š The Week That Was (July 15-19, 2024)
A roundup of what I wrote, read, watched, etc. over the past week.
In this space on Saturdays, I do a weekly round-up of sorts: Sifting through what I wrote that you might have missed during the week, what Iāve been reading and watching myself, and some other fun things that have been going on. Let me know what you think about the format in the comments (or email me!1), and if there are running sections youād like to see on a regular basis.
What I did this week
Stealing a bit from Will Leitchās newsletter format, here are the things I wrote or podcasted about during the previous week, sorted in descending order by quality, popularity and/or current relevance.
šš® Will College Football 25 Save the Sports Video Game? - With EA Sportsā College Football 25 coming out this past week ā I have been playing it and mostly liking it! ā I wrote about the otherwise dire state of sports games in 2024.
š Which NHL teams added, or lost, most value this offseason? ($) - At ESPN, I looked at the NHL teams that added or lost the most net 2023-24 Goals Above Replacement via player movement since the end of the regular season
ā¾ š„ Burning Questions š„ for the Second Half of the 2024 MLB Season - During the All-Star break, I dug into a few of the biggest storylines to watch over the rest of the season.
ā¾ Can the Phillies finish a special season in championship style? - At the Philly Inquirer, I looked at some of the biggest questions facing the Phillies in the second half (including that uptick in schedule difficulty).
ā¾ The Phillies Are in an Exclusive Club of All-Star-Studded Teams - Another Phillies story! (For some reason.) In this one, I looked at the history of teams who sent a bunch of players to the All-Star Game.
ā¾ Winning the Home Run Derby Is about Power Swings ā And, Oddly, Plate Discipline - Before Mondayās HR Derby, I went looking for the Statcast metrics that predict who wins the contest.
š 10 Sports Writers and Their 2025 NBA Rookie of the Year Predictions - In
ās RoY roundup, I contributed a pro-Alex Sarr take that ALREADY looks horrible, lol. (Can Sarr really be this bad??)
Some interesting things I read/watched this week
I have to lead off with some great NBA offseason round-ups from
ā¦ Most Fascinating Moves: East | West ā¦ Most Baffling Moves: East | Westš Rebuild Retrospective: Sacramento Kings by
š¾ Tennis Has a Coaching Problem by
ā¾ Free Agent Contracts and Auction Theory: Theoretical Implications by Ben Clemens
š What's Behind the NBA's French Revolution? by
š Brickyard 1994: Building The Biggest Race Ever by nascarman History
š Where Do NBA Players Get Their Comfy Slides From? by
š Building a model to predict the NBA's MVP Award winner by
š¾ The science of 54% by
š¤ House of Strauss: Colin Cowherd by
š Angel Reese or Caitlin Clark for WNBA Rookie of the Year? Here is what the advanced stats teach us. by Bryan Kalbrosky
ā¾ Weirdest Batting Stances in Baseball History by Baseball Doesn't Exist
š Reed Sheppard is why John Calipari left by
š Zo Ranks His 10 Favorite Sixers (Non-Draft Pick) Player Additions Ever by
š Why I don't buy 538's new election model by
š We Must Pretend for a Bit Like Weāre Going to Tone Down the Rhetoric by
šø The Greatest TV Show of All Time / A Tribute to Jim Henson and The Muppets by
Chart of the week: One of sports video gamingās greatest comebacks
Music to play us out
Chet Atkins - A Mouse In the House
Filed under: Weekly Round-up
Iām at neil[dot]paine[at]gmail[dot]com.