Sunday, September 4, 2011

An endeavor into fantasy football predictions....

When fantasy football came about, all I could think was: "Who would want to do this?".  I was wrong clearly.  But I still avoided it, choosing to enjoy just watching the game as it is.  Yet, somehow I got myself onto two teams this year!  Being an engineer and someone who enjoys math, I had to try and find a way to draft my players.  I failed miserably at getting anywhere near a model I intended to make, and just drafted live with my friends with no clear strategy other than choose defenses and kickers last. Maybe a model wouldn't work, but I feel I still should try.  I don't have any real hobbies, so maybe this could be something to pursue for awhile.  Things I want to accomplish with this project:

  1. Learn Python, from what I can tell this is a powerful scripting language.  For those of us who use Matlab daily, we know we need something better.  Python seems to have what we Matlabers need
  2. Learn MySQL, I guess this is more of a necessity than a want, but adds to the resume
  3. Develop a Monte Carlo simulation to predict the best team for fantasy football based on past statistics.  Clear this opens up a can of worms with questions like: "How does past performance predict the future?" or "Should I Monte Carlo over match ups between offensive player and defenses on their schedule?".
Clearly I'll need to expand on my goals for number 3 to keep me focused on an end goal. 

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