Expected Value (TruMedia Networks)

Expected Value features conversations with sports analytics insiders about what they do, how they do it, and how they got there. Guests include people working for teams, leagues, media and more, covering sports including baseball, football, soccer, and basketball. Please subscribe, spread the word, and enjoy!

The first guest on Expected Value is Daniel Adler, the Minnesota Twins Director of Baseball Operations, who previously worked in the NFL with the Jaguars, Browns and Patriots. Among the topics covered…

- What a Director of Baseball Operations does and how analytics are involved
- The Twins home run explosion this season
- Differences in baseball and football analytics
- What he looks for when hiring analysts
- A Bartolo Colon story

Lucy Rushton is the Head of Technical Recruitment and Analysis for Atlanta United, which has won three trophies in its first three MLS seasons, including last year’s MLS Cup. Before joining Atlanta in 2015, Lucy was Head of Technical Scouting at English club Reading, and prior to that, she was a Player Recruitment Analyst for Watford. She also grew up playing the sport and won the English Championship as a player for Reading. Among the topics covered:

- How Atlanta incorporates data into recruitment
- Evaluating players from across leagues and colleges
- Interacting with the Atlanta Falcons
- Working with new and different coaches
- How teams in England and the U.S. use data
- Women in the sports analytics industry
- Adjusting to life in the South

Michael Lopez has been the NFL’s Director of Football Data & Analytics for over a year, and he’s also a statistics professor at Skidmore College. He brings a strong academic background and a coaching perspective to his NFL job. Among the topics covered:

- What he does in his role for the league
- State of analytics in the NFL
- The league’s relatively new NGS player-tracking data
- Working with the NFL competition committee
- The NFL’s first Big Data Bowl (and the next one?)
- Advice for students interested in a sports analytics career

Jared Hughes has been pitching in the majors since 2011, and the new wave of data is crucial to his preparation process. Among the topics covered:

- How he uses analytics to prepare and review
- Pitching during the launch-angle revolution
- Statcast numbers he finds interesting
- What he wishes could be quantified
- Communicating analytics to players

This episode features two NFL-related presenters from last weekend’s NESSIS conference in Boston: Ron Yurko (@Stat_Ron) and Dani Chu (@chuurveg). Both guests talk about their presentations and research, which use NFL player-tracking data.

Ron Yurko’s presentation focused on in-play valuation, which can lead to live models for expected points and win probability, instead of the traditional pre- and post-play models. Ron also touches on how sports analytics is gaining acceptance in the greater analytics community.

Dani Chu and his team won the college division of the NFL’s Big Data Bowl earlier this year, and his presentation was about using the tracking data to identify receiver routes. Dani talks about the Big Data Bowl process and what extensions might come from his research.

This episode features two soccer-related presenters from last weekend’s NESSIS conference in Boston: Laurie Shaw and Sam Gregory. Both guests talk about their presentations and research, which use player-tracking data.

Harvard’s Laurie Shaw (@EightyFivePoint) presented on using player-tracking data to classify and analyze team strategy, by identifying formations in different situations. Laurie has a background in astrophysics and hedge funds, and he talks about how his previous experience helps him in sports analytics.

Sportlogiq data analyst Sam Gregory (@GregoryDSam) presented on detecting off-the-ball runs with the goal of identifying players who act similarly, which run types are effective against certain teams, and more. Sam previously worked at Opta and has an extensive background in soccer analytics.

Jeff Bennett oversees ESPN’s Stats & Information Group, which produces statistics and analytics that power all of ESPN’s platforms. Having been at ESPN for 25 years, Jeff’s career parallels the rise in sports data and analytics, and he is one of the most influential people in mainstream sports stats over the last quarter century. In this podcast, he discusses…

- What ESPN’s Stats & Information Group does
- How his interest in sports and numbers developed
- Joining the ESPN research team and working shows like SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight
- Starting the Sports Analytics team
- Developing metrics like Total QBR
- Working with the NFL’s NGS data
- The future of sports analytics

Mike Tannenbaum started working in the NFL as an intern with the Saints back in 1994, and he worked his way up with the Browns, Saints and Jets, becoming the Jets general manager in 2006, then the Dolphins executive vice president of football operations in 2015. Mike is now the founder of The 33rd Team, a football think tank and media platform. In this conversation, Mike talks about…

The AFC and NFC Championship games

How Mike watches football games from a general manager’s perspective

What The 33rd Team is and how The 33rd Team uses analytics, including their Comprehensive Passing Metric

How data was used when Mike first started in the 90s vs how data is used now

Mike’s experience appearing on an episode of CSI:NY

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Mike.

Show Links

Follow Mike on Twitter: @RealTannenbaum

Check out The 33rd Team here.

Follow The 33rd Team on Twitter: @The33rdTeamFB

Check out the Comprehensive Passing Metric here.

Check out Mike’s appearance on CSI:NY here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn

Robyn Ritchie, a PhD student at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, is part of the team that won the NFL’s Big Data Bowl this year. This was the fourth annual Big Data Bowl, put on by Mike Lopez and the league’s analytics staff, and the topic this year was special teams, with each team given a set of tracking data and asked to come up with analysis and strategies based on that data. Robyn and her teammates (Brendan Kumagai, Ryker Moreau, Elijah Cavan) bested over 200 contestants with their entry, entitled “Punt Returns: Using the Math to Find the Path” In this conversation, Robyn talks about…

Exactly what data she and her team used

How they approached the contest

What methods and tools they used along the way

Challenges they ran into

Communicating their ideas effectively

Her path to getting a master’s and a PhD in statistics

Why Simon Fraser has produced so many good sports analysts

Her advice for people looking to get into the field

Her work in curling analytics (yes, curling!)

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Robyn.

Show Links

Follow Robyn on Twitter: @RR_SportsStats.

For more on the Big Data Bowl, click here.

To watch the 2022 Big Data Bowl Finals, click here.

To see the Kaggle Robyn referenced in the episode, click here.

For more on the Canadian Statistics Student Conference, click here.

Check out the Winnipeg Free Press’ piece on Robyn by clicking here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Fernando Palomo has worked at ESPN since 2000 as an anchor and soccer play-by-play commentator, both in English and Spanish. Fernando has covered multiple major soccer events including World Cups, Euros, and the UEFA Champions League. He has been one of the more receptive soccer people to using data and advanced stats on TV and frequently uses analytics in his broadcasts. In this conversation, Fernando talks about…

The upcoming Liverpool-Real Madrid Champions League final

What he looks for in soccer stats

How he uses data as an announcer

The differences in calling a game in English vs Spanish

How data is used and received differently in two languages

A track and field record that he still holds in his native El Salvador

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Fernando.

Show Links

Follow Fernando on Twitter: @fernandopalomo.

To read up on Fernando’s bio, click here.

To read a Q&A he did with Texas A&M Today, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Seth Partnow was formerly the Director of Basketball Research for the Milwaukee Bucks, and he now writes for The Athletic and is the Director of Basketball for the data company StatsBomb. Last November he released a book titled: The Midrange Theory, Basketball’s Evolution in the Age of Analytics. In this conversation, Seth talks about…

His book The Midrange Theory, Basketball’s Evolution in the Age of Analytics

The first two games of the 2022 NBA Finals

How he watches games and looks at data afterwards

The state of NBA analytics in general

His path from law school to the NBA

Advice for anyone interested in basketball analytics

His Luc Longley story

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Seth.

Show Links

Follow Seth on Twitter: @SethPartnow.

To read Seth’s writing on The Athletic, click here.

To buy Seth’s book The Midrange Theory, click here.

To buy Thinking Basketball, click here.

To buy Basketball on Paper, click here.

To check out Cleaning the Glass, click here.

To catch up on Kevin Pelton’s writing, follow him on Twitter: @kpelton.

For more information on Seth’s favorite Milwaukee spot The Vanguard, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Robin Lund just wrapped up his fourth season with the Iowa Hawkeyes and his third season as the pitching coach. Iowa pitchers finished the season top-five in the country in ERA, K%, and opponents batting average, among other stats. Before he joined the Iowa staff, Robin spent over 15 years as an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology as UNI. In this conversation, Robin talks about…

His journey to becoming the Iowa Hawkeyes pitching coach

His work as a kinesiology professor and how that applies to coaching

How he got into traditional baseball analytics

His approach to baseball data as someone who came from the sports science side

Working with Iowa’s highly-regarded student manager program

Advice for data-minded people working with baseball people

Balancing individual pitcher plans with team-wide goals and approaches

Where to eat in Iowa City

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Robin.

Show Links

Follow Robin on Twitter: @Lunderton.

To check out Robin’s biography, click here.

For more on Robin’s path to Iowa, click here.

For more on Robin’s passion for cooking, click here.

For more on Iowa’s student manager program, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Chris Cleary is fresh off winning a national championship in his 4th season with the Ole Miss program, the 2nd national championship in Ole Miss athletics history. The Rebels were 7-14 in conference play at one point and turned their season around en route to a national championship. Chris joined the Rebels in August of 2018 as the Coordinator of Operations before being promoted to his current role in July of 2020. In this conversation, Chris talks about…

The College World Series experience and Ole Miss’ bounce back

Why the state of Mississippi has had so much college baseball success recently

What he does with the team and how analytics in incorporated into his process

How he uses data to help Ole Miss in the field, at the plate, and on the mound

The art of communicating that data to players

How data has evolved in college baseball over the past decade

Where to eat in Oxford

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Chris.

Show Links

Follow Chris on Twitter: @ccleary05.

To check out Chris’ biography, click here.

To take a look at Ole Miss baseball’s facilities tour, click here.

To check out Chris’ case study on the Cubs infield outs from 2019, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Sarah Rudd is one of the early pioneers of modern soccer analytics, being heavily involved in the evolution of soccer analytics over the last 10-15 years. Rudd recently joined Blue Crow Sports Group after spending time with Arsenal in the Premier League. Sarah is half of the “First Family” of soccer analytics, being married to Ravi Ramineni, another top soccer analytics mind who previously worked as the Director of Analytics for the Seattle Sounders. Ravi was on Expected Value a couple of years ago, making them the first wife-and-husband combo to appear on the podcast. In this conversation, Sarah talks about…

Her academic background and early professional path before transitioning into soccer

The 2011 presentation that put her on the soccer analytics map

What she did at StatDNA (the company Arsenal bought to be their in-house analytics group)

How the acceptance of analytics changed during her decade with Arsenal

Bridging the stereotypical gap between scouting and analytics

Working on the private side of soccer analytics

Advantages and disadvantages of a club doing everything in-house

Her new company Blue Crow Sport Group and what they’re up to

How she and her husband Ravi watch soccer games

What she’s done to track her excitement level during World Cup matches

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Sarah.

Show Links

Follow Sarah on Twitter: @srudd_ok.

To check out Sarah on LinkedIn, click here.

To check out Sarah’s 2011 NESSIS presentation, click here.

To take a look at a Guardian piece on StatDNA being bought by Arsenal, click here.

To check out a NY Times article on Arsenal and soccer analytics, click here.

For more on Blue Crow Sports Group, click here.

For more on Blue Crow Sports Group’s recent purchase of C.D. Leganes, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

This week, we’re doing things a bit differently on Expected Value. Producer Sergio De La Espriella has taken over Expected Value and conducted an interview in Spanish, as a way of expanding accessibility to data and analytics information to the Spanish-speaking public. Our first Spanish-speaking guest is Julio Costa, data scientist for Fulham F.C. in the Premier League. Julio has an unorthodox background that includes studying in the United States, running his own analytics blog, and a history of coaching. In this conversation, Julio talks about…

His day to day duties as a data scientist.

His interaction with the players and coaching staff.

How data is prioritized at Fulham vs at other places he has been.

His journey to arriving at Fulham.

What he learned from his time at the University of Texas at Austin.

The Analysts Eye and how that impacted his career.

What he looks for when watching a match.

Tips for those looking to become a soccer data scientist.

His soccer fandom history coming from Portugal.

His favorite place to eat in London.

Show Links

Follow Julio on Twitter: @juliocosta_lisb.

Follow The Analyst Eye on Twitter: @theanalysteye.

To check out The Analyst Eye, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Lauren Poe is part of ESPN’s sports analytics team, which is responsible for metrics like Total QBR, Power Indices for Basketball, Football, and Soccer, and Strength of Record for college football. She has a degree in Mathematics from the University of Oklahoma, spent time as a math teacher, and got her ESPN in the Stats and Analysis department. In this conversation, Lauren talks about…

Her career path from math teacher to ESPN

Her early years in the ESPN Stats & Analysis group

The challenges and importance of data cleaning

Steps she took to join ESPN’s analytics team

What she does as a sports analytics developer

Creating and maintaining ESPN’s metrics

Her favorite college football metrics

Communicating data well in writie

How she watches games, especially Oklahoma football

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Lauren.

Show Links

Follow Lauren on Twitter: @laurenpoe.

Follow the Women in Sports Data on Twitter: @WinSportsData.

To check out the Women in Sports Data website, click here.

To check out ESPN’s 2022 College Football Playoff predictor, click here.

To check great article explaining ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI), click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

This week, we’re doing things a bit differently on Expected Value. Producer Sergio De La Espriella has taken over Expected Value and conducted an interview in Spanish, as a way of expanding accessibility to data and analytics information to the Spanish-speaking public. Our Spanish-speaking guest is Cristian Perez. Cristian is coming off a four year stint with the Cincinnati Reds where he served as an Assistant Bullpen & Advances Scouting Coach. He also played college baseball at Duke University & the University of Southern California. In this conversation, Julio talks about…

How he ended up getting into baseball

His earliest experience with baseball analytics

Why forming relationships is such an important part of coaching

How much access Latin American players have to analytics

What can be done to make analytics more digestable to Latin American players

His favorite moments from his playing career and his time as a MLB coach

His favorite place to eat in South Florida

Show Links

Follow Cristian on Twitter: @Cris_Perez18

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Joe Hultzen recently joined TruMedia as our MLB Team Lead. His decade-long experience in MLB allows him to provide clients with the services they need to maximize TruMedia’s product. He has held roles in the Baseball Operations, Advance Video Scouting, and Player Valuation departments. In this conversation, Joe talks about…

The best thing about working for a MLB team

The challenges of working for a MLB team

The biggest surprise about working for a MLB team

How the use of data evolved over the course of his decade with MLB teams

The key to communicating data well

His approach to communicating with front offices compared to players

What skills to develop when searching for a job with a MLB team

His favorite “how-did-I-get-here” moment

Where to eat when in Pittsburgh

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Joe.

Show Links

Follow Joe on Twitter: @JoeHultzen

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Kalyn Kahler is a senior NFL writer for The Athletic, covering the league from a national perspective. She has a traditional journalism background and also likes to use numbers in her stories. She is a graduate of Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and has previously worked for Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, and Defector Media. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Colorado Springs Gazette, among other publications. In this conversation, Kalyn talks about…

Her path from Medill to The Athletic

Her general approach to using stats in stories

What she took away from working with Peter King

The evolution of data in journalism

How coaches and players react when she brings up stats to them

Advice for someone looking to break into the sports media field

Why she’s not a fan of even numbers

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Kalyn.

Show Links

Follow Kalyn on Twitter: @kalynkahler

To see Kalyn’s work at The Athletic, click here.

To check out Kalyn’s website, click here.

To read her piece on how the Eagles used the QB rush to their advantage, click here.

To read her piece on why NFL coaches call for shotgun at the goal line, click here.

To read her piece on how a cow becomes a football, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Rodrick David is the founder of Right Step Advising, a company dedicated to helping agents, athletes and schools figure out the next right step for them and their football careers. Before that, he was a scout for the Atlanta Falcons. In this conversation, Rodrik talks about…

His reaction to Super Bowl LVII & how he watched the game through a scout’s lens

His career path from college to being an NFL scout

How data is used in the college scouting process

What information teams gather at events like the Senior Bowl, NFL Combine, and Pro Days

What part of a scout’s job is aided by data

How agents & players are using data in relation to NIL

What he would do with the No. 1 pick if he was Chicago

Standouts and sleepers in the 2023 NFL Draft

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Rodrik.

Show Links

Follow Rodrik on Twitter: @RodrikDavid

To check out Rodrik on LinkedIn, click here.

To check out Right Step Advising, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Matt Doyle is a Senior Writer for MLSsoccer.com and has been covering the league for over a decade. His ‘Armchair Analyst’ column is considered required reading for MLS fans around the globe. He also appears on ‘Extratime’, an MLSsoccer.com podcast that covers the league in depth twice a week. In this conversation, Matt talks about…

The 2023 MLS season

MLS’s new Apple TV deal and what his role will look like

How he got into soccer & soccer writing

How he uses data in his writing and analysis

What to do when the numbers don’t match the ‘eye test’

Soccer stats he’s not fond of

Advice for using numbers in writing

His favorite episode of ‘Firefly’

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Matt.

Show Links

Follow Matt on Twitter: @MattDoyle76

To check out ‘Armchair Analyst’ and the rest of Matt’s writing, click here.

To check out ‘Extratime’, click here.

Follow ‘Extratime’ on Twitter: @Extratime

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Hassan Inayatali is a rising senior at the University of Toronto and part of the 2023 Big Data Bowl winning team, along with his partners Aaron White and Daniel Hocevar. Their project, “Between the Lines: How Do We Measure Pressure?” bested over 300 submissions to win the competition. In this conversation, Hassan talks about…

What data they had access to.

How they attacked their topic, where the data took them, and what idea had in mind.

What to say when pitching a coach on their model.

What they would do if they had more time and access to more data.

How he got into sports analytics.

Advice for anyone looking to get into sports analytics.

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Hassan.

Show Links

To check out Hassan & his team’s project on how to measure pressure, click here.

To read the Toronto Sun article about Hassan & his team, click here.

To read the University of Toronto Engineering News piece on Hassan & his team, click here.

For more on the NFL’s Big Data Bowl Finalists, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Carlos Muñoz is a former bullpen catcher who spent nine years with the Houston Astros (2009-2017) and, most recently, served as a bullpen catcher and coach for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. He has also spent time as a scout and instructor throughout his career. In this conversation, Carlos talks about…

His Team USA & World Baseball Classic experience.

His path from Venezuela to where he is today.

What a bullpen catcher does.

Framing metrics and what goes into a being a good framer.

Robot umpires, and how they would affect catchers.

How Latino players use data differently than American players.

Why baseball is so big in Venezuela compared to other South American countries.

The recent MLB rule changes.

Our ‘Playing Favorites’ segment, including Carlos’ love for Venezuelan arepas.

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Carlos.

Show Links

Follow Carlos on Twitter: @Carlos96munoz

Follow Carlos on Instagram: @carlos96munoz

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Tegan Ashby is the Assistant Director of Software Engineering for the Philadelphia Phillies. Before that, she worked in the NBA as a Senior Developer of Basketball Systems for the Brooklyn Nets, and as a Developer of Research & Development for the Philadelphia 76ers.. She holds a BA in Linguistics from Penn, and took classes at Cal Berkeley’s Ancient Neat Eastern and Biblical Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics Graduate Studies program. In this conversation, Tegan talks about…

What a software engineer does and how it applies to a baseball team.

What kinds and volumes of data MLB teams deal with.

The difference between a development job with an NBA team compared to an MLB team.

What NBA engineering looks like.

Her background in Linguistics and how it helps her in her profession.

Advice on sports-specific tools for someone learning software engineering.

Co-founding the Women In Sports Data and how people can support the initiative.

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Tegan.

Show Links

Follow Tegan on Twitter: @bunsushi

Follow Women in Sports Data on Twitter: @WinSportsData

For more on Women in Sports Data, click here.

For more on SportsDataVerse, click here.

To check out Tegan’s website, click here.

To check out Tegan on LinkedIn, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Cory Jez is the Founder of Tour IQ, a golf analytics platform dedicated to providing PGA Tour players an the resources they need for the first time in golf history. He also has a unique resume, having worked for FanDuel, the Utah Jazz, Austin FC, and an an on-air analyst for the Portland Trailblazers. In this conversation, Cory talks about…

His time as an Analytics Manager with FanDuel.

His role as Director of Basketball Analytics with the Utah Jazz.

His time with Austin FC as the Director of Sport Science and Analytics.

The differences of coming into a job vs building a department from scratch.

His role as an On-Air Analytics Insider with the Portland TrailBlazers.

What Tour IQ is and how it can help golfers improve their game.

Transactional vs Transformational in the analytics process.

Building trust with “non-data” types.

Keys to communicating analytics concepts to athletes, front-office personnel, and a TV audience.

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Cory.

Show Links

Follow Cory on Twitter: @JezData

Follow TourIQ on Twitter: @tour_IQ

To check out Cory on LinkedIn, click here.

To check out Cory’s website, click here.

To check out TourIQ’s website, click here.

To read Sports Illustrated’s feature on TourIQ, click here.

To read UpRoxx’s feature on the Blazers’ analytics integration on their broadcasts, click here.

For more on the Tobacco Road golf course, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Paul Hembekides, aka Hembo, is a Content Producer for ESPN and got his start in the Stats & Information department, working with Expected Value host Paul Carr in the ESPN research room. Currently, Hembo works on Get Up and #Greeny, Mike Greenberg’s daily ESPN Radio show. He also partnered with Greenberg to co-author “Got Your Number”, a New York Times Bestseller that explores sports history through the lens of who “owns” each number in sports. In this conversation, Hembo talks about…

The origin of “Got Your Number” and he and Greenberg’s process for choosing the numbers.

How he put together the stats and facts for each athlete.

How he balances stats and words in the book.

Biggest surprise when researching and writing the book.

His path and how he got to his current ESPN role.

What he had to learn to adapt his sports passion and knowledge to TV & Radio.

A look inside a researchers mindset & how he approaches the “give me the best stat” question.

Tips & advice for getting into sports research.

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Hembo.

Show Links

To purchase “Got Your Number”, click here.

Follow Hembo on Twitter: @PaulHembo.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Amelia Probst is a Data Scientist & Writer for Pro Football Focus (PFF). Despite being just 22 years old, the Cornell graduate has already worked in football, baseball, and lacrosse, including internships with the New York Mets and the Premier Lacrosse League (PLL). In this conversation, Amelia talks about…

How she became interested in sports analytics.

How she applies what she learned at Cornell to working in sports analytics.

Her time with Cornell’s Sports Analytics club.

Interning with the Mets & the PLL.

What’s being done in collegiate lacrosse from a data perspective.

Joining PFF, what PFF does, and her role at the company.

What she has learned about football analytics while at PFF.

The difference between working in football, baseball, and lacrosse.

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Amelia.

Show Links

Follow Amelia on Twitter: @ameliaprobst.

To check out Amelia’s writing at PFF, click here.

To check out Amelia’s PFF piece on Offensive Linemen Volatility, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

John Taormina is TruMedia’s Director of Football Strategy, overseeing TruMedia’s football related business. Prior to joining us at TruMedia, John spent time with the Atlanta Falcons. He started as a Football Analyst before becoming Manager of Football Analytics. His final role with the Falcons was Director of Football Data & Analytics. He holds a BA in Broadcast Journalism from Penn State, along with a Master of Science in Analytics from Villanova. In this conversation, John talks about…

His academic path and what led him to pursue a career in sports analytics.

His time with the Atlanta Falcons and how his responsibilities changed with each role.

What a typical NFL analytics department looks like from the inside.

How an NFL analytics department works with the coaching staff.

A first-hand perspective of what it’s like to be inside the war room during the NFL Draft.

Working with cap specialists and what the analytics department does during the off-season.

How he aided the Falcons decision makers with a massive trade.

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with John.

Show Links

Follow John on Twitter: @TheRealPapaJohn

To check out Championship Analytics, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Alison Lukan is an On-Air Analyst & Writer for the Seattle Kraken. In her role, she provides analysis for the Seattle Kraken’s local broadcasts on Root Sports Northwest, with her team winning a Regional Sports Emmy for their coverage this season. She holds a degree in Leadership Studies from the University of Richmond and has previously worked as a consultant in Washington D.C. and has a background in journalism, where she is one of the faces of the hockey analytics revolution. She has also written for The Athletic. In this conversation, Alison talks about…

Her academic and career path to get to where she is now.

How she caught the hockey bug and why she dove into hockey analytics.

What data is available at the NHL level, and her access to hockey data.

Her preparation and in-game process as an On-Air Analyst.

The challenges of communicating data on TV and the key to doing it clearly.

How her corporate background informs what she does now.

What an NHL team’s analytics staff looks like.

Where to get started if someone is looking to get into hockey analytics.

Her time as Spidey, the University of Richmond’s mascot.

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Alison.

Show Links

Follow Alison on Twitter: @AlisonL

To read Darren Brown’s piece on Alison’s first season with the Kraken, click here.

To read Alison’s piece in The Athletic’s piece on her time as Spidey, click here.

To read Alison’s piece on NHL players’ relationship with their sticks, click here.

To read Alison’s piece in The Athletic on the “Hockey Analytics Conference” (HAC), click here.

To read Bill West’s piece on Alison and hockey analytics, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Brandon Ally is the Co-Founder of S2 Cognition, a performance evaluation company that is revolutionizing the way professional teams asses prospective players. He is also S2 Cognition’s Chief Business Development Officer and Director of Football. His educational background stands up again the brightest minds in sports. He has a Bachelor’s in Psychology from the University of Tennessee, a PhD in Neuropsychology from Southern Miss, and worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Harvard University & Boston University, working in the Geriatric Neuropsychology Laboratory and Alzheimer’s Disease Center, respectively. He also has a background in academia, having served as Assistant Professor of Neurology at Boston University and Vanderbilt University. In addition to his roles at S2 Cognition, he currently serves as Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Louisville. In this conversation, Brandon talks about…

His academic background and what a PhD in Neuropsychology encompasses.

His athletic background at the University of Tennessee.

S2 Cognition’s origin story & what S2 Cognition does.

What they used to develop the primary S2 test and what the exam provides NFL teams.

How things in an athlete’s past influence how well they perform on the S2 test.

Misconceptions between the S2 test and the Wonderlic exam.

How his professional knowledge influences his coaching.

His favorite John Wick movie, and shaming Paul for not having seen it.

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Brandon.

Show Links

Follow Brandon on Twitter: @brandonally3

Follow S2 Cognition on Twitter: @S2Cognition

To check out S2 Cognition’s website, click here.

To check out what the S2 Cognition test said about the 2023 NFL Draft QB class, click here.

To read The Athletic’s piece on the S2 Cognition test, click here.

To read The Athletic’s piece on how the S2 Cognition test pointed to Brock Purdy’s NFL success, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Wes Johnson was named Head Baseball Coach for the University of Georgia on June 5th. Prior to taking the job in Athens, Wes served as the Pitching Coach for LSU, where he won a national championship earlier this year. He also has MLB experience, having served as the Pitching Coach for the Minnesota Twins from 2019-2022. His previous stops at Mississippi State and Arkansas add on to his SEC experience, in addition to his past as a high school baseball coach, among other stops. In this conversation, Wes talks about…

Balancing his responsibilities of being LSU’s pitching coach in the midst of a national championship run with his duties as Georgia’s head coach.

His career path and how he got into coaching in the first place.

An SEC school’s resources from a data perspective.

Coaching in MLB vs coaching at the collegiate level, including the different levels of preparation.

How stats factor in his approach to the transfer portal.

Communicating information to players vs a staff member.

Players to watch at Georgia and around the SEC next year.

Then, TruMedia’s Sergio De La Espriella joins the show to discuss Paul’s conversation with Wes.

Show Links

To check Wes’ biography, click here.

To read Wes’ interview with On3 about his MLB experience, click here.

Follow @TruMediaSports on Twitter.

Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts: Apple, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, TuneIn.

Bobby Bandelow is the coordinator of advance scouting for the world champion Texas Rangers. During his decade-long career, he’s worked with the Astros, the then-Indians and the Rangers, in roles ranging from video intern to major-league analyst. In this conversation, Bobby talks about…

- Winning the 2023 World Series

- What an advance scout does for an MLB team

- How he presents data to Bruce Bochy and the Rangers staff

- Adapting to MLB rule changes

- Dealing with small sample sizes

- His career path with three MLB teams

- Advice for aspiring sports analysts

Show Links

- Follow Bobby on Twitter

- Bruce Bochy doesn’t miss a thing

- How the Rangers improved their defense

- The Patriotic Pig

Ben Zauzmer is an assistant general manager with the New York Mets, and he’s better known publicly for his book Oscarmetrics and his Twitter account @BensOscarMath, where he uses data to project winners of the Academy Awards. With this year’s Oscars ceremony coming on March 10, Ben joins Expected Value to talk about…

- How he got into the Oscars predictions business

- Creating an Oscars model from scratch

- The variables that go into his calculations

- Projecting nominees vs projecting winners

- Explaining probability

- Factoring in betting markets

- Reaction from the film community

- Majoring in applied mathematics at Harvard

- Course and skills recommended to aspiring analysts

- His favorite movie and favorite Best Picture winner

Show links

- @BensOscarMath on Twitter

- Buy Oscarmetrics on Bookshop or Amazon

Matt Chang and his team won the 2024 NFL Big Data Bowl, an analytics competition with a $25,000 first prize. In this episode, Matt will discuss…

- His team’s submission, entitled Uncovering Missed Tackle Opportunities

- What the Big Data Bowl is and how he and his team became interested

- The data and question provided by the NFL

- Attacking that question through trial and error

- Creating a metric and its components

- Making the outputs easy to understand

- Ideal next steps with their metric

- Advice for anyone looking to enter contests like the Big Data Bowl

Show Links

- Kaggle notebook for Matt’s team’s winning submission

- Video of Matt’s team’s presentation

- Matt’s advice for future Big Data Bowl contestants

- Big Data Bowl home page

- Big Data Bowl Kaggle home page

- Matt’s transition from hardware to machine learning

- Follow Matt on Twitter and LinkedIn

Allison Loucks is the Director of Business Development and Innovation at ESPN, where she oversees ESPN’s Analytics group. Her team has created ESPN metrics including their Total QBR, Basketball Power Index and pass rush win rate. In this conversation, Allison talks about…

- What she does as a director of the analytics group and what a typical day looks like

- How ESPN creates proprietary metrics

- Challenges of using complex metrics in simple ways

- How sports betting has affected her team’s work

- Common misconceptions about ESPN metrics

- What’s on the horizon for the analytics team

- What she looks for when hiring

- Her ESPN career and journalism background

- Meeting one of her sports heroes

Show links

- ESPN Analytics home page

Tim Gibbons is TruMedia’s baseball professional services lead, dealing with players, agencies and facilities. He previously worked as a minor-league hitting coach in the Orioles system. In this episode, Tim talks about…

- His career path to becoming a hitting coach

- What a minor-league hitting coach does

- Data available to minor-league teams

- How a minor-league team’s approach is influenced by the parent club

- Communicating data to players

- Mixing data with coaching of mechanics

- How facilities and agencies use data

- New baseball data points available to coaches

- Follow Tim on Twitter: @LineDrivePro