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Ex-Patriots Assistant Sends the N.F.L. Eight Tapes
Having signals analysis like this is an advantage, but not decisive. Even if you had perfect knowledge of the play coming next, you would still have to execute -- and, if you guessed perfectly two or three times in a row, odds are the opposing team would do something about it and adjust. It's important to note that, as far as I know, no coach of a team that the Patriot's spied on believed that knowledge of signals was the deciding factor in their games.
Regardless though, this was against league rules. Now that there's growing evidence that the Patriots cheated here, the question is where else they might have cheated?
This stupid act of arrogance (why cheat if the advantage won't be decisive) will forever tarnish Belichick's accomplishments, because you don't know what the hell else he might have done. You will always have to wonder if he really is the great football coach that everybody thought he was, or if he was just more ruthless than the rest? Tags: sports
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Cherry says stomp was justifiable
Man, if anybody has stopped being honourable, it's not the people who are emasculating hockey (as Don Cherry would put it, I bet), it's Don Cherry himself, and people like him who believe that dangerous acts are integral to the game of hockey. Hockey is the only sport where this stuff is even partially condoned, and all it does is attempt to preserve a segment of the hardcore fan market at the expense of growth and quality of the games.
Sadly, this will only change when a superstar goes down, is either permanently crippled or dies on the ice from an event (somebody stomping down in a scrum in front of the net on a neck, for example.) And even more sadly, Don Cherry probably won't be around to see the end result of his tirades. Though, at this point in his life, I'm not entirely sure he has the conscience to understand the evil consequences of his advocacy, anyway. Tags: sports
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I was re-reading an LJ entry, when I made a comment about how economics is the ultimate dominant factor in sport, eventually trumping everything, and I used the MLB as my prime example.
That led me to some thinking, and so, I sat down and with the help of Excel and USA Today, quickly compiled this little chart. It compares all the major league teams, their 2007 payroll, and the number of games they've won as of yesterday. This is quick and dirty analysis -- for example, all the teams have played a different number of games (some between 98-101). However, I think the trends are still pretty obvious.
Dollars Per Game is the amount of payroll paid per baseball game. Total Price Paid and Cost Per Win reflects the total amount of money spent to reach the win total, and the amount of money per win that entails.
I don't really have much to say other than, with the exception of some outliers (the Cleveland Indians are doing remarkably well with a payroll in the bottom third of the league), the trend holds. You pay more, you win more, but, the more you pay, the less efficient each additional dollar becomes. And, if you're in that middle band of teams, since everybody's about your level, you can end up anywhere.
( Charts! Charts! Charts! ) Tags: business, sports
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