Book Notes: The Wages of Wins
The Wages of Wins: Taking Measure of the Many Myths in Modern Sport
David J. Berri, Martin B Schmidt, and Stacey L. Brook (Stanford University Press, 2006)
With this I start an occasional series I'll call Book Notes. Not a full-fledged review (not getting paid enough for that), but a few observations on the sports-related books I've recently read. I promise to be brave enough to be honest about these books, even if some of them are written by people I'll likely bump into at academic conferences. Yes, academic conferences can be threatening places. TSLP leads a life of danger.
1. Much of The Wages of Wins appeared as articles in various economics journals, including the prestigious American Economic Review. The articles were adapted for a lay audience. (Thanks, authors.) By this is meant the footnotes were truncated, equations omitted, and subjects and verbs added (only half-kidding on the last point; academic writing can be abstruse). So the book is entirely readable yet not overly dumbed-down for us dummies, which is an economics term for non-economists.
2. Buy this book. Really, it's a good read and makes a big contribution to all kinds of sports debates. It's under twenty bucks at Amazon. The book will definitely offer some conclusions you'll disagree with, even strongly, but it will make you think again about the common wisdom you once readily accepted. Lots of crazy, wild propositions here, all meticulously supported by arguments and digestible data. Perfect for starting those barroom sports arguments, which TSLP loves to do, again on the danger theme.
3. Part of the book was indispensable. The authors dispel the "myth" that the wealthiest teams in baseball have automatic advantages in fielding winning teams. They also use regression calculations to suggest Allen Iverson is not the star player he's cracked up to be; basically he gets his lofty scoring numbers by using up opportunities to score that might have gone to teammates. They show that scoring averages of NBA players are overvalued by the adoring public and by owners at salary time. Even the "fan drawing power" of the NBA star is called into question. You get the idea: lots of economic iconoclasm served up jargon-free. Think Freakonomics, except that you care about the topics.
4. Part of the book I could have done without. The subtitle promises to dispel myths, yet a chapter or so is devoted to proposing a numerical measure for NFL quarterback performance. Umm, authors, there are already a host of quantitative measures of NFL quarterback performance; it's hard to keep them all straight. The NFL even employs one of its own. So the battle over whether or not athletic performance can be captured with some plausibility in numerical data has long been over. The accountants have won. The authors argue that their measure of performance is better because, as the result of regressions, the measure is more closely tied to game outcomes. I'm convinced. But I wouldn't quite think that the authors' improved technology should be thought of as myth-busting.
5. My test for a book about sports is roughly this: do I feel more intelligent having read the book? (Some sports books are so bad that, on completion I feel like a need a shower.) This book is a good one. It's wonderful when people with giant pulsating brains like the authors of The Wages of Wins point their throbbing cerebral cortices at sports issues. Sports are big business and, in this scattered age of internet fragmentation, an important cultural circumstance. Our games are more than games, and we need to treat sports with the care they require. That careful treatment includes thoughtful examination.
This book makes a valuable contribution.
David J. Berri, Martin B Schmidt, and Stacey L. Brook (Stanford University Press, 2006)
With this I start an occasional series I'll call Book Notes. Not a full-fledged review (not getting paid enough for that), but a few observations on the sports-related books I've recently read. I promise to be brave enough to be honest about these books, even if some of them are written by people I'll likely bump into at academic conferences. Yes, academic conferences can be threatening places. TSLP leads a life of danger.
1. Much of The Wages of Wins appeared as articles in various economics journals, including the prestigious American Economic Review. The articles were adapted for a lay audience. (Thanks, authors.) By this is meant the footnotes were truncated, equations omitted, and subjects and verbs added (only half-kidding on the last point; academic writing can be abstruse). So the book is entirely readable yet not overly dumbed-down for us dummies, which is an economics term for non-economists.
2. Buy this book. Really, it's a good read and makes a big contribution to all kinds of sports debates. It's under twenty bucks at Amazon. The book will definitely offer some conclusions you'll disagree with, even strongly, but it will make you think again about the common wisdom you once readily accepted. Lots of crazy, wild propositions here, all meticulously supported by arguments and digestible data. Perfect for starting those barroom sports arguments, which TSLP loves to do, again on the danger theme.
3. Part of the book was indispensable. The authors dispel the "myth" that the wealthiest teams in baseball have automatic advantages in fielding winning teams. They also use regression calculations to suggest Allen Iverson is not the star player he's cracked up to be; basically he gets his lofty scoring numbers by using up opportunities to score that might have gone to teammates. They show that scoring averages of NBA players are overvalued by the adoring public and by owners at salary time. Even the "fan drawing power" of the NBA star is called into question. You get the idea: lots of economic iconoclasm served up jargon-free. Think Freakonomics, except that you care about the topics.
4. Part of the book I could have done without. The subtitle promises to dispel myths, yet a chapter or so is devoted to proposing a numerical measure for NFL quarterback performance. Umm, authors, there are already a host of quantitative measures of NFL quarterback performance; it's hard to keep them all straight. The NFL even employs one of its own. So the battle over whether or not athletic performance can be captured with some plausibility in numerical data has long been over. The accountants have won. The authors argue that their measure of performance is better because, as the result of regressions, the measure is more closely tied to game outcomes. I'm convinced. But I wouldn't quite think that the authors' improved technology should be thought of as myth-busting.
5. My test for a book about sports is roughly this: do I feel more intelligent having read the book? (Some sports books are so bad that, on completion I feel like a need a shower.) This book is a good one. It's wonderful when people with giant pulsating brains like the authors of The Wages of Wins point their throbbing cerebral cortices at sports issues. Sports are big business and, in this scattered age of internet fragmentation, an important cultural circumstance. Our games are more than games, and we need to treat sports with the care they require. That careful treatment includes thoughtful examination.
This book makes a valuable contribution.
posted by TSLP at 11/11/2006
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