By Syracuse University

Now more than ever, information and data are driving the sports industry – the 5th-largest economic sector in America, generating nearly $500 billion a year.
Scouts and agents rely on sport analytics to identify unusual talent and athletic capabilities. Performance data helps professional athletes monitor fitness and predict likelihood of injury. Sport marketing executives value data analytics to improve the fan experience.
In that spirit, the featured theme of the inaugural Andrew T. Berlin Sports Analytics Symposium will be “Calculating the Future of Sports Through Analytics,” at the Westin Michigan Avenue Chicago on April 3rd.

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Posted on March 31, 2019

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Cubs rule, Sox suck. Plus: Howard’s End; Chalk Talk; Hoops!; Bulls Still Shit; Blackhawks Still In It; DePaul Still In Running For 102nd Best Team In Nation: Fire Still In It; and Price Of Brace Brings Soccer Player To His Knees.

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Posted on March 29, 2019

By The National Building Museum

“This exhibition presents outdoor images of basketball courts and hoops – public and private – that have captured the attention of photographer Bill Bamberger.
“Collectively, they celebrate the sport and reveal both its global importance and enduring appeal. Hauntingly devoid of people, the images are nonetheless remarkable neighborhood and community portraits.”

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Posted on March 29, 2019

By Paula Andalo/Kaiser Health News

Last October, Esteban Serrano wrenched his knee badly during his weekly soccer game with friends.
Serrano, a software engineer, grew up playing soccer in Quito, Ecuador, and he has kept up his sport since moving to the United States two decades ago.
He hobbled off the field and iced the knee. But the pain was so severe, he made an appointment with Rothman Orthopaedic Institute, a network of orthopedists practicing in Greater Philadelphia, New Jersey and New York.
The doctor diagnosed a strain of the medial collateral ligament, or MCL, and prescribed over-the-counter pain medication as well as a hinged knee brace, which he used for several weeks until he’d healed.
He expected his insurance to cover his treatment as a plan from a previous job had covered him when he needed surgery to fix a broken nose sustained in another soccer game in 2017.
Then the bill came.

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Posted on March 27, 2019

By Jim Coffman

Rock chalk, Big Dance. Except for Kansas strangely enough.
For more than 130 years, Kansas University fans, and scientists, have been serenading opposing teams with “Rock chalk, Jayhawk, KU!” The chant, which apparently began as a way for a chemistry professor to fire up his student club (!), has become the college basketball equivalent of former Celtics coach Red Auerbach’s victory cigar.

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Posted on March 25, 2019

By Roger Wallenstein

Isn’t it interesting how, with the stroke of a pen, super prospect Eloy Jimenez no longer has to work on his defense in the minors for a few more weeks before being good enough to join the big league club? Even though he had been optioned to Charlotte, Jimenez is now suddenly ready to iron out the kinks on the South Side.
Let’s be clear. Jimenez has toiled in the minor leagues for parts of five seasons, and that’s more than enough. He has stepped into the batter’s box on 1,703 occasions. At the highest levels last season he hit .337, with 22 homers and 75 RBIs, yet he struck out just 69 times. He’s 22 and stands 6-foot-4, tipping the scales at 205. And until last week he was going to spend three weeks next month working on his defense at Triple-A. For a team that had the likes of Daniel Palka, Nicky Delmonico and Avisail Garcia patrolling outfield spots last season.

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Posted on March 25, 2019

By Elizabeth Salinas, Scott Boelscher and Martha Snyder/The Hechinger Report

March Madness is upon us once again, with fans keeping close eyes on their brackets in the NCAA college basketball tournament.
The perfect bracket? It goes beyond just picking winners. It adds a layer of excitement that gives each follower a personal stake in the tournament.
A few of us at HCM Strategists have been swept up by the hype. As much as we are sports fans, though, we are also policy nerds. That’s why we gave the classic bracket a twist.
Instead of basketball, our March Madness bracket considers how well U.S. colleges and universities serve students, particularly those from traditionally underserved and underrepresented communities, and how well they help those students earn degrees.

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Posted on March 25, 2019

By Thomas Chambers

I live next to a Chicago firehouse, Engine 5.
All the good clichés are true and, man, can those guys cook! To answer your question, no, it’s not a problem, especially if you think about the good work they do. The cats don’t pay no mind either.
But I do hear many sirens.

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Posted on March 24, 2019

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

It was the best of sports, it was the worst of sports. Plus: When The Water Polo Coach Is Corrupt . . . ; Eloy!; Ricketts’ Still Out Of Money; The Ex-Cub Factor; Punter Stays Pat; So You’re Saying The Blackhawks Still Have A Shot; Bulls Blowing Tank; and We Don’t Start The Fire.

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Posted on March 22, 2019

By Jim Coffman

We will never again see a more fun tournament run than Loyola’s last year. Chicago sports fans, that is.
Folks in other parts of the country will get behind underdogs and revel in the magical memories made this season and in future NCAA men’s basketball go-rounds, but for Chicago, last year was as good as it gets.

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Posted on March 21, 2019