Real-Life Communication
As a sports statistician, you are rarely required to produce written
reports. Your reports are the scores that you record during a game. From time
to time, you might be required to produce a press release, but that is about
all the written communication you need to do.
However, spoken communication
is another matter. Someone who isn't familiar with statistical interpretations
might question your statistics. A player might say, "I thought I had so many
points in this area but you have given me this instead."
An athletic
director or a member of the press might disagree with your findings. Then
you must be able to explain your rulings in such a way that they understand
why their stats are different than yours, and you must be tactful. To do this,
you must be totally familiar with the sport's rules and regulations, which
are made available by the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association).
"You
have to be skilled at explaining that there are written rules that you follow.
Often, we joke about how coaches are some of the worst people when it comes
to knowing the rules of the game, " says Eric Moore. "They'll ask you why
you do what you do, and you have to be tactful when you explain it."
One
day, you are asked to record the stats for a special football event that is
being held in a large stadium usually used by a professional team. The professional
statisticians record statistics as well. At the end of the game, you discover
that their statistics are much different than yours.
You know that
NCAA standards stipulate a difference in how statistics are interpreted between
college and professional teams. You realize that the professional statisticians
are not aware of this difference and that they have recorded according to
professional standards, whereas your college team is required to record differently.
A
good example is the interpretation of quarterback yardage. With college teams,
if a quarterback is tackled behind a line of scrimmage while trying to pass
it is called a "sack," and the quarterback is recorded as being sacked. At
the college level, it is recorded as negative rushing yards. In the NFL, if
a quarterback is sacked it is recorded as negative passing yards.
So
it is quite possible for a quarterback to be sacked in college and have more
negative rushing yards than positive rushing yards. He would therefore end
up with a total of minus "x" rushing yards. If he completed passes, he would
have positive passing yards.
A pro, under the same circumstances, would
have zero rushing yards because all the sacks would be subtracted from the
total passing yards.
So someone could come to you and wonder why a
quarterback was sacked several times doesn't have any negative rushing yards.
You would then have to explain to them that the statistician was using pro
rules.
"It is really just an interpretation difference as far as the
NCAA is concerned," Eric Moore says, "but it could have quite an effect on
national rankings if it is recorded incorrectly."
You now realize that
the professional statisticians will need to go back for each play and re-record
the information differently. It is your responsibility to explain this to
them clearly and tactfully.
Write down what you will say to the professional
statisticians. Your response will require three main messages:
- An explanation of the problem
- A reference to the NCAA standards and where these standards may be found
- Your request that the record be changed to reflect the NCAA standards
for college football