Welcome to this week’s episode of Hot Takedown, our podcast where the hot sports takes of the week meet the numbers that prove them right or tear them down. On this week’s show (Sept. 15, 2015), we discuss the allegations that the Patriots interfered with the Steelers’ communications in their Week 1 matchup. Then, Carl Bialik breaks down whether it’s time to start thinking of Novak Djokovic as the best men’s tennis player of all time — even though everyone seems to root for Roger Federer instead. And, can Yoenis Cespedes win National League MVP even though he’s only been in the National League for a few months? Plus, an update from FiveThirtyEight’s Walt Hickey on our crowdsourcing Madden challenge to win the Super Bowl using his avatar. And to close out the show, a Significant Digit on a turnaround for Kansas City’s women’s soccer team.
Stream the episode by clicking the play button, or subscribe using one of the podcast clients we’ve linked to above. Below are links to some of what we discussed on the show:
- Want to win Madden with Walt Hickey as your quarterback? Here’s how to take part in our crowdsourcing project.
- ESPN’s list of injuries in the NFL.
- The Patriots’ home and road records in the Belichick era as compared to the rest of the league.
- When the Giants decided to pass on third down near the end of their Week 1 game against Dallas, they doubled the Cowboys’ win probability.
- Djokovic and Federer are vying to become the greatest of all time.
- Carl Bialik found that Roberta Vinci’s upset of Serena Williams was the biggest in modern women’s tennis.
- FanGraphs breaks down the argument for Yoenis Cespedes for MVP.
- The full archive of Baseline podcasts from Carl Bialik.
- Significant Digit: 4 — the number of teams that FC Kansas City of the National Women’s Soccer League leapfrogged to finish the regular season in third. FC Kansas City will face regular-season champion Seattle Reign FC in a repeat of last year’s National Women’s Soccer League final.
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