Jay Caspian Kang writes about a little bit of everything and so, in our conversations, we discuss a little bit of everything. Today’s main topic is whether the Analytics Movement is past due in sports. Related, per new data-based analysis of Democratic Party woes, is politics about to get a visit from the analytics movement? Topics include but aren’t limited to…
* Are Michael Jordan’s shoes actually objectively good looking?
* Why did bloggers adopt analytics as a cause?
* Was the analytics era about the truth, or about asserting dominance over jocks?
* Did fans like the era of NBA strategy blogging?
* Why Fantasy Sports sells a fantasy of what it’s like to be a GM
* The folly of thinking data analysis can reveal how to run a political party
* Ezra Klein stepping into the void to take charge of the Democratic Party
* Does Gavin Newsom have a shot at the presidency or is it just the right that’s warming to him?
* Is 80 percent of politics just who runs Twitter?
* Are the millennial NBA stars like America’s boomers (in holding back progress through longevity)