Stumbling on wins
Subtitle: two economists expose the pitfalls on the road to victory in professional sports
By: David J. Berri, Martin B. Schmidt
Contributors: Schmidt, Martin B.
Publisher: FT Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Upper Saddle River, N.J
Language: eng
Number of pages: 237
ISBN-13: 9780132357784
Description: Don't they want to win? Every sports fan asks that question. And no wonder! Teams have an immense amount of detailed, quantifiable information to draw upon. They have powerful incentives for making good decisions. Everyone sees the results of their choices, and the consequences for failure are severe. And yet, they keep making the same mistakes over and over again - mistakes you'd think they'd learn how to avoid! Now, two leading sports economists reveal those mistakes in basketball, baseball, football, and hockey - and explain why sports decision-makers never seem to learn their lessons. You'll learn which statistics are linked to wins and which aren't and which statistics can predict the future and which can't (information that just might help you dominate your next fantasy league!) ... this book offers powerful new insights into all human decision-making.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-223) and index.
Table of contents: title: Maybe the fans are right; title: Defending Isiah; title: The search for useful stats; title: Football in black and white; title: Finding the face of the franchise; title: The pareto principle and drafting mistakes; title: Inefficient on the field; title: Is it the teacher or the students?; title: Painting a bigger picture.