Structured research · Sports

A score is a fact. Everything said about it is a claim. The research the record can actually support — and one number that keeps its own scorecard.

The interesting part of a result is rarely the result. This is research for the beat writer, the front-office analyst, the scout and the serious fan that works the after-action question — which decisions held, which broke down, where the game actually turned — beside the cap sheet, the transaction line, the CBA article and the official final. Predict anchors on a rating maintained nightly and is graded by code against the box score the morning after, so the number carries its own record.

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July 20, 2026SportsPublished

Spain 1–0 Argentina — 2026 World Cup Final, Extra Time

Spain's midfield trio of Rodri, Fabián Ruiz, and Pedri completed 647 passes to Argentina's 337 — a structural suffocation that made the 106th-minute winner inevitable.

What came back
  • Emiliano Martínez set a World Cup final record with 11 saves but could not stop Ferran Torres' driven finish in the 106th minute after Enzo Fernández's red card destroyed Argentina's defensive structure.
  • Spain's midfield unit monopolized possession and limited Argentina to zero shots on target across 120 minutes, the first team in World Cup final history to achieve zero shots in a final.

Real sports research from the public library, shown as it was published. The stamps and the sources are the product.

Who comes here

The questions sports research is built to answer.

Each one is a question a specialist actually brings, and each is answered by a scan this domain carries — not a generic report with the name swapped in.

Beat writer

What actually decided the game — the plan, the execution, or the break?

Answered byGame Analysis
Front-office analyst

What are the options on this roster and this cap, and what does each one cost over three seasons?

Scout

Where does this player’s production come from, and does it travel to a new system?

Answered byScouting Report
Serious fan

What does the record say about this matchup — and how good has the number been at this?

Answered byPredict
How it holds up

What a sports scan rests on.

Every judgment carries a grade for how it is actually known, every figure carries who reported it, and the structured record below is read on every scan before the model writes a word.

What grounds itESPN scores, standings, college polls and injury reports — six legs, none needing a key — plus the leagues’ own releases, the Reference sites and credentialed beat reporting through live search. Sportsbooks and tip sites are blocked as sources outright.
The number with a recordPredict anchors on an Elo/Log5 rating maintained nightly, layered with rest, form, injury, travel and head-to-head adjustments; the betting market’s implied probability sits beside it as a labeled reference, never as advice. Every game prediction is graded by code against the official final the morning after, and your hit rate, Brier score and calibration build on the Predict page.
What it will not doNo picks, no spreads as a wager, no sportsbook as a destination. The market is one prior among several; the research is the product.
Every claim comes back stamped
VERIFIED GROUNDED PARTIAL CONTESTED GAP
Live search is steered toward
reuters.comapnews.comespn.comtheathletic.comsi.comcbssports.comnbcsports.comfoxsports.combbc.comskysports.comtheguardian.comtelegraph.co.uk

44 first-tier sources for sports, and 31 blocked outright. Search results are one input; every figure is graded on where it came from, not on being found. How the grades work →

How FLOW reads it

Sized for sports, in sports’s own terms.

Scale here is how much of the season, the franchise or the league a storyline touches — and Complexity is how much of the outcome the record can actually explain.

ABackground Noise

Small impact, easy to understand. A routine storyline with limited wider significance.

BWorth Tracking

Real franchise weight and the implications are clear. You can see where this is heading.

CThe Interesting Analysis

Real stakes with genuine uncertainty. This could play out in multiple directions — cap moves, trades, or locker room dynamics make the outcome hard to predict.

DTHE Story

Very high stakes at franchise or league level. The magnitude makes this the dominant storyline, regardless of how simple or complex the situation is.

SLegacy-Defining

No precedent. The kind of moment that reshapes a franchise era or the league itself.

Rule 1 · FLOW C cannot exist at franchise scale

When franchise-level weight grows to large scale, FLOW C reclassifies to FLOW D immediately. The situation shifts from 'interesting analysis' to 'the dominant story.'

Rule 2 · Scale alone drives FLOW D

Large franchise-level weight means FLOW D regardless of complexity. A simple, well-understood situation that carries franchise-wide implications is FLOW D, not FLOW A.

Rule 3 · When debating D vs S — use D

FLOW A and B differ only in scale (both low complexity). FLOW S is legacy-defining — max 1-2 per analysis. The test: will this be in the documentary?

One vocabulary across every domain — a FLOW D here reads at the same weight as a FLOW D in any other — so the classification travels, and so does your judgment. The framework in full →

The catalog · Sports

57 scans, grouped by the move you’re making.

7 ways in, then the rest of the catalog organised as the Sports workbench organises it — establish the background, map the argument, work the record, analyse the connections, decide what to do. Every one comes back graded, sourced and exportable.

Start here

The 7 ways in
Event ScanAnalyze a trade, signing, injury, or league development
AskGet a direct answer to any question
Why They Did ItWhy the front office really made that move
Game AnalysisBreak down a played game — how each team did, turning points, what's next
PredictWho wins? Structured prediction with probability
Sports BusinessThe sports economy — rights, sponsors, valuations
News SearchFind and analyze recent sports coverage

Review

7 scans
Decision ReviewWas the trade, hire, or pick the right call?
Track RecordA GM, coach, or pundit's calls vs. results
Method StudyA scheme or technique — how it's really run
Options AppraisalRoster or gear choices, scored on your terms
Fact GridA stats-and-facts table for your own list
Read GridApproach read from the transaction record
Document BreakdownA report or filing in hand, claims checked

Analyze

8 scans
MatchupHead-to-head team comparison
Scouting ReportAn opponent's exploitable weaknesses
Consensus CheckWhat the lines and pundits expect — and why
League LandscapeThe field of a league, conference, or rights market
Team/Player ProfileDeep profile of a team or player
Team DossierFull franchise picture — roster, form, outlook
PersonProfile a specific player, coach, or executive
ProfileStrengths, pros/cons, or roads/barriers for a team

Act

2 scans
Front Office OptionsThe moves a front office, program or league could actually make — with the tradeoffs
Exposure ReadWhere a roster, a cap sheet, a program or a league is exposed, and what breaks first

Explore

11 scans
What IfWhat happens if this plays out
Uncertainty MapThe real unknowns — and what would settle them
Fan TalkHot takes and fan debate
Poll CheckWhat the polls say — pollster named, spread kept
The DebateBoth sides of a sports argument, steelmanned
Sports MythsFan beliefs checked against the record
Watch ListPlayers and trades to watch for
Catalyst CalendarDeadlines, windows, and dates shaping the season
Comparable GamesFind historical matchups or seasons that parallel
Where They StandWho holds what position on a CBA, a format, a rule — union, league, owners, broadcasters
Trend TrajectoryWhere a tactical, statistical or business trend really sits on its arc

Background

9 scans
Season TimelineHow the season or saga unfolded, dated
Season OutlookHow the season got here — the causal spine, projected forward
Case StudyA game, season, or deal worked as a case
Key PlayersThe people who decide it, on and off the field
By the NumbersThe key stats behind a team or debate
Follow the MoneyPayroll, contracts, and who profits
How It WorksHow the cap, draft, or transfer window actually works
The RulebookWhat the CBA, rulebook, or ruling actually says
Why the Number MovedWhy a stat, a rating, a payroll or an attendance figure actually moved

Markets

3 scans
Deal FlowFranchise sales, PE stakes, rights and sponsorship deals — terms as filed
Regulatory MapBetting licensing, NIL, FFP, anti-doping — every rule around the activity
Case FileAntitrust, grievances, arbitration, CAS appeals — the docket, by posture

In Their Words

3 scans
On the RecordWhat they actually said — verbatim, sourced, on the record
The MomentOne moment reconstructed — the drive, the call, the collapse
PlaybookThe concrete how-to — steps, prerequisites, pitfalls

Connections

3 scans
Network MapCoaching trees, agent networks, ownership groups
Rivalry & TiesA rivalry, a player-coach tie, a club and its feeder
League & Org DossierThe league, agency, broadcaster or ownership group behind it

Investigate

3 scans
InquiryVerified deep research on any sports question
SynthesisWhat your scans on a subject add up to together
BriefingCompile your own scans into one decision-ready brief

Tools

1 scan
ThinkingSWOT, pre-mortem, decision matrix — a named framework on a roster, a deal, or a season

Don’t know which one you need? The Router reads a plain question and picks one; the Planner takes a goal and designs a linked sequence. Every completed scan opens onto its own follow-ups — ask it a question, re-check what has changed, red-team its judgments, or push a signal onto your watchboard.

What leaves with you
Citations · BibTeX · RIS · CSL-JSONPDF · print-grade, branded coverPublic link · read-only, revocableMarkdown · for Slack, Notion, emailAudio · to a personal podcast feedSummary deck · ready to post

And the Studio turns a set of sports scans into a planned, researched, edited report or book. Every format →

The game, on the record.

Open the sports workbench with a matchup, a roster, a transaction or a season. What comes back is graded, sourced, and — for Predict — scored.

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