沙奎尔·奥尼尔——蜜糖成熟时

一 眼前的这个男人显得有些不高兴,他不能入睡,脑中的想法在飞速地旋转着。这是二月的一个黎明时分。此刻,这个人独自坐在位于奥兰多濒临Lake Butler的一幢价值550万美元的豪宅里沉思。慢慢地,一种焦虑感让他不能自已。     

Distributors and film critics: does it take two to Tango?

Previous literature has documented the impact of critics on audience choices of movies. We investigate three issues regarding professional critics in the motion picture industry. First we document whether and to what extent critics and their recommendations exhibit a statistical bias toward specific studios. We show that reviews by a number of critics are significantly affected by the film distributor’s identity. A second question is whether audiences are able to distinguish between biased and unbiased critics. We cannot support the view that audiences put less weight on the views of biased critics; in fact, they may listen to them more. Third, we try to characterize critics who are more prone to bias. Surprisingly, but in accord with reputation models, we find that more reputable critics may be more biased; in particular, critics based in L.A. tend to significantly prefer specific studios.

Anthropometric characteristics of Columbia, South Carolina, youth baseball players and Dixie Youth World Series players

The purpose of this study was to compare measures of body size in two samples of youth baseball players with normative data from the United States National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) growth charts. One sample of youth baseball players participated in a local little league. The second sample of youth baseball players were members of eight of the twelve teams participating in the 1995 Dixie Youth World Series. Normative data for the United States (NCHS) were used as comparative data. Two trained anthropometrists measured standing height, sitting height, lower limb height, upper limb length, arm girth, calf girth, tricep skinfold, and abdomen skinfold on all participants. In both samples, pitchers, short stops, and first basemen were a more highly skilled group and exhibited larger body size (greater standing height, sitting height, lower limb height, upper limb length) than children who played at other positions. The standing height of local little league players was similar to the median of reference data at ages 7, 8, and 9 years. The standing height and weight of skilled players in both samples approximated the 75th percentile for standing height and weight at ages 10, 11, 12, and 13 years. The results suggest that baseball players exhibit larger body size than the normal population at young ages. Body size may be an important criterion used by coaches to select and assign young players to certain positions.     

Mixing methods in assessing coaches' decision making

Mixing methods has recently achieved respectability as an appropriate approach to research design, offering a variety of advantages (Tashakkori & Teddlie, 2003). The purpose of this paper is to outline and evaluate a mixed methods approach within the domain of coaches' decision making. Illustrated with data from a policy-capturing study on coaches' decisions about an injured gymnast's participation in competition, the approach involves the concurrent collection of quantitative and qualitative data and a three-phase process of data analysis. It is argued that (a) the method described can provide additional insights into the factors involved in coaches' decision making, beyond those provided via quantitative or qualitative methods alone, and (b) mixing methods holds promise for coaching research more generally.     

Repeated retention testing effects do not generalize to a contextual interference protocol

Three experiments examined repeated retention testing effects in a contextual interference (CI) protocol. Retention was assessed at 10 min and 24 hr following acquisition or at just 24-hr for the one-test conditions. Experiments 1 and 2 used speeded-response key-pressing tasks. Dependent measures were total time and errors. Experiment 3 used sequential-timing tasks. Dependent measures were absolute error and absolute constant error Results revealed CI effects in each experiment. Repeated retention testing effects were not found in Experiments 1 and 3. Experiment 2 revealed superior performance by the two-test condition compared to the one-test condition. This result was qualified by possible practice effects during the 10-min test. It was concluded that repeated retention testing does not present problems for most studies of CI.     

Effect of intermittent normobaric hypoxic exposure at rest on haematological, physiological, and performance parameters in multi-sport athletes

The aim of this study was to determine whether 3 weeks of intermittent normobaric hypoxic exposure at rest was able to elicit changes that would benefit multi-sport athletes. Twenty-two multi-sport athletes of mixed ability were exposed to either a normobaric hypoxic gas (intermittent hypoxic training group) or a placebo gas containing normal room air (placebo group). The participants breathed the gas mixtures in 5-min intervals interspersed with 5-min recovery periods of normal room air for a total of 90 min per day, 5 days per week, over a 3-week period. The oxygen in the hypoxic gas decreased from 13% in week 1 to 10% by week 3. The training and placebo groups underwent a total of four performance tests, including a familiarization and baseline trial before the intervention, followed by trials at 2 and 17 days after the intervention. Time to complete the 3-km run decreased by 1.7%[95% confidence interval (CI) = -0.6 - 3.9%] 2 days after, and by 2.3% (CI = 0.25 - 4.4%) 17 days after, the last hypoxic episode in the training relative to the placebo group. Substantial changes in the training relative to the placebo group also included increased reticulocyte count 2 days (23.5%; CI =-1.9 to 44.9%) and 12 days (14.6%; CI = -7.1 to 36.4%) post-exposure. The effect of intermittent hypoxic training on 3-km performance found in this study is likely to be beneficial, which suggests non-elite multi-sport athletes should expect such training to enhance performance.     

Geographic clustering of economic activity: The case of prominent western visual artists

This article compiles original data relating to artists’ place of birth and work migration patterns using various art history dictionaries. The broad historic pattern, from the 13th to the 20th century, of the birth locations of prominent artists is examined, followed by a detailed study of the work migration patterns of prominent artists in two important situations, namely Renaissance Italy and France in part of the 19th century. The evidence indicates a marked clustering of activity of prominent artists, both arising from birth location and migration patterns. Some possible explanations for the observed patterns are briefly outlined.

The role of upper torso and pelvis rotation in driving performance during the golf swing

While the role of the upper torso and pelvis in driving performance is anecdotally appreciated by golf instructors, their actual biomechanical role is unclear. The aims of this study were to describe upper torso and pelvis rotation and velocity during the golf swing and determine their role in ball velocity. One hundred recreational golfers underwent a biomechanical golf swing analysis using their own driver. Upper torso and pelvic rotation and velocity, and torso-pelvic separation and velocity, were measured for each swing. Ball velocity was assessed with a golf launch monitor. Group differences (groups based on ball velocity) and moderate relationships (r > or = 0.50; P < 0.001) were observed between an increase in ball velocity and the following variables: increased torso-pelvic separation at the top of the swing, maximum torso-pelvic separation, maximum upper torso rotation velocity, upper torso rotational velocity at lead arm parallel and last 40 ms before impact, maximum torso-pelvic separation velocity and torso-pelvic separation velocity at both lead arm parallel and at the last 40 ms before impact. Torso-pelvic separation contributes to greater upper torso rotation velocity and torso-pelvic separation velocity during the downswing, ultimately contributing to greater ball velocity. Golf instructors can consider increasing ball velocity by maximizing separation between the upper torso and pelvis at the top of and initiation of the downswing.