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The Wages of Wins: Taking Measure of the Many Myths in Modern Sport
by David J Berri
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About This Book
ISBN13: 9780804752879 
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Synopses & Reviews
Publisher Comments:
Arguing about sports is as old as the games people play. Over the years sports debates have become muddled by many myths that do not match the numbers generated by those playing the games. In The Wages of Wins, the authors use layman's language and easy to follow examples based on their own academic research to debunk many of the most commonly held beliefs about sports. In doing so they take on everything from the Yankee's ability — or inability — to buy a World Series title; the ability of Michael Jordan to raise his level of play when the games mattered most; the consistency of Brett Favre; and the value of Allen Iverson. The book names names, and makes it abundantly clear that much of the decision-making of coaches and general managers does not hold up to an analysis of the numbers. Whether you are a fantasy league fanatic or a casual weekend fan, much of what you believe about sports will change after reading this book.
Book News Annotation:
Berri (economics, California State U., Bakersfield) and his fellow
economists take a hard look at the facts and find the perceptions of
the fans, the decisions of the coaches and managers and the behavior
of the players themselves often have little to do with what the
numbers should tell them. The Yankees, for example, could not buy a
title, and they were not alone, and an NBA player's salary often has
less to do with past performance than with future potential. They
analyze professional baseball, basketball (including a fascinating
study of Bryant v. O'Neal) and football, with a close analysis of the
"best" quarterbacks of the NFL, quotation marks duly noted. Although
accessible enough for the general readership, this could also be
adapted to classroom use.
Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Book News Annotation:
Berri (economics, California State U., Bakersfield) and his fellow
economists take a hard look at the facts and find the perceptions of
the fans, the decisions of the coaches and managers and the behavior
of the players themselves often have little to do with what the
numbers should tell them. The Yankees, for example, could not buy a
title, and they were not alone, and an NBA player's salary often has
less to do with past performance than with future potential. They
analyze professional baseball, basketball (including a fascinating
study of Bryant v. O'Neal) and football, with a close analysis of the
"best" quarterbacks of the NFL, quotation marks duly noted. Although
accessible enough for the general readership, this could also be
adapted to classroom use.
Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Review:
"In The Wages of Wins...the [authors] set out to solve the Iverson problem. Weighing the relative value of fouls, rebounds, shots taken, turnovers, and the like, they?ve created an algorithm that, they argue, comes closer than any previous statistical measure to capturing the true value of a basketball player." Malcolm Gladwell, New Yorker
Review:
"[P]rovides some of the most intelligent yet readable sports analysis I've seen in a long time. Call it Freakonomics meets ESPN." Alan Schwarz, author, The Numbers Game: Baseball's Lifelong Fascination with Statistics
Review:
"Buy this book if you never want to lose an office water cooler debate again." Darren Rovell, author, First in Thirst: How Gatorade Turned The Science of Sweat Into a Cultural Phenomenon
Synopsis:
“When I read the book, I was impressed by the amount of effort that went into compiling the reams of data that underlie the work…The fundamental case the authors make is that the statistical analysis shows that the conventional wisdom about sports is dead wrong—that the data as the put it, “offers many surprises.”—Joe Nocera, The New York Times
“In The Wages of Wins, the authors attempt to puncture some popular myths—saying that payroll and wins are not highly correlated, and that in baseball, football….attendance hasn’t been significantly affected by players strikes or owner lockouts.”—Sue Kirchhoff, USA Today
“In The Wages of Wins, the economists David J. Berri, Martin B. Schmidt, and Stacey L. Brook set out to solve the Iverson problem. Weighing the relative value of fouls, rebounds, shots taken, turnovers, and the like, they’ve created an algorithm that, they argue, comes closer than any previous statistical measure to capturing the true value of a basketball player. …Looking at the findings that Berri, Schmidt, and Brook present is enough to make one wonder what exactly basketball experts—coaches, managers, sportswriters—know about basketball.”—Malcolm Gladwell, The New Yorker
About the Author
David J. Berri is Associate Professor of Economics at California State University, Bakersfield.
Martin B. Schmidt is Associate Professor of Economics at the College of William and Mary.
Stacey L. Brook is Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Sioux Falls.
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Product Details
- ISBN:
- 9780804752879
- Subtitle:
- Taking Measure of the Many Myths in Modern Sport
- Author:
- Manufactured:
- Stanford University Press
- Author:
- Author:
- Author:
- Author:
- Author:
- Author:
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- Subject:
- United states
- Subject:
- Professional sports
- Subject:
- Industries - General
- Subject:
- General Business & Economics
- Edition Number:
- 1
- Publication Date:
- May 2006
- Binding:
- Hardcover
- Language:
- English
- Illustrations:
- Y
- Pages:
- 282
- Dimensions:
- 9.22x6.68x.88 in. 1.19 lbs.
