Finally, A Study That Shows Playing (and Watching) Sports Makes You Smarter

A new study is out that proves if you play or even just watch sports, it will make you a little smarter of a person. Finally Bill Simmons and I can apply for that Mensa membership.

The study was conducted by Sian Beilock, Associate Professor in Psychology at the University of Chicago, and explains that involving oneself in sports will build a stronger understanding of language. Tubular!

The research was conducted on hockey players, fans, and people who'd never seen or played the game. It shows, for the first time, that a region of the brain usually associated with planning and controlling actions is activated when players and fans listen to conversations about their sport. The brain boost helps athletes and fans understanding of information about their sport, even though at the time when people are listening to this sport language they have no intention to act.

So, are you telling me instead of making my newborn listen to that boooring classical music I've heard so much about I can just blare some Arizona Cardinal highlights? I'm in.

The study was conducted with 12 professional and intercollegiate hockey players, eight hockey fans and nine individuals who had never watched a game. I'm going out on a limb here and saying that final group was probably the easiest to fill. The group listened to both sentences about hockey plays and everyday activities that had nothing to do with hockey, and this is what came from it.

Although most subjects understood the language about everyday activities, hockey players and fans were substantially better than novices at understanding hockey-related language.

Brain imaging revealed that when hockey players and fans listen to language about hockey, they show activity in the brain regions usually used to plan and select well-learned physical actions. The increased activity in motor areas of the brain helps hockey players and fans to better understanding hockey language. The results show that playing sports, or even just watching, builds a stronger understanding of language, Beilock said.

Any study that shows playing hoops or watching a little football actually doesn't dumb you down is music to my sweet little ears, but I can promise you, Beilock might need to look up a little word called variables. Haven't they thought to conduct this survey again with the sports fans 10 beers deep and covered in wing sauce? I promise the word "smart" will be as far from the conclusion as possible.