David Pierce, PhD, discusses basketball officiating

The Final Four office pool has recently come under fire, proving once again that eternal verity that someone can find fault with even the most enjoyable and innocuous of pleasures. A growing army of cynics, the adult equivalent of hall monitors, are asserting that "bracketeering" has become a drain on worker productivity. One consulting firm estimates that employees participating in pools will cost businesses upwards of $2 billion in lost labor this month.

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   "The probability of the next foul being called on a team increases as the net foul differential increases," Pierce says. "So, fans who keep an eye on the foul trends during a game can be pretty certain that if their team has two fouls and the other team has six, their team will be called for the next foul."   

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