2014 Winter Olympics: Which Countries Performed the Best?

Here is an excerpt from my article on the 2014 Sochi Olympics.  Note that I reference two links / articles that may be of interest:

• Medal Count -- worksheet for 2014 and 2010 Winter Olympics
• Article on factors related to winning Olympic Medals.

The article looks at overall medal performance -- as well as performance as a function of population and GDP.  

The 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics ended on February 23. History has been written, new records have been achieved and medals have been awarded. There have been many story lines such as Russian skating sensation Yulia Lipnitskaya becoming the youngest Olympic gold medalist in team figure skating at age 15. The Olympics are a special time as the world cheers for athletic excellence and countries seem to pull together to root for their country’s athletes.

As Olympic fans note, there are several lists of medal counts. Some people like to follow the gold medal count while others focus on total medals. Based on an informal survey, we created a point value system for medals as follows: five points for a gold medal, two points for silver, and one point for bronze.

Based on this point system, we awarded the following medals for overall country performance:

Gold – Russia
Silver – Norway
Bronze — Canada
Special mention: USA (fourth place)

Read more at http://www.rantsports.com/clubhouse/2014/02/25/2014-winter-olympics-which-countries-performed-the-best/

2014 Winter Olympics: Will the U.S. WIn a Medal in Men's Hockey?

Below is an excerpt of an article we wrote on Team USA's men's hockey team chances at the 2014 Winter Olympics.


The opening ceremonies for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi were almost a week ago and men’s hockey is getting started. What are the chances of Team USA taking home a medal? And what about a gold?

Some people have questioned the choice of the U.S. team to overlook potentially more talented NHL stars in favor of gritty, more defensive-minded players. Team USA passed on three of the top nine American NHL scoring stars and instead chose players like gritty Winnipeg Jets forward Blake Wheeler.

Although some are unhappy about the choice of seemingly less-skilled players, I like the strategy of going for two-way players, leadership and team chemistry. Many would agree that the Canadian and Russian teams are loaded with talent. It would be difficult to beat the two favorites at their own game — and skating with them in a high-scoring, offensive-minded affair. However, by going for a grittier style of play, there is more of a chance for an upset. In addition, Team USA is strong in terms of leadership, with eight players who are captains or co-captains of their respective NHL teams.

Read more at http://www.rantsports.com/clubhouse/2014/02/12/2014-winter-olympics-will-team-usa-win-gold-in-mens-hockey/


Herb Brooks put it best:

"I am not looking for the best players... I am looking for the right players."

http://vancouver2010.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/how-miraculous-was-the-miracle/?scp=1&sq=miraculous%20miracle&st=cse

Carlton Chin, CFA, an MIT graduate, enjoys applying numbers to everything from sports analytics to the financial markets. He is a portfolio strategist and fund manager and has been featured in the NY Times,RantSports, Wall St. Journal, SeekingAlpha & Financial Trader.

Dr. Jay Granat, psychotherapist, is founder of StayInTheZone.com and was named one of America's Top 10 Mental Gurus by Golf Digest. He has worked with Olympic athletes & sports organizations. A former university professor and has appeared on ESPN, CBS & Good Morning America.

Together, Carlton & Jay quantify concepts of sports psychology such as leadership, team chemistry, and focus on fundamentals -- and have worked with sports organizations. 

Super Bowl XLVIII Analytics (2014)

As you can tell, we enjoy sports -- and particularly playoffs and championship games.  Here are various sports analytics we have performed for this year's 2014 Super Bowl.  We looked at everything from "Wins Above Average" and Monte Carlo simulations to sports psychology and Pythagorean approaches.

 Sports Analytics approaches

• Monte Carlo sims http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2014/02/01/picking-the-winner-of-super-bowl-xlviii-with-monte-carlo-analysis/
• Player "Wins Above Average" http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2014/01/31/2014-super-bowl-wins-above-average-analysis-to-determine-a-winner/

Sports Psychology + Stats approach

http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2014/01/30/2014-super-bowl-who-will-win-the-big-game/

If you (or your friends) are in those Square Pools -- this could be interesting

http://www.rantsports.com/nfl/2014/01/27/2014-super-bowl-square-pool-probabilities-by-quarter/

Carlton Chin, CFA, holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees from MIT and enjoys applying numbers to everything from sports analytics to the financial markets. He is a fund manager and quant researcher. He has been featured in the NY Times, RantSports, Wall St. Journal,SeekingAlpha & Financial Trader.

Dr. Jay Granat, psychotherapist, named one of America's Top 10 Mental Gurus by Golf Digest, has worked with Olympic athletes & sports organizations. A former university professor, he has authored several books on sport psychology -- and has appeared on ESPN, CBS & Good Morning America.