10,000 hours and small town life for Superstars

I grew up in a small town, and I always felt it was a disadvantage in sports compared to the competition one can find in big cities. Well, it turns out that I was partially wrong. This article in Wired discusses how the superstars in North American sports come from smaller urban centers.

Of course, they probably classify a town of 4000 as small and probably too small. Second, my choice of sport, basketball, is a horrible choice for small town Canada.

For those of you hoping your little ones will be superstars, I think the key message is let them explore a range of activities. Even better, let them find their own way and encourage them all along.

Peter

My Prediction of 2010 College Football using Academic Rankings - No Bets Here

If you take the US news College Rankings and apply it to College football, how would your school finish?

ACC Standings
ATLANTIC	Academic Rating
1 Wake Forest	25
2 Boston College	31
3 Maryland	56
4 Clemson	64
5 Florida State	104
6 North Carolina State	111
COASTAL	Academic Rating
1 Duke	9
2 Virginia	25
3 North Carolina	30
4 Georgia Tech	35
5 Miami (FL)	47
6 Virginia Tech	69
Big 12 Standings
NORTH	Academic Rating
1 Colorado	86
2 Iowa State	94
3 Missouri	94
4 Kansas	104
5 Nebraska	104
6 Kansas State	132
SOUTH	Academic Rating
1 Texas	45
2 Texas A&M	63
3 Baylor	79
4 Oklahoma	111
5 Oklahoma State	132
6 Texas Tech	159
Big East Standings
TEAM	Academic Rating
1 Syracuse	55
2 Pittsburgh	64
3 Rutgers	64
4 Connecticut	69
5 Cincinnati	156
6 Louisville	176
7 West Virginia	176
8 South Florida	183
Big Ten Standings
TEAM	Academic Rating
1 Northwestern	12
2 Michigan	29
3 Wisconsin	45
4 Penn State	47
5 Illinois	47
6 Ohio State	56
7 Purdue	56
8 Minnesota	64
9 Iowa	72
10 Indiana	75
11 Michigan State	79
Mid-American Standings
EAST	Academic Rating
1 Miami (OH)	79
2 Buffalo	120
3 Ohio	124
4 Temple	132
5 Bowling Green	170
6 Kent State	183
7 Akron	Tier 2
WEST	Academic Rating
1 Ball State	179
2 Western Michigan	179
3 Central Michigan	Tier 2
4 Eastern Michigan	Tier 2
5 Northern Illinois	Tier 2
6 Toledo	Tier 2
Mountain West Standings
TEAM	Academic Rating
1 Brigham Young	75
2 TCU	99
3 Colorado State	124
4 Utah	129
5 Wyoming	153
6 San Diego State	183
7 New Mexico	Tier 2
8 UNLV	Tier 2
9 Air Force
Pacific-10 Standings
TEAM	Academic Rating
1 Stanford	5
2 California	22
3 USC	23
4 UCLA	25
5 Washington	41
6 Oregon	111
7 Washington State	111
8 Arizona	120
9 Oregon State	139
10 Arizona State	143
SEC Standings
EAST	Academic Rating
1 Vanderbilt	17
2 Florida	53
3 Georgia	56
4 Tennessee	104
5 South Carolina	111
6 Kentucky	129
WEST	Academic Rating
1 Alabama	79
2 Auburn	85
3 LSU	124
4 Arkansas	132
5 Mississippi	143
6 Mississippi State	151

Miami University wins the MAC.