King Kaufman
Encyclopedia
King Kaufman is the current writing program manager at Bleacher Report
and former daily sports columnist for Salon.com
. Kaufman grew up in Los Angeles
, lived for six years in St. Louis
, and moved back to San Francisco in the summer of 2007. In January 2011, King left Salon .
In addition to covering the major American sports leagues and international events such as the Olympics
and the World Cup
, Kaufman's columns often deal with issues related to the state of American sports. Some specific concerns of Kaufman include the role of race in sports and American culture, publicly financed stadium
s, performance enhancing substances
, the inequalities and hypocrisy in the NCAA, and the poor quality of television sports announcing.
His articles feature light-hearted humor, typically with a degree of self-deprecation. A former Angeleno
, he enjoys relating stories of his fond memories of the Dodger
games he listened to as a child.
Annually, he tracks the performance of NFL prognosticators, himself included, along with his son Buster, the "coin-flippinest 4-year-old in North America", who flips coins to randomly predict the outcome of (presumably) closely contested games.
Kaufman has proposed changing the rules of nearly every organized sport, including removal of field goals from American football
, the elimination of free throws from basketball
, and the abolishment of offsides from soccer.
Kaufman is a frequent critic of sports announcers who use shoddy statistics or generally do not care about the sport which they are announcing. He has particular distaste for coverage of Major League Baseball
on the Fox Network, including the playoffs, World Series
and All-Star Game
.
Kaufman, an admirer of sabermetrician Bill James
, made his own contribution to baseball statistics
by creating the Neifi Index http://www.salon.com/news/sports/col/kaufman/2003/06/26/thursday/. Named for infielder Neifi Pérez
, this statistic measures a player's ability to contribute to his team's success by not playing. Introduced as an award that "we, the great whiffing, grounder-booting, sedentary lifestyle-leading masses, wouldn't just have a chance of winning if we were allowed to play. We'd be a lock", the Neifi Index is the difference between a player's team's winning percentage when he does not play and when he does play. It is called the Neifi Index because when Kaufman first computed it, the San Francisco Giants
winning percentage when Pérez did not play was .929, but was only .542 when he did play, thus giving Neifi an index of .387.
Under the stage name the King Teen, Kaufman was the singer for the Smokejumpers, "purveyors of hampster-slappin' punk rockabilly in San Francisco from 1996-2000."
Bleacher Report
Bleacher Report is a website that provides news and fans' opinions of sporting events.The website was launched in February 2008 by California-based entrepreneurs Dave Finocchio, Zander Freund, Bryan Goldberg, and Dave Nemetz...
and former daily sports columnist for Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
. Kaufman grew up in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, lived for six years in St. Louis
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
, and moved back to San Francisco in the summer of 2007. In January 2011, King left Salon .
In addition to covering the major American sports leagues and international events such as the Olympics
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
and the World Cup
FIFA World Cup
The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
, Kaufman's columns often deal with issues related to the state of American sports. Some specific concerns of Kaufman include the role of race in sports and American culture, publicly financed stadium
Stadium
A modern stadium is a place or venue for outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit and view the event.)Pausanias noted that for about half a century the only event...
s, performance enhancing substances
Anabolic steroid
Anabolic steroids, technically known as anabolic-androgen steroids or colloquially simply as "steroids", are drugs that mimic the effects of testosterone and dihydrotestosterone in the body. They increase protein synthesis within cells, which results in the buildup of cellular tissue ,...
, the inequalities and hypocrisy in the NCAA, and the poor quality of television sports announcing.
His articles feature light-hearted humor, typically with a degree of self-deprecation. A former Angeleno
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, he enjoys relating stories of his fond memories of the Dodger
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
games he listened to as a child.
Annually, he tracks the performance of NFL prognosticators, himself included, along with his son Buster, the "coin-flippinest 4-year-old in North America", who flips coins to randomly predict the outcome of (presumably) closely contested games.
Kaufman has proposed changing the rules of nearly every organized sport, including removal of field goals from American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
, the elimination of free throws from basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, and the abolishment of offsides from soccer.
Kaufman is a frequent critic of sports announcers who use shoddy statistics or generally do not care about the sport which they are announcing. He has particular distaste for coverage of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
on the Fox Network, including the playoffs, World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
and All-Star Game
All-star game
An all-star game is an exhibition game played by the best players in their sports league, except in the circumstances of professional sports systems in which a democratic voting system is used...
.
Kaufman, an admirer of sabermetrician Bill James
Bill James
George William “Bill” James is a baseball writer, historian, and statistician whose work has been widely influential. Since 1977, James has written more than two dozen books devoted to baseball history and statistics...
, made his own contribution to baseball statistics
Baseball statistics
Statistics play an important role in summarizing baseball performance and evaluating players in the sport.Since the flow of a baseball game has natural breaks to it, and normally players act individually rather than performing in clusters, the sport lends itself to easy record-keeping and statistics...
by creating the Neifi Index http://www.salon.com/news/sports/col/kaufman/2003/06/26/thursday/. Named for infielder Neifi Pérez
Neifi Pérez
Neifi Neftali Pérez is a Major League baseball player who most recently played for the Detroit Tigers. He played with the Colorado Rockies , Kansas City Royals , San Francisco Giants , and the Chicago Cubs...
, this statistic measures a player's ability to contribute to his team's success by not playing. Introduced as an award that "we, the great whiffing, grounder-booting, sedentary lifestyle-leading masses, wouldn't just have a chance of winning if we were allowed to play. We'd be a lock", the Neifi Index is the difference between a player's team's winning percentage when he does not play and when he does play. It is called the Neifi Index because when Kaufman first computed it, the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
winning percentage when Pérez did not play was .929, but was only .542 when he did play, thus giving Neifi an index of .387.
Under the stage name the King Teen, Kaufman was the singer for the Smokejumpers, "purveyors of hampster-slappin' punk rockabilly in San Francisco from 1996-2000."