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Baseball, with its ability to isolate individual events, has always been a numbers game. And given how well the sport lends itself to statistics, it shouldn't be a surprise that baseball was the first sport in which teams embraced and tried to gain edges with advanced data.
Billy Beane's "Moneyball" A's were among the first stories told, and that was two decades ago. Influenced not only by cost-saving moves but the efficiencies they revealed, teams started copying the A's pursuit of on-base percentage and home runs.
The NBA arguably was the league that next followed MLB in the data revolution.
The NFL, meanwhile, lagged significantly behind. Old-school thinking made new ideas seem too wild, and the fluid nature of each play made gathering meaningful data difficult.
But NFL teams increasingly have bought into new ideas in recent years — spurred along in part by the rise of Pro Football Focus. I talked about that on Friday's Daily Delivery podcast with Matthew Coller, a local Vikings writer who recently finished writing a book about PFF called "Football Is a Numbers Game."
One interesting topic that Coller and I got into toward the end of the segment is the impact of data on how football isn't just played but how it is watched by fans.
Though it is a matter of taste in some cases, the argument can be made that baseball and basketball have suffered in part because of advances in what we know is efficient.
Baseball's dependence on walks and extra-base hits — and conversely strikeouts — has led to fewer balls put in play and longer games, negatives that MLB is finally addressing with rule changes in 2023.
Basketball's efficiency evolution created a surge in three-pointers — too many of them for some, like TNT's Charles Barkley, who groused in that it's no longer fun to watch basketball.
Football, though, has become in many ways more exciting and fun because of advanced data.
"Pushing the ball down the field, throwing more often, going for it on fourth down, to some extent going for (a two-point conversion)," Coller said, citing some things that analytics have led teams to do more. "Some of these concepts that we can really see on the field — not the ones that are deep in the weeds like how you're blocking in certain run schemes — but ones we sitting at home on our coach can just watch ... create a lot more entertainment."
Some of that, as noted, is a matter of taste. If you prefer the harder-nosed game of bygone eras, you would bristle at the idea that the modern NFL is more entertaining.
But I would argue that on balance, changes to the way the game is played have had a more positive impact on watching football than on basketball or baseball.
And that's one big advantage for what is already the most popular league in America.
Here are four other things to know today:
*ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski had an update on the Wizards' search for a head of basketball operations, reporting that Clippers GM Michael Winger and New Orleans GM Trajan Langdon have met with Washington. The job is of interest to Wolves fans still wondering about the commitment level of Tim Connelly.
*The Vikings are No. 14 in ESPN's post-draft power rankings, including No. 6 among NFC teams. Seven teams make the playoffs in each league, suggesting the Vikings are projected to be in that mix.
*The Lynx are 56-35 in games Napheesa Collier has played since coming into the league in 2019, and 12-21 without her. Suffice to say her return in 2023 is the key story line for a season that begins Friday.
*The Mets reportedly are calling up former Twins and Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez.
