Alex Simons

Dear politicians, no matter how many texts you send, I will never make a donation based on getting an SMS message. Never. Ever. Best, Alex

Texas A&M converts 37.48% of serve-receive rallies on the very first swing. Highest in all of Power 4. 56.4% of their side-out points come from that first ball. They don't grind. They score immediately. @AggieVolleyball New post on FBSO% and what it reveals about how teams actually win on serve receive: open.substack.com/pub/alexsimons…

New post: Serve Error% ranks 31st out of 36 metrics in predicting winning across all of NCAA DI volleyball. 349 teams. 5,100+ matches. r = -0.12. The data is pretty clear.l! open.substack.com/pub/alexsimons…

I spent the last few weeks building a R based data pipeline to analyze every 2025 in-conference volleyball match across the ACC, Big 10, Big 12, and SEC. 630 matches. 66 teams. 30+ metrics. Here's what actually predicts winning sets — and what doesn't: ✅ Dig-Set-Kill% (r=0.83) — way more predictive than raw Dig% ✅ Trans In-System Conv% (r=0.73) — underrated and trainable ❌ Serving Error% (r=-0.16) — stop obsessing over it ❌ Perfect Pass% (r=0.47) — Good Pass% matters more Full post with all charts and the complete correlation table: alexsimons947623.substack.com/p/what-really-… Thanks to @JoeTrinsey for the inspiration for this work!

What Really Wins Sets? A Deep Dive into Power 4 Volleyball Statistics. Some pretty interesting/surprising results! For instance, having a higher service error % is positively correlated with winning. Pretty fascinating! open.substack.com/pub/alexsimons…

@toxiccowboy1 How about Prince?

How about James Burton?

@Matt_Pinner 20 for 20 for me! #winning 🤣

10 for me!!….I feel confident nobody Has all 20!! How many for you?

@Charlottean28 How in the world was that an offensive foul? Holy cow!

Here’s a Magic Johnson highlight you might never see, because it was ruled an offensive foul. This is every Giannis drive you’ve seen in transition for 10 years, but 40 years ago it was illegal. Players were discouraged from plays like this. It wasn’t because they couldn’t.

@muscleforlife Kinda depressing!

You don't need to binge to gain 10 pounds a year. You just need to eat 100 calories more than you burn every day. That's one extra tablespoon of peanut butter, half a cookie, or a generous pour of olive oil.

@Matt_Pinner 100% supportive!

Be honest How do you feel about racially mixed marriages and relationships 🤔

@F0ODHub Yes, but maybe not as many as are pictured there!

Do raw onions belong on a burger?🍔 🚨

@chefsevenn 100%

Be honest because I’m trying to prove a point

@theamelia__ Lots of garlic salt!

@not_active06 Coffee!!

what tastes good both hot & cold?? there is nothing

@ThrillaRilla369 Me!

Does anyone still use a cast-iron skillet these days? I’m trying to prove to my girlfriend that they’re not just a thing of the past—she thinks they’re completely outdated.

@HawkEmDownChris B followed closely by A

Who’s your favorite NBA center of all time? 🏀 A) Shaquille O’Neal B) Kareem Abdul-Jabbar C) Hakeem Olajuwon D) Wilt Chamberlain E) Bill Russell F) David Robinson G) Patrick Ewing H) Moses Malone I) Dikembe Mutombo J) Dwight Howard K) Nikola Jokić L) Comment other center ✍️

@SydneyLWatson Several studies have shown that children born in the November (in northern hemisphere) have the highest lifetime muscle mass and more quick twitch fiber because their mother's had more sun exposure between months 4-6 of gestation and thus higher vitamin D levels.

Texan boyfriend just explained that we aren't allowed to have an August-born child, because that child will be the youngest in their class and therefore, when they play sports, will be smaller than all the other kids and therefore will have a harder time. Is this seriously the shit you guys think about? He's not joking either. I genuinely don't know what to do with this. Planning kids around them playing football is so America-coded though lmao. 😂

@muscleforlife You forgot the most effective of all - ‘Cocktail Drops’

The 8 best exercises for beating belly fat: 1. Fork put-down 2. Portion step down 3. Spoon toss 4. Dessert decline 5. Plate pushdown 6. Soda skip 7. Mouth clamshell 8. Hunger hold Master these techniques and master your body composition.

@AVGirl4Life If they are happy, I am happy!

DON’T LIE How do you feel about mixed race relationships?