As a result, I would like to spend some additional time digging into the existing situation and propose a high-level solution.
Try This
Go to Google and type in "Laurence Maroney Stats" (former University of Minnesota running back). Click on any of the top entries. See how many yards per carry he averaged for the last three seasons? How about the number of carries he had this year? Easy.
Now try this: Go to ncaasports.com and look up the national leader for 'Aces' in Division 1 women's volleyball (here is the link:
http://web1.ncaa.org/stats/StatsSrv/rankings?sportCode=WVB) … Mary Hock from Winthorp.
And finally: Go to Google, ncaasports.com, the Iowa State team site or any other search engine and find returning All-American Nate Gallick's current record this year. Couldn't find it? Me either.
The Current Results Situation
1. No Centralized and Searchable Results
Take a look at the sports that have centralized results and searchable statistics on ncaasports.com. You tell me which of the groupings of college sports you think wrestling should be in?
| Searchable Results / Stats
(The Haves) | No Results / Stats
(The Have Nots) |
| Football
Soccer (Men's and Women's) Volleyball (Women's Only) Basketball (Men's and Women's) Baseball Softball Lacrosse (Men's and Women's) Rowing (Standings Only) | Wrestling
Water Polo (Men's and Women's) Bowling Fencing Rifle Skiing Gymnastics (Men's and Women's) Track and Field Golf (Men's and Women's) Tennis Volleyball (Men's) |
2. Wrestling Results Scattered Across the Web
Wrestling results are sporadically scattered all over the internet -- some wrestling news sources (RevWrestling, Intermat, WrestlingMall, etc.) publish prominent results; college and university Web sites house their own results; and lastly tournament Web sites show results from their respective tournament (usually in bracket format). No single destination has a comprehensive view of NCAA wrestling results. The results are typically incomplete and frequently incorrect. It is very difficult to find a wrestlers match history and feel confident that it is correct.
3. Wrestling Results are Considered Proprietary Information
This is wrong! The results are the results and they are the history of the sport. Results should not be used as a tool for profit. The results are records of events that should be shared across the wrestling community.
Today, wrestling results and match histories are 'semi-owned' by media sources because overall, the wrestling community lacks the infrastructure and resources to keep accurate records in a centralized and shared manner.
4. Wrestling Results and Statistics are an Administrative Nightmare
Anyone that has been involved in recording, compiling, and updating wrestling results will tell you that it is a tedious and thankless job with a high incidence of error. The mistakes and incomplete data add to the black box of collegiate wrestling results. Here are a few of the key players in the wrestling results game:
a. The wrestling manager/statistician -- This person somehow manages the team scorebook while watching 3 matches simultaneously. If he/she misses a takedown, no big deal (or is it) as long as he/she gets the final score right. He/She will also be compiling all of the statistics for the team at the end of the day. These may or may not be made to the public via the team's website or paper stat sheets.
b. The Tournament Director/Staff -- This person completes the bracket sheets ensuring that the correct wrestlers move forward in the championship and drop down into the wrestle backs.
c. The College/University Sports Information Director (SID) -- This person summarizes the match or tournament results and sends them to the wrestling media outlets. The SID may also include a tournament bracket .pdf as supporting documentation.
d. The Wrestling Media Outlet (RevWrestling, InterMat, WIN Magazine, etc.) -- The media gathers wrestling results from SIDs and other sources and either attaches the .pdf tournament results or re-enters the match results. Media outlets (i.e. The Wrestling Mall) trying to capture each individuals match history have an especially cumbersome administrative effort that is worth commending.
5. No Standardized Result Data
What information (exactly) is required to be recorded across all collegiate matches to ensure accurate records are being kept? Just the match result? The win by wrestler A over Wrester B? The time of the fall? Number of takedowns? Choice of Wrestler A in the second period? Number of cautions? If there is a required set of data that needs to be captured for each match, I am unaware of it.
6. The Sport has No Leader Categories
Basic leader categories are missing from the sport. In my opinion, this is a lost opportunity for creating additional buzz in the sport. At a minimum, wrestling fans should be able to know who the national leaders are in the following categories: Wins, Takedowns, Near Fall Points, Technical Falls, and Pins. For example -- who is leading the nation in pins this season? I am guessing Ben Askren, but how can I be sure? And if it is Ben Askren, how close is he going to come to the all-time record for pins in a season?
The Idea
Before I get drilled by some technical architect, database administrator, or some other technical guru, let me just start by saying I am NO expert. I am just trying to lay out a conceptual idea for the entry, storage, and retrieval of wrestling results.
I am proposing that the wrestling community move to a centralized results repository that is open to all entities interested in wrestling results and match history. The repository would be administered by a non-profit organization whose goal is to promote the sport of collegiate wrestling.
Here is a high-level diagram of the idea:
The Results Entry
No one has the bandwidth or resources to manually enter all wrestling results across the country. Everyone interested in wrestling results needs to be involved.
In my opinion, the primary responsibility for updating results into the shared repository would be the Sports Information Director (SID) for the home college/university. Simple -- the match gets over and the college designee (intern, team manager, SID) enters the result. But at the end of the day, the SID is responsible for ensuring the entry happens.
We also know that not all college SIDs/or college designees are going to ensure that the results are updated. We will need a back-up layer of resources for data entry. This is where the 'Super Fan' comes in.
The 'Super Fan' is an approved entry point for statistics. He/She is someone who is a close follower of the sport who will take pride in ensuring that their favorite team and/or conference has the most up to date results. When they see missing results, they take the lead to enter them.
For example, you can bet that I am going to be sure my former Wisconsin wrestling conference has their results updated. If they are not, I will take the lead to gather them, and get them updated into the shared repository. Why? Because it is good for the sport!
As a third data entry point, I think that interfaces should be built that allow the tournament tracking software (Escape Sports, etc.) to update the results repository upon the completion of a tournament. This would save a significant amount of manual entry for everyone else.
The Repository
The database and data needs to be owned by an organization that is independent of the colleges, universities, and media outlets. Maybe the database is owned by the 'Super Fans' to ensure completeness and accuracy. The key point is that it needs to be independent to ensure it will always be shared and free from 'for profit' ideas.
The Administrators of the database will be responsible for handling conflicting result entries, data clean-up, and general database administration functions. It will not be their job to gather and input the data. They keep and maintain the data and make it useable to fans, universities/colleges, and media.
Back to my earlier point, the minimum fields that make up a wrestling result will need to be determined and used as a starting point for the data model. If I were putting it together today, I would require the following fields (at a minimum):
-- Date
-- Event (Dual Meet or Tournament)
-- Winning Wrestler and Team
-- Losing Wrester and Team
-- Final Score
-- Time of Fall (if occurred)
Results Retrieval
The entered results will be easily accessible to fans via standard reports such as "Current Win Leaders", or "Record for all Big Ten 125-pound wrestlers". Fans will also have the ability to query the database and perform searches specifically for the data they want to analyze.
Another beauty of the shared results repository is that instead of trying to update every score, incur the cost of data entry, and deal with the administrative nightmare - a set of web services would be made available to university and media Web sites that would allow them to ask for and retrieve (in an automated fashion) the results data that they would like to display. The site that receives the data will only have to focus on what to display and how to display it.
In Conclusion
I have to say it one more time -- in my opinion, wrestling results should not be considered proprietary information!
They need to be shared across the sport for the greater good of the sport. They need to be accurate, timely, and comprehensive. They also need to be searchable and provide the ability for "Leader" categories in the sport.
The solution presented above is by no means cutting edge, or technically innovating, or even necessarily the right answer -- but we as a wrestling community have a real problem with our results and history that needs to be addressed.
Anyone ready to take the lead!?!
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