WYSO is partnering with Stats and Stories, a podcast produced at Miami University.
Every four years sports fans around the world are glued to their TVs or barstools as the beautiful game is featured during World Cup play. Considered one of the most important tournaments in soccer, this year's World Cup contenders are gathered in Russia chasing after the golden trophy. Twenty eight teams' favorites to win the tourney include perennial powerhouses Germany, Brazil, Spain and France. Belgium is seen as a team poised to pull off an upset. While commentators will be focusing on the fleet footwork and deft dribbling of the sports stars, analysts will be crunching numbers trying to figure out if the secret to a team's success lie somewhere in sports data.
The statistics of the beautiful game are the focus of this episode of stats and stories where we explore the statistics behind the stories and the stories behind the statistics. Rosemary Pennington is joined by regular panelists John Bailer, chair of Miami statistics department, and Richard Campbell, chair of media journalism and film. Their guest is Luke Burnn, an assistant professor of statistics at Simon Fraser University and the vice president of strategy and analytics for the Sacramento Kings. He's also one of the authors of a piece inSignificance magazine exploring the world of soccer stats.
Stats and Stories is a partnership between Miami University's Departments of Statistics and Media, Journalism and Film and the American Statistical Association. You can follow us on Twitter or iTunes. If you'd like to share your thoughts on our program, send your e-mail to statsandstories@miamioh.edu and be sure to listen for future editions of Stats and Stories where we discuss the statistics behind the stories and the stories behind the statistics.