A rating system provides relative measures of superiority between adversaries. We propose a novel and simple approach, which we call pi-rating, for dynamically rating Association Football teams solely on the basis of the relative discrepancies in scores through relevant match instances. The...

We present a regularized logistic regression model for evaluating player contributions in hockey. The traditional metric for this purpose is the plus-minus statistic, which allocates a single unit of credit (for or against) to each player on the ice for a goal. However, plus-minus scores measure...

Sports teams have incentives to put more effort into games with an immediate effect on standings compared to games that do not, possibly affecting outcome uncertainty. We develop a measure of game outcome uncertainty, game importance (GI), that captures how each game affects a team’s standing...

In this paper we examine the relationship of the speed of a set in volleyball with the outcome of the attack. A total of 1777 sets of a single male university level volleyball team were photographed using high speed cameras so that the time the set was in the air could be measured with accuracy...

A detailed study of the bank shot trajectory was performed with a focus on breaking it down into its significant features. The bank shot’s effectiveness was examined in terms of the player’s ability to accurately impart launch speed, back spin, pitch angle, and side angle. It was shown that...

Nowadays many approaches that analyze and predict the results of football matches are based on bookmakers’ ratings. It is commonly accepted that the models used by the bookmakers contain a lot of expertise as the bookmakers’ profits and losses depend on the performance of their models. One...

A rating system provides relative measures of superiority between adversaries. We propose a novel and simple approach, which we call pi-rating, for dynamically rating Association Football teams solely on the basis of the relative discrepancies in scores through relevant match instances. The...

This article investigates the influence of local market size on playing success in professional Spanish football. In order to examine this relationship, several regressions were run for linear, beta and fractional logit models, using various proxies of local market size as explanatory variables....

From an almost standing start at the beginning of the 1990s, the number of statues of U.S. baseball and English soccer heroes has risen inexorably. By 1st September 2011, 33 soccer players and 67 Major League Baseball (MLB) players were, or were soon to be, depicted by existing or commissioned...

A team is backed into a 4th-and-26 from their own 25, down 3 points. What are the odds that drive ends in a field goal? In the 2003 playoffs, Donovan McNabb and the Eagles scoffed at such a probability as they converted and ultimately kicked a field goal to send the game into overtime. This...