Scorecasting

University of Chicago behavioral economist Tobias Moskowitz teams up with veteran sportswriter L. Jon Wertheim to overturn some of the most cherished truisms of sports, and reveal the hidden forces that shape how basketball, baseball, football, and hockey games are played, won and lost. Drawing from Moskowitz's original research, as well as studies from fellow economists such as Richard Thaler, the authors look at: the influence home-field advantage has on the outcomes of games in all sports, and why it exists; the surprising truth about the universally accepted axiom that defense wins championships; the subtle biases that umpires exhibit in calling balls and strikes in key situations; the unintended consequences of referees' tendencies in every sport to "swallow the whistle," and more.--From publisher description.