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FORG 325 Sports 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. - 2 - 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,
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