02-09-2009, 05:31 PM
Nobody said anything about stat-heads hating the game, but sometimes people put too much faith into the numbers. Sports aren't a hard science or even a social science. Stats only tell you so much, they don't put things in the context of every game situation. I'm a big believer in stats, I mean my livelihood depends on it, but there's no substitute for actually watching a game and drawing conclusions from what you see. Stats help you understand the game better and provide clarity for players' performances and for the most part do a decent job at explaining things, but there is no perfect science to sports stats. It's more of an art, not a science. Ask any true statistician (non sports related), and they will tell you the same thing.