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Archive for the 'Sports' Category

Proper Incentives

Friday, September 12th, 2008

by Mike

I saw an interesting article today on college football coaching perks and salaries, in which the author broke down the incentive clauses of a couple of the highest paid coaches in the country. He focused on Nick Saban’s contract with the University of Alabama. Coach Saban, entering the second year of his contract, [...]

The Destructive Power of Common Knowledge

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

by Mike

I am constantly flabbergasted by how “common knowledge”, even and especially among experts in a particular field, can so often be so wrong. And I don’t even mean “wrong if you really know what you’re talking about”; I mean “illogical at face value”. I’ll start with a couple examples from football (it is [...]

Age and Culture

Friday, August 15th, 2008

by Mike

There’s been quite a lot of controversy lately over the age of the Chinese women’s gymnastics team. In particular, most of the controversy has revolved around He Kexin, who was reported last year by the Chinese state-run media as being only 13, and yet who now claims to be 16. She has a [...]

The Rights and Responsibilities of Mario, Cindy, and Jenna

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

by Mike

The public doesn’t have a right to know anything about private citizens. Anyone who says differently is selling something (probably a newspaper).

Cheaters Who Win

Tuesday, May 13th, 2008

by Mike

The NFL has completely botched its investigation into the Patriots’ cheating scandal. For one thing, it’s been a PR disaster. But more importantly, it demonstrates a key hypocrisy of American society: white collar crime isn’t taken nearly as seriously as blue collar crime. Call it a racist thing, or a class thing, [...]

Youth Athletics

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

by Mike

If you are at all interested in youth or collegiate athletics, or have a child who might someday be so inclined, you ought to read this article on injuries in girls soccer. The author notes that women tend to be much more injury prone than men who play the same sports. She attributes [...]

Don’t Taint The Games

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

by Mike

I love the Olympic Games. I love seeing great athletes compete in obscure sports. I love the chance to watch Bob Costas every day. I love that the competitors compete not for money, but for the chance to bring attention to their sports and pride to their countries. And I love [...]

White Men Can’t Jump

Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008

by Mike

Another great article on race came out today, this one talking about racial discrimination in sports. The author, LZ Granderson, describes his infuriation at the stereotypes that continue to taint our perception of great athletes. In a nutshell: if you want to say that black guys can be great QBs, then you also [...]

The Mitchell Report

Thursday, December 13th, 2007

by Mike

The Mitchell Report on Steroid Use in Major League Baseball came out today.  You can read the whole thing here if you really want to, but allow me to summarize for you what it says:

Steroid usage in MLB has been rampant since at least the late 80s.
GMs, Managers, Owners, Coaches, Trainers, Union Reps, Commissioners, etc. [...]

A NCAA Playoff Idea

Tuesday, December 4th, 2007

by Mike

I’ve been working on a post about elections for awhile, which I hope to get out later today or tomorrow. But in the meantime, I want to talk briefly about college football. In particular, college football needs a playoff system. I am not the first person to say this, and I won’t [...]