Wear Red

[Cheesesteak]

Want to win? Wear red
Study shows athletes in red have more success
Posted: Wednesday May 18, 2005 3:49PM; Updated: Wednesday May 18, 2005 3:49PM SPORTS ILLUSTRATED

If winning is everything, British anthropologists have some advice: Wear red.

Their survey of four sports at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens shows competitors were more likely to win their contests if they wore red uniforms or red body armor.

"Across a range of sports, we find that wearing red is consistently associated with a higher probability of winning," report Russell A. Hill and Robert A. Barton of the University of Durham in England. Their findings are in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature.

Red coloration is associated with aggression in many animals. Often it is sexually selected so that scarlet markings signal male dominance.

Just think of the red stripes on the scowling face of the male Mandrill, Africa's largest monkey species. But red is not exclusively a male trait. It's the female black widow spider that is venomous and displays a menacing red dot on her abdomen.

Similarly, the color's effect also may subconsciously intimidate opponents in athletic contests, especially when the athletes are equal in skill and strength, the researchers suggest.

In their survey, the anthropologists analyzed the results of four one-on-one contact sports at the summer games: boxing, tae kwon do, Greco-Roman wrestling and freestyle wrestling.

In those events, the athletes were randomly assigned red protective gear and other sportswear.

Athletes wearing red gear won more often in 16 of 21 rounds of competition in all four events.

The effect was the same regardless of weight classes, too: 19 of 29 classes had more red winners, and only four rounds had more blue winners.

The red effect also might come into play in team sports.

The anthropologists made a preliminary analysis of the Euro 2004 international soccer tournament, in which teams wore jerseys of different colors in different matches. They found that five teams scored more goals and won more often when they wore shirts that were predominantly red, as opposed to blue or white jerseys.

Scientists don't precisely known how wearing red might give athletes an advantage. But the color delivers implicit messages of vigor and danger. When people get angry, their faces turn red. It's also a reason why stop signs are red. So are most Ferraris.

A case can perhaps be made that most of the recent winners of U.S. sports championships have at least a touch of red on their uniforms: among pro teams, the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, the Detroit Pistons. And in college football, Southern California.

But it's the gracious sport of golf that offers the best example. Tiger Woods wears an iconic red shirt on Sundays, the final day of most tournaments.

[Diehard Pony]

It hasen't done very well for us since they went to exclusively red uniforms at home.

Hopefully this season the color of our uniforms won't matter for a good reason.

[MrMustang1965]

Noticed that this was a British study. Britain...where soccer is called 'football'! That's just wrong.

[WorldStang]

Just wrong.. how do you figure? Because they kick a ball with their foot and that sport has been around much longer our brand of "football"? It's not just the Brits that refer to "soccer" as "Football".. it's the rest of the world outside of the United States.

And FYI.. they still think we're sissies for wearing pads when we play "American football".. as they call it.

See Rugby..

[huntnfish]

WorldStang-there's not too many 6'5 300 pounders who run 4.5 in the 40 running full speed in soccer or rugby- the difference b/w those sports and football is the fact you have breaks b/w plays in football which lead to more full speed collisions with larger bodies- nothing against those sports, but they are really different

Actually red is not the color you want to wear if you are competing against someone b/c studies show it creates a feeling of aggression- lighter shades are better- there are way too many variables to credit wearing red w/ victories

[WorldStang]

Good grief.. my post wasn't saying the sports are similar! If you read my post and the post before.. you'll understand I was explaining why his comment about "football" was a bit off.

As a side note, I was also explaining how many Euros think Americans are sissies for wearing pads in a full-contact sport.. unlike rugby.

And by the way genius.. where do you think we got the idea for American Football?

Answer: Rugby
http://inventors.about.com/od/fstartinv ... otball.htm

So you're wrong when you say they're not that similar. They're acutally very similar outside of the breaks between plays. Do yourself a favor and watch a Rugby match sometimes.. you might learn a little instead of criticizing my post which you didn't even read correctly.

If you're going to criticize.. read the post next time.[url][/url][url][/url]

[Eddie P]

I like Green. It's my favorite.

[couch 'em]

And FYI.. they still think we're sissies for wearing pads when we play "American football".. as they call it.

See Rugby..

I never understood that logic. Pads were introduced because several people were getting killed every year in college football because of no pads. How many people die playing rugby?

[Eddie P]

7 and a half

[SWC2010]

Red, huh?

Somebody forgot to tell... UMiami... Michigan... LSU... Texas... tell me when to stop...
Of course, red is popular-- 50/50 chance of a win with Red/Blue being the domintate colors of mascots.

Hope tax dollars weren't spent on this deep thought!

[huntnfish]

hey worldstang. I understand what you were saying, but Rugby is more like soccer than football, that was my point

collisions in football happen at much higher speeds w/ bigger and faster men, thus the need for pads- and these higher speeds are caused by non continous play and rest as opposed to soccer or rugby

go find a rugby or soccer board, your input would be better suited there

[SMUguy]

Red sportscars are more expensive to insure than sportscars of other colors (at least with some companies.) Red must look faster.