Otto DeFay is a free-lance
writer and sports data analyst who spends
most of his life on the road staying in barely decent
hotels.
Among his notable achievements are scoring a hole-in-one at
the Russian Jack
Springs Golf Course in Anchorage, Alaska and breaking three
ribs
during a layup in the final four seconds of his high school
basketball
championship.
He has not dated anybody famous--yet--but he did win
$17,550 once while playing blackjack in Las Vegas.
The MAN BOOK, published by St. Martin's Press, is his first
book.
* * *
A lot of people ask me "What the hell is a sports data
analyst?" Good question. Not as good as "How do ugly rock
stars manage to get laid by supermodels?" or "Who has
better tits, Jennifer Aniston or Kate Hudson?" but a good
question, nonetheless. So here's your answer.
Anybody can tell you that Eli Manning's brother won the
Super Bowl the year before he did, marking the first time
two brothers had been Super Bowl QB winners, let alone
back-to-back Super Bowl winners who also were QBs, who also
were MVPs.
Only a sports data analyst can tell you--during the
game--that the Patriots went up 10 to 7 on the Giants
during the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl at 11:04 . . .
and that when the Giants went up 10 to 7 on the Patriots
during the last game of the regular season, that occured at
11:05 in the fourth quarter. Trivial, yes, but pretty damn
impressive at the moment it happens.
Same thing for the fact that the Giants were only the third
team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl after starting
the season with an 0-2 record. Or that Manning’s
interception during Super Bowl 42 by Ellis Hobbs was his
first since he threw an interception, also to Hobbs, in the
Giants’ 38-35 loss to the Patriots in the last game of the
regular season.
That's what a sports data analyst does. It's a living, and
it gets you into almost any game you want to see. For
free.