"47 Mind-Blowing Psychology-Proven Facts You Should Know About Yourself"

Thanks to the awesomeness that is StumbleUpon, I stumbled upon this site the other night. ("47 Mind-Blowing Psychology-Proven Facts You Should Know About Yourself"). I found much of it quite fascinating and easily applicable to my own behavior. Since I'm always looking for reasons to explain my stupidity, I enjoyed this even more. If you don't wanna read through all 47 facts, I tried to post some highlights from my favorite topics, which are:

1. You Reconstruct Your Memories
2. Dopamine Makes You Addicted to Seeking Information
3. If You Use Social Media Without Laughter You Aren’t Being Social
4. You Overestimate Your Reactions to Future Events
5. Trust Your Gut or Be Logical? It Depends On Your Mood
6. The Desire for Control and Choice is Built-In
7. Synchronous activity bonds the group
8. People Assume It’s You, Not The Situation (Fundamental Attribution Error)
9. People Expect Online Interactions to Follow Social Rules
10. The more uncertain you are, the more you dig in and defend your ideas

20 Trends That Shaped Modern Hockey: Bobby Orr's Defensive Revolution

(the term "modern" is used loosely as this book was published in 1987.)

Read this excerpt from an old NHL publication (Hockey: 20 Years; the NHL since 1967 by Dan Diamond and Lou Stubbs, an official publication of the NHL. 1987: Doubleday Canada Limited, Toronto, Ontario; Doubleday & Company Inc., Garden City, New York. pp. 30-31 below). We take for granted all the wonderful things Bobby Orr did for the game of hockey and, as a Bruins fan, I especially take it for granted.  Anyway, this is a pretty simple article but I think you will enjoy it. Although the publication date indicates that it is not modern in terms of chronology, Orr's excellence is timeless, and that is plainly but nicely talked about here.

"Hockey Stars Speak: Mark Recchi" (1996)

From the book "Hockey Stars Speak" by Stan Fischler (Warwick Publishing, Toronto, Los Angeles, 1996). Pages 145-154:

To describe Mark Recchi as likable would be a consummate understatement, but it is the first thought that comes to mind.

With a genuine, winning smile, the right win from Kamploops, British Columbia, has charmed both fans and media while playing first for Pittsburgh, then Philadelphia, and most recently Montreal.

I have interviewed Mark many times and invariably came away feeling better than I had before our discussion started. He's that kind of guy - gracious, warm, amusing, and thoughtful. It might very well be a function of his low-key beginnings.

Invariably regarded as "too small" back when he played Junior hockey in New Westminster and Kamloops, Recchi had his doubts about whether or not he would someday be given a chance by an NHL club. The Penguins finally plucked him 67th overall in the 1988 Entry Draft, and 3 years later, he was a 40-goal scorer in the bigs.

Win or lose, Recchi is completely lacking in pretension, unaffected by the trappings of a star. He appears to be just as well-liked by his teammates, which hardly comes as a surprise to those of us who have known him since his rookie NHL season, 1988-89. If, as the tune goes, a good man nowadays is hard to find, well, we've found one in Mark Recchi.

I was born in Kamloops which has since developed quite a reputation as a Junior hockey town. In terms of learning the game, my brother and I got a head start because our dad had been a goalie and had played organized hockey himself. He had a great love of the game from his own experiences and passed that on to us.

My first hockey experiences were on homemade outdoor neighborhood rinks. I'd just shoot the puck around, play some games and just generally have a blast. Fortunately, my father never pushed me into goaltending, although I was always fond of the big equipment goalies had. But that's as far as it got; liking the goalie equipment but not liking the position. I wanted to play up front where it was fun.

Negative Perceptions of the "Big Bad Bruins" in Today's Game

The Bruins have always been a physical team - it is at the very core of the Bruins organization that blue-collar work ethic and tough, physical attitude were the strength of the team and all the successful Bruins teams in the past have lived up to those traits. Over the past season and into this season, I have heard fans and critics in some cases accusing the Bruins of taking their physicality to another level and using intimidating and bullying tactics in a way that is negative to the game and dangerous to opponents. I simply don't think that is true at all.

NBC Sports, the NHL, and Philadelphia Flyers favoritism

Sports Business Journal 50 Most Influential People in Sports Business was released today, and the number one most influential man, Steve Burke, is apparently a genius in his work as President and CEO of NBC Universal Holdings. He attained his current status after Comcast bought NBC Universal in January of 2011 from General Electric. His duties include TV and cable programming, as well as other aspects of the company, which most importantly includes NBC Sports. Upon the completion of the merger, Burke went to work to finally bring a sports network on par with ESPN to his Comcast empire. NBC Sports, which hasn't launched yet, is the culmination of years of Comcast trying to find a way to attract the key demographic of sports fans that ESPN, owned by Disney, dominated. VERSUS had been a haphazard attempt to attract sports viewers after Comcast signed a hefty contract with the NHL. With the addition of NBC Universal, Burke apparently went right to work in negotiating contracts and replacing executive personnel.

Like Comcast, Burke is from Philadelphia. He spent several years as COO at Comcast. The point I'm trying to make ultimately ties into the fact that Comcast, which owns VERSUS and NHL Network and now NBC Sports, controls the American broadcast and exposure of the NHL. Considering that Comcast is Philadelphia-based and have a majority share in Comcast Spectator - which owns the Philadelphia Flyers - there seems to be a suddenly clear path between the Flyers and their television exposure and special treatment in the Winter Classic setting, for example.

Another recent and infuriating display of Flyers bias was against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a game that was nationally broadcast but ended up being two teams standing still for large portions of the game. Both teams were probably at fault, but VERSUS coverage overwhelmingly placed the blame on Tampa's shoulders and commended Philadelphia. I was flabbergasted to say the least, as I could not understand how anyone could say Philadelphia had any right to refuse to play a game that the Lightning have been playing for a while. Just because the Flyers got sick of it one night, it became a huge deal within the NHL community, and suddenly the Lightning were destroying the fabric of the game. In reality, the Lightning strategy can be combated and still create exciting hockey (see the Conference Finals series against the Bruins), but the Flyers refused to adapt and instead acted like spoiled brats. Yet, the commentators for NBC and VERSUS saw no fault in the Flyers. Steve Yzerman shared my thoughts:

The harshest critics came during the intermission of the game, which was broadcast nationally in the United States on Versus, from studio analysts Keith Jones and Mike Milbury who called Tampa Bay’s style of play “embarrassing’’.

Tampa Bay general manager Steve Yzerman questions the motives of the criticism coming from the Versus analysts. “Versus is owned by Comcast, Comcast owns the Flyers, Keith Jones is a broadcaster with the Flyers and is hardly impartial,’’ Yzerman said. “I think that anybody that looks at that objectively should be saying, “Did Tampa do the right thing or Did Philadelphia do the right thing’’ and you can make an argument both ways.’’

The overhaul of Comcast sports and its expensive, carefully calculated emergence into what will be NBC Sports, centering around the NHL, which centers around the Philadelphia Flyers, who Comcast subsidiary Comcast Spectator holds a 67% majority share of (with founder Ed Snider holding 33% share).

It's no coincidence that the Flyers have again been selected to headline the Winter Classic - a huge spectacle for NBC that also now coincides with 4-part HBO documentary series following the teams throughout the season up until the Winter Classic in January. The Flyers already participated two years ago, but HBO only became involved last year, raising the stakes that were already in favor of the Flyers organization.

Comcast's subsidiaries and direct connections to ownership of both the Flyers franchise and all US television broadcasters for the NHL on a national scale are now essentially condensed into one self-serving entity: NBC Sports.

Philadelphia Flyers favoritism will only become stronger with the launch of NBC Sports for at least the next 10 years under the $2 billion contract NBC Sports Group and the NHL signed in April.

(links found at puck daddy) (also find here)

Gregory Campbell on Faceoffs

Bruins Center Gregory Campbell Breaks Down Art of Faceoff as Part of Game Within Game

 

Draws are an art, and if you ask anybody, even the top guys still don't have it figured out. It's a lot of practice. It's something that you have to take pride in, because it's a big part of the game.

I think it's a lot of reading the opposing players. Other players have different tendencies. If you're going against like [Tomas] Plekanec from Montreal, he tends to tie up and kind of block your stick from sweeping through and uses his feet. I think you have to be able to adjust throughout the course of the game.

It's more just experience playing against guys. Whether you're on your forehand or your backhand you have to adjust as well. If somebody is doing something, you might want to talk it over with your wingers or defensemen and say listen, 'This guy's been tying my stick up all night.' So that creates a battle there so just come in and help. Because a lot of times if you're not going to win it clean you need help from your linemates or the two defensemen.

It's definitely a five-man responsibility. Obviously the center bears it on his shoulders the most and gets credit for it and when he loses it gets the blame, but your linemates have to show some awareness with being quick to jump in there. A lot of times it's a stalemate there where the puck's just laying there and you need that extra help from the wingers. Any center will tell you that the success of the center has a lot to do with the wingers and the defensemen.

Obviously it helps me a lot working on it. We do it always after morning game-day skates, and we have some pretty good faceoff men on this team. Bergy is one of the best, Bergy, Kells and Pevs are all extremely good at it. They've been working at it for a long time, so I try to learn from them.

I think it helps. Right now we have two righties playing center and two lefties playing center, so I think Claude does a good job of reading the game, seeing who's doing well on that particular night and putting us out there in situations where we're going to succeed. Sometimes it's tough for a lefty to go out there on his weak side against somebody that's good on draws who's on his strong side. So he'll put out two righties and if one gets kicked out he has confidence that the other can go in and win it. We also have the ability to have more than one natural centerman on a few lines, so that's something that helps too.

I think in the offensive zone sometimes you're more creative. You set up a play off a draw. In the offensive zone it's more about getting the win, and winning it clean. In the defensive zone it doesn't matter if you tie up, as long as you get the help. You just don't want to lose it clean. In the offensive zone sometimes you want to go forward and make a play off it that way, but in the defensive zone it's all about not losing it clean.

Some linesmen are more strict than others. They won't let you cheat as much. And every centerman in the league cheats. That's something that you have to kind of push your limits to see what you can get away with. Worst-case scenario you get kicked out, but there's always a little battle in the faceoff circle with the two centermen trying to get leverage and trying to get your stick in there, your head in there, your body in there and disrupt his stride. Most linesmen are consistent, but you defini
tely want to be aware of that.

"Punched Out": The New York Times 3-part series on the death of Derek Boogaard

From December 3rd through the 6th, the New York Times released a 3-part series on the life and death of Derek Boogaard. Each part includes detailed articles that are both written well and extremely thorough journalism, which is commendable. The shocking and and devastating details of Boogaard's addictions and ultimate death are tough to swallow, but a new level of insight. Each part comes with video, interactive features, and other exclusive insightful additions. The Times summarizes the series:

Over six months, The New York Times examined the life and death of the professional hockey player Derek Boogaard, who rose to fame as one of the sport's most feared fighters before dying at age 28 on May 13.

• Part 1: A Boy Learns to Brawl
• This article, the first of a three-part series, revisits Boogaard's childhood in the rugged youth and junior leagues of western Canada and his progression from physically awkward boy to renowned brawler on the ice. 
• Part 2: Blood on the Ice 
• This article, the second of a three-part series, explores the devastating toll — physical and emotional — of fighting on players who are celebrated for their toughness. 
• Part 3: A Brain Gone Bad
• This article, the third of a three-part series, chronicles Derek Boogaard's descent, on and off the ice, and the posthumous determination by researchers that he had a degenerative brain condition believed to be caused by repeated blows to the head. 

The article essentially examines the ongoing debate about the role of fighting and violence in hockey, clearly drawing conclusions that the nature of the sport encourages a type of violence that can and will destroy a players life earlier than anyone realized. The culture of hockey players, especially enforcers, facilitates self-destructive behavior by hiding serious symptoms of head injury in order to retain their spot in the lineup and the risk these players are at to develop serious addictions. Furthermore, the NHL, NHLPA, and NHL teams do not offer adequate substance abuse programs, nor do they take a strong enough stance on dealing with this type of addiction within the league. Addictions are easily fed by the number of different doctors affiliated with a team, while the team takes no responsibility for the easy manipulation of the system.

The role of a pure enforcer does not truly exist in the NHL anymore, but the sport is still pro-fighting and violence nonetheless, and the NHL seems unwilling to accept growing scientific data about how deep the dangers run. At-risk players, therefore, are not properly aided and, as evident in two other deaths of similar type players this same summer, are their coping mechanisms are becoming increasingly lethal. This series is moving, fascinating, heart-wrenching, and a must-read for all - hockey fans or not.