Category: Sports

Strategic Biking: Tour de France

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Stephanie Tuel writes:

The 18th stage was an excellent example of game theory at work. Lance Armstrong and the peloton were a few minutes back of a breakaway group of 6 riders (none of whom were a threat to the top of the overall standings since all were over 1 hour behind). Reading the various news reports and between the lines it appears that Armstrong’s team, US Postal, was doing all the work at the front of the peloton and the team of the closest competitors, T-Mobile, were loafing. (The crucial strategic variable in bicycling appears to be the effect of wind resistance, especially on the flat and on downhills–whoever is at the front has to work harder, and whoever is following can choose to conserve energy or share the effort.)

Local Sports Site wishoops.net makes a splash

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Jason Kiley of wishoops.net reported Friday that Madison Memorial basketball player Wesley Matthews will attend Marquette. This is interesting in several ways:

  • Local TV Station Channel 3 credited this site as the source for their Friday evening report
  • Jon Masson, Wisconsin State Journal Sports columnist referred only to a “A state basketball Web site” in his article on the subject. If the subject is worth an article, it is certainly right to link to the site!
  • The site provides a substantial amount of content, far more than the old media types. I wish them well!
  • Interestingly, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is silent on the matter this Saturday morning.

This article, and the old media’s handling is a great example of what Jeff Jarvis refers to as the disintermediation of authority. Advertising revenues will follow over time. The Economist covered this recently (subscription required).

100 Black Men of Madison Golf Event

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Johnny Winston emailed:

Please feel free to share this information with all interested persons or
parties –
100 Black Men of Madison, Inc. Golf Outing
On Monday July 26, 2004 The 100 Black Men of Madison, Inc., cordially
invites the public to participate in their 4th Annual Golf Outing at
Cherokee Country Club located at 5000 North Sherman Avenue.
Registration begins at 11:00 a.m. with a shotgun scramble at 12 noon. The
$125 fee includes 18 holes of golf, motorized cart, dinner, prizes and a lot
of fun!
The 100 Black Men of Madison is a non-profit, tax exempt organization.
Participation in this event helps the 100 Black Men of Madison to fund the
organization?s charitable activities in the Dane County area for
underprivileged youth. A free youth golf clinic will be presented to all
registered youth from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Walk ups are welcome the day of the event. For more information and to sign
up, please contact Derrick Smith at 608-831-0525.

Selig & Publicly Funded Stadiums

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Fascinating article by Steve Fainaru on Bud Selig’s Miller Park hardball tactics (with some interesting comments from former governor Tommy Thompson):

The soaring brick ballpark on the outskirts of this city took the lives of three ironworkers. It cost a Republican state senator his job and set back taxpayers a sum equal to the Milwaukee County parks budget projected over the next decade. It nearly exhausted the political capital of the former governor, Tommy G. Thompson, who championed the stadium to keep Wisconsin “major league.” But Thompson won’t set foot in the place. Last year, when the ballpark’s tenants, the Milwaukee Brewers, invited Thompson to Opening Day, he declined. He did it to protest Brewers owner and Commissioner of Baseball Allan H. (Bud) Selig, who, Thompson said in an interview, provided misleading financial information to get the stadium built, then broke promises to use the increased revenue to make the Brewers competitive.
“There were just so many misleadings and mischaracterizations,” said Thompson, now Secretary of Health and Human Services in the Bush administration.

I’ve not set foot in Miller Park, and don’t plan to. Then, there’s this quote from the deputy editor of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel on their predicament (the newspaper’s parent company’s Chairman was a lobbyist for the stadium!):

Inside the newspapers, reporters and editorial writers felt constrained. “We were totally compromised at that point,” said Sue Ryon, deputy editor of the Milwaukee Journal’s editorial page, then the lead editorial writer on the stadium issue. “We had no credibility. Anything we said, it was, ‘Well, who can believe them? Look at the position they’re in?’ We felt as a newspaper, as an editorial board, handcuffed, and that was pretty much from the beginning.”

Two useful links: Field of Schemes | Doug Pappas site

Will Alvarez get Tegen Treatment?

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A refreshing column from Tom Oates on long time UW women’s track coach Peter Tegen. Oates’ essential point is that Alvarez’s record the past few years has not been great, therefore will he get the same treatment as Tegen?
Several years ago, I recall reading a Doug Moe column that mentioned that WSJ sportswriter Vic Feuerherd was “forbidden” from writing about the Badgers. (I seem to recall that Feuerherd was exiled to cover the Brewers….). I’m glad to see the WSJ take a more proactive position (which they should!).