While I’m a professor of English, sometimes I have a math itch that needs scratching, and I find that sweet relief in studying sports statistics. In its simplest form, such number crunching allows me to see the hidden truths as to why Tom Brady is an overwhelmingly better quarterback than Peyton Manning or how O.J. Simpson’s amazing 1973 season will never, ever be duplicated by another running back. At its most exciting, statistics help me enjoy March Madness wagering like an adrenaline-infused skydiver with an intravenous drip of Mountain Dew and an Excel sheet of efficiency ratings and point spreads. So what does all this have to do with being an English Champion?
A few days ago, the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference was held in Boston. This is a gathering of some of the brightest people from MIT, Harvard, and around the world who challenge one another to analyze and enjoy sports in new and different ways. I have written elsewhere on this website that having an appreciation for sports’ connection to academics is important for reaching all kinds of students and participating in all kinds of interesting discussions. And while there is an extraordinary amount of math that is used to display and explain mountains of statistical data, I also want this link to demonstrate the value of being a good writer in a variety of venues. Writing isn’t just for English majors. Participants in every field (yes, even mathematicians, physicists, and engineers specializing in equations and experiments most of us have never heard of) must excel at writing in order to be understood by their audiences and respected in their academic groups.
Communicating one’s ideas in written form is a requirement in every industry, so dive into writing head first and work on perfecting your voice, no matter what profession you think you want to pursue. For a taste of what these supersmart folks are working on, check out some of the conference’s research papers here. (My favorite is on NBA defensive metrics.) Even if you don’t quite understand the material or care about sports, don’t worry about it—it’s good to be exposed to the many ways writing is used to explain our world.
A few days ago, the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference was held in Boston. This is a gathering of some of the brightest people from MIT, Harvard, and around the world who challenge one another to analyze and enjoy sports in new and different ways. I have written elsewhere on this website that having an appreciation for sports’ connection to academics is important for reaching all kinds of students and participating in all kinds of interesting discussions. And while there is an extraordinary amount of math that is used to display and explain mountains of statistical data, I also want this link to demonstrate the value of being a good writer in a variety of venues. Writing isn’t just for English majors. Participants in every field (yes, even mathematicians, physicists, and engineers specializing in equations and experiments most of us have never heard of) must excel at writing in order to be understood by their audiences and respected in their academic groups.
Communicating one’s ideas in written form is a requirement in every industry, so dive into writing head first and work on perfecting your voice, no matter what profession you think you want to pursue. For a taste of what these supersmart folks are working on, check out some of the conference’s research papers here. (My favorite is on NBA defensive metrics.) Even if you don’t quite understand the material or care about sports, don’t worry about it—it’s good to be exposed to the many ways writing is used to explain our world.