As a kid, I used to devour the El Paso Times every morning. I read it all. From the random nuggets in the Borderland section to the box scores of NBA and NFL games. I tried to commit as many stats about players and teams to memory as possible. I'm the guy that plays a game of Madden and then looks at the stats after to see how many rushing yards I had. It's weird, I know. Around here, I try to include as many statistical nuggets as possible in my posts.
I think stats tell the story of a game and a season. For several weeks I would post "The Stat Shack" which would chart where UTEP ranked up statistically with the rest of the nation. Time constraints have made it impossible to keep up with it week by week, but I will try to have at least one more before the end of the regular season where we will really take a long look at individual and team numbers.
Anyway, the good people at Samsung sponsored this post. And, they asked SBN writers to come up with a series of posts related to technology in sports. To me, the modernization of record keeping is one that gets overlooked. It's amazing what bloggers and writers and fans have access to today that we didn't just 10 years ago.
Want to know who coached at UTEP in 1939 and what his record was? Here you go. One of my favorite websites is the Sports Reference Library. If you love stats like I do, you'll kill a few hours there pouring through it. It's addicting.
The NCAA keeps a statistics database too. On Sunday, amazingly hours after the final game has ended, its completely updated. Every half a tackle is now tracked and memorialized in the record books. These web databases weren't around 10 years ago.
Now, we have stat trackers during games that we can use to follow on our mobile phones. Everytime UTEP, or an opponent, scores a field goal or a touchdown, I get an alert from the ESPN Score Center App. Instantaneous. Admittedly, I do miss the feeling of morning newspaper. On Saturday and Sunday, I'll still buy the paper, even though I know it's usually full of old news. But, I can't wait to see where technology takes us sport fanatics in the coming years.