| Cliff Corcoran: How important was Moneyball to the success of the 2002 A's? and It's a new age for rookie QBs in the NFL |
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Putting aside for a moment the larger issues it addresses about building a better mousetrap and what makes Billy Beane tick, the movie Moneyball, based on the 2003 best-selling book of the same name by Michael Lewis, is about how the A's, having won 102 games and made the playoffs in 2001, planned to get back to the postseason in 2002 despite losing Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon and Jason Isringhausen to free agency.The answer supplied by the film is that by employing the analysis of newly recruited assistant general manager Peter Brand (a fictional version of Oakland general manager Beane's actual assistant Paul DePodesta), the A's were able to break down the contributions of his departed players to their component elements and comb the market for undervalued players who could collectively contribute in similar ways. [Read the full article] The majority of recent Big 12 headlines have dealt with conference realignment, television contracts and lawsuits. Which is too bad, because the football has been outstanding.Two of the conference's best will meet in one of the nation's coolest environs on Saturday afternoon as No. 7 Oklahoma State visits No. 8 Texas A&M. The victor will continue on the path to a winner-takes-all showdown with Oklahoma later in the season and will be in excellent shape for a BCS berth. Since we know college athletics is about money, money and more money, and since a BCS berth is worth millions, maybe even the trustees, lawyers and accountants will tune in for this one.1. The Wrecking Crew is good, but how good? Texas A&M's defense has put up some stellar numbers, but the competition has been less than stiff thus far. SMU and Idaho were easy wins, though the Mustangs have put up 34 points per game since the Aggies throttled them 46-14 on opening night. [Read the full article] NEW YORK (AP) -- While providing no details of his latest meeting with locked out players, commissioner David Stern acknowledged Thursday that "the calendar is not our friend'' when it comes to keeping the NBA season intact.Stern said he had "no announcement to make today'' regarding any postponements or cancelations, but they seem increasingly likely after another negotiating session ended without a breakthrough on a new collective bargaining agreement.The league is at about the same point as when it postponed training camps in 1998, the only time it lost games to a work stoppage. The decision then came on Sept. 24 for camps that were set to begin Oct. 5. This year, players would be expected to report on Oct. 3.The regular season is scheduled to open Nov. 1, with the NBA champion Dallas Mavericks hosting the Chicago Bulls in the first game. [Read the full article] 
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