21 May 2005

It's been a while since two big teams played the Cup Final

Some inane conversation pre-FA cup final:

P: "What's the Prince of Kent doing there? What's his function in life?"
D: "Well, isn't she some royal dignitary who opens schools and stuff?"
P: "No, it's the Prince, her husband."
D: "Who's he?"
P: "Excatly. He turns up to Wimbledon and stuff."
D: "Are the proper royals snubbing the footie now? I mean, they send Princess what's-her-name to the rugby, don't they?"
P: "Probably afraid of Man Utd fans kicking off or something. The Dundee Utd game has been delayed by 10 minutes."
D: "Typical."

Incidentally, Hill and Barton report in Nature that: Red enhances human performance in contests1. So, my prediction for today's Cup Final results: Arsenal to win, just. Possibly even in extra time. The report also bodes well for Liverpool vs AC Milan, but the colour red only gives an advantage if both opponents are of equal skill level...

1745h edit: I was right about the result, but a little off on the circumstances.

1 Hill, R.A. and Barton, R.A. 2005. Psychology: Red enhances human performance in contests. Nature 435: 293. (PMID)

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