Episode 08 - This Is Not Amari Cooper, (and nor is it Luke Vosters)
Fantasy Football, in Theory
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, your only podcast devoted to fantasy football strategy in the abstract. It is said that those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. We are told that history doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes. But the past and the future are temporally distinct, and one is not the other. So how are lessons to be drawn? This is the paradox at the heart of any efforts to let our knowledge of the past shape our expectations for the future. The introduction to today's episode is adapted from an essay I wrote in 2017 titled This Is Not Amari...
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Episode 07 - O, What Tangled Webs We Weave
Fantasy Football, in Theory
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, your only podcast devoted to fantasy football strategy in the abstract. What if everything we thought we knew about football was wrong? What if the all-time greats and the all-time goods and all-time okays were really just an indecipherable mess distinguished primarily by chance, a series of coins that could have just as easily landed on the other side (if they were even destined to be flipped at all)? What if the universe— to quote Fantasy Football, in Theory favorite J.B.S. Haldane— is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can...
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Episode 06 - The People's Podcast, featuring Bob Mozitis
Fantasy Football, in Theory
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, your only podcast devoted to fantasy football strategy in the abstract. Who we choose to speak to shapes not only what we come to believe, but even the manner in which we think about things. Most fantasy football podcasts feature people within the fantasy football industry speaking with other industry insiders, which is a useful way to sharpen our thoughts and feelings about fantasy football. But what does this approach miss? Twitter-friend Bob Mozitis (@briks42) was kind enough to play guinea pig as I tried to find out. Content...
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Episode 05 - Some Names Stymie Analysis, featuring Matt Harmon
Fantasy Football, in Theory
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, your only podcast devoted to fantasy football strategy in the abstract. How do the labels we use affect how we see things, taste things, hear things, feel things, and interact with the world around us? And perhaps more importantly, what the heck does this have to do with football? Special guest Matt Harmon joins us to discuss. Content referenced during this episode includes: Fighting through negativity bias and a wide receiver's drop issues: What You See is Not All There Is: The Crayola-fication of the World, parts 1 and 2: ...
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Interruptisode 01 - ...For No Good Reason
Fantasy Football, in Theory
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, a fantasy football podcast dedicated to high-level fantasy strategy in the abstract. In today's episode: Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant podcast about it from the comfort of their living rooms. If you enjoy my work, you can find it exclusively at . An archive of links to past articles of mine is also available at my blog, . If you have any other questions or comments, or you'd like to submit a topic for a future show, I can be reached via email at or on Twitter at...
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Episode 04 - Being Right
Fantasy Football, in Theory
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, a brand new fantasy football podcast dedicated to high-level fantasy strategy in the abstract. What do you do when one of your cornerstone beliefs is suddenly called into question? In the quest to be right, what does it mean to be wrong? In our quest to answer that question, we'll discuss stupid bar bets, obtuse statistical biases, overconfident basketball researchers, the history of the philosophy of science, (not to be confused with the history of science or the philosophy of science), and go over a long list of stupid things that I have...
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Special Episode: The Three Cone Drill Part 2
Fantasy Football, in Theory
Rivers McCown (@riversmccown) and Danny Tuccitto (@IR_DannyT) ran a podcast called the Three Cone Drill. Last August, they invited Sigmund Bloom (@SigmundBloom) and me on to discuss a sprawling array of topics, and the resulting conversation was my favorite that I've ever had about Football, or a number of other topics for that matter. The Three Cone Drill podcast is now defunct, but Rivers and Danny have given me permission to re-host this episode so it is not lost forever. This is part 2, in which we question the validity of statistics and everything we thought we knew about...
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Special Episode: The Three Cone Drill Part 1
Fantasy Football, in Theory
Rivers McCown (@riversmccown) and Danny Tuccitto (@IR_DannyT) ran a podcast called the Three Cone Drill. Last August, they invited Sigmund Bloom (@SigmundBloom) and me on to discuss a sprawling array of topics, and the resulting conversation was my favorite that I've ever had about Football, or a number of other topics for that matter. The Three Cone Drill podcast is now defunct, but Rivers and Danny have given me permission to re-host this episode so it is not lost forever. This is part 1, including a discussion on the philosophies and strategies of trading in fantasy football.
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Episode 03 - San Diego's Choice
Fantasy Football, in Theory
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, a brand new fantasy football podcast dedicated to high-level fantasy strategy in the abstract. The 2007 San Diego Chargers were faced with a choice: part with one of the most successful coaches in NFL history, or with the hot GM who had figured out how to beat the NFL draft. Today, we re-examine that choice with the benefit of hindsight. In our autopsy, we'll discuss John Bogle, Wyatt Earp, and definitely-not-Albert-Einstein. Our findings carry rather striking implications for our own desires to evaluate talent in fantasy football, and raise a...
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Episode 02 - Multidisciplinary Genius, and Also Matt Waldman
Fantasy Football, in Theory
Welcome to Fantasy Football, in Theory, a brand new fantasy football podcast dedicated to high-level fantasy strategy in the abstract. Episode 2 continues our look at questions of size and how much it matters for NFL players. If you're curious about any of the essays cited, you can read them here: I, Pencil, by Leonard Read - On Being the Right Size, by J.B.S. Haldane - The Biology of B-Movie Monsters, by Michael C. LeBarbera - If you enjoyed today's guest, you can learn more about the Rookie Scouting Portfolio at his site - You can also read more of his work--...
info_outlineRivers McCown (@riversmccown) and Danny Tuccitto (@IR_DannyT) ran a podcast called the Three Cone Drill. Last August, they invited Sigmund Bloom (@SigmundBloom) and me on to discuss a sprawling array of topics, and the resulting conversation was my favorite that I've ever had about Football, or a number of other topics for that matter.
The Three Cone Drill podcast is now defunct, but Rivers and Danny have given me permission to re-host this episode so it is not lost forever. This is part 2, in which we question the validity of statistics and everything we thought we knew about player aging.