North Carolina State University Athletics
CARR: Crunching Stats for 4 Decades
10/5/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 5, 2010
BY A.J. CARR
RALEIGH, N.C. -- As a young boy growing up in Baltimore, Roger Warren was fascinated with figures.
When it came to baseball, he was a downright stat rat. He would read Big League batting averages in the newspaper, and an hour later, could still reel them off as if blessed with a photographic memory.
That passion for "playing with numbers" led to a job keeping statistics -- first when he was a student at Wake Forest -- and for the last 40 years at NC State home football games.
Over these four decades, the 78-year old Warren has crunched more numbers than a certified public accountant and is as conscientious about his job as Tom O'Brien is about coaching the Wolfpack.
"You've got to be right; you can't have a mistake,'' said Warren, who taught in the NC State Department of Parks and Recreation for 35 years and served nine years as the head of the department.
FAMILY AFFAIR
Warren leads a veteran stat squad that includes son, Mike, and daughter, Lynn, who have been helping their dad more than 20 years. Long time figure filberts Hubert Fort and Roger Debo are major contributors as well.
Assigned different roles, each one hunkers down in the press box and concentrates like surgeons in an operating room.
• Roger Warren calls out the play -- pass or rush -- and focuses on the yardage gained or lost.
• Mike concentrates on defense, recording the tackles. That can be difficult, especially when several players are involved in a stop.
• Debo identifies the ball carriers and pass receivers.
• Fort mans the computer, punching in all the names and numbers.
• Lynn is Ms. Versatility. She checks the computer for mistakes and fills in at any of the other spots when needed.
"You've got to have a good team to do a good job with statistics,'' Roger Warren said. "They do a great job."
Though intense and meticulous, Roger keeps his composure in the press box, Lynn said.
"He's never hurried, very calm,'' she said. "He's very deliberate and knows the rules. Odd things happen and he spouts right off."
Stat keeping isn't as simple as...well, simple arithmetic. It can be tricky, such as sometimes discerning a forward pass from a lateral, or determining precisely where an interception occurred.
Inclement weather intensifies the challenge. Toughest time Warren recalls was the season State's press box was moved outside while the Vaughn Towers were under construction. There were cold days and sometimes the wind sent stat sheets fluttering like a wobbly pass.
Calm or blustery, rain or shine, Warren says: "It demands attention; you can't let your mind wander. You've got to focus. I don't see a lot of the game. I see what I'm responsible for."
As do his cohorts.
For many years they kept stats manually, made mistakes and struggled to correct them, Warren said. The last decade or so they've used the computer, which enables them to leave the press box about 10 minutes after a game compared to lingering an hour or longer under the former system.
BUTTERFLIES
Even though he has only missed working a "handful" of about 200 home games since 1970, Warren says he still feels a flutter before every kickoff.
"It's a new game,'' he said. "We want to do it right, have a good game."
The crew was particularly challenged during the Philip Rivers era, when the Wolfpack offense was so prolific.
"That's the era I remember most fondly,'' Warren said. "The offense was so innovative you wondered what was coming up next. Philip was an innovator. He did everything imaginable, including throwing behind his back a couple of times.
For the record, Rivers -- now a standout NFL quarterbacking with the San Diego Chargers -- passed for a school- and ACC record 13,484 yards in four seasons with the Wolfpack. When his career was over, he was ranked No. 2 all-time in the NCAA in passing yards.
Now Pack quarterback Russell Wilson has nifty numbers dancing in Warren's head.
QUIRKS & RULES
While the method for determining statistics is generally up to date, Warren suggests colleges adopt the NFL rule relating to quarterback sacks.
He contends a sack should be charged as a loss in passing yardage rather than the rushing stat and offers a simple explanation.
"It's a passing play,'' he said. "The pros do it and I don't hear any rumblings. It seems like a logical thing."
There are some oddities in the manual, Warren noted.
For example, if on the point after attempt, a holder fumbles the ball and then tries to run for a two-point conversion, it is still recorded as a "failed kick."
Also, if the ball is pitched by lateral several times on a kickoff return, the last player to carry the ball is credited with the yardage.
"Wisely done,'' Warren affirmed. "In [the famous] Stanford game, the ball must have changed hands 10 times (on laterals). The manual takes care of that."
To Warren and his team football is more than blocking and tackling, running and kicking, passing and catching.
It's big numbers game with no room for error.
"It's awfully important to do it right, reflect what really happens and do it honestly,'' he said. "The visiting team ought to be just as happy with the stats as the home team. There is no partiality with stats and we work hard to keep it that."
