Saving Sport from Statistics
Are people even watching the game?
It is very hard to watch a televised game of sport or read a match report without being bombarded with out-of-context quantitative data.
What would experts do to fill up the silence if they didn't have the endless stats to quote I wonder. Some would probably just find new ways to embarrass themselves (Eddie Maguire, Brian Taylor and Shane Warne I am looking at you), but others might realise they can start to make qualitative judgements about the game and the performances of the players. I'm not saying everyone has to get as excited as Bruce Macavaney every time a player executes a particularly skilful passage of play, but I am saying we could do with a lot less meaningless stats.
We are always hearing how many possessions players have, as if all possessions are somehow equal, but George Orwell would probably remind us that some possessions are more equal than others.
More recently, Schapelle Corby would certainly vouch that some possessions are definitely not worth having.
Here's a few other examples of unhelpful statistics being quoted.
"That is the fourth time he has kicked it inside 50 for the game." Great, unless he has kicked it straight to the opposition three of those times. Also not very impressive if he did it twice from cheap free kicks for out of bounds on the full or ill disciplined play from his direct opponent.
What I would like to know is that that is the third execution of a high difficulty kick that has significantly advantaged his team.
"He has had seven running bounces for the game!" Great, unless he then let himself down by kicking it inaccurately or he held on the ball too long whilst running so that he missed the chance to hit his teammates on the lead.
I could go on (how much of a stupid stat is pressure act- they can mean anything including actions that don't actually have an effect on the game) but instead I will offer an alternative. What if commentators stopped trying to be statisticians and stuck to giving us the benefit of their experience and knowledge to make interesting comments that enrich the experience of watching the game for us? Cricket and AFL are probably the two worst examples that I see regularly but the trend seems to be creeping into other sports as well.
I should add that I quite enjoy the concept of fantasy sports such as Supercoach, I just think it is unnecessary information for the commentators to give us. Diehard fantasy footballers will probably be watching the game with a laptop next to them to keep their eye on the stats sheet.
Living in Tasmania, I have the opportunity to watch and be involved in all manner of sporting activities. I thought I'd see if I could make my point by writing some more interesting match reports of some games I watch or play in. Click on any of the buttons below to read a match report free of statistics.
It is very hard to watch a televised game of sport or read a match report without being bombarded with out-of-context quantitative data.
What would experts do to fill up the silence if they didn't have the endless stats to quote I wonder. Some would probably just find new ways to embarrass themselves (Eddie Maguire, Brian Taylor and Shane Warne I am looking at you), but others might realise they can start to make qualitative judgements about the game and the performances of the players. I'm not saying everyone has to get as excited as Bruce Macavaney every time a player executes a particularly skilful passage of play, but I am saying we could do with a lot less meaningless stats.
We are always hearing how many possessions players have, as if all possessions are somehow equal, but George Orwell would probably remind us that some possessions are more equal than others.
More recently, Schapelle Corby would certainly vouch that some possessions are definitely not worth having.
Here's a few other examples of unhelpful statistics being quoted.
"That is the fourth time he has kicked it inside 50 for the game." Great, unless he has kicked it straight to the opposition three of those times. Also not very impressive if he did it twice from cheap free kicks for out of bounds on the full or ill disciplined play from his direct opponent.
What I would like to know is that that is the third execution of a high difficulty kick that has significantly advantaged his team.
"He has had seven running bounces for the game!" Great, unless he then let himself down by kicking it inaccurately or he held on the ball too long whilst running so that he missed the chance to hit his teammates on the lead.
I could go on (how much of a stupid stat is pressure act- they can mean anything including actions that don't actually have an effect on the game) but instead I will offer an alternative. What if commentators stopped trying to be statisticians and stuck to giving us the benefit of their experience and knowledge to make interesting comments that enrich the experience of watching the game for us? Cricket and AFL are probably the two worst examples that I see regularly but the trend seems to be creeping into other sports as well.
I should add that I quite enjoy the concept of fantasy sports such as Supercoach, I just think it is unnecessary information for the commentators to give us. Diehard fantasy footballers will probably be watching the game with a laptop next to them to keep their eye on the stats sheet.
Living in Tasmania, I have the opportunity to watch and be involved in all manner of sporting activities. I thought I'd see if I could make my point by writing some more interesting match reports of some games I watch or play in. Click on any of the buttons below to read a match report free of statistics.
