A great read for anyone interested in sports, logic, luck, statistics, economics... and anyone interested in more than the wild bleatings of crazy (if innocuous) fans.
Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences behind how Sports are Played and Games are Won by Tobias J. Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim
What an interesting read! The rise of college and professional football season usually means a vaulted interest in sports literature and sports nonfiction (for me, at least). So I drafted up a list of football-related books to devour (another book review on the sport is forthcoming) and this one came in the mail first.
Moskowitz and Wertheim have a writing style that is very accessible, taking loftier subjects like mathematics and economics and presenting them in a fashion that sports fans will appreciate. The use of graphs, multisport-examples, and real-life historical situations are also very effective. Since my realization that I need to eventually get my higher degree in science/health/environmental journalism, I've become more and more interested in reading books that take denser subjects and effectively communicate them to the general public. It's not everyone's cup of tea--think of long-winded book review on narrative science or Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler in that one Big Bang Theory episode--but I think it's very important. We've got to educate and communicate with everyone, not just the people who are already a step ahead!
The stats and theories are fun, and sports fans will enjoy the wide scope of examples. As someone with a love of sports, if slightly less so for certain games, a few of the chapters or scnearios devoted to, say, the stats of baseball or hockey were a bit slow for me, but that comes with the territory.
However, like any nonfiction narrative, it goes without saying that Moskowitz and Wertheim's studies should be considered alongside others. There are a few facts they leave out, particularly with benching players for certain scenarios, and a few controlling elements they sometimes ignore. Some studies don't have many sources, and I have to admit I was surpised by the abruptness of some of the super-short chapters, which didn't do much to convince me of their theories. Additionally, for the HFA chapters, I found it very interesting and plausible that crowds influence referees, but wonder why, when a lot of studies have shown, they didn't talk about the influence of crowds in American football. As a former basketball player, I can attest that crowd noise doesn't really affect a free-throw shooter like they probably believe, but communication is pretty big for NFL teams, where the final result is only as good as every single player on the field.
Still, this is a very interesting read, and will definitely draw up questions, answers, and discussions--and let's be real, anything that gets people talking is great. Moskowitz and Wertheim are definitely on a hot path here, and have a lot going on. I think if they take it a step up, they've got some great leads, and can expand and add even more depth to their work. Definitely worth it; a really interesting read.
7.5/10
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