Sports through the Eyes of an Economist...
30K Insights
During the height of the COVID-19 quarantine, the Washington Nationals, their coaches, and a few ex-members got together to celebrate their 2019 World Championship with a rollicking Zoom call streamed live on Facebook. It gave us a glimpse inside the personalities of the notoriously personable World Champions, especially
Columbus
With a capacity of up to 110,000, Ohio State boasts one of the most intimidating home-field environments in college football. But which games this century have been most intimidating at the 'Shoe? Crowd Noise in College Football Unlike most other sports, college football is blessed with a
America
Here are the most up-to-date rankings of the five NCAA power conferences in median academic standards among the schools. For comparison: The Ivy League Average SAT: 1481 Average Admissions Rate: 9% Average Endowment: $16.7 billion The Power Conference Academic Rankings Power Conference #1: The ACC Average SAT:
Education
In 1835, Ohio and Michigan fought a near-bloodless battle over the boundary between their two states that left one dead and tensions broiling. Each year since 1897, they've fought a less bloody, but still contentious war for bragging rights - in football. The rivalry encapsulates the fact that
Sports
Two National Championships. Ten BCS Bowl games. Three National College Football Playoffs. 14 Big Ten Championships. Three Rose Bowls. A 19-10-1 record against Michigan. These are the stats over 30 years of Ohio State football that encompassed the coaching tenures of John Cooper, Jim Tressel, Urban Meyer, and
Baseball
For months now we've been collecting responses to a poll asking fans to rank their favorite Major League ballparks. The results are in! 1. PNC Park 2. Wrigley Field 3. AT&T Park 4. Fenway Park 5. Camden Yards 6. Dodger Stadium 7. Petco Park 8. Citizens
Baseball
In 1989 Pete Rose was banned from baseball, and with his shunning lost any hope of ever being enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame, at least while alive. Mr. Rose has made it clear he would prefer enshrinement, but it is unlikely to happen soon, even posthumously. Pete Rose&
30K Insights
While it's unclear exactly when baseball will expand next after Las Vegas, robust conversations in Charlotte, Portland, Nashville, Austin and Montreal have crowned those cities the heir-apparent destinations in MLB's future growth sweepstakes, the likely next on deck locations should the Marlins or Rays relocate,
Columbus
The 2019 cohort of America’s college graduates are entering the workforce with no memories of a time when Michigan football was consistently competitive with Ohio State. For those of us who experienced the 1990s, this reality is hard to contemplate. While it’s easy to assume it will continue
Baseball
2025 note: This piece was written in real-time in May 2019, five months before the Nationals stormed back to stun the baseball world, beating the Houston Astros to win the World Series in seven games. After this piece was written, the Nationals finished the rest of 2019 with baseball&
Baseball
At 47-115, the 2018 Baltimore Orioles were widely pitied as the worst team in baseball in 2018. Like many cellar-dwellers in recent memory, their futility, once demonstrated, was accepted as a given, and opponents fawned over the opportunity to play them. For those of us who remember the
Baseball
This is the story of the decline of baseball's premier defensive statistic – the error. In this study, we have tracked how and why the error has fallen off, and its unfortunate new role as the biggest waste of ink on a typical baseball line score. There’s a