Hi, my name’s Matt Santini and sport has played a big role in my life ever since I started playing footy aged six. As I continued to watch sport through my teenage years I felt I wasn’t just seeking entertainment, I was analysing matches and plays to find a deeper meaning.
Like any observer, I look at match statistics during breaks in play to determine which players are performing well and which have been subpar.
But sports transcend spreadsheets and numbers.
Yet, as a sporting community, we are bombarded by statistics from both the media and sporting organisations. As a sports journalist myself, I find it frustrating when numbers are thrown around without explicit meaning.
In saying this, statistics have a place.
So how can we know which stats to factor and which to disregard?
It’s important that as an industry we remain consistent in the application of these statistics.
So let’s take a step back. Let’s keep it simple. Let’s cut through the jargon and focus on keeping stats meaningful.
In this blog I aim to highlight any inconsistencies and trends in relation to the role of statistics in sports reporting and commentary.
Flat-Track Stat 