Serena Williams recently ran into some trouble after advancing into the U.S. Open semifinals against Kim Clijsters. Being two points from elimination in the second set, Serena double faulted and unleashed a tirade upon the line judge that ruled the foot fault, vowing to take the ball and shove it down her throat (to put it lightly). She was subsequently penalized, resulting in a lost match point and early tournament exit.

While it obviously prevented Serena from triumphing in the tournament, it might not have hurt her literary career. Already offering up her autobiography earlier this month, Serena now had the perfect opportunity to make a few final changes, bringing on rage expert John McEnroe for a tidy foreword for the newly re-titled On the Line (And Down Your Throat): A Story of Love, Lies, and Line Judges.

Just be sure not to piss her off at the book signing.

After owning the book for a couple of years now and much delayed reading, I finally got a chance to enjoy James Surowiecki‘s The Wisdom of Crowds. Not sure why it took me so long to get around to it. I definitely picked it up and started reading on multiple occasions, only to get sidetracked and ultimately starting from the beginning the next time I gave it a shot. And while it has been a few years since the original publication of the book, pretty much everything inside withstands the test of time.

On the surface, it’s a non-fiction work presenting many psychological and economic topics and theories. Come to think of it, this may have been what kept me away for a while, since I was on a fairly heavy fiction binge. Time to break the habit sooner or later, I suppose.

Surowiecki argues throughout that a group’s collective decision making is better and more accurate than it’s individuals, no matter how smart those individuals are. When groups act together, they typically have the greater good in mind and collaborate to produce more accurate, effective, meaningful information and results.

So how does any of this cross over into the world of sports? Well, the book is chock full of examples, stories, and anecdotes that strengthen the argument, provide counterpoints, and just serve to entertain.

NFL Decision Making

As wise as crowds may be, sometimes they act against logical, conventional wisdom. Tradition certainly plays a part in this, and it’s as true in the NFL as anywhere else.

Surowiecki cites, as an example, Super Bowl XXXVI. The St. Louis Rams were favored over the New England Patriots. Being critiqued were the conservative, yet conventional play calls by head coach Mike Martz. Martz kept opting to kick field goals when faced with 4th down situations. In the early going, the Rams got 3 points this way, but failed to convert a field goal in another opportunity.

David Romer, a University of California-Berkeley economist, actually devised a method of analyzing the best 4th down strategy.

He had figured out the value of a first down at every single point on the field

Based on the field position of the Rams when they kicked field goals, the expected values of going for it on 4th down were greater than their chances of kicking the field goals.

Obviously, this fails to take many factors into account such as momentum, but those variables aside, football was reduced to a science. A science that the masses have yet to embrace. Slowly but surely, a system such as this one could be adopted. The same revolution occurred in baseball with Billy Beane and Moneyball, so why not football too? Even when the crowd is wrong, you can trust that they’ll eventually get it right.

Cooperation Problems in Soccer

While crowds truly can be collectively wise, if they are not working together, little is accomplished. This is the crux of the problems with Italian soccer. In what is arguably the greatest take on the matter that I have ever heard, Surowiecki explains that it’s “myopic self-interest” that is to blame for the excessive flopping, whining, and injury-faking that soils Serie A.

It would be in their best interests to simply play a fluid, entertaining game and put on a good show for the fans. After all, they’re the ones buying the tickets and apparel and paying your salaries. It would be mutually beneficial for two teams to not be so self-interested to try and squeak out a 1-0 win, collapsing like a pile of bricks after the slightest semblance of contact so as to get closer to the final whistle.

The Bowling Bubble

We’ve all heard of stock market bubbles in the news. But what exactly are they? Surowiecki explains them as “textbook examples of collective decision making gone wrong.” And it just so happens that bowling, one of America’s pastimes, was the focal point of such a bubble some decades ago.

Bowling took off in the 1950s, as companies such as AMF shifted their focus from war efforts to leisurely ones. The automatic pinsetter was an instant success, and shortly thereafter, bowling alleys were the place to be. The word on Wall Street was that “the popularity of the sport would grow as fast in the future as it did during the fifties, [and] that soon every American would be bowling two hours a week.”

Ask yourself how often you bowl now. Or even when the last time you bowled was. Yeah – looks like that may have been a bit of an overstatement. Shortly after the initial hype, bowling stocks went back down to normal, and the bubble had burst.

Beacons of Hope

Come to think of it, all the sports references in The Wisdom of Crowds were fairly negative ones. They didn’t do much in reaffirming that collective decision making is indeed beneficial. By now your interest must be piqued and surely you want a copy of your own to read. While this was a somewhat tough review to write merely focusing on sports, the book is essential. It is an idea book that belongs on your bookshelf that you will be leafing back through for years to come.

James Surowiecki does an excellent job grabbing and holding the readers attention. From the sports stories I mentioned to others that range from weight-judging contests to how to clothing retailer Zara is gangster, there’s something for everyone. Rest assured that there are plenty of stories and examples of how this thesis works, not just the contradictions I mentioned. You’ll believe in the wisdom of crowds so much that you’ll dive right off a bridge since everyone else is doing it. Well, maybe not, but you’ll at least figure there’s gotta be some pennies down there or something.

News recently broke that highly regarded sideline reporter Erin Andrews was rushed to the hospital after taking a ball to the chin at Citi Field. Luckily, no big harm came of the incident.

Shocking picture of the aftermath.

Hey, everyone in the blogosphere was thinking the same thing. I just happened to be the one to properly illustrate it. I’m surprised Perez Hilton didn’t beat me to the punch, but I guess anything in the world of sports is outside his area of expertise.

Keeping in the spirit of trying to promote and improve my site, the Sports Tsar is now a proud member of Sports Blog Net.

What is SBNet, you say? Here’s the scoop straight from the horse’s mouth:

Sports Blog Net is currently built on the principal of making all blogs in the network as successful as possible. Both in terms of money and traffic. We want sports fans to Discover, Read, Write, and Build.

• Read all the quality blogs in the network
• Write for a blog in the network
• Discover new blogs
• Build a new free sports blog
• Join the network as an additional revenue and traffic source for your sports blog

Our goals are to get all the small blogs out to the masses, give new bloggers the ability to get the exposure they are looking for, and give sports fans a destination that they want to visit everyday.

If you’re a blogger, I recommend heading over to check it out. When I went through their directory, I was pleased to find some of my favorite blogs that I follow already on there as well. It’s a friendly, quaint community that I already feel very welcome in. Thanks, guys!

Roger Federer advances into the French Open final, where he’s glad he won’t be facing Rafael Nadal for a change. Federer with the impressive 5 set comeback win against Juan Martin del Potro.

Kudos to LOLJocks for the SNL-inspired captions.

Fox Sports West has really gone downhill. Don’t they have poker show reruns to fill in the gaps in programming? Apparently I can no longer leave the television at this channel after watching a game without waking up to an anal surprise (that’s what she said).

What do I even tag this as without initiating a stream of traffic from gay sex searches?

…

Fine I welcome the gay sex traffic. Please click the ads while you’re here. No on Prop 8!

After his epic win over Roger Federer at Wimbledon, racqueteer Rafael Nadal subjected his new hardware to his strange tradition of the trophy bite. Not many people know where this originated from, but here is some totally unfounded speculation that you can pretend to pass off as fact:

1. Reality Check

The powers that be of the worldwide tennis institution are a stingy bunch. Nadal is smart to in fact verify the composition of each prize. No one wants to go five sets against Federer only to get some flimsy aluminum.

2. Mineral Deficiency

With as busy of a schedule as Rafael’s, what with winning the French Open and now Wimbledon, its tough to find time to run out to the store for a fresh supply of Flintstones vitamins. Anemia is not conducive to being a champion. Nadal needs his iron.

3. Claiming His Property

No one’s gonna want that thing if it has my bite marks on it, right? Furthermore, if Federer tries to steal this latest Wimbledon trophy to pass off as his own, the dental records will always prove otherwise…

4. Teething

Nadal is a youngin, having just turned 22 last month. I’m no pediatrician, but perhaps its time for his deciduous teeth? From the angle of his bite, it is likely that his lateral incisors are coming in. (Kudos to Wikipedia for the dental jargon)

5. ¡Muy Delicioso!

Trophies are a delicacy in any culture, and they go great with sangria! There’s sure to be plenty of it flowing after Nadal’s first Wimbledon championship. Congrats, kid!

Ohhh the joys of having DVR.

During last night’s UFC 86 event, Josh Koscheck took on Chris Lytle in a welterweight bout.

Lytle was getting bloodied all over the place, having his head smeared on the ground, turning Koscheck’s dreamy blonde locks pink, but best of all even managed to get his blood on the camera.

Going back in super slow motion, twas amazing to see the exact Koscheck punch that splattered one of the ringside cameras with blood. Definitely, definitely memorable.

Tsarist subjects, today is May 1st. Not just any old Thursday, not Alfonso Soriano‘s return to the Chicago Cubs lineup, but something far more important: RSS Awareness Day!

For those not in the know, RSS stands for Rich Site Summary. It’s the little orange broadcasty icon you see on all your favorite blogs, including this one. Yes that’s right – middle column here – top of page – Spread Tsarist Dictum via RSS. My witty attempt to try and develop readership.

RSS feeds are a great way to stay up on a lot of blogs at once. You click the little orange button or subscribe via e-mail (also available on this page) and every blog post from every site you subscribe to will get delivered to one easily accessible location.

I personally swear by Google Reader. I use a GMail account and can access the latest posts on my favorite blogs wherever I go this way. There are other options as well, such as having them sent to whatever e-mail address you prefer, viewing them in your web browser, or downloading RSS software. For more specific info, check out this goodness.

Anyways, SUBSCRIBE TO MY RSS FEED, DAMMIT. It’s simple, easy, and other non-threatening adjectives as well. A highly recommended way to stay current with the blogosphere. DO IT.

This just caught my eye on ESPN amidst all of the March Madness hoopla. This is likely the first and last time I’m writing a post relating to Swimming, but it sparked something inside me and I felt it warranted mentioning.

Apparently, they swim in Europe this time of year. Beyond this, swimming competitions are even organized. In the Netherlands. Oh, I’m just receiving word that this is done indoors and is thus more feasible. Scratch that… I once swam as well. I should know this.

So the stage is set: the European Swimming Championships are set. A dapper young Milorad Cavic of Serbia steps up on the podium to receive the gold for the 50 meter butterfly. He unveils a t-shirt that reads: “Kosovo is Serbia”

Hmmm…. touchy…

For those of you with your heads up your philistine asses, shit is going down again in the Balkans. Seeing as how they are terribly nationalistic and have a proclivity for killing each other, this public display is slightly problematic.

I’m not trying to take one side over another on this. I recognize Balkan relations are fragile and whatnot, but this incident really is a bit silly.

With the unveiling of his t-shirt, Cavic was banned from further competition at the event. The Serbian Swimming Federation was also fined $10,800.

I don’t get it.

It’s not like the kid was a shady looking character carrying some rocks while walking up and down the Kosovo border adorned in this garb. He’s a swimmer. In the Netherlands. Hell, he was born in ANAHEIM.

Cavic said that he was “devastated” by the outcome and was merely trying to send “positive energy” to his country.  Fair enough, no?

Call off the hounds and reinstate the kid. This is totally harmless and they definitely made it a bigger deal than need be by taking such actions. Just let it go.