Category Archives: Sports

AN ECONOMIST CALLS FOR MAKING REFEREE EVALUATIONS PUBLIC.

AN ECONOMIST CALLS FOR MAKING REFEREE EVALUATIONS PUBLIC. I posted here arguing that referee ratings should be made public. I linked to a report by the Sun Belt Conference on the the refereeing of the 2006 Alamo Bowl which I … Continue reading

Posted in Baseball, Basketball, Economics, Football, Sports | 2 Comments

BASEBALL AND FICTION WRITERS.

BASEBALL AND FICTION WRITERS. There is an incongruity between Kerouac’s free flowing creation—the scroll—and the hundreds of pages of careful record keeping of the results of imaginary baseball games. I posted here on the fact that Norman Mailer and William … Continue reading

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KEROUAC, A PIONEER OF FANTASY BASEBALL.

KEROUAC, A PIONEER OF FANTASY BASEBALL. The New York Public Library exhibit on Jack Kerouac devotes a large amount of space (one section out of eight sections) to Kerouac’s activities in fantasy baseball. The display included samples of score sheets … Continue reading

Posted in Baseball, Literature, Sports | 1 Comment

OLD WORDS—“HOT STOVE LEAGUE.”

OLD WORDS—“HOT STOVE LEAGUE.” The baseball Winter Meetings are taking place now in Nashville. In discussions with people who are not fanatics about baseball, I have discovered that the phrase “Hot Stove League” is unfamiliar. Now is the season for … Continue reading

Posted in Baseball, Sports | 6 Comments

SHEPHERDS ON STILTS.

SHEPHERDS ON STILTS. The review I posted on yesterday has a wonderful photograph of a half dozen shepherds on stilts in a patch of heath in the Landes in about 1900. The stilts have a third leg for support, and … Continue reading

Posted in History, Sports | 1 Comment

WIFE CARRYING.

WIFE CARRYING. Lee Bryant sent me this video of ten weird sports. I couldn’t bear to finish watching the man climbing straight up the cliff. On the other hand, the race down the hill (cheese rolling) looks like fun. I … Continue reading

Posted in Sports | 5 Comments

“GIANT WRESTLING BABIES.”

“GIANT WRESTLING BABIES.” The Economist for October 13 has an article on scandals in the world of sumo. There are allegations of abuse of young trainees—perhaps even murder—in addition to recurrent claims of match fixing. (FREAKONOMICS featured a statistical analysis … Continue reading

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WHAT WOULD BILL VEECK DO?

WHAT WOULD BILL VEECK DO? For non-baseball fans, Bill Veeck was the legendary owner of the Chicago White Sox. He is best known for sending a midget to bat in a major league game (he of course drew a walk), … Continue reading

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OZZIE AND FREE PIZZA.

OZZIE AND FREE PIZZA. In the spring, Baseball Prospectus made a splash by predicting that the White Sox, who had won over 90 games the last two years, would win only 72. They won 72. I have always been happy … Continue reading

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LOU PINIELLA.

LOU PINIELLA. One of the things that good managers do is to get their best players on the field. Piniella got 750 good at bats in the middle of his infield from Ryan Theriot and Mike Fontenot, who were buried … Continue reading

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