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For anyone who, like me, merely hopes to survive March Madness with minimal embarrassment, the introduction of wisdom-of-the-crowd statistics to online bracket contests has been pure salvation. Even though I didn’t follow college basketball this winter, I can fake a little competence by basing my picks on what a majority of all entrants think will happen. By copying the “national bracket,” as ESPN calls it, I’ll lose my $5 with dignity. That’s the magic of crowdsourced bracketology: So long as your office pool is big enough to resemble a cross section of America, you’re unlikely to finish in last place.
Keeping Score: No doubting Thomas
FILE - Line judge Sarah Thomas (53) officiates during an NFL football game between the Denver Broncos and the Los Angeles Chargers in Inglewood, Calif., in this Sunday, Dec. 27, 2020, file photo. Sarah Thomas will cap her sixth NFL season by becoming the first female to officiate the Super Bowl in NFL history. Thomas, a down judge, is part of the officiating crew announced Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, by the NFL. (AP Photo/Peter Joneleit, File) Peter Joneleit
Published: 1/22/2021 7:29:34 PM
Modified: 1/22/2021 7:29:31 PM
Good morning!
A few years ago at a Pioneer Valley Regional football game, I was keeping stats and standing next to the down judge at the goal line. The Panthers quarterback took the snap and ran straight toward us. Instinctively, I jumped out of harm’s way, but the down judge held his ground.
January 5, 2021 07:33 PM
Last week I looked at college basketball teams I believe are better than the betting market and experts think, based simply on the comparison between their Effective Statistical Strength and their Power Ratings at popular sources. This week it’s the opposite side of the equation teams that might be worse than perceived.
For the record, Winthrop is the only team that made me look very good last week, winning both of its games handily after I proclaimed them underrated. However, Army did pull an outright upset over Colgate one day after getting blasted by that same team following a four-week break.
PROVO By any account, either blue-goggled or shades of envy, BYU s 2020 football season was unlike any other.
From playing in a global pandemic while other programs were planning to push to the spring, to finishing ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for the first time since 2009, there has been no other season quite like 2020.
The Cougars traveled from coast to coast, built up several rivalries and established new ones, as they were at one point the only team competing in college football located west of El Paso, looking for games and trying to garner national respect. Along the way, they found a way, thanks in large part to its mantra: any team, any time, any place or at least, anyone that was willing to play amid several layers of COVID-19 restrictions.
Seeing Maroon: Was it worth it?
Published: 12/14/2020 6:25:53 PM
Modified: 12/14/2020 6:25:49 PM
Last week, I penned the first of what will be a weekly UMass column in this space. We went with the name Seeing Maroon as I’m a recent UMass alum and I thought it’d be interesting to give my perspective on what’s going on down in the athletic facilities in Amherst. I graduated in 2019, so I’m not too far removed from the school and while there, I covered the majority of their teams, from football and basketball to lacrosse and soccer.
Today, I’ve tasked myself with answering whether it was worth it for the football team to have a season this fall.