

Scorecasting
The Hidden Influences Behind How Sports Are Played and Games Are Won
Author: Tobias Moskowitz, L. Jon Wertheim
Narrator: Zach McLarty
Unabridged: 9 hr 32 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Random House Audio
Published: 01/25/2011
Categories: Nonfiction, Mathematics, Probability, Sports & Recreation, Business Aspects, Sports Psychology
Synopsis
Drawing from Moskowitz's original research, as well as studies from fellow economists such as bestselling author Richard Thaler, the authors look at: the influence home-field advantage has on the outcomes of games in all sports and why it exists; the surprising truth about the universally accepted axiom that defense wins championships; the subtle biases that umpires exhibit in calling balls and strikes in key situations; the unintended consequences of referees' tendencies in every sport to "swallow the whistle," and more.
Among the insights that Scorecasting reveals:
• Why Tiger Woods is prone to the same mistake in high-pressure putting situations that you and I are
• Why professional teams routinely overvalue draft picks
• The myth of momentum or the "hot hand" in sports, and why so many fans, coaches, and broadcasters fervently subscribe to it
• Why NFL coaches rarely go for a first down on fourth-down situations--even when their reluctance to do so reduces their chances of winning.
In an engaging narrative that takes us from the putting greens of Augusta to the grid iron of a small parochial high school in Arkansas, Scorecasting will forever change how you view the game, whatever your favorite sport might be.