Let’s talk about officials for a moment, because to some extent, people who complain about officials are often labeled as cranks, conspiracy theorists, or sore losers. You’ll often here analysts say something to the effect of “had they played better, they would not have left themselves vulnerable to officiating mistakes.”
Over in baseball, a funny thing happened recently. Because of our ability to quantify ball and strike calls, we now know which umpires are good, which are terrible, and how much they impact a game:
What used to be the purview of cranks has been conquered by nerds.