Tag Archives: sports

White Paper: Like Father, Unlike Son? A Comparative Analysis of Monte and Lane Kiffin’s Careers and Public Reflections on Their Relationship

Posted on December 1, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary Monte Kiffin and his son Lane Kiffin represent two very different archetypes in modern football coaching. Monte became a legendary defensive coordinator, defined by stability, tactical innovation (the “Tampa 2”), and a largely controversy-free public image. Lane has … Continue reading →

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White Paper: The Negative Effects of Media-Driven “Favorite Book Team” Narratives on Resistant Fan Bases

Posted on November 28, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary Sports leagues, broadcast networks, and marketing partners frequently elevate specific teams as “favorites,” “marquee brands,” or “flagship franchises.” This promotional strategy is intended to maximize viewership, advertising revenue, merchandise sales, and cultural visibility. However, while such narratives may … Continue reading →

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White Paper: The Connection Between Sports, Gambling, and Organized Crime—and Its Impact on the Legitimacy of Sport

Posted on October 28, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary Sports deliver civic rituals of fairness and merit. Gambling delivers liquidity, attention, and revenue. Organized crime exploits the seam between them—where information asymmetries, weak controls, and cross-border payments create opportunities to fix contests, launder money, and intimidate participants. … Continue reading →

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The Sherman Antitrust Act and the Structure of American Sports

Posted on October 21, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was intended to prevent monopolization and promote competitive markets across the U.S. economy. Yet in the world of sports, the Act’s influence has been paradoxical—sometimes shaping leagues into more equitable and competitive … Continue reading →

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White Paper: Coaching Carousels: The Hard Math of Winning and the Nature of Expectations for Success in Competitive Sport

Posted on October 16, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary This white paper examines the recurring phenomenon of “coaching carousels” — the rapid turnover of head coaches across professional and collegiate sports. It analyzes the mathematical, psychological, and institutional dynamics that drive the cycle of hiring, firing, and … Continue reading →

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White paper: The costs borne by USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington in leaving the Pac-12 for the Big Ten—and why they went anyway

Posted on September 19, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive summary Between June 2022 and August 2023, four flagship Pac-12 members—USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington—accepted invitations to the Big Ten, with competition beginning in the 2024–25 academic year. All four schools incurred tangible new costs (travel, athlete-welfare spending, governance-imposed … Continue reading →

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White Paper: The Moral Hazards of Sports Institutions Dependent on Betting Revenues: Risks of Game Fixing by Players and Referees

Posted on August 3, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary The growing financial integration of sports institutions with sports betting revenues has created a moral hazard that threatens the integrity of competitive athletics. As betting becomes a major income stream for leagues, teams, and broadcasters, the incentives for … Continue reading →

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On The Decline Of Serve And Volley

Posted on March 31, 2025 by nathanalbright

Serve-and-volley, where a player charges the net after serving to finish points with volleys, has largely faded from tennis, overtaken by baseline hitting, where players slug it out from the back of the court. The reasons boil down to equipment … Continue reading →

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Division I-A/FBS Conference Championships And Member Tenure: A Trend Analysis

Posted on December 8, 2024 by nathanalbright

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) pioneered the conference championship game format after expanding to 12 teams in 1992 with the addition of Arkansas and South Carolina. This development marked a significant shift in college football organization, as it required an NCAA … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Bolt Supremacy

Posted on August 21, 2020 by nathanalbright

The Bolt Supremacy:  Inside Jamaica’s Sprint Factory, by Richard Moore This is a book that straddles the ambiguous space between being a celebration of Jamaican supremacy in sprint races and a skeptical view of the likelihood that some sort of … Continue reading →

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