Insider The downside of signing LeBron James
LeBron James is literally the most valuable pro athlete of our time, generating more than $80 million a year in revenues and more than $250 million in…
Insider Steroids and fastballs: A tawdry affair
How much are steroids worth to a pitcher? Here's how much, according to new research: They can take a guy with a 35th-percentile fastball and make h…
Insider How jockeys can influence races
The usual guesstimates are that a jockey accounts for 10 percent or "just a little bit" of a horse's performance, and that a jockey's influence is as …
Insider Out with saves. In with S&M
Any sabermetrician worth his salt knows there's something seriously wrong with using the save as the defining metric for baseball closers. And to get …
Insider NBA lineup combos predict winners
The world (and ABC) may be ready for a Cavs-Lakers NBA Finals, but Kobe Bryant versus LeBron James may have to wait. The numbers say we should watch o…
Insider NHL shot quality boosts quantity
Playoff series in any sport are often battles between great teams, but sometimes they're something more: clashes of ideas, theories or philosophies pl…
Insider Time to re-evaluate business of breeding
"Moneyball" wasn't really about Billy Beane or the Oakland A's or on-base percentage. At least it wasn't just about those subjects. At its heart, "Mon…
Insider Modern Triple crown not an impossibility
You can't believe what you hear in horse racing. Case in point, Bob Baffert, trainer of Kentucky Derby favorite Lookin at Lucky. After his horse drew …
Insider Pelfrey is no one-month wonder
Mike Pelfrey for Cy Young! If you follow this blog at all, you know I like to begin my posts with a bang, and that I stick pro-Mets references into …
Insider How to improve free throw shooting
It's NBA playoff season again, that time of year when you and I and millions of other fans are sure to sit back after an agonizingly close loss and as…
