8 ms·

Poll: Are HN users interested in sports analytics?

16 points by epe 17y ago

See lhuang's comment on http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1100486

dabent 17y ago
If the math is interesting, certainly. It's all about using knowledge to one's competitive advantage.
lhuang 17y ago
For those interested in sports analytics, specifically NFL, but really any sport feel free to email me. Contact info in my user profile. I'm working on an interesting project in this space and would love to talk to more data-oriented sports fans. gmail me at burntreedown@...
- dannyr 17y ago
  I'm interested. Where are you based?
  - lhuang 17y ago
    Chicago based. Another founder is temporarily in SF for the next couple of months.
dannyr 17y ago
Yes. Used to run a college sports web site. Statsheet.com in my opinion is the best sports stats site out there.
- davemabe 17y ago
  I'll second that - Statsheet is quite a one-person startup success story.
  - mitrca 17y ago
    Thanks! Since I run http://statsheet.com http://statsheet.com http://embed.statsheet.com http://embed.statsheet.com http://statplot.com http://statplot.com http://stat.us http://stat.us and http://statfix.com http://statfix.com I guess I'd say I'm interested in sports analytics ;-)
obsaysditto 17y ago
yes.. in fact one of my friends is working on a fantasy baseball engine http://sabrstats.com/ http://sabrstats.com/
sebg 17y ago
I too, like lhuang, am working on a project using sports analytics. It has to do with amateur sports versus his NFL sports. Regarding the math aspect - I think prediction of performance or how certain teams/coaches affect different types of athletes is very interesting.
- jherdman 17y ago
  I've been working with a company for the past while now that deals with sports data. Perhaps you can verify this for me, but I've noticed a pattern: if a sport is American, and in a college, the stats and math behind it are disproportionately more convoluted than ANY OTHER sport, league, etc.
- lhuang 17y ago
  We've explored analyzing the impact that coaches bring to teams and athletes and have found some interesting results. The big problem though, is that with the NFL at least, there are just wayyyyy too many coaches a player touches and that makes it hard to model to a degree.
hockeybias 17y ago
I am interested in adding college and professional hockey stats to my site http://hockeybias.com http://hockeybias.com. Please contact me if you are in a position to help me. Guy at hockeybias dot com
joblessjunkie 17y ago
Why do we need a poll for this? If HN users are interested in it, they will vote up the stories. If not, they won't.
RK 17y ago
I'm not interested in sports analysis per se, but I am interested in interesting data analysis in general and have a soft spot for excellent visualizations.
- sebg 17y ago
  what's the best way to contact you as your profile is missing contact information?
- skorgu 17y ago
  I'd be happy to be proven wrong but I can't imagine there are many sports analyses that aren't written for sports fans who have substantial knowledge of the rules, sides, strategies, etc.
gxs 17y ago
I generally appreciate sports analytics, but in the sport I watch the most (NBA) they have a long way to go. While I admit this is a personal failure, I too often find the articles (especially by guys like Hollinger) obnoxious. They love to tout simple stat concepts (regression to the mean! sample size!) as keen statistical insight. Another example is the PER metric: it is a simple weighted average of multiple stat categories but the author regards it as the authority by which all players should be measured. Additionally, nba stat analysts believe stats tell the entire story. The nba right now, more than any other sport, in my opinion, is the sport which can least be described by statistics. Reading one of their articles, however, would leave you wondering why they even bother playing the games. Edit: clarity.
- epe 17y ago
  You might be interested in this article that made it to HN about a year ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=481392 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=481392 I found it fascinating even though my interest in the NBA is lukewarm at best.
  - gxs 17y ago
    Thanks! I am a fan of Daryl Morey and what he does in Houston. A tidbit you might find interesting: he among others hold a sports analytics conference in Boston at MIT every year. The big thing last year was evidence that the hot hand theory in basketball is false.
jdietrich 17y ago
Not being USian, I have no idea who Adrian Peterson is, no idea what a running back is and no idea why they might fumble or what that might mean. So no, at least not analytics for sports that don't really exist outside the US. Data on Cycling or Motorsport would interest me.
joeycfan 17y ago
also yes but not on hn please.

16 points by epe 17y ago

See lhuang's comment on http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1100486

dabent 17y ago

If the math is interesting, certainly. It's all about using knowledge to one's competitive advantage.

lhuang 17y ago

For those interested in sports analytics, specifically NFL, but really any sport feel free to email me. Contact info in my user profile. I'm working on an interesting project in this space and would love to talk to more data-oriented sports fans. gmail me at burntreedown@...

dannyr 17y ago
I'm interested. Where are you based?
- lhuang 17y ago
  Chicago based. Another founder is temporarily in SF for the next couple of months.

dannyr 17y ago

Yes. Used to run a college sports web site. Statsheet.com in my opinion is the best sports stats site out there.

davemabe 17y ago
I'll second that - Statsheet is quite a one-person startup success story.
- mitrca 17y ago
  Thanks! Since I run http://statsheet.com http://statsheet.com http://embed.statsheet.com http://embed.statsheet.com http://statplot.com http://statplot.com http://stat.us http://stat.us and http://statfix.com http://statfix.com I guess I'd say I'm interested in sports analytics ;-)

obsaysditto 17y ago

yes.. in fact one of my friends is working on a fantasy baseball engine http://sabrstats.com/ http://sabrstats.com/

sebg 17y ago

I too, like lhuang, am working on a project using sports analytics. It has to do with amateur sports versus his NFL sports. Regarding the math aspect - I think prediction of performance or how certain teams/coaches affect different types of athletes is very interesting.

jherdman 17y ago
I've been working with a company for the past while now that deals with sports data. Perhaps you can verify this for me, but I've noticed a pattern: if a sport is American, and in a college, the stats and math behind it are disproportionately more convoluted than ANY OTHER sport, league, etc.
lhuang 17y ago
We've explored analyzing the impact that coaches bring to teams and athletes and have found some interesting results. The big problem though, is that with the NFL at least, there are just wayyyyy too many coaches a player touches and that makes it hard to model to a degree.

hockeybias 17y ago

I am interested in adding college and professional hockey stats to my site http://hockeybias.com http://hockeybias.com. Please contact me if you are in a position to help me. Guy at hockeybias dot com

joblessjunkie 17y ago

Why do we need a poll for this? If HN users are interested in it, they will vote up the stories. If not, they won't.

RK 17y ago

I'm not interested in sports analysis per se, but I am interested in interesting data analysis in general and have a soft spot for excellent visualizations.

sebg 17y ago
what's the best way to contact you as your profile is missing contact information?
skorgu 17y ago
I'd be happy to be proven wrong but I can't imagine there are many sports analyses that aren't written for sports fans who have substantial knowledge of the rules, sides, strategies, etc.

gxs 17y ago

I generally appreciate sports analytics, but in the sport I watch the most (NBA) they have a long way to go. While I admit this is a personal failure, I too often find the articles (especially by guys like Hollinger) obnoxious. They love to tout simple stat concepts (regression to the mean! sample size!) as keen statistical insight. Another example is the PER metric: it is a simple weighted average of multiple stat categories but the author regards it as the authority by which all players should be measured. Additionally, nba stat analysts believe stats tell the entire story. The nba right now, more than any other sport, in my opinion, is the sport which can least be described by statistics. Reading one of their articles, however, would leave you wondering why they even bother playing the games. Edit: clarity.

epe 17y ago
You might be interested in this article that made it to HN about a year ago: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=481392 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=481392 I found it fascinating even though my interest in the NBA is lukewarm at best.
- gxs 17y ago
  Thanks! I am a fan of Daryl Morey and what he does in Houston. A tidbit you might find interesting: he among others hold a sports analytics conference in Boston at MIT every year. The big thing last year was evidence that the hot hand theory in basketball is false.

jdietrich 17y ago

Not being USian, I have no idea who Adrian Peterson is, no idea what a running back is and no idea why they might fumble or what that might mean. So no, at least not analytics for sports that don't really exist outside the US. Data on Cycling or Motorsport would interest me.

joeycfan 17y ago

also yes but not on hn please.