References

I won’t go into the many many sites that you can use to understand fancystats.  If you’re reading this site, chances are you’re conversant with the whole thing.  I mean, why else go to a site called “Oilers Nerd Alert”?

And if for some reason you’re not comfortable with fancy stats, it’s easy enough to Google it, right?  So I’ll just give you this one – it’s a pretty good overview, and it links to lots more good stuff if you want to go there.  And if you don’t, that article should at least make you conversant.

Meanwhile, I’ll assume that those who are here are probably interested in the more arcane stuff that I’m doing, or maybe just grabbing the data I’ve generated.

So in that case, I’ll give you recommendations for something more old-fashioned for those who might find them interesting: books!

First, is Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won, by Moskowitz and Wertheim.  Enjoyable intro to how ‘the numbers’ really can help to understand sports better.

Second, and I think this is a must-read for anyone interested in analytics, is How to Measure Anything: Finding the Value of Intangibles in Business, by Douglas Hubbard.  This is an intro to the fundamentals of measurement and assessment.  Fairly easy reading for such a weighty topic.

And third, this one is a bit more numbers-heavy but still enjoyable: Mathletics: How Gamblers, Managers, and Sports Enthusiasts Use Mathematics in Baseball, Basketball, and Football by Wayne Winston.  The mathletes will probably like that one.