This is an image of the stadium in the fictional town of Luca.


( Read more... )

Nearly five years ago, I wrote a series of posts where I predicted the long-term viability of the "big five" sports in America. Well, here we are in 2015, and it's time for my personal updates, in alphabetical order. Changes from the 2010 predictions are noted. All leagues are the highest level of professional play in the USA; college teams are ( Read more... )

Commissioner of Major League Baseball ( Read more... )

Saving the best for last.

Game flow: Real-time. (except for shootouts)
Style: Goal-scoring.
Emphasis: Defense.
Result of scoring: Neutral.
Critical position: Goaltender.
Game length: 60 minutes.
Big scoring play: The goal.
Big defensive play: The save.
Action-to-real-time ratio: Medium-high. About 50%.
Clock stops when play stops? Yes.
Late-game ( Read more... )

It's time for what I consider to be America's unofficial national sport.

Game flow: Hybrid.
Style: Territory control.
Emphasis: Ball possession.
Result of scoring: Usually defense.
Critical position: Quarterback.
Game length: 60 minutes.
Big scoring play: The touchdown.
Big defensive play: The fumble or interception.
Action-to-real-time ratio: Low ( Read more... )

Now that the LeBron-o-mania has died down, it's time for some hoops.

To be consistent with the other entries, this entry will only look at pro basketball, not college.

Game flow: Hybrid, but more time-based than turn-based.
Style: Basket-scoring.
Emphasis: Offense.
Result of scoring: Defense.
Critical position: None.
Game length: 48 minutes.
Big ( Read more... )

Next up: our national pastime.

Game flow: Turn-based.
Style: Bat-and-ball.
Emphasis: Ball placement.
Result of scoring: Offense.
Critical position: Pitcher.
Game length: 9 innings.
Big scoring play: The home run.
Big defensive play: The diving or jumping stop or catch.
Action-to-real-time ratio: Low. <10%.
Clock stops when play stops? N/A.
Late- ( Read more... )

Since the World Cup is going, this one goes first.

Game flow: Real-time. (except for penalty-kick tiebreakers)
Style: Goal-scoring.
Emphasis: Defense.
Result of scoring: Essentially neutral.
Critical position: None. The goal frame is simply too big for the goalkeeper to qualify here.
Game length: 90 minutes.
Big scoring play: The goal.
Big ( Read more... )

I'm going to start a little section by where I say what I like and dislike about sports that are popular here in the States, and then what they can do to improve. Finally, I'm going to give what I think is the long-term outlook for their respective professional leagues.

LEGEND:

Game flow: Real-time, turn-based, or hybrid.
Style: Format of the ( Read more... )

Being the sports-lover and stats-lover that I am, I decided to conduct a thorough analysis of how strong the correlation between team salary and team wins is in baseball. After running the data on 2009 payrolls and records, it turns out that there's only a 22% correlation between wins and salary. But if you take out the New York Mets (who had the ( Read more... )