Data analysis has become a core element of sports journalism. Normally it’s evidence in support of an insight, like a younger athlete’s rise or an older athlete’s decline. Sometimes, like this week, you see stories where the analysis is the story.
Analytics-centric journalism often points to a revolution in progress: college football, baseball fielding, basketball athleticism, NBA 3-point defense.
Note, it’s all the same revolution. where the disruption has multiple facets. Sensing technologies improve data capture. Computing helps with data visualization and analysis leading to useful insights. Coaches use the analytical insights tactically. Front offices attach value to players who embody the new evidence-based insights and tactics.
The sports data revolution is central to stories about individual athletes: Perry Jones’ NBA comeback, Jared Ward’s Olympic marathon. And to stories that document league-wide trends: mental fatigue in soccer and basketball, squad rotations and resting NBA stars, sleep and recovery for NFL teams’ preparation.
The data analysis revolution is everywhere in sports but there is still plenty of upside to make even more gains. Most of the gains will come from improved collaboration. The evidence: more vocal sports data analysts, analysts who are stronger computationally, pervasive digital communications, meta-analysis that reduces the guesswork in applying analysis.
More things that I read and liked last week:
- How collective intelligence overcomes the problem of groupthink (October 03, Aeon Essays, Jane C. Hu)
- UCLA’s new football mission: Get over it and get on with it – LA Times (September 30, Los Angeles Times)
- Print-on-demand bone could quickly mend major injuries (September 28, Science, Latest News)
- The Scientific Basis of How Yoga Works (September 29, New York Magazine, Science of Us blog, Drake Baer)
- Broncos considered using virtual reality for training, will revisit idea next year (September 28, denverpost.com, The Denver Post)
- I Saw Alphabet’s Health Watch (September 28, MIT Technology Review)
- Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect – The New Yorker (September 28, The New Yorker, Maria Konnikova)
- The Sleep Connectome (September 29, Psychology Today, John Cline Ph.D.)