I take a skeptical approach to evaluating conventional and unconventional sports wisdom alike. I attempt to take nothing on faith, including my own findings. In the course of my analysis, I will use data, statistical inference, simulations, modeling, market-watching, and whatever other tools I can, while trying to recognize the limitations of each. I’m driven by the belief that building new and useful knowledge requires vigorous auditing of the things we think we know already. But above all, I believe in a veridical approach to sports analysis: one that is not partisan to any particular method or model, but to finding the best possible answers that take us as close as possible to the truth.
Praise for Skeptical Sports
“Love this dude. Appreciate your hard work and analysis of my career. I can honestly say I’ve never seen my numbers broken down this way. Much love honey.” –Dennis Rodman, former NBA player discussed more here.
“So, I now read the Skeptical Sports blog, which is very remarkable in that I think it, unlike almost all other quantitatively sophisticated analysis, has an interesting pluralistic approach.* . . .
*Before I edited this post, that sentence read: ‘…takes seriously the Aristotelian dictum that different inquiries require different methods, starting-points, and success-criteria.'” -Nate (on 2+2), friend of mine, Philosophy ABD, nerd
“Wonderful and wonderfully bat-shit” –Deadspin
“Neat site, and not just because Dennis Rodman and I are the two most frequent tagged subjects.” -Brian Burke of Advanced NFL Stats (on Twitter)
“Your Rodman series is the first inductee to my sports analytics Hall of Fame” -David Epstein, Sports Illustrated (on Twitter)
Articles about My Work
Wall Street Journal’s The Daily Fix: Dennis Rodman, Winner
Measure of Doubt: Game theory and basketball
Henry Abbott on ESPN’s Truehoop: Championship experience matters
ESPN Stats & Info: Moss still vital despite production decrease
Yahoo’s Ball Don’t Lie: Dennis Rodman comments on 3-year-old blog post about how good he was, just to thank author
Miscellaneous
Won the ESPN 2011 Stat Geek Smackdown.
Write-up of Sloan Sports Analytics Conference listed among recommended sources for digital media coverage.
In Simply Statistics’ Statistic project ideas for students, The Case for Dennis Rodman is held up as “the gold standard” for Data Analysis projects. [Note for clarity: TCFDR was NOT an academic project.]
Cited by Rap Genius (in an annotation to Westside Story)!
Based on conventional statistical data, this is the coolest site ever.
Found your blog after Dennis Rodman gave you a shout out. He and AD are my two top Pistons. (I have lived in and around Detroit for 50 years…now 61.) Obviously, I like it here.
Really liked the Randy Moss thread. The point you made about Dante Culpepper made me laugh because of all the “homer” love for Matthew Stafford hereabouts. Too bad Calvin has not had more q-backs.
If you get a chance, though, could you look at Stafford’s stats? He has a reputation here based on his comebacks. That, of course, ignores the obvious fact he and Lions have been losing through three quarters.
All those yards do not make a winner outside of a fantasy league.
Typical D sports fan…rant,rant, rant.