Personal Essay On Sports Analysis

Words: 798
Pages: 4

I’ve never considered myself athletic. Sure, I played sports growing up, but I was never a “sports kid.” My main athletic endeavors were local: whiffle-ball games that lasted long past the sunset, laps around the neighborhood on my department store bicycle. I did venture into town rec. sports and even played on the middle school baseball team, but I was never a star player, probably the reason why I quit playing baseball. But I loved it. I remember running the bases, adrenaline surging as I stretched a single into a double. I remember diving for pop-flies in center field, turning double plays at second base. And our seasons were incredible. Nothing can compare to the elation of coming back from a six game losing streak to win the championships on a walk-off hit. I have since hung up my cleats, but I often wish I could run the bases. I also rode my bike as a kid. Unlike baseball, riding had no …show more content…
This love of data has, at times, overshadowed my love of sport. My enthusiasm for baseball in particular was largely fueled by statistical analysis. I would spend hours pouring over the numbers behind the best players: their stolen bases, their homers, their runs batted in. I would make lists of the best, compiling data from a number of sources, ranking players based on advanced metrics and my own preferences. Being such a rich historical sport, I also absorbed Hall of Fame members, past World Series winners, iconic moments. Even after I stopped playing, my passions lived on through the facts. In cycling too, as I grew more passionate, I began to memorize the winners of the major cycling races, the best riders of each decade. I would compare my own lists of the “greats” with online rankings. Even now, I obsessively check a number of cycling news and stats websites. In each case I was able to apply my love of analysis, something which transcends sports, to two seemingly unrelated