John Cairney

Superstition has been a part of baseball from the beginning. From good luck charms to human mascots to ritual statues of Babe Ruth to the curse of Colonel Sanders, there may be almost as many superstitions as players (or fans). Drawing on social science, religious studies and SABRmetrics, this book explores the rich history of supernatural belief in the game and documents a wide variety of rituals, fetishes, taboos and jinxes. Some of these have changed over time but coping with uncertainty on the field through magical thinking remains a constant.

Baseball's Superstitions, Curses and Taboos

Field of Magic

Joseph Baker

William J. Montelpare

Brent E. Faught

Murray Nystrom

Paul N. Corey

It is common for athlete exposure (AE) and body contact (BC) to be incorrectly estimated in epidemiologic research due to the technical challenges associated with field-based research in ice hockey. Time-on-task technology has shown promise in accurately quantifying AE and BC using computer technology through direct measurement during real time games. The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to adopt time-on-task technology to monitor AE and BC in Atom hockey players who were permitted body checking versus those not allowed to body check. We evaluated 579 boys (age 9-10 year olds) from 42 representative Atom hockey teams over 107 games during the 2003-2004 regular season from five hockey associations using a time-on-task computing program running on a tablet computer. Body checking was allowed in four associations [Northern Ontario Hockey Association (NOHA), Minor Hockey Alliance of Ontario, Ontario Minor Hockey Association, Greater Toronto Hockey League], while one association was non-body checking (HNO). Body contact was 4.5 times greater in the body checking associations versus the non-body checking association per game. No significant difference in mean AE per game was found between body checking and non-body checking associations. However, greater AE was reported in NOHA games compared to the remaining four associations. Conversely, BC in the NOHA was significantly less compared to the remaining body checking associations, but not the HNO. Time-on-task technology was valuable in monitoring AE and BC, accounting for variability in individual players. Expected AE and BC was observed between checking and non-body checking associations. Unexpectedly larger AE in NOHA is attributed to smaller team roster size and longer duration games. Furthermore, decreased BC in NOHA players may be due to smaller roster size intrinsic factors contributing to the inverse relationship between AE and BC. Time-on-task technology is valuable in monitoring AE and BC in Atom ice hockey. This is a practical method of monitoring important aspects of the game.

Measuring Athlete Exposure and Body Contact Using Time-on-Task Technology in Ice Hockey

This is a book about Glasgow, but not your everyday history book. Glasgow By the Way But is a contemporary series of essays examining different aspects of Glasgow in a historical and cultural context, revealing a unique, amusing and sometimes critical, perspective of Cairney's beloved city. Those who remember John Cairney's performances and have read his other books will enjoy the insightful anecdotes from Cairney's career.

Celebrating a City

Glasgow by the Way, But

Geoffrey R. Norman

David L. Streiner

A new edition of this practical guide for clinicians who are developing tools to measure subjective states, attitudes, or non-tangible outcomes in their patients, suitable for those who have no knowledge of statistics.

A Practical Guide to Their Development and Use

Health Measurement Scales

An intriguing novel about the choices we make, about finding out who we really are and about living life to the fullest. Tam Cochrane is a sickly lad, confined to his bed in Glasgow in the 1880s. His only experience of adventure and the outside world is through books - that is until his father decides to sell up and head for New Zealand. As they take the four-month journey by ship, Tam's health begins to improve, and with it signs of a new Tam, fully engaging in the real world. After arriving in their new country, the family heads to Rotorua and Tarawera, only to be caught in the volcanic eruption of 1886. Having been concussed, Tam wakes up, groggy but still the fit young man he'd been growing into, except he finds he is in Napier, emerging from the ruins of the 1931 earthquake. What has happened to the last 45 years? Why is he still a young man? And who is the other Tam Cochrane, now living like a recluse back in Glasgow? An intriguing story, it is set among the cataclysmic events of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Flashback Forward

This is a book about Glasgow, but not your everyday history book. Glasgow by the way, but is a contemporary series of essays examining different aspects of Glasgow in a historical and cultural context, revealing a unique, amusing and sometimes critical, perspective of Cairney's beloved city. Those who remember John Cairney's performances and have read his other books will enjoy the insightful anecdotes from Cairney's career.

John Cairney

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