Sports
Baseball analytics, player statistics, and sports data analysis
Who's Competing at Pyeongchang? A Breakdown By Sports, Nations, Genders
More than 2,900 athletes from 92 nations and territories are competing in the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The event has 15 different sports (and many events within each)....
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Which Countries Sent the Most Athletes to Pyeongchang?
Because I live in Seoul and work as a journalist, I'm paying close attention to the Winter Olympics as they open tonight in Pyeongchang, South Korea. I don't know much...
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Charting MLB Division Races
Earlier I used small multiples to show how each Major League Baseball team's 2016 season progressed relative to the .500 line. Here are those same line charts, but this time...
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How Far Above (Or Below) .500 Did Each MLB Team Finish This Season?
I live in South Korea, where it isn't always easy to watch American baseball (unless you're a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers or the Texas Rangers). So I'm catching...
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NFL Geography: Where Were Professional Football Players Born?
Are states proportionally represented on the historical list of National Football League players? That's the question I had four years ago when I posted two simple state-by-state maps summarizing players'...
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Editing O.J. Simpson: Charting Changes to His Wikipedia Page
I've just finished watching ESPN's fabulous O.J.: Made in America, a five-part documentary about the Hall of Fame football player. Somewhere in the process of digesting this latest — and,...
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Charting NFL Injuries
The Washington Post has a fascinating story today about NFL players and injuries, with the local peg being Robert Griffin III's knee injury. The gist: Interviews with more than 50...
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Charting The Premier League Season
Last fall I posted some Tufte-inspired sparkline charts to visualize how Major League Baseball teams fared during the 2012 season. I've created something similar for clubs in the English Premier...
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Charting Missed Field Goals
Earlier today, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop missed a 27-yard field goal in the first quarter against the Cleveland Browns, prompting the announcer to say something to the effect...
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Charting the FSU-Florida Rivalry
As a kid growing up in Tallahassee, I both cherished and dreaded the Florida State vs. Florida rivalry. As a 'Noles fan, the game too often ended in defeat, occasionally...
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Charting MLB Standings With Tufte-Inspired Sparklines
Last week I attended a day-long session with Edward Tufte, the "Leonardo Di Vinci of data," as The New York Times once dubbed him. The session has inspired me to...
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Charting Presidential Mascot Races — And Teddy's Odd Inability To Win
Washington Nationals fans have all seen the spectacle, the fourth-inning "race" featuring the Mount Rushmore mascots: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. They trot around the stadium wearing period...
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Charting Olympics Participation
The summer Olympics begin in just over two weeks. The quadrennial event has continued to grow over the years, with more than 200 countries and 10,000 athletes competing in 2008....
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Wimbeldon Winners By Country
Andy Murray could become the first British man to win Wimbeldon since 1936 when he faces six-time champion Roger Federer on Sunday. While the British haven't earned a trophy in...
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Comparing World Football Matchups
I'm geeked about attending tonight's USA vs. Brazil soccer match, especially after watching our team play so well Saturday against Scotland. But if history is any guide, it could be...
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Charting First-Round NFL Draft Picks
More than 1,600 players have been selected in the first round of the NFL draft since 1936, according to league statistics. These charts break down the choices made by NFL...
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Mapping The NFL: Where Do Its Players Come From?
I stumbled upon an interesting data set that lists the home states of more than 20,000 NFL players in history. I wondered: Do some states send a disproportionate amount of...
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Tiger's Worst Masters
The Associated Press captures the performance well: Tiger Woods arrived at Augusta National as a favorite to win his fifth green jacket. Instead, he left with his worst score as...
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Tiger's Tee Troubles
Tiger Woods struggled off the tee yesterday at the Masters, a key reason he’s tied for 29th in a tournament in which many picked him as the favorite. Tiger’s driving...
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PGA Tour Driving Distance Increased By 30 Yards Since '80
PGA Tour players hit the ball 30 years farther off the tee now than they did three decades ago, according to the tour’s statistics. That’s most likely because their equipment,...
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Charting Tiger Woods' Career
Inspired by Tiger Woods’ victory on Sunday, I decided to chart some basic statistics from his 17-year PGA Tour career, including this one on how often he finished in the...
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NY Times Examines Injuries To Jockeys, Horses At Race Tracks
The New York Times has posted a sad and troubling story about the horse racing industry: [A]n investigation by The New York Times has found that industry practices continue to put...
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Which European Soccer Leagues Have The Most Per-Match Goals?
Has European football gotten increasingly boring over the years? If you like offense, perhaps. Since the mid-1950s, fewer and fewer goals on average have been scored per match. The trend...
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Charting Super Bowl History
Last night’s Super Bowl is one of only a few such contests held in the northern United States — all inside domed stadiums. This map shows the cities that hosted...
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NFC vs. AFC: Charting Four Decades of 'Pro Bowl' Scores
The two NFL conferences have split victories almost evenly in their annual Hawaii showdown/snoozefest known as the Pro Bowl, with the NFC holding a 21-20 record against the AFC. This...
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The Cowboys' 'Unsweet 16'
Oh, Cowboys:
Via Seth Schrock
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How Many Points Will Alabama And LSU Score Tonight?
In previewing tonight’s national championship game between LSU and Alabama, USA Today reports that a high-scoring contest isn’t expected: LSU and Alabama combined for just 15 points in their November matchup...
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