Numbers Never Lie
Charlie Young looking over the numbers during an indoor practice. Daily Illini
Spring is here, well in certain places, and for baseball fans the surest sign of spring is Opening Day. To celebrate, we bring in a special guest Charlie Young, who is a University of Illinois student and co-creator of the analytics program for the Fighting Illini Baseball team. Charlie talks baseball metrics and his future plans. Also, we recap both NCAA Final Fours, Championship Games, and Illini Sports. So sit back, relax, and jump on the Bandwagon!
0:25 OFF THE TOP
To start off the show, we are sad to announce that we are Lisa-less for the second straight episode...BUT don’t worry, we've got you covered. The gang talks about the crazy Women Final Four and Championship game and the not so fun Men’s Final Four games. Also, we talk about the Illini Basketball team's totally revamped roster, and then make a stop in LittyvILLe as recruiting ramps up for the Fighting Illini football team.
11:13 SABERMETRICS
Our special guest this week is Illini baseball manager of analytics Charlie Young as he talks about the new approach the team has taken in metrics this year. Also, he explains how he got involved in analytics, the technology he uses, and his future plans in baseball.
23:39 CONTROVERSY!
It takes a while to get to the MLB and the expected call-up day is always up in the air. St. Louis Cardinal Outfielder Tommy Pham can relate as he wasn’t happy with his journey to the Major League. He sounds off (not in a nice way) about how the organization has treated him over the years and how he deserves a shot after the numbers he put up last year.
30:06 STATUS UPDATE!
John starts it off by talking about how the #16 seed UMBC Basketball team twitter account blew up after beating number #1 seed Virginia in the NCAA Tournament. Roger talks about Donte DeVincenzo’s twitter account, as old tweets reach the surface after his HUGE game in the National Championship game against Michigan. Finally, Brian caps it off by talking soccer as Zlatan Ibrahimovic made his MLS debut with the LA Galaxy in a big way, immediately scorching one of the best goals this season.
Stick a fork in Episode 52, we are done. Join us next time as we look into the intersections of sports and culture happening all over the world. In the meantime, check us out, we've got Twitter and Facebook!