Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Unbalanced.
Ten Things I'm Thankful For This Week
This is the introduction of a new weekly segment called “Ten things I'm thankful for this week.” Every week there’s hundreds of fun and exciting stories happening in the world of sports and I’ve decided to break down my ten favorites.
By Koby Palimaka8 years ago in Unbalanced
Top Ten Ways Professional Sports Have Changed
1. NHL Implements 3v3 Overtime In 2015, NHL decided to do away with traditional 5v5 overtime. Instead, the league has initiated a 3v3 pond hockey style play in an attempt to finish games earlier, while also increasing excitement. Hockey is a fast pace game, but with five players on the ice for both teams systems and structure trump creativity for the majority of the game. Three versus three sudden death overtime is pure excitement. Both teams play their most skilled players to go head to head. By eliminating four total players, the ice is wide open with room for speed and creativity. Three versus three hockey is an excellent change of pace after watching 60 minutes of 5v5. The rule change has led to more goals in overtime and a steep increase in fan involvement and in game excitement and anticipation.
By Jack McDonough8 years ago in Unbalanced
The Association's New Villain
Personableness can carry a lot of weight. Whether or not someone likes a player can determine the trajectory of the player's career. In sports, being likable impacts the athlete's legacy. That is what the great ones are playing for. How guys are remembered, whether fair or unfair, in a lot of cases is determined by things that occur off the field of play.
By Kyle Jordan Ferguson8 years ago in Unbalanced
Analyzing the Henrique/Vatanen Trade
Early season trades involving big name players have that extra level of excitement attached to them. When a trade goes through at the deadline, we're sort of expecting it. We know it's coming. When a trade involving big names comes through in November, it catches us off guard, and carries with it a new wrinkle of expectation.
By Kyle Vandenberg8 years ago in Unbalanced
Rethinking Hitter's Counts, Continued
Last time around, I wrote about the general tendency of pitchers to throw more and more fastballs as they fell down in the count despite the fact that they can throw offspeed pitches for strikes nearly as often as they do fastballs. It's a case where pitchers often see better results throwing their offspeed pitches but there was a lot I couldn't address through xwOBA, Exit Velo, and pitch usage alone.
By Owen McGrattan8 years ago in Unbalanced
An Exercise in Generating Similarity Scores
In the process of writing an article, one of the more frustrating things to do is generate comparisons to a given player. Whether I am trying to figure out who most closely aligns with Rougned Odor or Miguel Sano, it is a time-consuming and inexact process to find good comparisons. So, I tried to simplify the process and make it more exact—using similarity scores.
By John Edwards8 years ago in Unbalanced
First Quarter NHL Award Leaders
The first quarter of the NHL season is behind us, which means that teams and players are beginning to settle in and find their form. Players have set a tone for their play and teams have jostled into early position, hoping to set themselves up for playoff success. At the 20+ game mark, we are able to see the 2017-18 season taking shape, with a few big surprises and some questions left to be answered.
By Kyle Vandenberg8 years ago in Unbalanced
An Apology Letter To The Eastern Conference
Dear Middle of the Pack Eastern Conference Teams, Over the summer, the NBA experienced one of the most intoxicating offseasons in sports history. While the constant movement of stars had us glued us to Twitter to watch the ongoing battle for breaking news dominance between Woj and Shams, it all came at your expense. For each star that left via trade or free agency, your relevance diminished.
By Dan O'Shea8 years ago in Unbalanced
Ronald Acuna: The Future of the Atlanta Braves
Ronald Acuna came into the start of the 2017 season with one question to answer: Can he stay healthy and perform at a high level for a full season? That question was soon answered. Acuna had an outstanding 2017, which was his first full pro season since making his pro debut in 2015. The Venezuelan hit .325 with 21 homers, including stops in High A, Double-A, and ending in Triple-A with the Gwinnett Braves, where he tore up AAA pitching, hitting an astounding .344 in 55 games in the International League.
By Quinn Allen8 years ago in Unbalanced
The Best And Worst Sides To Put Out On Thanksgiving
Unless you don’t like your family, Thanksgiving is an enjoyable holiday. The premise is simple: be grateful for all that you have, no matter what. It’s a sweet thesis. Unlike Christmas, which is most people’s favorite holiday, Thanksgiving doesn’t focus on the exchange of presents or anything like that. Nope. It’s all about the food -- the sides, especially.
By Zach Cronin8 years ago in Unbalanced
