Of <em>Star Wars</em>, Dogs
Here's a video in which an AT-AT from Star Wars, a long-forgotten sci-fi indie, behaves like a dog. It's pretty terrific. [The Awl]...

The Human Dramedy Of The National Spelling Bee
Whether by design or accident, the kids at this year's spelling bee were decidedly less wacky than last year's crop of home-schooled rascals. (I do like the Canadian, though.) However, the event was not without its chuckles or....stunning twists!...

Fat-Ass Baseball Players Get Their Roger Bannister Moment
Per Wezen-Ball's wonderful Tater Trot Tracker, David Ortiz rounded the bases after yesterday's solo shot in 30.59 seconds, a new record by nearly eight-tenths of a second. Yes, mankind has at last shattered the 30-second barrier. [Wezen-Ball]...

Lebron Makes Live-Action Mega Man Movie
Sure, it's a filmmaker named Eddie Lebron. But still, could you imagine? [Comics Alliance]...

Today In Hilarious Baseball Stat-Geek Mockery: Dan Shaughnessy And Pudding
Ladies and germs, I give you Dan Shaughnessy, from his aforementioned Globe column:...

Last Night's Winner: Les Habitants (Of Their Mothers' Basements)
In sports, everyone is a winner—some people just win better than others. Like the Poindexters and figure filberts who knew all along that the roundly dismissed Canadiens were dangerous....

Why Does The Selection Committee Keep Screwing The Mid-Majors?
Joe Sheehan over at Basketball Prospectus is back aboard a favorite old hobbyhorse of his — the NCAA selection committee's habit of matching up non-BCS schools in the first round — and damned if he doesn't have a point....

Today In Hilarious Baseball Stat Acronym Humor
Ladies and germs, I give you Jerry Thornton of WEEI....

Shaq, Dwight Howard Resolve Nerdiest Beef Ever
Howard: "[T]here's no battle of nicknames. I mean, if he wants to be Superman, he can be Superman. But I never tried to steal that title from him or take away anything that he's done for the game." [ESPN]...

Tonight's Most Important Basketball Game Was Valedictorian In High School
Two college basketball teams will battle for conference supremacy tonight in a game that involves a nationally-renowned point guard, allegations of casual racism, a murky college recruiting scandal, and a biting journalist Twitter feud. That's right: Harvard is playing Cornell....

Today In Hilarious Baseball Stat Acronym Humor
Ron Borges, ladies and germs, on UZR: "I thought those were the initials of a former Russian state only to learn it means Ultimate Zone Rating." [Boston Herald]...

Last Night's Winner: Nerds (STRIP CLUB UPDATE)
In sports, everyone is a winner—some people just win better than others. Like the folks for whom the annual release of Baseball Prospectus's PECOTA projections is basically geek Christmas....