Defense doesn’t win championships. Teamwork isn’t what it’s cracked up to be. Momentum is a myth. And the Chicago Cubs aren’t cursed; they just stink.
Conventional wisdom, sports division, takes a beating in “Scorecasting,” a book aimed at unsettling serious fans with essays that debunk ingrained strategy (punting on fourth down is largely a waste); malign the approach of champion athletes (Tiger Woods is foolishly less aggressive when he’s putting for birdie than for par); and offer a number of otherwise eye-opening assertions (officials in all sports are biased). For their arguments, the authors, Tobias J. Moskowitz, a behavioral economist at the University of Chicago, and L. Jon Wertheim, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, have whipped up a recipe that includes statistical analysis, psychological theory, creative sociology and a brash confidence in circumstantial evidence. If that sounds a little familiar, well, they owe a debt to Malcolm Gladwell and the “Freakonomics” boys.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Are the Cubs Cursed?
No, they just suck, according to the newly released book Scorecasting, by Tobias Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim (h/t DougJ):
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