Strength Of Opponents Research Articles

Mood States of NCAA Division II Female Soccer Athletes Over Seasonal Play

To maintain consistent performance from match-to-match, soccer requires a stable disposition. Most prior studies, however, have focused on single-observation descriptive investigations to quantify psychological indices deemed essential for success. With soccer becoming one of the fastest growing sports in the United States, limited research efforts have been directed toward quantifying psychological status throughout a competitive season. PURPOSE: To quantify the mood state changes of NCAA Division II female soccer athletes over seasonal play. METHODS: Following written informed consent, 32 female NCAA Division II athletes from a top 20 program (Record: 43–15–3; mean age = 19.87 ± 2.03 yr) completed the Profile of Mood States [(POMS; McNair et al., 1971): tension (TEN), depression (DEP), anger (ANG), vigor (VIG), fatigue (FAT), confusion (CON), total mood disturbance (TMD)] weekly over three consecutive seasons. Data were grouped by position (defense, forward, goalkeeper, midfield), classification (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior), and season (y02, y03, y04). Statistical significance was determined a priori at the 0.05 level. RESULTS: Repeated measures MANOVAs (Wilks' Lambda) indicated no significant main effects across position by time (F12,2= 0.404; P = 0.874; n-β = 0.069), classification by time (F18,3 = 0.396; P = 0.915; n-β = 0.078), or season by time (F61 = 0.207; P = 0.930; n-β = 0.05) demonstrating that mood states were neither affected by an athlete's position, classification, or season. Although not statistically significant, negative mood states increased concomitantly with match losses throughout seasonal play. CONCLUSION: NCAA Division II female soccer athletes exhibited profound but insignificant shifts in mood states during seasonal play. The negative shifts in mood states can be attributed to the affect of critical losses during conference and post-conference play, the strength of opponents, and other noncompetitive stressors such as problematic interpersonal relationships and personal injury. Further study over seasonal play is warranted to delineate the optimal level of mood states required for successful performance, from potential stressors reinforcing a maladaptive mindset.

Using quantitative techniques to improve athletic schedules

Team pairings during an athletic season impact the revenues, costs, and exposure of teams in college and professional leagues. The schedules of teams can also influence which one wins a conference or league championship. Factors such as the strength of opponents, travel times and distances, and television exposure are important in constructing desirable athletic schedules, but are often ignored by schedule-makers. Integer programming techniques are applied to scheduling college football games in the Southeastern Conference. The result is a set of schedules which, when compared to the current set, yields a more narrow range in schedule difficulty among the 10 teams, lower total distance for teams to travel during the season, and potentially more televised games.

The War of Attrition

The War of Attrition between Egypt and Israel from March 1969 to the restoration of the cease-fire on August 7, 1970 has not been generally recognized for the major confrontation that it was. Its inconclusive outcome has led observers to overlook the fact that it was not a limited war in any sense of the word, since both the combatants had objectives which, if they had been successful, would have caused a major upheaval in the area. The Egyptian intention was eventually to achieve the capability of crossing the Suez Canal in strength and reoccupying Sinai; the Israelis not only aimed at preventing this and re-establishing the cease-fire, but seriously attempted to undermine the Egyptian regime through military pressure. Both sides, furthermore, used the major proportion of their military strength in the conflict (either directly or as a part of the static situation), and the confrontation, although centered on the Suez Canal, was not limited to that particular area and indeed has to be seen in the light of concurrent conflicts conducted on Israel's other fronts. The war was, in short, of considerable significance, and it is the purpose of this article briefly to describe the course of conflict and to examine the light it throws on the strategic thinking of the participants in the aftermath of the Six Day War. An attritive war may be adopted as a strategy (rather then be forced upon the combatants as a result of the failure of more direct means, as in World War I) when one side is weaker than the other or when it cannot foresee a quick decision over the other. But in launching such a war, the weaker initiator must seek to prevent his stronger opponent from escalating the conflict and bringing the full weight of its military superiority into play. If he can do this, then his objective is not to strike a decisive blow to his opponent's strength, but to exhaust through attrition his enemy's will to continue the fight without making concessions. Such was) substantially, the strategy adopted by Egypt in 1969, in res-