Yes, it also bothers me that ESPN labels the winning percentage as a percentage yet displays what is clearly the value out of 1, not 100. E.g. Boston's "PCT" should be "73.0", not ".730".
13 March 2011
Within Percentage Points of... Everyone Else
I view sports coverage, heavy on numbers and stats, as generally a good thing in the perpetual battle (that is being lost) against innumeracy, but still rife with examples from people who should know better. In coverage of Jazz-Bulls last night, ESPN notes "Chicago [performed impressive feats] while pulling within percentage points of Boston". Pulling within percentage points! What does that mean? Every team in the conference, unless they've been disqualified from the season, is "within percentage points" of Boston. Boston's record in terms of winning is 73%. Cleveland's record is a no-doubt disappointing 19%. But hey, Cleveland has pulled within percentage points of Boston! 54 of them!
Yes, it also bothers me that ESPN labels the winning percentage as a percentage yet displays what is clearly the value out of 1, not 100. E.g. Boston's "PCT" should be "73.0", not ".730".
Yes, it also bothers me that ESPN labels the winning percentage as a percentage yet displays what is clearly the value out of 1, not 100. E.g. Boston's "PCT" should be "73.0", not ".730".
yes, given your last point, it would appear that all teams, by definition, are within a single percentage point of one another.
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