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mackinaw
Member
| Joined: | Mon Mar 6th, 2006 |
| Location: | Michigan |
| Posts: | 776 |
| Mana: |    |
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Posted: Mon Mar 13th, 2006 12:35 am |
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Some of you will recognize my name from CC, some others would probably more readily recognize the name "anonwp," which I used to use on the PR board and carried over to a group that "escaped" from PR when PR went all to hell (shortly before it was reformatted into virtual oblivion).
I live in Michigan, though I grew up in southern California. I attended college at Reed and Wisconsin (where I met my wife of 36 years!). BTW/ My "avatar" on this site is a griffin, the symbol of Reed College.
My kids are out of college now -- my son graduated from Chicago (economics), my daughter from RISD (industrial design). They're transitioning into work life reasonably well: son is financially independent, and makes a living analyzing and writing about baseball; daughter still requires a partial subsidy to live and work in NYC where she is basically a "freelance" industrial and graphics designer.
I look forward to participating here, though I won't be able to weigh in on a lot of the nitty gritty questions that are of concern to parents whose kids are still involved in the application p;rocess. I can comment, however, on educational policy issues, several colleges and universities that I am familiar with, and perhaps the special issues that arise when someone is deciding between study at a specialized art college vs. a more general college or university.
My congratulations to Carolyn for this initiative.
Last edited on Thu Oct 12th, 2006 01:32 pm by mackinaw
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Just_Me
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| Joined: | Mon Mar 6th, 2006 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 62 |
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Posted: Tue Mar 14th, 2006 12:30 am |
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hi mackinaw
Can you tell me more about your son (i.e. major and how he found his current job)?
At one time, my son was interested in doing the same thing (perhaps he still is). I recall that several colleges offer "Sports Management" programs/degrees.
My son's passion right now seems to be researching and writing about fly fishing (and to a lesser extent, baseball).
Thanks!
Just_Me
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mackinaw
Member
| Joined: | Mon Mar 6th, 2006 |
| Location: | Michigan |
| Posts: | 776 |
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Posted: Tue Mar 14th, 2006 01:11 am |
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Just_me, I'll try to keep this reasonably brief initially and if you have follow-up questions I'll add more. My son majored in economics. His first job after graduating was in a major accounting firm (he did economic analysis, not accounting), for whom he worked for nearly 4 years. That turned out not to be an attractive career path for him, and he didn't want to go on to an advanced degree though he did consider law school and business school for a while.
However, while working at this job he began to develop a system for forecasting hitter and pitcher performance. This project built on his long-term interest in baseball, baseball analysis (and statistics), and fantasy baseball. He had started doing fantasy baseball when he was 9-10 years old. While in college, he did some "freelance" analysis for the leading fantasy baseball website (baseballhq.com) and participated in other on-line discussions of baseball research. This endeavor allowed him to use his strong math skills, computer skills, and writing skills. Once he had a prototype of his forecasting system (while still employed at the accounting firm), he showed it in particular to Baseball Prospectus, which is the leading group involved in "sabermetric" analysis, publishes an annual book (not surprsingly called Baseball Prospectus), and runs a premium (subscription-based) website (http://www.baseballprospectus.com). They liked his forecasting system and "adopted" it, while bringing him on as an analyst/writer. Pretty soon afterwards, he quit his accounting-firm job and went to work "full-time" as executive VP for Baseball Prospectus. This, however, was at a considerable reduction in salary! He makes up the difference and then some by playing online poker (scary, huh? but we became comfortable with it over time -- he's really successful at it). Playing poker involves many of the same skiills as doing baseball projections and analysis: a facility with numbers and an understanding of how a seemingly small advantage in skill can lead to a very substantial winning advantage over the longer run (a season) to a patient player.
So there in a nutshell is how a stats-oriented baseball-loving (sports-loving) kid might parlay his skills into a "career." I have to put quotes on "career" because his baseball analysis and writing still doesn't afford him a substantial income, though it's a living wage and things are moving forward for that organization via book publications, subscriptions to the website, and opportunities to write about baseball in other media (newpapers and magazines). And he has a definite reputation in his profession. It's hard to say where it will end up in a few years, but he's still young (28).
Last edited on Tue Mar 14th, 2006 01:49 pm by mackinaw
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Just_Me
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| Joined: | Mon Mar 6th, 2006 |
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| Posts: | 62 |
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Posted: Tue Mar 14th, 2006 02:57 am |
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mackinaw
That is fascinating!!!
My son sounds a bit like your son. He developed a formula to predict the Cy Young winner and won first place for the math division in our regional science fair when he was in middle school. He does that sabremetric stuff, too.
My son is familar with Baseball Prospectus! He said it has really grown over the past six years....and is one of the best sites in this field. He often reads the free articles on the site.
You must be so proud of your son! Great story!
Just_Me
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mackinaw
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| Joined: | Mon Mar 6th, 2006 |
| Location: | Michigan |
| Posts: | 776 |
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Posted: Tue Mar 14th, 2006 03:39 am |
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Thanks, Just_Me. Yup, we're proud of him. I think "selling" things goes against the philosophy of this board but I think it's appropriate to mention a new book that your son might find interesting, also by the authors of Baseball Prospectus (BP). In addition to their annual (2006) which came out February 28th, last week a book came out edited by Jonah Keri which has 29 essays by BP authors. Each chapter addresses one of the perennial questions in sabermetric analysis. This title is "Baseball Between the Numbers," and is available at good discount on Amazon or Barnes & Noble. My son wrote 6 or 7 chapters of that book.
Last edited on Tue Mar 14th, 2006 03:40 am by mackinaw
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CaneMom
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Posted: Wed Mar 15th, 2006 08:37 pm |
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Hey I know you!  I think I'll just keep calling ya wp if you don't care....Too confusing otherwise!
Just hoping the Morty's steer clear from you here. 
Later!
CM
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mackinaw
Member
| Joined: | Mon Mar 6th, 2006 |
| Location: | Michigan |
| Posts: | 776 |
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Posted: Wed Mar 15th, 2006 08:49 pm |
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Ah yes, I wonder where the Addams Family has gone? Believe it or not, I had nearly forgotten about those ghastly PR posters. I think that if they were to show up here Carolyn would deal them a swift blow. Nice to see ya, CM.
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GoBlueAlumMom
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| Joined: | Sun Mar 5th, 2006 |
| Location: | Michigan |
| Posts: | 58 |
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Posted: Thu Mar 16th, 2006 08:29 pm |
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| Re: Your SN......From living in Michigan, I certainly know what Mackinaw(c) is, where it is, but am curious about it's significance to you. Do you spend your summers on the island? Prefer horses and bikes to cars? Do tell!!
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mackinaw
Member
| Joined: | Mon Mar 6th, 2006 |
| Location: | Michigan |
| Posts: | 776 |
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Posted: Thu Mar 16th, 2006 11:46 pm |
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I am an occasional visitor there. I would love to do the Mackinaw bicycle tour but it always conflicts with my work or professional meetings. But I chose the name Mackinaw because I'm a Michigander (or have been for the past 30 years or so -- both of my kids were born and bred here).
Last edited on Thu Mar 16th, 2006 11:49 pm by mackinaw
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