In lieu of Benjamin Loong's eagerly anticipated essay on the comic book industry, I've decided to pay homage to secret nerds paying tribute to not-so-secret-nerds. First on the list is Bill Simmons of ESPN, who unveils his hidden nerditude in his latest article for ESPN The Magazine:
A few weeks ago, I spent a Saturday at MIT's Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, or as I dubbed it, Dorkapalooza 2009! A slew of statistical rock stars showed up: Dean Oliver, Aaron Schatz, John Hollinger. Panels argued topics like "Where are basketball analytics headed?" and "What's more important, coming up with a cool formula or kissing a girl?" The hottest celeb? My friend Daryl Morey, the Rockets GM, who was hounded by MIT students as if he were Britney among the paparazzi. I dubbed him Dork Elvis. Even he admitted that was funny. Begrudgingly.
That's the thing about stat geeks: They have a sense of humor about themselves. And yes, I count myself among them. I played entire Microleague baseball seasons on my 1984 Apple and kept handwritten stats. I've played fantasy baseball since 1982. I frequent the Prospectus sites and devour their books. I try to hide my inner geek, but believe me, it lurks. Remember, I'm the guy who figured out Hickory High's title-game box score.
Lastly, let me pay tribute to the granddaddy of all guilty nerd pleasures (which is concluding its television run this season), the precursor to my current favorite, Chuck. Click on the video. You know you want to.
2 comments:
that was major! i was rolling on the ground laughing, it was like funny slash cringefest as dorkdom should be
Thank you, my dear. Always glad to induce dorkgasms. :-)
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