2008 Woodie Awards
We must protect this house!!
Talitha Linden-Darrow
Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: Sports
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"This is our house! And we protect our house!" Players, no matter what age group and no matter what sport repeat those words to get themselves fired-up before a home game. There is something almost mystical about playing on your home field or court. The support of the fans and the familiarity of the court or field creates a fever to win. That fever builds to a frenzy of momentum that usually turns into a win for the home team. At least, that's the way it's supposed to turn out.
We all understand the psychological explanations for a home field advantage. But, could there actually be scientific reasons for them as well? In this years World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Colorado Rockies, the teams played games 1 and 2 at Fenway Park in Boston. A sports commentator during one of the games, used science to explain a possible home field advantage for the Colorado Rockies once the games moved to Coors Field in Denver. The explanation went something like this: Fenway Park is only 20 feet above sea level. By contrast, the Rockies' home field is 1 mile above sea level. At that altitude, the air is less dense and therefore pitchers who rely on their curve ball will notice that the curve ball does not curve as much in Denver. Now if that were the case, pitchers like Beckett and Wakefield could be much more hittable when the games moved to Denver. That's the kind of home field advantage that I had never thought about before. We all know the outcome; Boston swept the Rockies in 4 straight games. Perhaps there is no such thing as home field advantage, psychological or scientific, when one team is just that much better than the other.
I think however that the Rockies were at a disadvantage having been inactive for so many days. The Rockies swept the NLCS and waited while the Red Sox battled for 7 games, perhaps sharpening their skills in their ALCS victory over Cleveland. And let's not forget the swing of momentum from the Indians to the Red Sox who came back after being down 3 games to 1. The Red Sox had momentum on their side, where as the Rockies were as cold as the temperatures in Denver.
We all understand the psychological explanations for a home field advantage. But, could there actually be scientific reasons for them as well? In this years World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the Colorado Rockies, the teams played games 1 and 2 at Fenway Park in Boston. A sports commentator during one of the games, used science to explain a possible home field advantage for the Colorado Rockies once the games moved to Coors Field in Denver. The explanation went something like this: Fenway Park is only 20 feet above sea level. By contrast, the Rockies' home field is 1 mile above sea level. At that altitude, the air is less dense and therefore pitchers who rely on their curve ball will notice that the curve ball does not curve as much in Denver. Now if that were the case, pitchers like Beckett and Wakefield could be much more hittable when the games moved to Denver. That's the kind of home field advantage that I had never thought about before. We all know the outcome; Boston swept the Rockies in 4 straight games. Perhaps there is no such thing as home field advantage, psychological or scientific, when one team is just that much better than the other.
I think however that the Rockies were at a disadvantage having been inactive for so many days. The Rockies swept the NLCS and waited while the Red Sox battled for 7 games, perhaps sharpening their skills in their ALCS victory over Cleveland. And let's not forget the swing of momentum from the Indians to the Red Sox who came back after being down 3 games to 1. The Red Sox had momentum on their side, where as the Rockies were as cold as the temperatures in Denver.
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