It’s quite a chore for newspapers adapting to the digital century. So, it stands to reason, it’s also challenging for some of those whose products once graced the printed product.
But like other capable adapters, the Dunkel Index lives on at, where else, Dunkelindex.com.
It’s not only alive, long after disappearing from printed “scoreboard” pages in your driveway, but in an expanded version and far, far removed from the early days when Dick Dunkel relied on a pencil, yellow legal pad and his own math recipe.
“The formulas all extend from the ones my grandfather created way back in 1929 to do college football,” says Bob Dunkel, third-generation numbers cruncher.
Dick Dunkel was a young Madison Avenue market researcher when he married his love of data with his love of sports.
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“I am amazed every day at what he built at the tender age of 23," his grandson says. "It's the foundation for what has enabled me to expand into all those other sports.”
Dunkel Index began as a way to gauge the country’s college football teams, back when East-vs.-West and North-vs.-South arguments were common —Dunkel’s unique formula could tell you, for instance, that Notre Dame would be a 3-point favorite over USC. At least according to his math.
Dick Dunkel made Daytona Beach his retirement home, and when he became too ill to maintain the Index, Dick Dunkel Jr. moved here and took over the books in the early 1970s. Heexpanded to rank teams in the NFL and NBA, college basketball,and in a challenging task, he also began ranking each and every high school football team in Florida.
Much of this he did from his editor’s desk at the News-Journal.No easy Saturday morning chore, getting the score from, say, Friday night’s Shanks-Chipley game in Quincy.
Dick Jr.'s fascination was scores, not necessarily teams or players.
"I'm not a sports nut. I'ma rating nut," he once said. "There is a difference, somehow. I see the ratings to the sports page as the Dow Jones Averages are to financial pages."
One of his proudest moments came when the NAIA began using the Dunkel Index to seed its national tournaments. That was topped when the NCAA, from 1999-2001, included Dunkel in its formula for determining the two teams who'd play for the national football championship.
“My father used to say, ‘If they play it, we can rate it,’” Bob Dunkel says. “And I have definitely found that to be true.But the focus of the Index has changed somewhat from those earlier days.”
Bob Dunkel’s day job is in government relations, managing ['his Dunkel Government Relations firm in Washington D.C. since 2006. But sports and ranking those sports is almost literally in his blood.
Eventually and over time, after his dad’s death in 2002, he grew the Index to include the NHL, Canadian Football League, WNBA, English Premier Soccer, NASCAR and the PGA Tour.
Instead of newspapers paying Dunkel a syndication fee, digital Dunkel relies on advertisers and sponsors. And most of those advertisers rely on the modern flood of legal gambling opportunities.
“With sports gaming booming in some states, we're attracting a whole new crowd, which is exciting,” Dunkel says. “People are always looking for an edge, and the competition in the sports information market is fierce. But Dunkel has a history and track record that still allows it to stack up against any system.”
From his feedback, Dunkel says there’s also a hint of nostalgia in play.
“People often remember the Index running in their local newspaper back when my grandfather and father ran it,” he says. “But by the time of my father's death, that outlet had pretty much gone away. I kept it going largely because I've always been a sports junkie and not many folks have an opportunity to work on something that two previous generations created.
“And there were enough of the older fans who found it on the internet to let me know there was still some interest.”
Perhaps you have access to modern sports gaming, or maybe you couldn’t care less but have access to someone who hasaccess (much to your chagrin?). Either way, you’re likely well aware of the modern obsession with specific bets far beyond picking the winning team or even the over/under on total points scored.
All of that has led to modern Dunkel honingthe virtual pencil and updating the mathematical wizardry and algorithms to meet today’s desires.
“I'm much more focused on the Vegas lines than my father was,” Dunkel says. “For him, the higher-rated Dunkel team winning was all that mattered. Now, it's how they fare compared to the line. That has caused me to go in and sharpen the tools, adding functions like offensive and defensive production, and looking more closely at team matchups.
“It's a challenge building a better mousetrap, but it's also what keeps it interesting. For highlighted games on our front page,I've added team totals and a player prop, usually in the points category. I see those two categories as a new area for Dunkel going forward. Fans are interested in more than just the final outcomes of games today.”
Sports Illustrated no longer prints weekly. The Sporting News doesn’t print at all. Both focus on their digital offerings. The Dunkel Index joins them and so many other print organizations in the adaptation world, and only the flexible and forward-thinking will thrive, or maybe even just survive. But, it’s nice to know, some old-time truths remain.
“My son, Ben, and I do a weekly podcast where we look at the latest Dunkel ratings and preview a couple of upcoming games,” Dunkel says. “Also, I work with a group called Knup Sports out of Orlando—they do many of the write-ups in our news section.
“But I continue to do all the day-to-day picks myself, which still takes a good chunk of time. Like my dad with his legal pad.”
— Reach Ken Willis at ken.willis@news-jrnl.com
