How likely will you make the fantasy football playoffs? It’s week 11 of the Fantasy Football season, which means there’s only three more weeks until the Fantasy Football playoffs. All your hard work up to this point – drafting your team, closely following daily fantasy football podcasts and injury reports, and agonizing over who to play in your Flex spot – rests upon what happens in these next few weeks. Continue reading “Monte Carlo Simulation – Fantasy Football playoff predictor”
Tag: Excel
Build a sports league power ratings spreadsheet
Need a way to track results and calculate power ratings for your tennis, ping pong, chess, or video and board game leagues?
As you might guess from much of the content posted over the past couple years, we at Spreadsheetsolving are huge fans of sports and games. There’s something about competition that sharpens the senses and motivates you to do your best. There’s also something satisfying about there being a clear winner and a loser when the game is over.
So what can you do when you’ve organized a group to play tennis, ping pong, magic, etc. and you want a system to track results and assign people ratings based on their match histories?
Continue reading “Build a sports league power ratings spreadsheet”
Is medical school “worth it”? An introduction to Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”)
Finance hiring is down, law school grads are having a tough time finding real law jobs, so what is an ambitious but risk averse college student to do with his or her life these days? Okay, right now the answer is computer science. Yes seriously, do computer science. But let’s pretend it is the year 2001 and the only other option respectable option is medical school. But doesn’t med school take a lot of time (4 years school plus 3-7 years residency/fellowship) and cost a lot of money? How can we figure out if going to med school and not earning doctor money until 7 years from now is worth it financially relative to just entering the workforce and working for those 7 years? Continue reading “Is medical school “worth it”? An introduction to Internal Rate of Return (“IRR”)”
How to analyze a nonprofit Form 990 with a spreadsheet
“The more you give, the more you get, that’s being alive” – The Money Song, Avenue Q
Charitable giving serves a valuable purpose in our society. It allows organizations in health, education, social services and others to provide benefits to people who otherwise couldn’t afford them. It allows people who have built up wealth to give back and make a difference. The federal government even subsidizes charitable giving by allowing donations to be deducted from income reported for taxes (effectively kicking in up to 39.6% of each donation). It’s a great system that is meant to fund those people and organizations in need. At least that is how it should be. Continue reading “How to analyze a nonprofit Form 990 with a spreadsheet”
Will you pay more or less taxes when you get married?
Summer and Fall are generally regarded as “Wedding season,” a time when love and celebration are in the air. December, on the other hand, could be regarded as “Should we get legally married for tax reasons before the end of the year” season, a slightly less romantic affair. Continue reading “Will you pay more or less taxes when you get married?”
Pick up basketball: Should you shoot more 2 pointers or 3 pointers when you play winners’ take?
The NBA basketball season just started last week, and the three point shot is having its moment. Despite some high profile doubters, the Warriors are the reigning NBA champions due to very impressive three point shooting. Also, the total number of three pointers taken in the NBA has steadily risen over the past 35 years.
Is it better to take a three pointer or a two pointer? The theory behind this is pretty simple, and can be done without a spreadsheet. Because a three pointer is worth 50% more than a two pointer, if a team can hit three pointers with at least 2/3 the percentage that they hit two pointers, then they would be better off taking more three pointers. Continue reading “Pick up basketball: Should you shoot more 2 pointers or 3 pointers when you play winners’ take?”
A Simple Fantasy Football Auction Draft Spreadsheet
Last year, we demonstrated how someone can make a fantasy football draft spreadsheet to help make the best decision in each round of a traditional snake draft. While most leagues use snake draft, eventually you might be faced with a league where someone suggests an auction draft. They might cite something like this article to make their case. At first you might feel intimidated, but once you remember that every auction round is just a data driven decision, and that spreadsheets are great at solving data driven decisions, you can build something to give yourself the best chance to succeed! Continue reading “A Simple Fantasy Football Auction Draft Spreadsheet”
Do you want the stock market to go up or down?
At first glance, it sounds like an obvious question – surely it is better when stocks go up, right? From watching the ads on CNBC, it would seem that higher stock prices directly translate into more steak dinners and golf vacations while lower stock prices mean bringing your own peanut butter sandwiches to work (jelly is for bull markets). Continue reading “Do you want the stock market to go up or down?”
Pick your son’s sport based on predicted height and weight
Subtitle 1: Get your son into Harvard through the backdoor of sports! (The other backdoor of legacy is significantly more difficult)
Subtitle 2: Why I might not have chosen baseball if I knew I’d end up weighing 155 pounds
Continue reading “Pick your son’s sport based on predicted height and weight”
How to Steal Baseball Signs with Spreadsheets
Back when I was in 11th grade, I was one of the benchwarmers on the high school baseball team. Aside from needing to be ready to go in for pinch running duties, we also got assigned various tasks like statkeeper, 1st base coach, foul ball retriever and batboy (that one was the worst). Everyone left over got assigned the vague job of sign-stealing. Usually our attempts to steal signs were futile – between the wide array of touches, wipes and tugs, there was just too much going on to really keep track. But what if there were some way of using spreadsheets to enhance our sign-stealing efforts?
Continue reading “How to Steal Baseball Signs with Spreadsheets”
What would the Lakers’ record be if Kobe Bryant was an average shooting guard?
The Lakers are off to a rough start this year – through 9 games they are 1-8, good enough for last place in the Western Conference. In this spreadsheet problem solving example, we’ll use spreadsheets to answer a pertinent question – if the legendary Kobe Bryant played like an average shooting guard, how would the Lakers have fared this year? Continue reading “What would the Lakers’ record be if Kobe Bryant was an average shooting guard?”
Create Study Index Cards in a Spreadsheet
I’m studying for the SAT, ACT, or GRE exam and need to boost my vocabulary. I’m trying to remember important concepts for my chemistry test. I’d like to remember a few algebra formulas (like the Pythagorean Theorem) or geometric proofs. I want to better prepare for my foreign language quiz. Well, we’ve got something for each of you. With the school season well underway, let’s check out effective study tool tailored to your specific goals – all created with a single spreadsheet! Continue reading “Create Study Index Cards in a Spreadsheet”