FORG 325 Sports Spring 2019 • MWF 10-10:50 • Classroom: Instructor: John Alcorn • [email protected] • Seabury 110 Office hours: MWF 8:30-9:30 and 1:00-2:00; and by appointment
An introduction to social science of sports. We will focus on motivations and behaviors in sports organizations and markets. We will compare and contrast collegiate and professional sports; individual and team sports; and sports contests among nation-states. Specific topics are: nature & nurture in athletic prowess, stakeholders (athletes, fans, owners, media, and sponsors), dysfunctions (bias, corruption, discrimination, doping, & violence), & governance (informal honor codes, and the human element in refereeing). An overarching question is: What are sports for? We will review answers from various disciplines in the liberal arts, and will try and develop our own. Students will conduct policy debates. Topics of debates will include: pay-for-play for collegiate athletes, performance-enhancing drugs, and subsidies for stadiums, and refereeing by technology. There will be guest visits by experts from the field, to be scheduled. We will have occasional discussions of ‘sports in the news’ (public controversies about our topics) in class and by forum posts at our course intranet (Moodle site). There will be workshops with educational technology specialists, to be scheduled. Enrollment is limited to 15 students.
Course requirements: • Four papers or media projects. Papers should be 1,500 words each. Media projects may be blogs, podcasts, or videos. • Two presentations (in rotation) about the assigned materials. • A policy debate. • Class participation, consisting in regular attendance and discussion, and in attendance at supplementary public lectures, which are listed on the syllabus. Note: Students may switch dates (topics) of their presentations and debates with another student, if the switch is mutually agreeable, and if they provide ample notice.
Grade policy: • Each of the eight requirements (4 papers or media projects, 2 presentations, 1 debate, and class participation) has equal weight. Penalties apply to tardy work. • Work is graded on five criteria: (a) focus, (b) integration of assigned materials, (c) argument or analysis, (d) evidence, and (e) prose or presentation (clarity, concision, organization, polish). • A seminar is a collaborative effort in which we count on one another. Penalties apply to students who have unexcused absences. A seminar requires full attention during class – Extraneous software must be turned off. Students should not exit during class time, unless there is reasonable urgency.
Purchase list. • C. T. Clotfelter, Big-time Sports in American Universities (Cambridge U. Press, 2011). • David Epstein, The Sports Gene (Current, 2014). • Tobias Moskowitz & L. Jon Wertheim, Scorecasting (Three Rivers Press, 2013). NB: Other materials on the syllabus are available at our Moodle page or at URLs.
- 1 - SYLLABUS
Athletes
1. Athletes & commercial sports Jan. 23, 25
W Futterman (2016): https://goo.gl/6H6zN3 Pennington (2015), Dickey (2018), Kepner (2018)
F Moskowitz (2013): Whistle swallowing (7-30) Barrow (2012b): http://goo.gl/nYnVzh
2. Nature & nurture in athletic prowess Jan. 28, 30, Feb. 1
M Epstein (2013): http://goo.gl/tX7Ius Report: Ward (2018), Miller (2018), Manchester (2018) Green & Zweibel (2017)
W Epstein (2014) Moskowitz (2013): Coaches & risky decisions (31-58) Moskowitz (2013): Are time-outs effective? (211-214) Report:
F Longman (2018), Sudai (2017), Ransom & Ransom (2017) Moskowitz (2013): How competitive are sports? (59-63) Debate: Nature vs nurture in athletic success
Collegiate athletics
3. Collegiate athletics Feb. 4, 6, 8
M Clotfelter (2011) 3-68 (Part One) Report: Noll (2011b): https://goo.gl/Sf2Gk9
W Clotfelter (2011) 68-176 (Part Two) Moskowitz (2013): Is defense the key? Report:
F Clotfelter (2011) 177-222 (Part Three) Debate: Should sports leagues be separate from higher education?
4. May collegiate athletes be professional athletes? Feb. 11, 12, 15
M Sanderson & Siegfried (2015) Report: Moskowitz (2013): The value of a blocked shot (86-91)
W Noll (2011a) Report: Moskowitz: Players & salient stats (92-104)
F Debate: Should we allow ‘pay for play’ for collegiate athletes?
Paper or media project is due on Friday at 3 pm.
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Professional sports
5. Individual sports Feb. 18, 20, 22
M Noll (2003) Report: Tetlock (2005)
W Tollison (date?): http://goo.gl/LhCG0m Moskowitz (2013): Tiger Woods & you (64-80) Report:
F Trinity Days – Classes are not in session.
6. Team sports Feb. 25, 27, Mar 1
M Lewis (2007) Report: Moskowitz (2013): No I in team? (168-172)
W Mosk. (2013): Coaches & affirmative action (105-109) Report:
F Noll (2007) Moskowitz (2013): Home-field advantage? (110-167) Debate: Should affirmative action extend to professional sports?
Paper or media project is due on Friday at 3 pm.
Dysfunctions
7. Are PEDs a dysfunction? Mar 4, 6, 8
M Set of readings about PEDs at Moodle Report: Moskowitz (2013): Off the chart (173-191)
W Moskowitz (2013): Who uses what drugs? (196-210) Report:
F Debate: Should we allow performance-enhancing drugs?
8. Violence Mar 11, 13, 15
M Fair & Champa (2017) Report:
W Leeson & others (2012) Report:
F Lindo & others (2015) Debate: Should we prohibit dangerous contact sports?
Spring vacation
9. Corruption. Subsidies Mar 25, 27, 29
M Noll (2010): https://goo.gl/e7nXQa Report:
- 3 - Ward & others (2017)
W Coates & Humphreys (2008) Report: Baade & Matheson (2016)
F Debate: Should we subsidize commercial sports?
10. Bias Apr 1, 3, 5
M Bialik (2016) Report: Hamermesh (2011) Hamrick & Rasp (2013)
W Price & Wolfers (2007) & PowerPoint Report: Wolfers & others (2014) Johnson & Minuci (2018), Branch (2018)
F Review
Paper or media project is due on Friday at 3 pm.
Governance: Refereeing & Informal social control
11. The human element Apr 8, 10, 12
M Collins (2010) Report: Moskowitz (2013): Coin toss & fairness (192-195)
W Bordner (2012) Report: Ryall (2012)
F Debate: Refereeing by technology? Machine Accuracy vs. The Human Element
12. The Code April 15, 17, 19
M Munger (2013): http://goo.gl/VhPhWn Report: Moskowitz (2013): Myth of the hot hand? (215-229)
W Ellickson (1987) Lecture Friedman (2016)
F Fink & Smith (2011), Weitzman (2018) Report: Moskowitz (2013): Damned statistics (230-233)
13. Case studies of informal social control in sports April 22, 24, 26
M Codes in collegiate sports (1) Report: Items about Harvard soccer scandal
W Codes in collegiate sports (2) Report:
- 4 - Alcorn, Slides (2019)
F Codes in collegiate sports (3) Debate: Should there be collective punishment for individual misconduct on teams?
14. Bottom of the 9th Apr 29, May 1
M Moskowitz (2013): Are the Cubs cursed? (234-252) Report:
W Roundtable - What are sports for? Human capital, signal, spectacle, experiment, ritual, network, tribalism, peace?
Final paper or media project is due on exam date at 3 pm.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Assigned materials & suggested research materials
Alamar (2013). Benjamin C. Alamar, Sports Analytics (Columbia U. Press, 2013).
Andreff & Szymanski (2006). Wladimir Andreff & Stefan Szymanski, editors, Handbook on the Economics of Sport (Elgar, 2006).
Baade & Matheson (2016). Robert A. Baade & Victor A. Matheson, “Going for the gold: The economics of the Olympics,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 20:2 (Spring 2016) 201-218.
Barrow (2012a). John D. Barrow, “Citius, altius, fortius: Records, medals, & drug-taking,” Lecture delivered at Museum of London (Gresham College, London, UK; podcast, PowerPoint, & transcript), January 17, 2012. Available online: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/citius-altius-fortius- records-medals-and-drug-taking
Barrow (2012b). John D. Barrow, “100 essential things you didn’t know you didn’t know about sport,” Lecture delivered at Barnard’s Inn Hall (Gresham College, London, UK; podcast, PowerPoint, & transcript), March 15, 2012. Available online: http://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/100- essential-things-you-didnt-know-you-didnt-know-about-sport
Belsky (2010). “Belsky on journalism, editing, and trivia,” EconTalk (podcast & transcript), May 24, 2010. Available online: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2010/05/belsky_on_journ.html
Belsky (2016). “Belsky on the origins of sports,” EconTalk (podcast & transcript), April 18, 2016.
Bialik (2016). Carl Bialik, “Why betting data alone can’t identify match-fixers in tennis,” FiveThirtyEight (January 21, 2016).
Bordner (2012). S. Seth Bordner, “Call ’em as they are: What’s wrong with blown calls & what to do about them,” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 42:1 (2012) 101-120.
Branch (2018). John Branch, “Why the NFL and the NBA are so far apart on social justice stances,” The New York Times (22 June 2018).
- 5 - Chen & others (2016). Daniel Chen & others, “Decision-making under the Gambler’s Fallacy: Evidence from asylum judges, loan officers, & baseball umpires” (NBER 2016).
Coates & Humpreys (2008). Dennis Coates & Brad R. Humphreys, “Do economists reach a conclusion on subidies for sports franchises, stadiums, and mega-events?,” Econ Journal Watch 5:3 (September 2008) 294-315.
Collins (2010). Harry Collins, “The philosophy of umpiring & the introduction of decision-aid technology,” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 37:2 (2010) 135-146.
Dickey (2018). Jack Dickey, “MLB prospects pooling earnings to share risk,” Sports Illustrated (21 November 2018). Available online: https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/11/21/mlb-prospects-salary-risk- pando-pooling
Dickson (2009). Paul Dickson, The Unwritten Rules of Baseball (Harper Collins, 2009).
Dimant & Deutscher (2015). Eugen Dimant & Christian Deutscher, “The economics of corruption in sports: The special case of doping” (Edmond J. Safra Research Lab, Harvard University, working paper no. 55, January 20, 2015).
Eber (2006). Nicholas Eber, “Doping,” ch. 85 in Andreff & Szymanski (2006) pp. 773-783.
Ellickson (1987). Robert C. Ellickson, “A critique of economic and sociological theories of social control,” Journal of Legal Studies 16 (1987) 67-99. Available online: http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/464/
Epstein (2013). “David Epstein on the sports gene,” EconTalk (podcast & transcript), September 23, 2013. Available online: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/09/david_epstein_o.html
Epstein (2014). The Sports Gene (Current, 2014).
Fair & Champa (2017). Ray Fair & Christopher Champa, “Estimated costs of contact in college and high school male sports,” Cowles Foundation Discussion Paper No. 3001R, Yale University (October 2017.)
Fink & Smith (2011). Alexander Fink & Daniel J. Smith, “Norms in sports contests: The Tour de France,” Journal of Sports Management (2011).
Forrest (2006). David Forrest, “Sport and gambling,” ch. 4 in Andreff & Szymanski (2006) pp. 40-48.
Fort & Winfree (2013). Rodney Fort & Jason Winfree, 15 Sports Myths and Why They’re Wrong (Stanford Economics & Finance, 2013).
Frank (2004). Robert H. Frank, “Challenging the myth: A review of the links among college athletic success, student quality, and donations,” Review prepared for the Knight Commission (May 2004).
Futterman (2016). “Matthew Futterman on players and the business of sports,” EconTalk (podcast & transcript), August 1, 2016.
- 6 - Gift (2015). Paul Gift, “Sequential judgment effects in the workplace: Evidence from the National Basketball Association,” Economic Inquiry 53:2 (2015) 1259-1274.
Golf & Tollison (2009). Brian L. Goff & Robert D. Tollison, “Racial integration of coaching: Evidence from the NFL,” Journal of Sports Economics 10:2 (April 2009) 127-140.
Green & Zweibel (2017). Brett Green & Jeffrey Zweibel, “The hot hand fallacy: Cognitive mistakes or equilibrium adjustments? Evidence from Major League Baseball,” MS (2017).
Hamermesh (2011). Daniel S. Hamermesh & others, “Strike three: Discrimination, evaluation, and incentives,” American Economic Review 101: 4 (2011), 1410-1435.
Hamrick & Rasp (2013). Jeff Hamrick & John Rasp, “The connection between race and called strikes and balls,” Journal of Sports Economics. Published online 2013.
Hoxby (2000). Caroline M. Hoxby, “Benevolent colluders?” (Antitrust & financial aid) (NBER 2000).
Humphreys (2006). Brad R. Humphreys, “Gender discrimination,” ch. 84 in Andreff & Szymanski (2006) 766-772.
Jeanrenaud (2006). Claude Jeanrenaud, “Sponsorship,” ch. 5 in Andreff & Szymanski (2006) pp. 49-58.
Johnson & Minuci (2018). Candon Johnson & Eduardo Minuci, “Wage discrimination in the NBA: Evidence using free agent signings,” MS (2018).
Kahane & Schmanske (2012). Leo H. Kahane & Stephen Schmanske, editors, The Oxford handbook of sports economics, 2 volumes (Oxford U. Press, 2012).
Kahn (2012). Lawrence M. Kahn, “The economics of discrimination: Evidence from basketball,” in Kahane & Schmanske (2012), volume 2, 2:1.
Kepner (2018). Tyler Kepner, “More strikeouts than hits?: Welcome to baseball’s latest crisis,” The New York Times (16 August 2018).
Kitchens (2014). Carl Kitchens, “Identifying changes in the spatial distribution of crime: Evidence from a referee experiment in the National Football League,” Economic Inquiry 52:1 (2014) 259-268.
Leeson & others (2012). Peter Leeson & others, “Hooligans” (MS, 2012).
Lewis (2007). “Michael Lewis on the hidden economics of baseball and football,” EconTalk (podcast & transcript), January 29, 2007. Available online: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2007/01/michael_lewis_o_1.html
Lindo (2015). Jason M. Lindo & others, “College party culture & sexual assault” (NBER 2015).
Longley (2006). Neil Longley, “Racial discrimination,” ch. 83 in Andreff & Szymanski (2006) pp. 757- 765.
Longman (2018). Jeré Longman, “Track’s new gender rules could exclude some female athletes,” The New York Times (25 April 2018).
- 7 - Lowen & others (2014). Aaron Lowen, Robert O. Deaner, & Erika Schmitt, “Guys and gals going for gold: The role of women’s empowerment in Olympic success,” Journal of Sports Economics. Published online (2014).
Manchester (2018). Sam Manchester, “Does the NFL have a Usain Bolt? Here are the League’s fastest players,” The New York Times (4 January 2018).
Maennig (2006). Wolfgang Maennig, “Corruption,” ch. 86 in Andreff & Szymanski (2006) pp. 784-794.
Mason (2006). David S. Mason, “Player agents,” ch. 74 in Andreff & Szymanski (2006) pp. 668-76.
Miller (2018). Stuart Miller, “How short tennis players compete in a sports of giants,” The New York Times (2 September 2018).
Mills & Fort (2014). Brian Mills & Rodney Fort, “League-level attendance & outcome uncertainty in U.S. pro sports leagues,” Economic Inquiry 52:1 (2014) 205-218.
Munger (2013). “Munger on sports, norms, rules, and the code,” EconTalk (podcast & transcript), July 1, 2013. Available online: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/07/munger_on_sport.html
Noll (2003). Roger G. Noll, “The organization of sports leagues” (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research discussion paper no. 06-17, February 2003).
Noll (2006). Roger G. Noll, “Sports economics at fifty” (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research discussion paper no. 06-11, November 2006).
Noll (2007). Roger G. Noll, “Broadcasting and team sports” (Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research discussion paper no. 02-43, August 2007).
Noll (2010). “The economics and politics of stadium subsidies in pro sports,” YouTube (Whittier College channel, video), published on November 5, 2010. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNNXqHZAzpI
Noll (2011a). Roger G. Noll, “The Antitrust economics of NCAA restrictions on athletic scholarships” (2011).
Noll (2011b). “The economics of university athletics programs,” YouTube (Armin Samii channel, video), lecture delivered on October 20, 2011 in UC Berkeley CS39Q course, published on October 25, 2011. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GICpqYNYEFM
Noll (2012). “Roger Noll on the economics of sport,” EconTalk (podcast & transcript), August 27, 2012. Available online: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2012/08/roger_noll_on_t.html
Noll (2014). “Stanford economist Roger Noll on sports analytics,” YouTube (sundihuang channel, video), published on October 31, 2014. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjsukOrEBAw
- 8 - Parsons & others (2011). Christopher A. Parsons & others, “Strike three: Discrimination, incentives, & evaluation,” American Economic Review 101 (June 2011) 1410-1435.
Pennington (2015). Bill Pennington, “Tiny Haverford College an unlikely pipeline to Major League Baseball’s front offices,” The New York Times (July 29, 2015).
Preuss (2006). Holger Preuss, “The Olympics,” ch. 17 in Andreff & Szymanski (2006) pp. 183-196.
Price & Wolfers (2007). Joseph Price & Justin Wolfers, “Racial discrimination among NBA referees,” (IZA discussion paper no. 2863, June 2007).
Quintanar & others, “You are close to your rival and everybody hates a winner: A study of rivalry in college football,” Economic Inquiry 53:4 (2016) 1908-1918.
Ransom & Ransom (2018). Michael R. Ransom & Tyler Ransom, “Do high school sports build or reveal character?,” IZA Discussion Paper No. 11110 (October 2017).
Rascher & Schwarz (2010). Daniel Rascher & Andrew Schwarz, “Illustrations of price discrimination in baseball,” MPRA paper 25807 (2010). Available online: http://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/25807/
Robeck (2014). Volker Robeck, “Professional cycling and the fight against doping” (MACIE paper series, Marburg Centre for Institutional Economics, no. 2014/1, October 27, 2014).
Romer (2006). David Romer, “Do firms maximize?: Evidence from professional football,” Journal of Political Economy 114:2 (2006).
Ryall (2012). Emily Ryall, “Are there any good arguments against goal-line technology?,” Sport, Ethics and Philosophy 6:4 (2012) 439-450.
Sanderson (2006). Allen R. Sanderson, “Bend it like (Yogi) Berra” (2006). Available online at EconLib: http://www.econlib.org/library/Columns/y2006/Sandersonbrains.html
Sanderson & Siegfried (2015). Allen R. Sanderson & John J. Siegfried, “The case for paying college athletes,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 29:1 (Winter 2015) 115-138.
Santos (2014). Ricardo Manuel Santos, “Optimal soccer strategies,” Economic Inquiry 52:1 (2014) 183- 200.
Simmons & Deutscher (2012). Rob Simmons & Christian Deutscher, “The economics of the World Cup,” in Kahane & Schmanske (2012), volume 1, 5:2.
Steinberg (2013). “Leigh Steinberg on sports, agents, and athletes,” EconTalk (podcast & transcript), March 4, 2013. Available online: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/03/leigh_steinberg.html
Strauss (2015). Benjamin Strauss, “If colleges can’t pay athletes, maybe fans can,” New York Times (11 December 2015).
Sudai (2017). Maayan Sudai, “The testosterone rule: Constructing fairness in professional sport,” Journal of Law and the Biosciences 4:1 (1 April 2017) 181-193. Available online: https://academic.oup.com/jlb/article/4/1/181/3098428
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Szymanksi (2003). Stefan Szymanski, “The economic design of sports contests,” Journal of Economic Literature 41 (December 2003) 1137-1187.
Tetlock (2005). A. Peter McGraw, Barbara A. Mellers, & Philip E. Tetlock, “Expectations and emotions of Olympic athletes,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 41 (2004) 438-446.
Tollison (date?). Robert Tollison, “Sportometrics,” Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. Available online at EconLib: http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/Sportometrics.html
Van Ours & Van Tuijl (2016). Jan C. Van Ours & Martin A. Van Tuijl, “In-season head-coach dismissals & the performance of professional football [=soccer] teams,” Economic Inquiry 54:1 (2016) 591-604.
Walters (2012). Stephen J. K. Walters, “Prejudice and progress in baseball: Lessons on the economics of race and discrimination,” in Kahane & Schmanske (2012), volume 2, 1:3.
Ward (2018). Jacob Ward, “The ‘geno-economists’ say DNA can predict our chances of success,” The New York Times (18 November 2018).
Ward & others (2017). Jacob Ward & others, “How the Red Sox used tech, step by step, to steal signs from the Yankees,” The New York Times (6 September 2017).
Weitzman (2018). Yaron Weitzman, “A gentleman’s guide to the NBA: When players agree to take plays off,” The New York Times (9 April 2018).
Winston (2012). Wayne L. Winston, Mathletics (Princeton U. Press, 2012).
Wolfers (2006). Justin Wolfers, “Point shaving: Corruption in NCAA basketball,” AER Papers and Proceedings 96:2 (May 2006) 279-283.
Wolfers & others (2014). Devin G. Pope, Joseph Price, & Justin Wolfers, “Awareness reduces racial bias,” (Brookings Institution, February 2014).
- 10 - Please note the following Trinity College policies:
• Credit hours. For this course (0.5 credit), students should plan to spend an average of 30 hours per week studying and completing assignments. (Guidelines from the Curriculum Committee and the Dean of Faculty)
• Academic accommodations. “Trinity College is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible learning environment consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you have approval for academic accommodations, please notify faculty during the first two weeks of the semester or a minimum of 10 days prior to needing your accommodations. Please be sure to meet with me privately to discuss implementation.” (Statement of the Office of Student Accommodations)
• Academic Integrity. “In accordance with the Trinity College Student Integrity Contract, students are expected to abide by the highest standards of intellectual honesty in all academic exercises. Intellectual honesty assumes that students do their own work and that they credit properly those upon whose work and thought they draw. It is the responsibility of each student to make sure that he or she is fully aware of what constitutes intellectually honest work in every examination, quiz, paper, laboratory report, homework assignment, or other academic exercise submitted for evaluation in a course at Trinity College.” (Trinity College Student Handbook, p. 13)
• The syllabus is subject to change. “The content, policies, requirements, and assignments listed in the syllabus are subject to change.” (Guidelines from the Curriculum Committee and the Dean of Faculty)
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