The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won

.Defense wins championships!. So declared a triumphant Michael Jordan in 1991,
invoking a hallowed sports mantra. But Jordan.s assertion melts into cliche
when Moskowitz and Wertheim expose it to statistical calculations revealing
that, regardless of the sport, offense proves just as decisive as defense.
Indeed, in their wide-ranging iconoclasm, the authors repeatedly poke
arithmetic holes in what everyone in sports supposedly knows. Typical is their
number-crunching assault on the popular explanation of home-field advantage as
a consequence of visiting teams. road fatigue. Home teams win, the authors
demonstrate, chiefly because referees tend to see plays their way.especially
when the crowd of spectators grows large. Parsing of data illuminates off-field
behavior, too, explaining which athletes use steroids and which ones use
marijuana. Even the curse hanging over the Chicago Cubs comes into focus then
the analysts ignore the billy-goat myth and statistically assess a management
style fostered by fans perversely loyal to .lovable losers.! Sports buffs eager
to win their next barroom argument will be lining up for this book.

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