The brain of the world's largest sports media company is the ESPN Stats & Information Group, the behind-the-scenes crew of impossibly dedicated experts responsible for every stat, trend, and non-stupid talking point that makes it onto an ESPN platform. Here's your chance to see if your sports knowledge is even in the same ballpark.
Below, you'll find a test taken by all job applicants to the Stats & Info Group. It gauges your proficiency in: 1) Calculating basic statistics; 2) Proofreading box scores for errors; 3) Spelling athletes' names; 4) Scoring plays; 5) Naming major sporting events; 6) Matching athletes to their sports; 7) Matching pro athletes to their colleges; and 8) Matching athletes to their teams.
Real applicants have 45 minutes to complete and return the exam, which is handed out via email. They are allowed to use the internet, which is remarkably logical—no Stats & Info employee is expected to know everything by heart. But if you'd like a true challenge, give it a shot without looking things up.
Instructions:
1. Make sure you have received all sections
2. Once we go over the directions, you have 45 minutes to complete the assessment.
3. Let's say in one section there are five questions and you only answer one question and leave the other four questions blank, we are going to count the other four questions in that section as wrong. So if you answer one question in one section, make sure you answer all the questions in that section.
4. We are looking for you to complete as many correct responses as possible; obviously we will grade you on any incorrect responses as well.
5. You can use a calculator, the Internet, resources and reference materials. Make sure the source is reliable. If the source is wrong and you enter a wrong answer, you will get docked for a wrong answer.
6. Each section has different instructions and different expectations. Make sure you read the directions in each section.
7. You can either reply this email right back to me or you can cut & paste this document into a word format. Doesn’t matter, just so long as we know what answers go to what sections.
8. After going through all of these instructions we will agree upon a 45 minute deadline.
9. Email your responses before your deadline and good luck!
Section 1
THE NUMBERS GAME
The Data Group deals with statistics and statistical formulas. In order to ensure 100% accuracy, we must understand the formulas to get the stats correct. Compute the following stats:
Baseball
1. Who has the BETTER ERA and what is their ERA?
Randy Wilson 100.1 IP, 54 ER
Mike Scott 30 IP, 15 ER
ANSWER:
Basketball
1. Mike Scott shoots 8-for-19 from the field, 3-for-5 from 3 point range, and goes 5-for-6 from the free throw line. How many points does he have, and what is his field goal percentage?
ANSWER:
Football
1. Green Bay scored 42 touchdowns, made 35 extra points, made six 2-point conversions, made 36 field goals and had 2 safeties … Miami scored 40 touchdowns, made 36 extra points, made two 2-point conversions, made 41 field goals and had 3 safeties. How many points did each team score and which team scored more points?
ANSWER:
Hockey
1. Philadelphia scored 263 goals and allowed 253 goals in a season. What is team’s Goals for Average and Goals against Average?
ANSWER:
Section 2
PROOFREADING BOXSCORES
Box scores from most major leagues (NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB) and colleges are usually correct, but we must always verify their accuracy. For the final boxes to be complete, we must find any inaccurate stat(s) and modify accordingly.
Find the three mistakes in each box score
NBA BOX SCORE
TORONTO (104)
Bosh 7-15 4-4 18, Peterson 2-5 2-2 7, Bonner 5-12 0-0 12,
James 10-15 0-2 26, Rose 3-11 11-12 17, Villanueva 6-10 1-2 13,
Calderon 1-4 2-2 4, Graham 1-2 0-0 3, Sow 1-2 2-3 4,
E. Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 36-76 22-27 104.
LA LAKERS (122)
Brown 1-5 1-2 3, Odom 1-7 5-6 8, Mihm 5-8 2-3 12, Parker
5-11 2-2 13, Bryant 28-46 18-20 81, George 0-4 0-0 0, Vujacic
1-5 0-0 2, Walton 0-1 0-0 0, Cook 1-1 0-0 2, Green 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 42-88 28-33 122.
Toronto 36 27 22 19 - 104
LA Lakers 29 20 42 31 - 121
3-Point Goals - Toronto 11-20 (Peterson 1-3, Bonner 2-6,
James 6-8, Rose 0-2, Graham 1-1), LA Lakers 10-23 (Odom 1-2,
Parker 1-5, Bryant 7-13, Vujacic 1-3). Fouled Out - Bosh.
Rebounds - Toronto 27 (Bosh , LA Lakers 51 (Brown, Odom 10).
Assists - Toronto 20 (James 10), LA Lakers 18 (Odom 7). Total
fouls - Toronto 27, LA Lakers 24
MISTAKES:
1)
2)
3)
NCAA BOX SCORE
FLORIDA (73)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
C Brewer 37 4-12 1-3 3-7 4 3 11
J Noah 33 7-9 2-2 2-9 3 2 16
A Hoford 24 5-8 4-5 2-7 3 2 14
T Green 36 1-9 0-1 0-4 8 1 2
L Humphrey 36 4-8 3-3 0-1 2 1 15
A Moss 10 3-6 3-4 2-6 0 0 9
W Hodge 12 0-3 0-0 0-1 1 1 0
C Richard 12 2-3 2-2 0-0 0 3 6
__________________________________________________ ___
TOTALS 201 26-58 15-20 9-35 21 13 73
__________________________________________________ ___
Percentages: FG-.448, FT-.750. 3-Point Goals: 5-19, .263
(C Brewer 2-3, T Green 0-7, L Humphrey 4-8, W Hodge 0-1).
Team Rebounds: 0. Blocked Shots: 10 (J Noah 6, A Hoford 2,
C Richard, C Brewer). Turnovers: 6 (J Noah 2, C Brewer 2,
A Hoford, T Green). Steals: 7 (C Brewer 3, W Hodge 2,
J Noah, T Green).
UCLA (57)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
C Bozeman 25 2-3 5-6 0-3 3 2 9
L Mbah a Moute 32 3-9 0-0 3-10 1 4 6
R Hollins 26 4-10 2-2 5-10 0 2 10
J Farmar 34 8-21 1-2 0-2 4 2 18
A Afflalo 32 3-10 2-2 0-2 1 2 10
D Collison 21 0-3 0-0 1-3 1 3 0
A Aboya 14 1-1 0-2 2-3 1 2 2
L Mata 9 1-4 0-0 2-5 0 3 2
M Roll 7 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
__________________________________________________ ___
TOTALS 200 22-61 10-14 13-38 12 22 57
__________________________________________________ ___
Percentages: FG-.361, FT-.714. 3-Point Goals: 3-17, .176
(L Mbah a Moute 0-2, J Farmar 1-8, A Afflalo 2-7). Team
Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 1 (R Hollins). Turnovers: 12
(A Afflalo 3, D Collison 3, C Bozeman 2, J Farmar 2,
R Hollins, L Mata). Steals: 3 (J Farmar 2, A Afflalo).
-----------------------------------
FLORIDA 36 37 - 73
UCLA 25 32 - 57
-----------------------------------
Technical fouls: None. A: 43,168. Officials: James
Burr, John Cahill, Tony Greene
MISTAKES:
1)
2)
3)
Section 3
SPELLING
There are rare times when a name is misspelled. If this occurs, we must know what looks different, especially when entering rosters.
WRITE “YES” OR “NO” IF THE ATHLETE’S NAMES ARE SPELLED CORRECTLY. IF NO, THEN PLEASE WRITE THE CORRECT SPELLING.
Johnny Peralta
Amare Stoudemire
Ashley Lelie
Dwayne Wade
Sheldon Williams
Scott Niedermayer
Mark Buerhle
T.J. Houshmandzadeh
Joe Nemecheck
Tony Kanaan
Garrett Anderson
Teddy Bruschi
Helio Castronieves
Section 4
SCORING PLAYS
Part of the job is scoring a game. Read the examples and score the plays:
Baseball
Runners are on first and third base with one out. Ground ball to third base, third basemen throws home and catcher tags out runner from third base. Catcher throws to first base where the batter is called out at first base. Score the play …
ANSWER:
Football
New York punts the ball from its own 35-yard line. The ball is caught at the Dallas 18-yard line and is returned to the Dallas 27-yard line. How many yards did the ball travel and what is the NET average?
ANSWER:
Golf
Tiger Woods starts the Par-5 18th Hole by hitting his first shot 325 yards. The second shot goes 175 yards into a bunker. His third shot out of the bunker goes 24 yards, or 3 feet from the hole. The fourth shot goes in the hole. What is his score relative to par for that hole and what is the specific terminology for his score?
ANSWER:
Tennis
Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are tied 6-6 in the final set. In order for the set and match to be completed, they will play a tiebreaker. How many points will it take to decide a winner?
ANSWER:
Section 5
MAJORS
There are four majors for each of these sports. For tennis, name the event and the surface on which the event is played. For golf, just name the event.
Tennis
1.
2.
3.
4.
Golf
1.
2.
3.
4.
Section 6
WHAT SPORT DO I PLAY?
Write the sport next to the athlete
Martin Truex Jr.
Jermain Taylor
James Blake
Andrea Bargnani
Dawn Staley
Miroslav Klose
Lorena Ochoa
Jeremy Sowers
Duncan Keith
Nick Barnett
Chris Burke
Jeff Halpern
Dario Franchitti
Section 7
ESPNU
WRITE THE NAME OF THE COLLEGE EACH ATHLETE ATTENDED BELOW
Allen Iverson
Brett Favre
Vince Young
Tamika Catchings
Chris Drury
Ray Lewis
Grant Hill
Kevin Garnett
Reggie Bush
Donovan McNabb
Jason Kidd
Section 8
WHAT TEAM DO I PLAY FOR?
Write the team most recently associated with the player
Daunte Culpepper
Charlie Villanueva
Peter Forsberg
Keith Brooking
Jarome Iginla
Leandro Barbosa
Deron Williams
Muhsin Muhammad
Marion Barber III
Larry Hughes
--- END OF ASSESSMENT ---