On Saturday, Prashanth answered many of your analytics questions.
One of the ideas he talked about is how we as viewers, even those of us who pay as close attention as we can, only remember a tiny fraction of what we see in a game. He specifically mentioned that we remember a goal, but we don’t remember the twenty-five small plays that led to that goal. At most points of a game, you have ten skaters on the ice, all moving around, changing on the fly; it’s a lot to keep track of.
Since the idea that we as viewers only retain a small fraction of what we see in a game strikes some as an extreme statement, let’s put that to the test.
Grab a piece of paper and a writing implement, set aside 10 minutes or so, and watch the video below. If you click on the Youtube link in the video, you can make it full-screen for easier viewing.
One thing to remember is that 3 of the 5 questions were specifically based on plays in the vicinity of the puck. What if I had included plays that happened away from the puck? This is the reason that analytics can be so valuable, because we really don’t remember as much as we think we do (and that goes for all viewers).
If you want to watch the rest of the cat videos, here is the full link.
