Henry E.T. Wetherall, Mark F. Stewart and Trong Anh Trinh
Competitive balance is critical for the survival of athletic leagues. A relationship between “uncertainty of outcome” and fan interest has been found in many sports all over the…
Abstract
Purpose
Competitive balance is critical for the survival of athletic leagues. A relationship between “uncertainty of outcome” and fan interest has been found in many sports all over the world. This paper examines competitive balance in professional netball in Australia and New Zealand by contrasting two competitions: the ANZ Championship, an elite Australasian competition that began in 2008 but was disbanded in 2016 as there was a perception of dominance by the Australian teams over their New Zealand rivals; and its Australian domestic replacement, Suncorp Super Netball, which started in 2017.
Design/methodology/approach
Competitive balance is gauged in three broad ways: match result concentration, which looks at the evenness of each season; team dominance, where comparisons are made across several seasons; and within game equality, which examines the results of individual games.
Findings
Several methods are used under each heading, with the results surprisingly showing that measured competitive balance was similar in the two competitions.
Originality/value
In sports management, quantitative analysis or sports economics, there are few published papers on netball. This is the first research to examine competitive balance in netball, and the findings have important ramifications for this women-only game, as it competes against other purveyors of professional sport.
Details
Keywords
The findings of the Steering Group on Food Freshness in relation to the compulsory date marking of food contained in their Report, reviewed elsewhere in this issue, has brought…
Abstract
The findings of the Steering Group on Food Freshness in relation to the compulsory date marking of food contained in their Report, reviewed elsewhere in this issue, has brought within measurable distance the Regulations which were, in any case, promised for1975. The Group consider that the extension of voluntary open date marking systems will not be sufficiently rapid (or sufficiently comprehensive) to avoid the need or justify the delay in introducing legislation.
Daniel Briggs, Tim Turner, Kerri David and Tara De Courcey
There is an immense public health concern about the effects of binge drinking across the Western world, in particular about British youth on holiday abroad. While existing UK…
Abstract
There is an immense public health concern about the effects of binge drinking across the Western world, in particular about British youth on holiday abroad. While existing UK research has shed some light on binge drinking and its consequences, this has largely been restricted to surveys. Therefore, an analysis of the social context of British youth and binge drinking abroad currently remains absent. This article attempts to fill that gap by offering an insight into the social context of binge drinking in a holiday resort in Ibiza. It is based on ethnographic fieldwork and makes use of one field note to highlight what Hunt and colleagues (2010) refer to as ‘important relationships between youth, pleasure and context’, to explore the social interactions of binge‐drinking British youth abroad.
Details
Keywords
Among the events marking the Golden Jubilee of the R.A.F. one of the most welcome is the publication of the 4th edition of this outstanding book. Previous editions have been…
Abstract
Among the events marking the Golden Jubilee of the R.A.F. one of the most welcome is the publication of the 4th edition of this outstanding book. Previous editions have been described, rightly, as encyclopaedic, and since 1962 when the 3rd edition appeared there have been further revisions and additions. The book is now so far up‐to‐date that it covers all the new types on order for the R.A.F., including Jaguar, Harrier, Nimrod, Phantom and, optimistically, the F.111K.
The question has been recently raised as to how far the operation of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts of 1875, 1879, and 1899, and the Margarine Act, 1887, is affected by the Act…
Abstract
The question has been recently raised as to how far the operation of the Sale of Food and Drugs Acts of 1875, 1879, and 1899, and the Margarine Act, 1887, is affected by the Act 29 Charles II., cap. 7, “for the better observation of the Lord's Day, commonly called Sunday.” At first sight it would seem a palpable absurdity to suppose that a man could escape the penalties of one offence because he has committed another breach of the law at the same time, and in this respect law and common‐sense are, broadly speaking, in agreement; yet there are one or two cases in which at least some show of argument can be brought forward in favour of the opposite contention.
The food standards of the Indiana State Board of Health, which appear on another page, show that it is quite possible to lay down official definitions of various articles of food;…
Abstract
The food standards of the Indiana State Board of Health, which appear on another page, show that it is quite possible to lay down official definitions of various articles of food; and a study of these regulations may be of assistance to those authorities who are striving to arrive at some form of order out of the chaos which at present exists in this country in matters relating to food standards. With reference to milk, it will be seen that not only is the question of composition dealt with, but strict directions are given that milk derived from a cow which can in any way be considered as diseased is regarded as impure, and must therefore, says the Board, be considered as adulterated. In regard to butter and margarine, limits are given for the total amount of fat—which must consist entirely of milk‐fat in the case of the former substance—water, and salt; and not only are all preservatives forbidden, but the colouring matters are restricted, only certain vegetable colouring matters and some few coal‐tar colours being permitted. All cheese containing less than 10 per cent, of fat derived from milk must be plainly labelled as “ skim‐milk cheese”; and if it contains fat other than milk‐fat, it must be described as “ filled cheese.” Some exception is taken to the use of preservatives in cheese, inasmuch as it appears that cheese may contain a preservative if the name of such preservative is duly notified upon the label ; and the rules for the colouring of cheese are the same as those which apply to butter and margarine. All articles of food containing preservatives are considered as adulterated unless the package bears a label, printed in plain type and quite visible to the purchaser, stating that a preservative is present, and also giving the name of the preservative which has been used. Articles of confectionery must not contain any ingredient deleterious to health, such as terra alba, barytes, talc, or other mineral substance, nor may they contain poisonous colours or flavours.
IF no completely novel contribution to librarianship came out of the Eastbourne Conference, it could be justified as having to some extent integrated libraries and literature;…
Abstract
IF no completely novel contribution to librarianship came out of the Eastbourne Conference, it could be justified as having to some extent integrated libraries and literature; for, in the choice of a scholar to address it in Dr. R. W. Moore on the underlying connexion of books and therefore libraries with life; and of our own ex‐President, Dr. Esdaile, to recreate the poetry of the first years of the century, no mistake was made. The technical and administrative matters always seem Ezekiel's valley of dry bones in such a setting, but there were really good papers, practical ones like the very controversial contribution of Mr. Corbett, the excellent hospital library paper by Miss Southerden and Mr. Lamb's experienced treatment of Commercial and Technical Libraries. Most members there, too, were old enough to appreciate the chronicle of 1919–49 offered by Mr. Stewart, and all received stimulation from Mr. L. R. McColvin's forecast of our future. There were too many papers for any one librarian to absorb, but the Library Association serves many interests today. Some impressions have been given in other pages from the writer of Letters on Our Affairs.