Have you ever thought about something but never told anyone about it because you thought they might think you were weird because of the observation (no, it's just me, oh no) Oooh).
I admit to being a sports geek. I have been fortunate to broadcast football, basketball, softball, and baseball games at the high school and college levels. When you broadcast as many games as I do, you often see things a little differently than most fans.
When broadcasting a game, you need to observe the game, the sideline, the stands, and anything else that grabs your attention. That's mainly because there's a lot of time to fill on air.
Something I've noticed over the last few years in the sports world is that even if basketball players are shooting free throws and miss the first shot, they'll reach for their teammates to give them a “5” anyway.
To be honest, this bothered me a little. I admit I'm an old school guy, but I've always believed that the shooter's teammates should walk up to them, not the shooter looking for the “5.”
I remember years ago when I started playing, if a shooter missed a free throw, they wouldn't give you a “5”. Maybe it was an unspoken rule? Right or wrong, that's just the way it was.
But these days, things are very different. When the shooter misses his first of two shots, he steps toward his teammate for a “5.” I thought I was the only one who noticed this, but it seems I wasn't.
Researchers convinced someone to pay to watch a women's basketball game for hours, paying special attention to free throws.
And these researchers found that when a shooter misses his first shot, if he can get a “5” from his teammate, his chances of making the second free throw go up significantly.
The study also looked at whether they made their first free throw and got a “5” from their teammates, but it had no effect on their second free throw.
So science seems to be saying that the “old” unwritten rule that you can't get a “5” unless you take the first shot has been wrong for years.
So I thought maybe I should apply this approach of generously giving a “5” to my colleagues, even if they didn't try hard enough.
Maybe I can convince someone with a lot of money to pay me to do this research. If so, I will contact you with my findings. And even if I fail in my efforts to conduct this research, I'm still going to step up to you to earn a “5” anyway.