Sports managers, the ones who operate at the highest levels, don’t manage to hang on to their jobs long, says this study: “The hazard of being an English football league manager: empirical estimates for three recent league seasons,” R. Bachan, Barry Reilly, and Robert Witt [pictured here], Journal of the Operational Research Society, vol. 59, no. […]
Tag: football
Shooting a Football Fan with a Signal Rocket
A game of football can, even after the fact, generate forensic interest. A case in point: “Singular Case of Shooting a Football Fan with a Signal Rocket,” M. Kobek, K. Rygol, C. Chowaniec, A. Nowak, Forensic Science International, Volume 147, Supplement, 17 January 2005, Pages S43-S44. The authors, at the Medical University of Silesia in […]
Prediction: Will the fly replace the octopus?
The fruit fly will replace the octopus as an unreliable predictor of soccer match outcomes, if a new experiment succeeds. If the experiment fails, then Paul the Octopus will remain the false-gold standard of such prediction methods. Roland Houben, the noted scientist/singer, alerts us to new research, of sorts, from the Martin Heisenberg group in the […]
The Effect of Swear Words on Referees
Do swear words have predictable effects on football referees? A team of Austrian scientists tackles that question in a study called May I Curse a Referee? Swear Words and Consequences. Stefan Stieger, of the University of Austria, together with Andrea Praschinger and Christine Pomikal, who describe themselves as “independent scientists”, published their report in the Journal of Sports […]
Viewing soccer, and heart attacks
“Viewing a stressful soccer match more than doubles the risk of an acute cardiovascular event.” This disturbing conclusion was published in a 2008 study based on data regarding 4,279 Bavarian medical emergency cases. The number, and character, of adverse cardiovascular events which occurred during the FIFA World Cup (held in Germany from June 9 to […]
University plans to damage ears?
Penn State University is working and hoping to damage the ears of many visitors. That, anyway, seems to be the gist of this report by Inside Science News Service: Penn State’s Audible Assault How the Nittany Lions are using the science of acoustics to help crank up home field crowd noise Loud stadiums help win […]
Score-Celebration Injuries
“Exaggerated celebrations after making a goal, such as sliding, piling up, and tackling a teammate when racing away, can result in serious injury.” Bülent Zeren, MD from the Center for Orthopaedics and Sports Traumatology, Karsiyaka, Izmir, Turkey, and Haluk H. Öztekin, MD at the Clinic of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, Atatürk Research and Training Hospital, Izmir, […]