The Capitals have a Facebook Messenger bot, and it has an attitude

by Scott Allen, Washington Post

Sports Illustrated’s NFL bot lets you talk trash to friends and follow your favorite team

by Khari Johnson, Venture Beat

Washington Post bot gets a floor exercise in Rio

by Chava Gourarie, Columbia Journalism Review

AP now automates news for most minor league baseball games

by Billy Steele, Engadget

How the NBA is tapping a Facebook Messenger bot to serve up custom replays

by Ina Fried, recode

Behind Flap Over Football GIFS, Questionable Calls

by Scott Graham, The Recorder

A Better 4th Down Bot: Giving Analysis Before the Play

by Trey Causey,Josh Katz, and Kevin Quealy, The Upshot @ nytimes.com

Tennessee anti-ticket bot law has no prosecutions

Enforcing the law is complicated for a variety of reasons, including highly sophisticated software that scalpers use to crack computer systems that companies such as Ticketmaster use to sell tickets. There are also jurisdiction issues because sometimes out-of-state scalpers will target shows in Tennessee.

The law labeled the ticket-seller — most often Ticketmaster — as the aggrieved party that must bring forward charges. The law makes it illegal to own, use or share bot software. Violation of the law is a class A misdemeanor punishable by $500 per ticket, or any profits made from each instance, whichever is higher. There have been no prosecutions in Nashville since the law took effect in 2008, according to the Davidson County Criminal Court Clerk’s Office. (Nate Rau, The Tennessean)

Greetings From the NYT 4th Down Bot

Hello again, my friends. My name is NYT 4th Down Bot, and I exist for just one purpose: to encourage smarter thinking about N.F.L. fourth downs. I analyze every single fourth down of every game, every week, in real time. I come in peace.

Here’s the upshot: I would go for it on fourth down much more often than N.F.L. coaches do. That’s not because I have an aggressive personality. It’s just what the facts say. Every week, N.F.L. coaches leave points on the table — and hurt their teams’ chances of victory — by being too timid on fourth down.

I monitor every single N.F.L. play as it happens. As soon as there’s a fourth down, I use a model developed by Brian Burke of Advanced Football Analytics to determine whether a coach should punt, kick a field goal, or go for it. Then I compare my recommendation, which is based on 10 years of data, with the coach’s decision. I publish my analysis of the coach’s decision to my website and Twitter. (The UpShot, NYTimes.com)

Image: Chang W. Lee/The New York Times; Photo illustration by Shan Carter