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August 09, 2007

BBC reports intimate stadiums make for winning teams

We were just listening to a BBC World Service podcast entitled "Quiet Please" that focused on the various aspects of sound in sports, and it got us to thinking again about the new stadium we hope to see built for the Earthquakes. (If you'd like to listen to it yourself, we've made it available here for your downloading pleasure (MP3, 8.7 M).

One of the people interviewed was Dr. Sandy Wilson, a sports psychologist and Newcastle United fan. She made some comments that put the desire for an intimate stadium in a new light:

"I think the noise that comes from a crowd can have a major effect on the referee. It's not just the players who are affected but the referees are affected. That can also contribute to the home advantage. If you're a referee and you suddenly hear 40,000 people shout, 'hand ball!,' it might not be a question of your being intimidated by the crowd; it might be that that information can help you to make a decision on what's been happening.

"Actually, there was a very interesting analysis of football games in the German premier league and it was found that the home advantage was particularly high in stadiums that didn't have a running track that separated the pitch from the fans. There was another study done in England that looked at the home advantage and they showed people, both normal fans and referees, videos of incidents that had happened in games and asked them to make a ruling about whether a foul had been committed or not, and when these incidents were played with the sound on, they found a very strong home advantage bias. But when the sound was turned off, they found that the bias was eliminated."

So, intimate stadium = greater home field advantage. Of course, the stadium has to be loud, but that's a given since we're talking about Quakes fans.

Former Quake Jimmy Conrad was also interviewed for the show. He spoke about his experience in the 2006 World Cup against the Czech Republic and Italy.

"We went out there and over half the stadium was already full, and we got boos from the Czech fans and amazing cheers from the American fans. Once I actually got to play and I got out there, I'm not thinking about anything. I think the only time you pick up on the sound from the crowd is when a goal is scored. The only other time you notice a sound is when I can't hear somebody who's standing five yards from me because it's so loud. When we played Italy in Gelsenkirchen, it was so loud and Oguchi Onyewu was three yards from me, yelling for me to step up or close or to do something that he thought I needed to do, and I couldn't hear him."

(re: Italy) "I couldn't understand what they were saying but I think what's universal about language is you can pick up on tone, the harshness in what they're saying or how loud they're saying things. So you would hear when they were talking to each other, they were frustrated and as the opposing team, you get a lot of confidence from that. What's interesting in looking back on that now is how much the sound plays into my memories."

Posted by Jay at August 9, 2007 10:24 AM

Comments

OT: The Earthquakes should change their name before we are visited by mass death and destruction out here in the Bay Area, compliments of an.....earthquake.

Back in the day, 2000-ish, those crazy liberals at the Pentagon listed the three most vulnerable aspects of U.S. national security:
1) Terrorist attack on New York City
2) Hurricane along the Gulf Coast
3) Earthquake in the Bay Area

Missions 1) and 2) accomplished. Perhaps 3) is on the way.

I'm no genius, but aside from the bizarre and pathetic names that MLS chooses for many of its sides, naming your team after that event which is best known for raining death/destruction/mahem/misery on the local population (not to mention bazillions in property damage) just doesn't seem the prudent choice.

Anyone hear of the lady that died at the most recent "Swim or die!" Alcatraz race? They found her floating in the water off Crissy Field beach.

Maybe we should start chanting "Fly or die!" at Earthquake games?

Either that, or just change the name of the Earthquakes to something slightly less insane.

Posted by: Peter [TypeKey Profile Page] at August 9, 2007 12:08 PM

Peter:

It's thankfully too late to change the name of our team, a name that doesn't need changing.

Long live the San Jose Earthquakes, a team that we all fought hard to get back and a +30 year team-name that we all fought hard to keep, and proudly so!


Posted by: Goodsport at August 9, 2007 02:35 PM

Getting back to the article:

Very interesting! :)

I wonder how crowd noise affects referees/umpires other sports in comparison to how it affects referees in soccer?


Posted by: Goodsport at August 9, 2007 02:51 PM

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