5 ms·

Regarding sports. Unfortunately, let's not discount the politics and human nature involved in fielding a team. Some players get to play because of their salar

by PakG1 6y ago

Regarding sports. Unfortunately, let's not discount the politics and human nature involved in fielding a team. Some players get to play because of their salary, some players get to play because of their relationship with the coach, some players get to play because they're trade bait, some coaches really are wrong, etc. https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/maple-leafs-coach-randy-carlyle-accepts-joffrey-lupul-155538837.html https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/maple-leafs... Coaches are human too. They are just as fallible as the rest of us. They may work with better information than the fan, but this doesn't mean that they should never be questioned. And good coaches allow themselves to change opinions if criticism makes sense. For business... for every Netflix, there's a WeWork that everyone can see is insane and they're not wrong.

znpy 6y ago
Regarding sports, most people fail to understand that most professional sport association (like football "clubs") are actually entertainment companies. The sport is just the bait for the spectators. A coach might choose a certain player over another just because the people acclaim him/her. Also, don't forget that scandals about rigged games are quite regular nowadays.
- asdff 6y ago
  The american model is certainly entertainment focused, but the european football model at least has youth leagues and a lot more local outreach than a given american pro team in their host city.
  - LanceH 6y ago
    But they still make decisions on who to play (partially) based on who puts butts in seats.
derefr 6y ago
> some players get to play because they’re trade bait I mean, insofar as we’re measuring teams by winning games, rather than measuring teams by how profitable they are, we’re probably not measuring their inclusive fitness. Winning doesn’t help you if nobody pays attention; and, vice versa, making money helps you (in the long term) even if you don’t win.
compiler-guy 6y ago
The other thing is that player evaluation is an extremely imprecise science. For example, even with all the information modern professional sports scouts get about their prospects, many new players still wash out and are busts. The science just isn't precise enough to give definitive answers (and it's possible that science can't give answers in some of these cases). So there are a large number of judgement calls to be made, even with all the information available. A fan might be correct when they say, "Coach should have played X instead of Y.", but the trick is knowing that in advance. And knowing hundreds of other things in advance too. Maybe coach got that one decision wrong, but hundreds of others right. The fan is unlikely to get that many correct on a percentage basis.
- pochamago 6y ago
  I suppose that's part of the fun of fantasy sports, proving that if you had the chance you could do a better job deciding which players will perform the best each week

by PakG1 6y ago

znpy 6y ago

Regarding sports, most people fail to understand that most professional sport association (like football "clubs") are actually entertainment companies. The sport is just the bait for the spectators. A coach might choose a certain player over another just because the people acclaim him/her. Also, don't forget that scandals about rigged games are quite regular nowadays.

asdff 6y ago
The american model is certainly entertainment focused, but the european football model at least has youth leagues and a lot more local outreach than a given american pro team in their host city.
- LanceH 6y ago
  But they still make decisions on who to play (partially) based on who puts butts in seats.

derefr 6y ago

> some players get to play because they’re trade bait I mean, insofar as we’re measuring teams by winning games, rather than measuring teams by how profitable they are, we’re probably not measuring their inclusive fitness. Winning doesn’t help you if nobody pays attention; and, vice versa, making money helps you (in the long term) even if you don’t win.

compiler-guy 6y ago

The other thing is that player evaluation is an extremely imprecise science. For example, even with all the information modern professional sports scouts get about their prospects, many new players still wash out and are busts. The science just isn't precise enough to give definitive answers (and it's possible that science can't give answers in some of these cases). So there are a large number of judgement calls to be made, even with all the information available. A fan might be correct when they say, "Coach should have played X instead of Y.", but the trick is knowing that in advance. And knowing hundreds of other things in advance too. Maybe coach got that one decision wrong, but hundreds of others right. The fan is unlikely to get that many correct on a percentage basis.

pochamago 6y ago
I suppose that's part of the fun of fantasy sports, proving that if you had the chance you could do a better job deciding which players will perform the best each week