Some pot-shots

While reading through some more of my new discovery, The Sports Economist, yesterday, I followed a link to a NY Times article describing the "sabermetrics" of football. Apparently Aaron Schatz, whom, by the way, I have quoted approvingly in this blog, despite his association with Snap Judgment, is one of the leaders of these efforts.

The article is woefully short and limits itself to reporting 3 conclusions of the football sabermetricians:

1 - Football teams punt too much
2 - Football teams go for two too much
3 - Football teams pass on 3rd and short too much

Worthwhile observations, I suppose, although I first heard #1 four years ago when Crowton was having Doman pitch to Staley on just about every 4th down BYU faced that year.

But the point of my bringing it up, unsurprisingly, is to use it as ammunition against the Sports Guy. Because the article makes a special point to mention that one Bill Belichick is a particularly zealous disciple of these tenets. Interesting that Simmons' hero is a sabermetrics devotee when the SG has expended so much breath this year condemning "robo-journalists" who compute the MVP based on statistics alone without actually watching the games. Because, you see, when you watch the games, you get so many things that you miss in the box score--like sideline shots of Tom Brady's charismatic profile, I suppose.

Moving on, we have the following line from Simmons' NFL picks column today:

...[N]ow the 11-3 Chargers are getting 7 points in Indy a week later, even though they've won eight straight and 10 of their last 11 (with the one loss coming by a point in Atlanta), and even though they match up perfectly with this Colts team. And you wonder why the Bolts are 11-1-2 against the spread right now. Apparently, they will have to be playing into late January before anyone believes in them.

Actually, Bill, I believe you meant to write, "Congratulations, Chargers, on winning 10 of your last 11 games against suspect competition. Now all you have to do is beat the Steelers and Patriots on the road in January." Or is that kind of bitterness just reserved for the Colts?