Natural Selection At Work

When I read on the toilet, I learn all sorts of things. This from Sports Illustrated --

"REPORTED By doctors at the Baltimore VA Medical Center, that emergency-room visits from men decline by 30% during broadcasts of sporting events. (The researchers looked at 796 pro and college football, basketball and baseball games between 2000 and 2003).

"In the four hours after the events, the number of men in the ER went up 40%. David Jerrald, the doctor who led the study, says an acquaintance of his died recently when he put off calling 911 during Georgia Tech football game. "By the time he capitulated to having 911 called, he was in cardiac arrest," says Jerrold, who hopes that men will "reconsider watching that two-minute drive and go to the hospital".

Yikes. Plus lord knows what effect being a fan might have on your blood pressure if you aren't feeling well and then your team does something stupid.

I wonder if this works for TV too -- if people are holding off heading for the emergency room if Lost or Desperate Housewives or The Sopranos is in the middle of the episode.

I was watching "A Simple Plan" in a movie theater with a friend when he started having chest pains; we left immediately and went to the hospital. It turned out to just be gas. I'm not sure what the lesson is there.