Thursday, March 31, 2011

Opening Day 2011

Finally, there's finally something else for the sports world to talk about. I didn't fill out a bracket this year, so I have no interest in March Madness and well, I just don't follow basketball. Sorry.  I wish I could find hockey to watch, but the way the NHL handles things...well that's a rant for another time.

Here we are, the 2011 MLB season is on, in March for cryin' out loud.  The safe bet is picking the Sox and Phillies, with their  hitting and pitching.  Of course what looks good on paper quite often fails when the rubber hits the road.  Unlike Nate Silver and some folks I know, I'm not a stats geek, but I do accept that some metrics can be quite telling. One I think is complete BS is the so-called power rankings that people come up with.  First of all, it varies from source to source, so there can't be a standard ranking system. More importantly, there seems to be little relation between power ranking and haw well they dos. Look at this one on Yahoo (ignore the current rankings look at last years and the W-L record.  The World Series champs the SF Giants were 7th in power and overall there is little correlation between Power Ranking and place in the standings.

So lets not get carried away with stats. I say relax and enjoy the game as it unfolds, it a long season.

Oh yeah one more thing: Sox over the Phillies in 5.  Can't wait for the D-cells to come flying at my house.

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