And now for something that is not Soccer Pythagorean related…

Billy Beane, the subject of the book that spawned the field of sports analytics, will appear at the Leaders in Performance conference in London in October.  He will give one of the keynote speeches to the conference which will consist of close to 300 coaches, managers, and sporting directors of the world's top sports clubs. According to the press release, Beane will talk about ways to identify and select undervalued talent in transfer or trade markets, which will no doubt involve the use of analytics.

The conference is part of a larger conference at Chelsea FC on Leaders in Football which is happening the same weekend.  Leaders in Football may have a larger attendance, but it is no less exclusive as over 1,000 sport executives from the major clubs, domestic leagues, national associations, and confederations will attend.  I'd love to go, but it's invitation-only and my invite seems to have gotten lost in the mail.  Funny that.

This year's conference will have exhibitions by companies that focus on new media and technology integration with sport.  That exhibition will also be exclusive with room for 25 exhibitors and 19 already spoken for.  It's the kind of conference I'd love to make a presence at, but 2010 is perhaps too soon.  Maybe 2011.