Sports teams’ innovations has become a pattern of behavior.
There’s the out-of-the-box hire:
Cleveland’s Inspired Front-Office Hire (FanGraphs Baseball, Travis Sawchik)
Richmond’s Jimmy VanOstrand lands unique job with Mariners (PostMedia, The Province)
There’s some new analytics:
White Sox Scouting Director Nick Hostetler: Communication, Analytics Have Been Key In Scouting Department Progress (CBS Chicago)
Does ‘evil number wizard’ Alex Stewart have a plan to lead Rangers to victory in the Old Firm derby? (The Set Pieces, Iain Macintosh and Alex Stewart)
Inside Daryl Morey and Mike D’Antoni’s Houston Basketball Laboratory (The Ringer, Kevin O’Connor)
The Draft Trend Uniting This Season’s Playoff Field (The Ringer, Kevin Clark)
Battle of Wits Starts Long Before Foot Meets Ball (The New York Times, Rory Smith)
There is a break with the past, abandoning the old ways of doing things:
A strict, hard-nosed culture is no longer the hallmark of winning NFL franchises (SI.com, Jack Dickey)
Raptors’ Casey decides there is rest for the weary (Toronto Star, Doug Smith)
From Tie to Max Domi: NHL enforcers dwindle in 1 generation (Associated Press, John Wawrow)
The innovation is more incremental than disruptive but it’s widespread. And it’s got lots of room to continue into the future.
More things that I read and liked last week:
U.S. women’s pro soccer might be too big to fail (January 08, Toronto Star, Laura Armstrong)
Are college athletes the same as prisoners? These judges seem to think so. (January 05, The Washington Post, Sally Jenkins)
Could Alli become the greatest ever Premier League midfielder? (January 05, WhoScored, UK, Martin Laurence)
CU Boulder developed a noninvasive way for athletes to measure muscle energy content (January 02, Denverite magazine, Chloe Aiello)