Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/UsaSportsBlogs/~3/9Z1uT4F8u7Y/super-bowl-xlv-prediction.html
Monday 30 April 2012
Celebrating Hot Air Balloons
Posted by Website Introductions: "Around the world in eighty days" brought the invention of the hot air balloon a good level of popularity, and indeed this invention had great uses in its time. However, since the other developments in transportation, the hot air balloon is no longer seen as a practical form of transportation. Even so, it is good to hear that people still
Tags: hot air balloon, international holidays. Comments: 0.
Tags: hot air balloon, international holidays. Comments: 0.
Source: http://blog.sports-buynow.com/hot_air_balloon/20111010-074239-Celebrating-Hot-Air-Balloons
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Ravens 2012 schedule
The NFL 2012 schedules have been released and the Baltimore Ravens sent me a press release with the schedule and some interesting notes. The Baltimore Ravens finally get a home Monday Night Football game, something that has been long overdue. Everyone is more than welcome to copy and print out this schedule.� The Ravens have [...]
Source: http://marylandsportsblog.com/2012/04/ravens-2012-schedule/
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Comment on Oleson hating life on the bench (Basketball) by Gaspari
Hey, I recently started reading your blog ? thank you for the good work. Just wanted to let you know that it?s not showing up properly on the BlackBerry Browser (I have a Tour). Either way, I?m now subscribed to the RSS feed on my PC, so thanks!
Source: http://www.alaskasportshall.org/blog/?p=856&cpage=1#comment-5129
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Helmet Reveals Data About High School Football Player's Broken Neck
For the crowd watching an Illinois high school football game last fall, it was a sickening feeling watching one of their Unity Rockets' cornerbacks collapse to the ground after delivering a heads-down tackle on an opposing running back (see video here.) For Steven Broglio, an assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of Michigan, it was a mixed feeling of concern and curiosity as to the extent of the injury. Since 2007, Broglio has been collecting data on the violent collisions that occur in high school football and their contribution to concussions and other head injuries.
Unity players use helmets with padded sensors called the Head Impact Telemetry System.
Using a sensor similar to what is used in car air bags, the HITS helmets record and transmit the magnitude of each impact and its location on the helmet to a computer located on the sideline within about 10-20 seconds. Broglio is able to monitor these collisions and alert the coaching staff if an impact exceeds the threshold known to cause concussions, about 90-100 g-force. Listen to Broglio describe the HITS research.
In the last four years, Broglio has recorded over 120,000 football collisions with 25 resulting in a concussion for the player. However, on this night, he would record data on a much more rare injury - a broken neck. After briefly losing consciousness on the field, the Unity cornerback was taken to a hospital emergency room and was diagnosed with a concussion and a stable left C6 facet fracture, otherwise known as a broken neck. Data from the collision showed the hit occurred at the top right side of the helmet at a amazing 114 g-force. Just for comparison, a shuttle launch is about 3 g-force while a rolling fighter pilot sustains about 5-10 g-force.
Thankfully, the player was released from the hospital 48 hours later with a hard neck collar. While his football season was over, he returned to play basketball twelve weeks later.Broglio describes the encounter in a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine.
The goal of the research is to perfect the technology so that similar, less expensive systems can be used on many more football sidelines. Broglio said a number of other researchers at universities across the nation, including Virginia Tech, the University of North Carolina and Dartmouth, also are using the system as the basis for studies of biomechanical processes caused by concussions and traumatic brain injuries. The current system has a price tag of about $60,000 while the customization to each helmet costs an additional $1,000. "Ultimately, we're trying to use these measures to predict concussion," Broglio said. "If someone exceeds a certain level then we would know they have a concussion and we could pull them."
With the recent attention to concussions at the NFL level, there is hope that research will also benefit high school and college players. "To us, the larger public health issue is with the 1.5 million high school kids that play football each year. Not the 1,500 that play in the NFL," Broglio said.
Related Articles: New Return-To-Play Guidelines For Sports Concussions and NFL Concussions Taking Bigger Toll On Players
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An Introduction to MMA Fighter Kimbo Slice
If your a fan of mixed martial arts the name Kimbo Slice is probably familiar to you already. This backyard, street brawler turned mixed martial artist is probably the most controversial figure in the MMA world today. His presence has already caught the attention of famous MMA fighters like Chuck Liddell, who bad-mouthed Kimbo Slice [...]
Source: http://www.sportscontroversytalk.com/2008/an-introduction-to-mma-fighter-kimbo-slice/
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Sprinter Tim Montgomery Facing Jail Time
Sprinter Tim Montgomery, who was once the world’s fastest man, is sitting in jail waiting for his hearing on drug distribution charges. Montgomery faces charges of conspiracy to possess heroin with an intent to distribute the drug. In addition, he is also being sentenced in connection with a check fraud case. Tim Montgomery’s fall from [...]
Source: http://www.sportscontroversytalk.com/2008/sprinter-tim-montgomery-facing-jail-time/
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Sunday 29 April 2012
A Better Way To Evaluate NFL QB Draft Prospects?
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| Andrew Luck - Robert Griffin III |
Although he struggled with the next question, ?What is the ninth month of the year??, his overall Wonderlic cognitive ability test came back with an above average score, giving the assumption he has the smarts to play professional football.
It sounds absurd, but every year when top college football QBs get together for the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, we start hearing about and comparing their scores on the infamous Wonderlic test. While they are also asked to run fast, lift heavy objects, jump high and throw every conceivable type of pass, their most important skill, the ability to recognize patterns and make decisions, is measured in 12 minutes by 50 multiple choice questions.
Indeed, a 2009 study found that Wonderlic test scores were not at all related to success in the NFL for any position. So, how should we evaluate decision making ability? A Nobel prize winner in economics suggests that we start with the assumption that the quarterback?s brain is not a perfectly rational machine that always uses the best logic or information available.
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| Daniel Kahneman |
You might be thinking that?s quite a load of psychobabble, but Kahneman, who created the field of behavioral economics, backs up the theory with plenty of real world experiments in his new book, Thinking, Fast and Slow. In one example from the sports world, he and his longtime collaborator, Amos Tversky, evaluated 2.5 million PGA golf putts and found that golfers perform much better on the green when going for par rather than a birdie. They blamed our inherent loss aversion (not scoring par) as a more powerful motivator than the opportunity for gain (scoring one under par). The putting motor skills of the golfer are the same, but the situation causes the internal motivation to change.
That sub-conscious adjustment to the skill of putting is an example of what Kahneman calls System 1 thinking, which is fast, intuitive, automatic and subject to our years of learned biases and experiences. The other half of our thinking process is known as System 2 described as our slower, logical, reasoned approach to everyday problems. Think of System 1 as the instant reactions the QB has on the field to the play in front of him, while System 2 is the hours of study and preparation of a game plan leading up to the game.
System One is essential to human functioning, as it lets the brain respond instantly and smoothly to a constant stream of inputs and choices. It is especially important in sports performance, where automaticity and rapid response is essential ? the brain doesn?t have time to go to System Two to analyze every potential action and decision. However, athletes and coaches can strengthen their ?athletic brains? by training themselves to recognize the limits of System One in real-time decision-making by recognizing their biases that may distort their thinking. While you will never eliminate the tendency of the brain to explain random events by coming up with perceived reasons that make it feel like there is pattern or causation, athletes can use System Two thinking to try and keep their biases in check.
In addition to the loss aversion heuristic, quarterbacks are also susceptible to what Kahneman calls the availability bias; our tendency to rely on associations and analogies that come easiest to mind. For a QB looking at the defensive formation, he might focus on the first response that pops into his head based on his stored memory and training, rather than seeing a more subtle pattern that may call for a different response.
For the experienced player, this automatic response is a competitive advantage because it has been earned by years of deliberate study and practice. System 1 becomes a tool to recognize patterns quickly in what Malcolm Gladwell would describe as a ?Blink.?
For the rookie, overconfidence in their System 1 assessment is what defensive coordinators hope for as they disguise their blitzes and coverages. QBs need large numbers of practice repetitions to slowly transform their System 2 analysis into System 1 reactions.
So, is there a multiple choice test for this? Not yet, but Axon is developing simulation tools that will begin to present these situation-based scenarios so that emerging players can identify their level of System 1 thinking. Interested general managers can then ask how well and how quickly their QB prospects recognize coverages and test their decisions under a variety of game situations. And the players can leave their calculators and #2 pencils at home.
Join Axon Sports on Twitter and Facebook
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Running Out Of Memory
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| Diane Van Deren |
While the idea of running a marathon seems life-changing in a ?bucket list? kind of way, the drudgery of a serious training plan can generate some second thoughts. Even though the details of the weekday workouts vary, the one staple of most plans is the weekend ?long run.? Consisting of progressively more miles as race day nears, these runs of 15+ miles train not only the legs and heart but also the brain. Breaking through mental barriers and learning how to deal with fatigue helps the marathoner talk back to his or her body and helps them get over the inevitable psychological wall during the race.
In fact, our brains can offer us too much information during those hours on the road. Knowing that you just started mile three of an 18 mile training run can be just as difficult as approaching mile 15 exhausted but having to dig deep for three more. What if you could turn your brain off and just deal with the current moment; no looking back or forward? It is something Diane Van Deren lives with every day.
One of the world?s best ultra-runners (as in races of 50 miles or more), Van Deren puts in more miles on her feet during a week than many cyclists do in the saddle. She is a veteran and champion of some of the world?s toughest 50 mile, 100 kilometer and 100 mile races.
But Van Deren fights her own personal battle every day. In 1997, after suffering for years from epileptic seizures, she made the tough decision to undergo a lobectomy. By isolating and removing a damaged kiwi-size portion of the right temporal lobe of her brain, the seizures stopped but so did significant pieces of her short term memory. Beyond just embarrassing lapses of names and faces, Van Deren would lose keys, directions and experiences before they could be filed away into her long term memory archive.
During her struggles with seizures, the former pro tennis player would escape to running in the foothills of the Rockies as this would ward off an oncoming episode. Now, she no longer runs from the attacks and instead runs for the joy of competition against the best in the world. Yet, her new battle is navigation and making her way home since any recollection of her path is gone after a few more strides. She uses a system of ?bread crumbs? and clues to find her way back.
The fascinating aspect of her new memory condition is the lack of awareness of distance traveled and distance to go. There are no pre-planned workout distances that she dutifully fulfills until she?s reached that day?s goal. Of course, a GPS or pedometer could tell her how far she has gone, but she prefers the blissful ignorance of running only to the sound of her feet on the ground.
?It?s a kinesthetic melody that she hits,? Don Gerber, a clinical neuropsychologist at Craig Hospital, a rehabilitation hospital in Englewood, Colo said in a New York Times piece. ?And when she hits it, she knows she?s running well.?
But does her lack of memory provide some type of advantage to her perception of fatigue? If you were on a 20 mile run, but did not know how far you had gone or how far you had to go, would your brain sense the same fatigue signals from your muscles?
In an in-depth Runner?s World article, several neuroscientists debated whether Diane?s lack of awareness of her effort increases her tolerance of pain. "It's a mental state," Gerber says. "You become enmeshed in what you're doing. It's almost Zen. She can run for hours and not know how long she's been going." Others argue that its not that simple. Dr. William Theodore, chief of the clinical epilepsy division at the National Institute of Health commented, "Certain parts of the brain are related to pain, but they're very deep structures. They're almost never involved in epilepsy surgery."
Still, imagine your peace if you were able to tune out the constant jabber of your inner voice telling you how you should feel based on objective data like miles or hours endured. For those that grew up in the Great White North, you might remember playing for hours in the winter snow, only to be told when you finally come in the house that it was -15 degrees outside. Without that data, you?re left to just your body?s messages about how you feel.
To get a sense of that peace, the incredible Radiolab podcast caught up with Van Deren last month for an interview but also to capture the soothing sound of her feet padding along a trail with a matching rhythm of breaths. Sometimes its worth it to turn off the iPod, the heart monitor and the GPS and just run, focused only on yourself.
In fact, our brains can offer us too much information during those hours on the road. Knowing that you just started mile three of an 18 mile training run can be just as difficult as approaching mile 15 exhausted but having to dig deep for three more. What if you could turn your brain off and just deal with the current moment; no looking back or forward? It is something Diane Van Deren lives with every day.
One of the world?s best ultra-runners (as in races of 50 miles or more), Van Deren puts in more miles on her feet during a week than many cyclists do in the saddle. She is a veteran and champion of some of the world?s toughest 50 mile, 100 kilometer and 100 mile races.
But Van Deren fights her own personal battle every day. In 1997, after suffering for years from epileptic seizures, she made the tough decision to undergo a lobectomy. By isolating and removing a damaged kiwi-size portion of the right temporal lobe of her brain, the seizures stopped but so did significant pieces of her short term memory. Beyond just embarrassing lapses of names and faces, Van Deren would lose keys, directions and experiences before they could be filed away into her long term memory archive.
During her struggles with seizures, the former pro tennis player would escape to running in the foothills of the Rockies as this would ward off an oncoming episode. Now, she no longer runs from the attacks and instead runs for the joy of competition against the best in the world. Yet, her new battle is navigation and making her way home since any recollection of her path is gone after a few more strides. She uses a system of ?bread crumbs? and clues to find her way back.
The fascinating aspect of her new memory condition is the lack of awareness of distance traveled and distance to go. There are no pre-planned workout distances that she dutifully fulfills until she?s reached that day?s goal. Of course, a GPS or pedometer could tell her how far she has gone, but she prefers the blissful ignorance of running only to the sound of her feet on the ground.
?It?s a kinesthetic melody that she hits,? Don Gerber, a clinical neuropsychologist at Craig Hospital, a rehabilitation hospital in Englewood, Colo said in a New York Times piece. ?And when she hits it, she knows she?s running well.?
But does her lack of memory provide some type of advantage to her perception of fatigue? If you were on a 20 mile run, but did not know how far you had gone or how far you had to go, would your brain sense the same fatigue signals from your muscles?
In an in-depth Runner?s World article, several neuroscientists debated whether Diane?s lack of awareness of her effort increases her tolerance of pain. "It's a mental state," Gerber says. "You become enmeshed in what you're doing. It's almost Zen. She can run for hours and not know how long she's been going." Others argue that its not that simple. Dr. William Theodore, chief of the clinical epilepsy division at the National Institute of Health commented, "Certain parts of the brain are related to pain, but they're very deep structures. They're almost never involved in epilepsy surgery."
Still, imagine your peace if you were able to tune out the constant jabber of your inner voice telling you how you should feel based on objective data like miles or hours endured. For those that grew up in the Great White North, you might remember playing for hours in the winter snow, only to be told when you finally come in the house that it was -15 degrees outside. Without that data, you?re left to just your body?s messages about how you feel.
To get a sense of that peace, the incredible Radiolab podcast caught up with Van Deren last month for an interview but also to capture the soothing sound of her feet padding along a trail with a matching rhythm of breaths. Sometimes its worth it to turn off the iPod, the heart monitor and the GPS and just run, focused only on yourself.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80PercentMental/~3/444hJc9QkCU/running-out-of-memory.html
What?s so Gross about the Domestic Product?
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is one of the fundamental ideas of introductory macroeconomics. That’s because GDP is the core of one of the best ways to measure citizens’ well-being. We’ll get to that in a future post, though. For now, let’s talk about what GDP measures, and pretend that we’re not going to allow [...]
Source: http://thebadeconomist.com/2011/03/17/whats-so-gross-about-the-domestic-product/
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Are Bank Shots Best In Basketball?
New research by engineers at North Carolina State University show that you had a better chance of scoring that particular game-winning bucket with a bank shot than with a direct shot.
After simulating one million shots with a computer, the NC State researchers show that the bank shot can be 20 percent more effective when shooting at many angles up to a distance of about 12 feet from the basket. Bank shots are also more effective from the "wing" areas between the three-point line and the free-throw lane. However, straight-on shots -- those corresponding to the area around the free-throw line -- from further than 12 feet are not as well suited for bank shots.
The researchers also found the optimal points where the simulated made baskets were aimed. The results show the optimal aim points make a "V" shape near the top center of the backboard's "square," which is actually a 24-inch by 18-inch rectangle which surrounds the rim. Away from the free-throw lane, these aim points were higher on the backboard and thus further from the rim. From closer to the free-throw lane, the aim points were lower on the backboard and closer to the rim.
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| (Credit: Image courtesy of North Carolina State University) |
The researchers also discovered that if you imagine a vertical line 3.327 inches behind the backboard and found where it crossed the aim point on the "V" shape on the backboard, you'd find the optimal spot to bank the basketball to score a basket.
"Basketball players can't take a slide rule out on the court, but our study suggests that a few intuitive assumptions about bank shots are true," says Dr. Larry Silverberg, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at NC State and the lead author of a paper describing the research. "They can be more effective than direct shots, especially from certain areas of the court -- and we show which areas on the court and where the ball needs to hit the backboard."
The researchers made a few assumptions while conducting the study. They used a men's basketball, which is slightly bigger and heavier than a women's basketball; launched the simulated shots from 6, 7, and 8 feet above the ground; and imparted 3 hertz of backspin -- which means three revolutions per second -- on the shots. The latter variable was shown in previous research to be optimal for successfully converting a free throw.
Source: North Carolina State University and Larry M Silverberg, Chau M Tran, Taylor M Adams. Optimal Targets for the Bank Shot in Men's Basketball. Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports, 2011; 7 (1) DOI: 10.2202/1559-0410.1299
See also: NBA Teams Win With Ethnic Diversity and Sports Fans Have Selective Memories
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/80PercentMental/~3/jlh0WlAKOq8/are-bank-shots-best-in-basketball.html
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Comment on Perkins re-ups with Tel Aviv (Basketball) by Top Portable Grill
Good post, useful blog, thank you for your work, keep on, guys!
Source: http://www.alaskasportshall.org/blog/?p=2628&cpage=1#comment-4947
Juiced Sports Presents: 2012 NFL Draft Big Board
MIKE KAYE
With the 2012 NFL Draft just two weeks away and most of the free agency madness of March in our rear-view mirror, we at Juiced Sports present the 2012 Juiced Sports Big Board (Top 100).
The cream of the crop may rise to the top, but in this year’s draft, there is plenty of [...]
With the 2012 NFL Draft just two weeks away and most of the free agency madness of March in our rear-view mirror, we at Juiced Sports present the 2012 Juiced Sports Big Board (Top 100).
The cream of the crop may rise to the top, but in this year’s draft, there is plenty of [...]
Source: http://juicedsportsblog.com/2012/04/juiced-sports-presents-2012-nfl-draft-big-board.html
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TUF Fighter Paul Bradley gets sent Home by Dana White
In this week’s The Ultimate Fighter Episode 3, Paul Bradley who was part of Team Rampage was sent home by UFC President Dana White after it came to the attention that he had broken out with what looked like to be a rash on his neck. During the show, Rampage decided to let Paul Bradley [...]
Source: http://www.sportscontroversytalk.com/2008/tuf-fighter-paul-bradley-gets-sent-home-by-dana-white/
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Saturday 28 April 2012
Water sports are not only great fun but also a great workout too
Posted by Website Introductions: Water sports are indeed great for cooling down in the summer but another benefit is that moving around that much in the water is a great way to work out. Even water walking, popular with older people, is a great way to give your muscle a workout without the impact. Water walking involves all the same muscles you use all the time while walking
Tags: swimming, working out. Comments: 0.
Tags: swimming, working out. Comments: 0.
Bobby Bonilla?s Deferred Deal: A Case Study
Note: This is something of a cross-post from The World’s Worst Sports Blog.� The data used are the same, but I’m focusing on different ideas here. In 1999, the Mets owed outfielder/first baseman Bobby Bonilla $5.9 million dollars. They wanted to be rid of Bonilla, who was a bit of a schmoe, but they couldn’t [...]
Source: http://thebadeconomist.com/2011/08/02/bobby-bonillas-deferred-deal-a-case-study/
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Some Baltimore Orioles highlights
ENJOY!! Digg this! Share this on Facebook Post on Google Buzz Share this on Reddit Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Tumblr Tweet This! Get Shareaholic
Source: http://marylandsportsblog.com/2012/04/some-baltimore-orioles-highlights/
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Best Custom Facebook Fan Pages for Sports
The top 50 this, top 50 that, we’ve all seen different ratings of the best custom Facebook Fan pages. I recently came across a great one, highlighting the 50 most prominent custom Facebook pages that featured no sports teams, so why not do one just for sports? As it turns out after putting in a [...]
Source: http://www.sportspiel.com.au/2010/09/best-custom-facebook-fan-pages-for-sports/
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Little Old Ladies May Want Athletes To Help Them Cross The Road
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| Photo credit: Beckman Institute CAVE |
In a test of skill transfer, Laura Chaddock, a researcher at the Beckman Institute?s Human Perception and Performance lab, and her team pushed a bunch of college students out into busy traffic to see how well they could navigate the oncoming cars... well, sort of.
With the help of a virtual 3D environment called the CAVE, volunteer pedestrians can step into a simulated city street scene, seeing traffic whiz by on three surrounding screens, while walking on a synchronized treadmill. Failure here does not end up in a trip the hospital, just a system reset.
Of the 36 college student participants, half were student-athletes at Illinois, an NCAA Division 1 school, representing a wide variety of sports, including cross-country running, baseball, swimming, tennis, wrestling, soccer and gymnastics. The other half were just regular students matched for similar age, GPA and video game prowess.
Chaddock hypothesized that the athletes would have the edge in street crossing given their training in busy, attention-demanding sport environments. Previous studies have found that athletes outperform non-athletes on sport-specific tests of attention, memory, and speed.
?We predicted that an elite soccer player, for example, not only shows an ability to multitask and process incoming information quickly on a fast-paced soccer field by running, kicking, attending to the clock, noting the present offensive and defensive formations, executing a play, and finding open players to whom to pass? Chaddock wrote. ?He or she also shows these skills in the context of common real world tasks.?
When the students stepped into the CAVE, they encountered a busy city street with cars and trucks zooming by at 40-50 mph. They were asked to cross the street when they thought it was safe, but could only walk briskly with no sprinting. To make it more interesting, (and realistic), the students were also given an iPod to listen to music, then a cell phone with an incoming call to distract their attention even more.
The team was correct in its prediction as the athletes completed more successful crossings than non-athletes by a significant margin. But it wasn?t because the athletes were faster (they were limited to walking) or because they displayed better agility or moves. Maybe it was because their advanced ?field vision? was able to scan the environment for patterns and opportunities to cross better than the untrained eyes of the other students.
?While efficiency of information processing may be one cognitive mechanism underlying athlete and non-athlete differences in street crossing performance,? Chaddock noted, ?additional research is needed to characterize other cognitive factors that play a role in the cognitively complex multitask paradigm that involves attention, speed, working memory and inhibition.?
One other finding of the study confirmed what is probably already obvious. Students who were talking on the phone when crossing the street were much more likely to not make it to the other side.
You might also like: How To See A 130 MPH Tennis Serve and Breaking Curveballs And Rising Fastballs Are Optical Illusions
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