Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 16h

In 1960 the average offensive lineman was 6’3” and ~250 lbs. In 2025 the average lines are 6’5”+ and nearly 315 lbs.

The “better in my day” guys are full of sh*t.

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 16h

If you’ve played reasonably competitive baseball you out know how fast 80 mph is. You also probably know how much faster 85 mph is. Completely different world. As is 90 mph. But everyone throws 100 now. No wonder everyone also hits .240 now 🤷‍♂️

1

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 16h

If you’ve played reasonably competitive baseball you out know how fast 80 mph is. You also probably know how much faster 85 mph is. Completely different world. As is 90 mph. But everyone throws 100 now. No wonder everyone also hits .240 now 🤷‍♂️

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 17h

Sorry this was wrong. He throws 98 apparently…

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 17h

George Kirby in my head is a finesse, command, control guy who gets strikeouts b/c he throws lots of strikes.

George Kirby in reality throws 97. Baseball in 2025 is impossible.

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 17h

George Kirby in my head is a finesse, command, control guy who gets strikeouts b/c he throws lots of strikes.

George Kirby in reality throws 97. Baseball in 2025 is impossible.

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 4d

Is my demand to my employer that they double their retirement contribution to my account just another form of pay?

J.C. Bradbury @jcbradbury.bsky.social · 4d

Yes.

Editorial: Are the Bears’ high-priced demands for ‘infrastructure support’ just another form of subsidy?

Is the Chicago Bears’ Arlington Heights stadium plan truly free of subsidies?

buff.ly

3

Reposted by Brian Mills

Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 5d

I suppose I’m too literal-minded, but I really don’t get these Google Cloud commercials where Google AI finds what are obviously spurious correlations in Major League Baseball stats.

Like isn’t this the whole reason why ML dressed up as AI is bullshit?

15 10 120

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 7d

Starting to think even I could have won a bunch of super bowls as an NFL coach as long as Tom Brady was my QB

2

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 7d

This was just a response to a lot of folks knee jerk saying it’s down b/c private equity

Reposted by Brian Mills

FanGraphs Baseball @fangraphs.com · 8d

InstaGraphs: Job Posting: Baltimore Orioles – Pro Scouting Analyst Fellowship blogs.fangraphs.com/instagraphs/...

Job Posting: Baltimore Orioles - Pro Scouting Analyst Fellowship

The Baltimore Orioles are hiring.

blogs.fangraphs.com

1 3

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 7d

For some reason only just saw this reply! My bad!

1

Reposted by Brian Mills

FanGraphs Baseball @fangraphs.com · 7d

InstaGraphs: Job Posting: Cincinnati Reds – Multiple Openings blogs.fangraphs.com/instagraphs/...

Job Posting: Cincinnati Reds - Multiple Openings

The Cincinnati Reds are hiring.

blogs.fangraphs.com

1 2

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 7d

Only able to skim but seems like a pretty cool paper. Data merging and munging must have been an enormous undertaking!

1 1

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 8d

Worth noting the full context here: "faculty...tend to shift toward more novel research after tenure...with declining hit rates...consistent with higher-risk research allocations...more than half of faculty add a new agenda. The new agendas further exhibit greater novelty for science"

Florian Ederer @florianederer.bsky.social · 8d

Research output after tenure drops off a cliff for business, economics, sociology, and other non-lab fields.

But it remains high post-tenure in lab-based fields such as chemistry, physics, computer science, and engineering.
www.pnas.org/doi/epdf/10....

1 2

Reposted by Brian Mills

FanGraphs Baseball @fangraphs.com · 8d

InstaGraphs: Job Posting: Cleveland Guardians – Baseball Technology Fellow blogs.fangraphs.com/instagraphs/...

Job Posting: Cleveland Guardians - Baseball Technology Fellow

The Cleveland Guardians are hiring.

blogs.fangraphs.com

2 1

Reposted by Brian Mills

FanGraphs Baseball @fangraphs.com · 8d

InstaGraphs: Job Posting: Chicago Cubs – Specialist, Pro Acquisitions blogs.fangraphs.com/instagraphs/...

Job Posting: Chicago Cubs - Specialist, Pro Acquisitions

The Chicago Cubs are hiring.

blogs.fangraphs.com

4

Reposted by Brian Mills

FanGraphs Baseball @fangraphs.com · 8d

InstaGraphs: Job Posting: New York Mets – Multiple Openings blogs.fangraphs.com/instagraphs/...

Job Posting: New York Mets - Multiple Openings

The New York Mets are hiring.

blogs.fangraphs.com

2 1 2

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 8d

bsky.app/profile/laur...

Laura Jedeed @laurajedeed.bsky.social · 8d

I'm sorry: "if I wish to see a virgin on-screen"?

My Favorite Actress Is Not Human
Tilly Norwood doesn’t need a hairstylist, has no regrettable posts, and if you wish to see a virgin on-screen, this is one of your better chances. That’s because she’s AI.

A picture of some AI girl standing on an AI landscape with an AI monster behind her. I'm gonna be so real: she looks about 14

By Tyler Cowen

1

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 8d

I see Tyler Cowen is off being an utter embarrassment again today...

1 1

Reposted by Brian Mills

Brad "Pencil Necked Geek" Humphreys @bradhumphreys.bsky.social · 11d

Interesting long read on in game sports betting. I wonder about the prices offered on in game bets relative to pre game bets.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/b...

The Seductive, and Risky, Power of Live Sports Betting

www.nytimes.com

1 1

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 10d

You have Yamamoto-Snell-Glasnow-Kershaw-Ohtani-Sheehan as your starting rotation. No reason to ever bring in any of these relievers in the playoffs…

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 10d

*1 year for me

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 10d

I am older than Microsoft Excel (?) 🫠

B. David Tyler @drbdt.bsky.social · 10d

Excel turns 40 today. Probably. This is a date-based issue, so we can't be sure if Excel handled it correctly.
techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/excelbl...

Excel Turns 40: Join the Celebration! | Microsoft Community Hub

This year marks a major milestone—Microsoft Excel turns 40! In honor of four decades of innovation, we’re kicking off “40 Days of Excel”, a global community...

techcommunity.microsoft.com

1

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 11d

FYI: this is for Sports Markets & Antitrust Issues discussion day (full disclosure: a very biased toward my friends & colleagues list):

Blair & Wang (2017) - American Needle
Fort (2017) - Rule of Reason
Winfree (2009) - Fan Substitution
Mills & Winfree (2016) - Market Power & Substitution

1

Brian Mills @bmmillsy.bsky.social · 11d

Re-reading Blair & Wang (2017) on American Needle and reminded there is so much good stuff here and explained so clearly and simply. Adding it to the Sport Econ class required reading list (where it should have been all along).

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

Will American Needle Burst the NFL's Balloon?

For decades, the National Football League pooled their intellectual property and issued nonexclusive blanket licenses. No one complained. When the National Football League decided to award an exclusi...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

1 1