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Activity Number:
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168
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Type:
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Topic Contributed
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Date/Time:
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Tuesday, August 13, 2002 : 8:30 AM to 10:20 AM
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Sponsor:
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Section on Statistics in Sports*
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| Abstract - #300775 |
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Title:
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When To Go For Two
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Author(s):
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Harold Sackrowitz*+
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Affiliation(s):
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Rutgers University
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Address:
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Hill Center, Busch Campus, 110 Frelinhuysen Road, Piscataway, New Jersey, 08855, USA
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Keywords:
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two-point conversion ; dynamic programming
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Abstract:
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The option of attempting a two-point conversion following scoring a touchdown adds an interesting strategy aspect to the game of football. In the NFL there tends to be fewer than one such attempt for every two games played. Although its use is slight, its impact is often great. Furthermore, this decision is not really a "football" decision in the following sense. Except in the obvious situations near the end of a game, even the most experienced of football people would not have amassed enough empirical knowledge to make an informed decision. The appropriateness of a decision depends on both current score and time remaining in the game. A decision that is correct for a given score late in the game need not be correct for the same score early in the game. Dynamic programming methods tend to be useful in such situations and are used here to help resolve strategy questions.
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- The address information is for the authors that have a + after their name.
- Authors who are presenting talks have a * after their name.
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