Girls, High School Sports, Academics and beyond

A 10% increase in participation in girls' HS athletics leads to a 1%
increase in girls' college attendance & a 2% increase in women's
workforce presence.
Stevenson finds that "greater opportunities to play sports leads to
greater female participation in previously male-dominated occupations,
particularly for high-skill occupations." Fascinating stuff.

http://bpp.wharton.upenn.edu/betseys/papers/TitleIX.pdf

Why James Chartrand Wears Women's Underpants | Copyblogger

http://www.copyblogger.com/james-chartrand-underpants/

Sent from a Blackberry. My apologies for brevity and typos.

5. Teamwork and Positive Rivalry – Part 1

 

 

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5. Teamwork and Positive Rivalry – Part 1

via Sport At Its Best by duffgibson on 12/9/09

Cal Botterill (see Contributors) is an accomplished teacher of sport (or performance) psychology.  I've had the pleasure of meeting and getting to know Cal over the past few years through his work with the Canadian bobsleigh and skeleton teams (while I have been coaching skeleton).  Before meeting Cal, I certainly knew of him by reputation through friends and colleagues of mine who think very highly of him and as I am coming to realize, for good reason.

What I find really appealing about Cal is his positivity.  When you're talking to him you really get the feeling he 'gets it'.  One thing that contributes to making Cal a great communicator, is the fact that he's been in his field working with elite athletes for decades and has some great anecdotes to draw from.  When you can illustrate your point by referring to people who have won championship trophies or Olympic medals, you can make a strong argument.

One of the challenges in working with a team of athletes that compete in an individual sport is the fact that your teammate is also your competition (like Jamie Gregg and Jeremy Wotherspoon).  Speaking from personal experience as both an athlete and a coach, it's difficult sometimes to be in that environment and not look at a teammate as the enemy.  It's easy to fall in to that trap.  Depending on your perspective, it can be really stressful to go to practice every day along side someone else who wants nothing more that to be exactly where you want to be – on top of the podium.

Of course this is a very limited perspective – everyone in your entire sport wants to be on top of the podium.  In fact, it's their job as your competition to want to be on top of the podium, and they serve you best by challenging you.  In general terms, your opponent (teammate or not), shouldn't be thought of as "the enemy" or someone you have contempt for but someone that will help you to reach your best by creating the greatest possible challenge and exposing areas of your game that you can improve upon.

In fact, it's their job as your competition to want to be on top of the podium, and they serve you best by challenging you.

Here's what Cal and Tom Patrick wrote in their book Perspective, The Key To Life (Lifeskills, 2003) about teamwork and perspective,

People with perspective are usually great at teamwork.  Their ability to see the big picture helps them recognize and appreciate the value of collaboration and working with others.  Their sensitivity and perceptiveness help them realize that everybody has a role that is important and needs to be appreciated.

Most of all, people with perspective have enough vision, gratitude and security to be open to positive rivalries and other people's needs.  Positive rivalries are reflected in the sentiment "I hope you are great, because that brings out the best in me, and that's better for all of us".  Top competitors seem to embrace positive rivalries and share this attitude.  It is clearly a much higher level of functioning than negative rivalries and the "eye for an eye, and tooth for a tooth" mentality that often creeps into highly competitive activity when people lose perspective.

Positive rivalries bring out the best in us and promote a win-win possibility.  They promote an approach-success versus avoid-failure outlook, which is much healthier and facilitates, much higher levels of performance and functioning.  Negative images, fears and tension are reduced and enhanced focus, connection and flow become possible.

People with perspective play a leadership role (by example or initiative)!  Their poise has a settling effect on people.  These people play a huge role in teams developing perspective.  When this happens, it is an exciting thing to be a part of.  Team members become constant reminders of the perspective, poise and dedication necessary to be successful.  Natural energy flows and is shared and felt regularly, without the tension and static that is part of negative rivalries and have to versus want to mentalities.

One of the great examples I was referring to previously that Cal has to draw from is the positive rivalry once held between Susan Auch and Catriona LeMay-Doan.  At the Nagano Olympics in 1998, Susan won her second straight silver medal in the 500 meters speed skating event while Catriona won her first of two consecutive gold medals.  It was a case of two world-beaters on the same team, always training on the same ice at the same time.  Cal suggested that I look up an old video that he had put together for Sport Manitoba.  The video talks about the rivalry and you really get the feeling that it was a strain at times but there's a great segment in which Susan talks about the end result,

"Catriona and I became powerful because we were working together.  I think it's a lot harder being from the same country, but obviously it's possible.  I mean there were times that were really really difficult.  They were dumb things [the petty differences] so in the end I definitely think that the two of us wouldn't have been on the podium without doing it the way we did.  We would not have both been on the podium, maybe one of us would have, maybe the other, maybe not first.  But I'm sure we both wouldn't have."

Positivity and collaboration facilitated by perspective results here in higher achievement.  This is yet another case where attitude translates in to success.

 

 

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In awe

 

 

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In awe

via The Torch by Babbling Brooks on 11/12/09

Definition of a hero: one who puts the well being of others far ahead of his or her own needs. At least, that's one definition.

By any you choose, though, Cpl William Kerr is a hero. This line from a story about the royal visit is simply amazing:

Cpl. William Kerr was among a group of Canadian soldiers on foot patrol just over a year ago in Afghanistan's Zhari-Panjwaii district. There had been a skirmish between the Canadians and Taliban in the area a few weeks earlier, and the soldiers were going from one village hut to the next, searching for Taliban observation points. Kerr was the fifth man through the doorway of the last hut the group was to clear, and as he turned to get in position, an IED detonated under him.

As a result of the explosion, Kerr lost both legs above the knee, as well as his left arm just below the elbow.

A year later, he talks about his good fortune: "I found out that the reason everybody survived in the room was that I was standing on top of it when it went off," he says. "If I were a metre to the left or a metre to the right, we all would have been dead.

"Five guys got to walk out because of me. That's how I look at it. That's how I try to keep myself motivated." [Babbler's bold]

Cpl Kerr, you're not motivating only yourself. You're inspiring others with your example.

 

 

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Flu Trends

http://www.google.org/flutrends/ca/

Brilliant juxtaposition

same place - different century

http://torontobefore.blogspot.com/2009/10/yonge-street-slip-remix.html

walking in circles

Apparently we do, indeed, walk in circles when lost...

http://attilautab.blogspot.com/2009/09/walking-in-circles.html

http://www.mpg.de/english/illustrationsDocumentation/documentation/pressReleases/2009/pressRelease200908171/genPDF.pdf

A Mugging on Lake Street - Chicago magazine - September 2009 - Chicago

Race, violence and youth in Chicago... Themost interesting component is his own self-examination.

Painkillers during a race or on a regular basis: a bad idea

All these years I've been oh - so wrong...

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/phys-ed-does-ibuprofen-help-or-hurt-during-exercise/

Painkillers during a race or on a regular basis: a bad idea

via Sweat Science by alex on 9/2/09

Gretchen Reynolds of the New York Times has a really excellent article on the "prophylactic" use of "non-steroidal anti-inflammatory painkillers (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen — popping them before or during a competition, or on a regular basis before workouts, in the hopes of dulling pain or preventing subsequent soreness and swelling. It's a must-read for everyone who does this.

In a number of studies conducted both in the field and in human performance laboratories in recent years, NSAIDs did not lessen people's perception of pain during activity or decrease muscle soreness later… Moreover, [Indiana University researcher Stuart] Warden and other researchers have found that, in laboratory experiments on animal tissues, NSAIDs actually slowed the healing of injured muscles, tendons, ligament, and bones.

I can't count the number of athletes I know, ranging from recreational to elite, who pop ibuprofen or equivalents on a regular "just in case" basis, hoping to avoid pain and soreness down the road. I really hope they read this article, and its conclusion:

When, then, are ibuprofen and other anti-inflammatory painkillers justified? "When you have inflammation and pain from an acute injury," Warden says. "In that situation, NSAIDs are very effective." But to take them "before every workout or match is a mistake."

RIP Ted Kennedy

"The Dream shall never Die" speech. Despite the controversial legacy, what a speech. Who up north could deliver an equivalent speech?

RIP Martin Streek

Alan Cross' memorial

Spirit of Radio

Liisa Ladouceur of Eye Weekly

Toronto Mike forum

The Star

CFNY's own - which is interesting as they laid him off in May from the only company he'd ever worked for. Awkward.

What Has the World Bank or IMF Ever Gotten Right?

One could find an analogous situation with industry analysts...

 

 

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What Has the World Bank or IMF Ever Gotten Right?

via Paul Kedrosky's Infectious Greed by pk on 6/23/09

I ask this question in all seriousness: What non-trivial has the World Bank or IMF ever gotten right in their respective forecasts about global financial markets?

Assuming we can't come up with anything, it's worth wondering, is it not, why anyone pays any attention to the various and sundry regular economic reports from said institutions. It always strikes me as a textbook example of Philip Tetlock's classic Expert Political Judgment at work, or, better yet, the old joke about why economists make forecasts -- the answer being, of course, because people keep asking them.

 

 

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fallen princesses...

http://www.jpgmag.com/stories/11918

Sports science and management strategy

 

 

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Sports science and management strategy

via The Science of Sport by noreply@blogger.com (Ross Tucker and Jonathan Dugas) on 6/13/09

Science IN sport: Search for meaning and higher performance

This post is long overdue. It might even turn into a series, there is so much to say. But for the last week, every time I have sat down to work on this topic, I have discovered a form of writer's block, where I'm unable to properly express the point I would like to. So this is my latest attempt, and it will probably develop into a series, personal (even autobiographical) in nature. But it is my take on where science fits and contributes to high performance sport.

A series with a purpose

Many of these thoughts are inspired by my recent experiences with the South African Sevens rugby team, now the world champions, with whom I've toured in the last few months in a sports science and strategy consulting role. Their success was the result of a strategic plan developed by coach Paul Treu almost four years ago. It borrowed from business, science, strategy, philosophy and half a dozen other sports and represents the most complete, professional and advanced strategy put together for national sport in South Africa. It should (though it won't) serve as a template for other sports in South Africa (my local interest), but hopefully lessons from it will also be of interest to you reading this, regardless of whether you follow the sport of Sevens rugby or not!

I don't wish to dwell exclusively on this experience though, and will also share some of the insights gained from my other experiences in South African sport. Sadly, the Sevens success is an isolated one, a rare occasion where the expertise of people, from the coach down to players, was valued and implemented. For the most part, South African sport remains the domain of the fragile egos who recognize not expertise but process, not vision but individual incentives, and who reward mediocrity rather than excellence. But more on that later.

And then finally, I hope (without being presumptuous) that this series of posts can inspire each reader to strive for "higher performance", regardless of their occupation. A scientist, a marketing manager, a triathlete, a cyclist, or a runner - wherever you fit, hopefully you'll find this series relevant as a guide to how you can find the next 1% towards your own high performance goals.

Not science, but expertise

The very first, and perhaps most important principle about seeking higher performance, is that the answer lies not in science per se, but in expertise. And expertise is brought by people. So Principle number 1 is get the best intellect involved, and don't limit your search to scientists. So this series is not a punt for sports scientists to take the reins of high performance sport, not for you individually or for sport. And if you're a cyclist or a runner seeking to improve your own performance, don't be led into believing that sports science holds the answer simply because it is sports science.

The far more important factor is the expertise and the insight that underscores the application of sports science. This crucial logic means that simply "doing sports science" is not good enough. It also means that people with no scientific qualification CAN make a bigger contribution than those who do, because the stringency of their thinking and their insight adds the value, not the content of their knowledge. I have had the pleasure of working with consultants from the world of business, who have developed skills and tools that make them far more valuable to elite sport than their scientific counterparts often are.

Therefore, for the duration of this post and series, I will refer to "intellect" rather than sports science, for the simple reason that sports scientists do not necessarily bring world class intellect to the system!

I will never forget that a certain high performance athlete here in South Africa once went for a laboratory test at a certain high performance institute, only two months before the Olympic Games. The test consisted of the usual VO2max test, and the report which was given to the athlete's coach said the following: "The athlete displays a VO2max that lies in the average range. It is recommended that the athlete work on endurance in order to improve the VO2max and running ability".

Turns out that athlete was Mbulaeni Mulaudzi, who would go on to win the silver medal in the Athens Olympic Games only 2 months later! And yet scientists sometimes wonder why their work is not respected by coaches...

The "no compromise principle": Your Ferrari is not the same as my Toyota

What has happened in South Africa in the last year or so, since our disaster in Beijing (one silver medal), is that people have "recognized" the need for expertise in sports. That's the good news. However, they fail to recognize that expertise does not simply equal sports science for the sake of sports science. And so, much political lobbying and grandstanding has created a situation where everyone is following "sports science principles" (whatever that means). "Yes, we're doing sports science now", is the call from the executive authority. "We have roped in our sports scientists". The atheltes are all seeing dieticians, psychologists, having regular tests and assessments, doctors and so on. Problem solved then? Well, no, unfortunately not.

I drive a car - it has four wheels, a steering wheel, an engine, a gearbox and brakes. So does your car. But you drive a Ferrari, I drive a Toyota. In the world of SA sport and the application of sports science, they're the same car. Your Ferrari is the same as my Toyota, because "sports science is sports science", after all. This kind of logic, exposed as ridiculous by the analogy, is where we stand in SA today.

The competition principle for intellectual support to athletes

In elite sport, an Olympic Games competition between athletes is the culmination of many months or years of preparation. Science is part of that preparation, and therefore the quality of the intellectual support (which includes coaching and science) is heavily responsible for the standard of the 'finished product'. When that intellect is sub-standard, then the athlete takes to the line with little chance of success, regardless of their talent. And the epicentre of the system, the "sun in the solar system", is the coach, who incorporates the science in such a way that it adds value.

You cannot allow a situation (as we have in SA, or rather, which we are currently allowing), where the athletes sit on the start line behind the wheel of a Toyota (0 to 100 in 12 seconds), while the elite from around the world drive Ferraris, thanks to the level of intellect. It may have wheels, engines and gearboxes, but intellect, like all athletes, is not created equal.

This is not the case across the board, mind you. Some of our sports have some remarkable people driving them - rowing, for example, has set out in the right direction with the right people, and needs only the support of the funders to give those people every opportunity to succeed. That is because it has the best people already - support the best and they will deliver. In the famous book Good to Great, author Jim Collins explains how getting the best people on the bus is crucial to success.

That is what rowing has. Sadly, they are there only through the initiative of a few people, not the system. Isolated success is possible when the best people are involved. Sustainable success comes from getting the best people involved as part of a longer-term strategy. Either way, the best people must be involved, and all it takes is a strategy that ensures their ongoing involvement.

Unfortunately, for reasons that range from stupidity and incompetence to hidden agendas, the chances of this happening are slim mostly because those in charge at the top don't recognize the value of people and so isolated success rarely becomes sustainable. It's happened for SA Sevens, thanks to Paul Treu. Hopefully it will happen for rowing. Triathlon and canoeing are trying to do it, but the higher up you go, the less common it becomes. The "soldiers" may be worthy, but the generals often are not.

So Principle Number 2 in seeking higher performance is that compromise destroys performance, and "elitism" is crucial to success. This is true for athletes and for management, but mostly for coaches and those providing the "intellectual capital" in the elite sports system. Wherever there is competition, if you compromise on quality, you lose. If you fail to dedicate every single resource towards excellence, you lose.

And the take-home message for you reading this (unless of course you're an SA Sports administrator, in which case the take-home message should be obvious), is that whether you're trying to shave 1 minute of your 10km time, or trying to qualify for the Hawaii Iron-man, then you cannot compromise on the quality of the expertise you seek and use.

The scientific process: It's not WHAT you know, but HOW you learn it

The point is, the CONTENT of the science is far less important than the MEANS by which it is developed. It's not WHAT you know, but HOW you know it. I could list for you the ten enzymes involved in the glycolytic pathway that converts glucose into ATP, and I could explain to you the energetics underlying the enzyme reactions and why the re-oxidation of NAD+ is required to allow the process to continue, even though lactate forms as a result. Blah blah...that's not relevant to the high performance athlete in that form. Their coach will be able to work out exactly what training is required to improve the glycolytic enzyme capacity of the 1500m runner so that more energy can be produced, without such a level of "expertise" ever being involved.

So my point is this: The value of science lies not in the content it brings to the coach and athlete, though this is of course still valuable if applied correctly. What is infinitely more important is that the person who is applying content appreciates HOW they know what they know, because this gives them the ability to develop hypotheses and critically evaluate their observations.

And that is what good science TENDS to deliver and create in people - the ability to ask questions, measure variables and then answer the question. This SHOULD be a quality that good science adds to the athlete. Sadly, as we show in South Africa, it doesn't happen often, and the sports science we have created rather tells elite athletes that they are average because their VO2 max is not as high as it should be.

The model for integration

Where is all this heading then? Well, the model below is my illustration of where sports science fits into the elite sporting system. The key point in this whole system is that of "intellectual immersion" - you cannot relegate intellect to the role of a "service provider", to whom you outsource a few of the peripheral support functions. The best coaches bring their own level of intellect, which drives the whole pyramid and performance, precisely because it is immersed. The same should be true of those in the support team, from management down to sports scientists.

But in creating a support team, you must surround yourself with people who are excellent at what they do, and then simply step aside and let them do those things. That is true of business as well - small teams, working with freedom to innovate and grow will change the world. Boring old services, and the idea that "sports science is sports science" never will. It brings only failure, as we'll discover in SA over the next few years.



The SA Sevens Team have, in my experience, most closely achieved this model, and that's something that testifies to the value of having a coach who understands how important good people are. Paul Treu surrounded himself with scientists, management experts, business strategists, psychologists, and other experts, and then set about developing a strategy that would ensure sustainable success.

One of Treu's key mottos or principles is that "Better people make people better", and that's perhaps the take-home message of this whole post. There is a great deal to be said about what actually underscores the on-field performances of the players, and the mind-set that the high performance environment requires, but that's a topic for future posts.

The margins are too small not to care about this: A game of inches

Perhaps to end off, a video from the movie Any Given Sunday. I've no doubt that most of you have seen or heard this speech, but probably never connected it with sports science and high performance. Of course, there is a lot more to it, but it helps explain just how vital that expertise is. Some of the language is coarse (for sensitive readers), but the speech makes the point that "inches" matter. It inspires the players to seek inches, because those inches, when added up, "make the difference between winning and losing".

Sports science is involved in the quest for those inches, not necessarily on the field during the match, but in the training, during the hours of preparation, and the times when the cameras are not rolling. Consider that Michael Phelps won the 100m butterfly title by 0.01 seconds. Consider that the margin between winning and losing in shotput is 1 degree in the push-off angle. Consider that 9.69 seconds of 100m sprinting is the culmination of thousands of hours of training. Or that winning a Sevens world series, which might take 7 minutes of play in the final, actually comes down to thousands of hours of work, discipline and effort. Then you realise that if you fail to seek those inches, and if you fail to pursue every last millisecond, then whether you're an elite athlete or a marketing assistant at a shoe company, you're failing to achieve higher performance. Cue SA sport...

Next time - a new approach to sports science: Away from the VO2max: Lessons from the SA Sevens Team




A final somber word for a great player and a great person, who experienced a tragic turn of events in the last few weeks. Vuyo Zangqa was one of our great stars of the 2008/2009 Sevens season. He emerged and grew progressively as the season developed, and electrified the world of Sevens during the last four tournaments.

He's also one of the team's characters, a leader and an inspiration, and one of the most genuine, committed and passionate people I've had the pleasure of working with. Last week, while up in Johannesburg, Vuyo was involved in a car accident and received serious facial injuries. Two days ago, he underwent surgery to his left eye. At one point, the eye was going to be removed, but they are now holding out that it can still be saved. The implications of this are obvious for his playing career, but that is less important now than his general health and quality of life.

So here is to Vuyo Zangqa, a special player and person, please keep him in your thoughts and prayers, and we'll see you on the field bringing the magic in no time...

Ross

The Science of Sport Dr. Ross Tucker Dr. Jonathan Dugas

 

 

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Friday Fun: Tennis Serves and New Balls

 

 

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Friday Fun: Tennis Serves and New Balls

via Paul Kedrosky's Infectious Greed by pk on 6/12/09

As a tennis fan I notice lots of nuances in the games, especially the ones that matter more to the pros than me. An example? This whole business about new tennis balls.

Every nine games in a pro match the serving player gets to use new balls, which are bouncier than the ones used for the previous nine games. Players think -- as John McEnroe said during last weekend's French Open -- that this is an advantage for the server as your serve gets a little more oompf and zip, leading to aces and thus points and thus games won.

The funny thing is, that seemingly isn't true. According to Wimbledon data analyzed by a pair of economists with a fondness for tennis arcana, first serve points are no more likely with new tennis balls than old ones. If anything, double-faults are more likely, implying it may be better to serve using older balls than newer ones. Take that Big Mac.

Here is the key table from the paper:

Source:

Magnus J. & Flaasen F. "Myths in Tennis." Statistical Thinking in Sports, Ed. Albert, J. & Koning, R.H.  (Chapman & Hall/CRC: 2007).

 

 

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What you don’t know about Lisa Raitt

Interesting.

 

 

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What you don’t know about Lisa Raitt

via Wellington Financial Blog - News, Views & Purviews by Mark McQueen on 6/10/09

I have lots of rules in life, and one of them is to not give media interviews about politicals stars that I've worked with over the years. Will all the attention that Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt has received over the past few months, that rule has had to be invoked more than a few times.

However, that rule doesn't prevent me from sharing a necessary backstory about her family background. When she's being accused of saying something about cancer that she didn't actually say, it is time to let the rest of the world know what many "back home" already do about her background.

Minister Raitt is a political star, having earned a thick skin during her years at the Toronto Port Authority (where we crossed paths). Having worked as a Special Assistant for cabinet ministers Pat Carney and Mary Collins (1988-91), I can tell you how rare it is to get a woman in her early 40s, who is a chemist, lawyer, CEO and mother of two to run for office.

As Christie Blatchford and Chantal Hebert have both pointed out this morning in their supportive columns, is it any wonder that most sane women with this pegidree would rather eat worms then run for federal office.

Here is the piece about Minister Raitt's history that the folks in Cape Breton already know, and will matter a great deal to the good people of Halton:

Minister Raitt's father was a municipal politician and her hero, and she is interested in politics because of him. She watched him die of colon cancer over an 18 month period. First he had a stroke and was paralyzed on his right side and lost the ability to speak. They couldn't afford a hospice so her mother and she (at the age of 10) converted their sitting room into his hospital ward. He slept on a couch and they did the things that families do: change his colostomy bag, feed and wash him.

Not something you ever forget, and it sure isn't "sexy".

Twenty years ago she was in the room as her brother died from lung cancer after suffering for 16 months. The day of his funeral Minister Raitt left for the Province of Ontario to ask a Professor who studied dioxins and PCBs (what killed her brother) if she could study with him. She earned her Masters degree and actually studied radioisotopes at a graduate level course in radioisotopes.

The fact that Minister Raitt has a burning desire to "fix the medical isotopes issue" is understandably a personal goal of hers. Why do people run for office in the first place? Hopefully to be able to make a personal difference. Is that "glory"? I doubt it. Who doesn't want kudos for doing a good job in the healthcare business?

There are two types of families in Canada. Those who have been touched by Cancer and those who haven't. Some of us get involved in hospital fundraising in an effort to make a small difference in the world. Others, like Minister Raitt, are in a cabinet role.

Based on her personal history, brains and devotion, Canadians are lucky she's prepared to put up with the cut and thrust of politics to be able to actually make a difference.

Few of us would. And no one is as well prepared as this woman to give it her all.

MRM

 

 

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Twenty Years Ago

I am Jack's sense of "he'll keep calling me"

 

 

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I am Jack's sense of "he'll keep calling me"

via kottke.org by jason@kottke.org on 4/29/09

More recent Ferris Bueller goodness from Metafilter: the Fight Club theory.

My favorite thought-piece about Ferris Bueller is the "Fight Club" theory, in which Ferris Bueller, the person, is just a figment of Cameron's imagination, like Tyler Durden, and Sloane is the girl Cameron secretly loves.

One day while he's lying sick in bed, Cameron lets "Ferris" steal his father's car and take the day off, and as Cameron wanders around the city, all of his interactions with Ferris and Sloane, and all the impossible hijinks, are all just played out in his head. This is part of the reason why the "three" characters can see so much of Chicago in less than one day -- Cameron is alone, just imagining it all.

Whoa. (via cyn-c)

Tags: ferrisbuellersdayoff  fightclub  movies 

 

 

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The Neighbourhood

Goodbye sweet denim couch! So comfortable, so smushy, so faded...

 

 

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The Neighbourhood

via furmy.com by Jesse on 4/27/09

The McA's have moved. Their neighbours are okay with it.

 

 

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interesting but long article on neuro-pharmaceuticals

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/04/27/090427fa_fact_talbot?printable=true

Re: Party at McArton's

Some of you may remember the denim couch. After hearing John reminisce about it on Saturday (and realizing that half the stains are from him spilling beer on it), Jesse & I decided the only fair thing was to donate it to them. "White Trash Party" anyone?

Perhaps donating it to the Bad Larrys for Gender Blender would be appropriate?

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jesse
Date: Mon, Apr 20, 2009 at 12:48 AM
Subject: Party at McArton's
To: Colleen & John McArton

The only thing better than your favourite pair of jeans is your favourite denim couch!

Life as expressed through Board Games

Brilliant imagery and math

U2 on tour

The Longest Run

How injuries affect performance

 

 

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How injuries affect performance

via From The Rink by James Mirtle on 3/22/09

I had some great stuff sent into me on the heels of this post earlier in the week on the man games lost to injury totals, including this chart from Kyle Joecken, a graduate student in mathematics at The Ohio State University: 

Essentially what this shows is the performance of teams and their injury totals from 2005-06 to 2007-08 (he did not include this season's projections). On average, teams during this period that had 100 man games lost to injury finished with about 10 more points than those that had 300.

And it's been virtually impossible to have a great season with more than 300 man games lost to injury. (This season's Capitals team will likely be only the second to top 100 points postlockout.)

Here's some geek speak from Kyle on this: "The equation for the line was y = -.0528x + 103.19. The R^2 value is .1018."

His conclusion based on this data (and ignoring the fact that some injuries are much, much more devastating than others)? 

"Basically, you lose one point for every 20 man-games lost."

Of course, that's all depending on averages, etc., and the correlation isn't that high, but if you apply that conclusion to a team rocked by injuries like the Islanders (on pace for an insane 566 man games lost to injury), they'd finish the season with about 28 more points than they're on pace for.

Or right about eighth or ninth in the Eastern Conference. 

 

 

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cool pix from high school experiment

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/03/scenes_from_30000_meters_above.html

Banff FF

Always gives me a happy, anticipatory feeling. Usually the trailer promises more than the local highlights deliver, but...

Writing like DFW

http://www.kottke.org/09/03/growing-sentences-with-david-foster-wallace

It's me!!!  Or rather, my writing style* was, at best, a pallid imitation combining the ellipses, non-sequitors, footnotes and densely packed allusions to other, better writers - who I may or may not have read, but how could you know, given the combination of ADHD and speed-reading gone unchecked by the familiar dyad of Ritalin and Adderall that spread virally throughout the 6 - 18 year old segment of the North American population or at least that part of the population with xy chromosomes - but then that particular style of mine was slowly extinguished under the oppressive weight of corporate reports, spreadsheets, marketing reports (such as a white paper (and why white, instead of ecru or the pale blue of bureaucracies past) entitled "Why Your Firms Requires An Enterprise Mobility Strategy Now!" paid for by a German software entity in support of an already out of date product launch) and a general turn towards Orwell's "Politics and the English Language" as a preferred stylistic exemplar.

* Warning - attempt at self-mockery follows. It may be funnier if you've ever read DFW. Or not.

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