The Elam Ending

The Basketball Tournament has finally scored with the Elam Ending. In case you’ve missed it, The Basketball Tournament has adopted Nick Elam’s “hybrid game format for basketball duration” for its preliminary rounds.  The format is known now as the Elam Ending in his honor.  Nick initially explained the Elam Ending in the very first article […]

Overthinking Overtime

Nick Elam is back with an opinion on overtime in American football.  As football’s overtime format has been debated and changed over the years, it seems each effort to address a particular concern has introduced a new concern of its own. The NCAA introduced overtime in 1996, in part, to eliminate ties from the game. […]

World War II and the Pro Football Hall of Fame

On Veterans Day we honor the people who served in the Armed Forces. Today Andy Piascik highlights several overlooked NFL greats whose careers were impacted by their service in World War II. No event impacted pro football the way World War II did. After Pearl Harbor, there was talk of shutting the pro game down. […]

The Hallmarks of Quality Metrics

By Patriot In a previous article I discussed some of the shortcomings of OPS as an advanced metric, which naturally leads to the question: “What are the characteristics of good advanced metrics?” While the relative importance of each criterion is debatable (the list that follows is in no particular order), the considerations should be relatively […]

Football Injuries at Harvard Before and After the 1906 Reforms

During a brutal 1905 football season resulting in multiple fatalities, President Theodore Roosevelt met with college officials to discuss reforming the sport. By December 1905, 62 schools had appointed a rules committee for intercollegiate football. In January, reforms were set in motion, including the legalization of the forward pass and the banning of unnecessary roughness. […]

Hybrid Format for Basketball Game Duration – Part 3 of 3

Time’s Up for Basketball’s Game Clock, Part III by Nick Elam I certainly don’t blame coaches and players for manipulating the game clock and circumventing the spirit of certain rules under the current format. I would do the same in a heartbeat, considering such practices can lead to the best chance (or only chance) to […]

Hybrid Format for Basketball Game Duration – Part 2 of 3

Time’s Up for Basketball’s Game Clock, Part II by Nick Elam I’m not suggesting that basketball should ditch its game clock completely. I propose a hybrid duration format that incorporates time AND accomplishments, allowing basketball to reap the benefits of each type (specifically and respectively, reduction in game length variance and preservation of natural style […]

Shortcomings of OPS as an Advanced Metric

Regular contributor Patriot makes his SDR debut with a column about OPS. To many in the general population of baseball fans, the singular metric associated with sabermetrics might be On Base Plus Slugging (OPS).  OPS has gained a measure of acceptance in the mainstream as an offensive metric in both its raw form and the […]

Hybrid Format for Basketball Game Duration – Part 1 of 3

In our debut column, Nick Elam proposes to change the format of basketball games from a clocked duration to a hybrid format. This is part one of a three-part series on the topic. Time’s Up for Basketball’s Game Clock, Part I Basketball is awesome…until it’s not awesome. During the late stages of nearly any game […]