ty Page 538 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
When Do Umpires Mess Up Balls And Strikes Calls?
Baseball umpires are not immune to psychological biases, and it's an old adage of baseball commentating that strike zones get smaller when there are two strikes, and larger when there are three balls. In their Sloan finalist paper "What Does it Take to Call a Strike? Three Biases in Umpire Decision ...
The Case For New York City As Greatest City In The World
There was some rumor going around about a Space Jam sequel last week starring LeBron James. Now, I hated that movie. I didn't even like it in the ironic way that some people like it because it was badly acted or whatever. But anyway, the guy who directed Space Jam was a legendary ad director name...
When Should Managers Pull Their Starting Pitchers?
"A Data-driven Method for In-game Decision Making in MLB" is easily the worst title of the eight Sloan paper finalists, which is a shame, given that it's actually an interesting application of machine learning that's directly related to one of the most important aspects of baseball game management. ...
MLB Bans Home-Plate Collisions, But Not Really
Here is the newly approved (and "experimental" ) Rule 7.13. You need only pay attention to the parts I've bolded....
The Angels Are Going To Screw Up Mike Trout's Contract
Yahoo's Jeff Passan reports that the Angels and Mike Trout are in talks on a contract extension that would lock up the 22-year-old superstar for six years and around $150 million. This is an eminently reasonable number; it just makes no sense for the Angels....
Mike Trout Has Finally Broken Baseball's Math
For the past few years, Mike Trout has been the biggest steal in sports. He's had two otherworldly seasons, and he's only 22. So on the surface, news that the Angels are trying to lock him up to a six-year deal worth about $150 million makes sense. But it's actually remarkable for how much sense it ...
So, Which Countries Had The Worst Olympics?
After the usual agonizing about who's winning the Olympics—Do you use medal count or gold count? What about something weighted? WHAT ABOUT GDP?—Russia made things relatively easy at the end of the day, seemingly establishing itself as the consensus winner....
Has Jim Harbaugh Worn Out His Welcome In San Francisco?
As more non-denials come out, it appears the Browns did make some attempt to trade for 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh. There's enough smoke to assume that something was at least smoldering. But much more interesting than the "what" is the "why," and the growing sense that all is not well in Ninerland....
Jason Collins Played Basketball And It Was No Big Deal
The most striking thing about Jason Collins's entrance, making him the first openly gay athlete to play in one of the four major sports, was the subdued applause. Not the cheering part; it's 2014 and fans have been ready for this for a long time. But the number of fans who sat on their hands during ...
Bare Ass Illustrates Again Why Not To Broadcast Live From Mardi Gras
Galveston, TX reminds us why Moon Pies are a traditional Mardi Gras snack. Here's reporter Samantha Ptashkin from Houston NBC affiliate KPRC getting butt-bombed on tonight's late local news....
San Francisco 49ers CEO Sons Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio
Earlier today, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio ran a sort of weird story about the Cleveland Browns having nearly traded for San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh....
The Trouble With Ronda Rousey
One year ago, Ronda Rousey made her heavily-hyped UFC debut, which was basically promoted as The Ronda Rousey Show, Featuring Ronda Rousey—The Girl Who's Just Like A Bro, Bro—And Some Other Lady, Who Will Be Fighting Ronda Rousey. With the UFC returning to this well ahead of Rousey's bantamweight ti...
No, Fast Tempo Isn't Endangering College Football Players
The concerns over head trauma have been splashed across the front pages of newspapers and magazines for the past five years, and have led to a host of rule changes in college football. But one proposal for a new change—called the Tempo Rule—has caught the public's attention for, well, not making ver...
LeBron James Is Capable Of Bleeding
LeBron James took a hit to the nose in the fourth quarter of tonight's Heat-Thunder game, and proved he's mortal by bleeding on the floor. But he still completed the dunk after getting smacked in the nose by Serge Ibaka, which is damn impressive. ...
Mike Williams's Neighbors Hate Him And His Extravagant Parties
Tampa Bay Bucs receiver Mike Williams isn't very popular in his community. He and a few friends are renting a house in Tampa, and neighbors seem to despise them....
Do Safer Cars Make NASCAR Drivers Behave More Recklessly?
In 1975, Dr. Sam Peltzman hypothesized that more automobile safety regulations lead to offsetting behavior by participants; that is, as drivers gain comfort through safety enhancements, they drive more recklessly. This phenomenon is known as the Peltzman Effect, and with the Daytona 500 just a few d...
Canada's Ladies Win Gold In Curling; Here's Where They Come From
With a 6-3 result over Sweden bringing home gold for captain Jennifer Jones's squad, Canada is exultant over their curling success. In the piece below, Adam Doster explores the culture they came from—it involves beer and pork hearts—by way of finding out just why curling is so much damn fun....
Austrian Hockey Team Apologizes For Partying Too Hard
You're Austria. You're not a hockey power. You're not going to medal. So why not take advantage of even the smallest measure of Olympic success to drink until sunrise?...