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Ranking Soccer Players By Following the Bouncing Ball

sciencehabit excerpts from an interesting report on statistics for soccer, in the stats-obsessed world of sports: "Only a handful of soccer ranking systems exist, most of which rely on limited information: the number of goals scored in a match, the number of goals assisted, and some indices of a match's difficulty and importance. ... So researchers turned to an unlikely source: social networks. Applying the kinds of mathematical techniques used to map Facebook friends and other networks, the team created software that can trace the ball's flow from player to player. As the program follows the ball, it assigns points for precise passing and for passes that ultimately lead to a shot at the goal. Whether the shot succeeds doesn't matter. Only the ball's flow toward the goal and each player's role in getting it there factors into the program's point system, which then calculates a skill index for each team and player."

6 of 142 comments (clear)

  1. Speaking of Bouncing Balls... by II+Xion+II · · Score: 0, Troll

    I wonder how high Green ranks.

  2. Hey... As long as it is for such a worthy cause... by denzacar · · Score: 0, Troll

    Surely you are aware of the fact that tracing that ball will be only the first step in curing cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, poverty, hunger, energy crisis, global warming AND bringing the balance to the Force?
     

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  3. Stir it up! by SpaghettiPattern · · Score: 1, Troll

    Not a huge fan. Nevertheless a movement should be started to address the game played and enjoyed by billions of people as "football". IMHO there's "football" and there's "American football".

    Not trolling, just plating a seed in the hope a sporty /.er will .... Oh forget it.

    --

    I hadn't the slightest objection to his spending his time planning massacres for the bourgeoisie... (P.G. Wodehouse)
  4. Re:Call it right by dave420 · · Score: 0, Troll

    I think the correct term is "Handegg" as opposed to "Football".

  5. Re:Um ... by aussie_a · · Score: 0, Troll

    Your talking statistically. Statistically what the score should be is irrelevant. Yes, NORMALLY the score will be 5-5. But this single game may actually be an outlier.

  6. Re:Um ... by sco08y · · Score: 0, Troll

    Our best athletes play football, baseball and basketball and our third-tier athletes still manage to hold their own in the World Cup.

    Of course, you never know who was truly better in soccer because a 1-0 game can't be considered to be anything but dumb luck. Really, can you really prove that in a soccer game they don't just kick the ball back and forth endlessly until someone happens to be lined up for that one shot?