Random Sports Thoughts

It is hard to not be suspicious of endurance recirds broken by that much. I read her background was mid distance track events before jumping to marathon. But between the new shoes and ither stuff…idk

It’s a flat course, perfect for new records.

Naming his football team after the local baseball team that would go over a century without a championship was the worst idea George Halas ever had.

[red] I can see why the Jets-Broncos got the afternoon game. It’s very entertaining. [/red]

I’m sick and tired of the sports commentators telling me “analytics say to [blah blah blah]”

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i would prefer they just tell us that it is objectively better to do something. i bet the high jump announcers had a field day with fosbury. we know better, so do better. why is that hard to understand?

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The audience is football-watchers. Keep them happy and put the NERDS!! in their place.

QED

(Bottle drop, smahes to smithereens)

Eh, I appreciate it when they differentiate between “conventional wisdom” and “statistics”. :woman_shrugging:

I see your point. I’ve just heard the phrase/reasoning too much lately…especially for situations that are 51-49. These analysts think they’re offering some great insight but they’re actually just serving up nothingburgers with extra nothing.

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Yeah, I suppose the circumstances matter.

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Or where sample size is limited and the majority of the times something happens there is a bigger reason that the team did one thing vs another. I mean I don’t understand why every team doesn’t go for it on 4th and less than 2 yards. The analytics say you are much more likely to make it. Not even a 51-49 deal.

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But if the team doesn’t make it, coach will have to answer questions.

Thing is, you go for it early in the game, deep in your own territory ( a classic no-brain punt decision) and you don’t make it, you’ll still get the ball back seven or so times. Score then instead. Not only that, but you’ll get the ball back quicker.
And your defense will be fresher.

…and analytics don’t actually SAY anything

Not every 4th and 1 is equal. 4th and inches <> 4th and 4 feet. NFL <> college, and the offense/defense of each team are not equal. I mostly ponder NFL decisions, as college as too much variance between teams.

Field position absolutely matters, as one must consider what is the probable outcome of a drive. What is the drive outcome of converting a 4th and 1 from one’s own 25? If one is still likely to punt 70% of the time even after converting, then this was a large risk. There are many variables that “analytics” do not consider.

But teams, in general, should go for it on 4th down more than they do.

And they’re going for it far more than they used to. But I agree still probably not as much as they should.

Counting number is nearly double what it was from 1992 to 2021, though it dropped in 2022.
Disclaimer: only 28 teams in 1992.
Now, if you have fewer 4th downs, there will be fewer attempts, so the percentage is a more telling statistic.
Should also check number of punts and FG, though a small number of them are taken on Not 4th Down.
In 2022, teams punted anywhere between 57 and 96 times.
OK, after an exhaustive search, I found average punts per game, whole league:

This page has some kicking stats, including average FGA/game. NFL Season By Season Kicking & Punting | Pro-Football-Reference.com

Looks like that recent drop in punts is not due to more FGA.

Looks like that odd spike in punts for a few years in the 70’s may be related to a drop in FGA attempts over that period. No idea why that might have happened.

Is that when they put the goal posts to the back line of the end zone?
1974, says Google.

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My favorite is when a team has the ball on the 19 and they start talking red zone stats.

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Some of us remember that was even a thing. :slight_smile:

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