Ben Guest’s Blog

Data

2008-05-03T22:47:37Z

Good article by the Freakonomics guys on the use of stats in basketball, specifically with the Celtics:

What’s the most efficient shot to take besides a layup? Easy, says Zarren: a three-pointer from the corner. What’s one of the most misused, misinterpreted statistics? “Turnovers are way more expensive than people think,” Zarren says. That’s because most teams focus on the points a defense scores from the turnover but don’t correctly value the offense’s opportunity cost — that is, the points it might have scored had the turnover not occurred.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

How Many Billionaires...

2008-03-15T19:06:52Z

I linked to this article in "Links of the Week," but I wanted to highlight it here separately. I strongly encourage all MTCers to read through it (one of the things I learned was that the United States spends $500 billion a year in public K-12 education). Essentially, the article is a "round-table discussion" with several experts in the field of education that starts with this scenario:

We’ve been brought together today by a high-tech entrepreneur whose company just went public, netting him $4 billion. He has decided to give half of his fortune away, and he wants to give it to education — specifically to primary and secondary education in the United States. But this is not a field he knows. He has been working hard for the last decade, and he hasn’t thought much about philanthropy. So he has assembled this panel of experts to give him advice. Rick, let me start by asking you: What kind of impact will this gift have? Is $2 billion suddenly being injected into the realm of K-12 education a big deal?

Hess: Not on its face; it’s just a ripple.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Links of the Week

2008-02-24T19:42:26Z

Give Kucinich his due.

Intense, well-written account of the soldiers of Battle Company, waging a losing fight with insurgents in Afghanistan. And with the pressures of five and six tours in combat:

As Giunta said, “The richest, most-trained army got beat by dudes in manjammies and A.K.’s.” His voice cracked. He was not just hurting, he was in a rage. And there was nothing for him to do with it but hold back his tears, and bark — at the Afghans for betraying them, at the Army for betraying them. He didn’t run to the front because he was a hero. He ran up to get to Brennan, his friend. “But they” — he meant the military — “just keep asking for more from us.” His contract would be up in 18 days but he had been stop-lossed and couldn’t go home. Brennan himself was supposed to have gotten out in September. He’d been planning to go back to Wisconsin where his dad lived, play his guitar and become a cop.

Wonderful defense of the McCain/Iseman, and of good journalism.

Interview with David Simon, creator of The Wire.

Find the annual salary of any Mississippi superintendent.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend