A Study Reaches Some New Heights

According to a new study by researchers at Princeton University, tall people are smarter than short people. Of course they are. It’s easier for them to reach the books on the top shelf at the college library.

“As early as age 3 -- before schooling has had a chance to play a role -- and throughout childhood, taller children perform significantly better on cognitive tests,” Anne Case and Christina Paxson wrote in a paper published by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

“As adults,” the paper continues, “taller individuals are more likely to select into higher-paying occupations that require more advanced verbal and numerical skills and greater intelligence, for which they earn handsome returns.”

That explains why NBA players earn more than NHL players.

It does not, however, explain Dennis Rodman (height: 6 feet 8 inches), who once downplayed the importance of team chemistry as a member of the Chicago Bulls by saying, “Chemistry is a class you take in high school or college, where you figure out two plus two is 10, or something.”

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Trivia time: Who once said, “We all get heavier as we get older because there is a lot more information in our heads”?

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Hockey fan found: CBS tennis commentator Mary Carillo is not a fan of the Hawk-Eye instant replay system, being used for the first time at a Grand Slam tournament at the U.S. Open.

“Now there’s even more talk,” on television during a replay break, Carillo said during a recent conference call. “For my money, the closer a match gets to the end of the set, or beginning of a tiebreaker, at the end of a match -- that’s when everything should fall quiet. And you shouldn’t have to manufacture drama. You should allow drama to happen.

“You can doll it up and put lipstick on something and this and that and replays and graphics and it’s an overload, to me,” she said. “I watch some sports now and I just want everyone to shut up and go away and let me watch this next quarter, this next hockey period. I know what I’m looking at.”

A truly shocking revelation: Carillo watches OLN!

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Pecking order: Shaquille O’Neal on his early advice to Miami Heat teammate Dwyane Wade: “I told him. I said, ‘Look man, they talk about Kobe and T-Mac and all that. That’s where I want you to be next year. When they talk about those guys, I want them to say ‘and D-Wade.’ Not ‘Kobe, T-Mac, Carmelo, LeBron and that’s it.’ Your name has got to be in those five. No. 1, 2 or 3 at worst.”

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Trivia answer: Former Laker Vlade Divac (height: 7-1).

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And finally: From Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: “The most hilarious story of the week: Former University of Miami linebacker Willie Williams, he of the 11 arrests on his rap sheet, transfers to West Los Angeles College, where the coach, Craig Austin, is also -- no kidding -- a deputy sheriff.

“Perfect. Now all we need is a defensive coordinator who doubles as a bailiff and a linebackers coach who moonlights as a bail bondsman. And the best thing about Williams’ transfer is that after he graduates from junior college, it’s just a short cab ride for him to enroll at a more advanced criminal rehabilitative facility in L.A. -- Southern Cal.”