How computers think you should gamble
What people are searching for and how it affects front page news.
The Young Bucks are a professional wrestling tag team. Six years ago, they were part of the small group that formed All Elite Wrestling (AEW) as an alternative to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE).
As an homage to themselves and their role creating the company, they made their entrance for the “Anarchy in the Arena” match this past Sunday dressed as the “founding fathers.” Their attire included the long coats and pants. They worked the entire match in those outfits, while their colleagues wore the usual attire for a wrestling match.
During the same match, the song “Bodies,” by Drowning Pool, played on repeat for a good long while.
Founding fathers and Drowning Pool in one production. Pro wrestling, bringing worlds together.
Today:
Content aggregating meets sports gambling
Christian Yelich’s excellence, or at least his very-goodness
Odds and ends about the NBA playoffs, Tarik Skubal, and the end of a long-running show
Giving people what they search for
Such as one does during a break in the work day, I opened the CBS Sports app yesterday. I tapped the page that is dedicated to the day’s top news.
Acknowledging the blurring of the concept of what qualifies as “news” these days, I was still struck by this headline:
Sportsline: Computer model reveals Tuesday’s best bets to hit a home run
The fact that this article warrants a front page spot means it is in demand. At least I think that’s what it means. It’s the kind of quick burn content that does well with search engines and page views and the other measures that sites need to track to stay afloat.
During my days grinding as a sports content aggregator, I remember being assigned a handful of “how to watch” articles each NFL weekend. Many fans search for the channel to watch their team’s game. We were hoping my article would pop up in the results.
Those short entries had no substance. Sure, I would slap together a couple paragraphs previewing the game’s action, likely just naming each team’s best-known player and saying “it will be interesting to see what happens.” We all understood that any person clicking the article would just scroll to find the time and channel.
Can you tell, because I keep saying “channel,” that my time in this gig pre-dates our current heyday of streaming services?
I knew who those articles were for, and I could make the connection to what questions people were asking search engines. So, when I wondered about this computer gambling piece yesterday, I could only figure that it represents the next evolution of “how to watch.”
Now it’s “what to bet.”
A walk-off grand slam and a quick look at Yelly
Christian Yelich hit a walk-off grand slam for the Milwaukee Brewers yesterday. It was a cool and fun moment that will get a lot of attention today:
After watching that highlight, I started thinking about how consistently good Christian Yelich has been in his career when he’s healthy. Then, doubting my own memory, I went and looked at his Baseball Reference page.
First of all, I wasn’t prepared to acknowledge the reality that Yelich is a veteran who has been in the league 12 years. In some ways, I still imagine him as the young player on the rise that he was back with the Marlins.
Yelich has consistently been a good hitter. He has occasionally been great. He has an MVP award and a second-place MVP finish to his name. Both his career WAR (42) and career OPS+ (128) will stand above many of his peers in this generation of players.
I was going to come in strong about Yelich’s “excellence.” That’s where we probably reach the “what if” game with him and question the toll of injuries. At age 33, he has really fallen off in recent seasons as he has continued to miss time.
He’s at least a very good hitter, and he delivered a cool moment yesterday.
Odds and ends
Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers are on the verge of reaching the NBA finals, thanks in large part to his triple double in game 4 (CBS). As that game concluded, the TNT broadcast kept showing Haliburton’s father. I realized that there will be some people who care as much about the dad who yelled at Giannis Antetokounmpo as they do about Haliburton and his teammates.
It’s been many years since I watched “Around the Horn,” but I used to tune in daily. It’s hard to believe it’s over (The Ringer), especially when there’s still an appetite for the other shouty shows on ESPN.
I mentioned Tarik Skubal’s dominant pitching for the Tigers yesterday. Ben Clemens dove into the details of Skubal’s fantastic season (FanGraphs).
Elly De La Cruz is so fun, so here’s a video of him hitting bombs to send you into your Wednesday.
Talk to you tomorrow.
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