Football Shrink: 'Seahawks Clearly Better than Steelers'
Mental Performance Index (MPI) of Sport Psychologist Forecasts a Super Bowl XL Upset Based on MPI Statistics. Has Beaten Official Spread Three Years in a Row.
DETROIT, MICHIGAN (PRWEB) January 31, 2006 -- Forget about the odds makers and pick the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks should defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XL. So predicts the creator of the Mental Performance Index(TM) (MPI(TM)), Dr. John F. Murray, who works with NFL players and has used the index throughout the last four NFL seasons to quantify the degree to which a team performs to perfection.
The complimentary Super Bowl numerology by "The Football Shrink," is posted on his website: http://www.JohnFMurray.com. Seattle (.566) scored better than Pittsburgh (.530) in the playoffs, and held their opponents to a much lower MPI score (.436) than Pittsburgh (.478).
The Seahawks were absolutely remarkable on defense, where they posted a .598 to .505 advantage over Pittsburgh. They also held a slight advantage on offense (.551 to .535) and total pressure (.624 to .564). However, the Steelers scored slightly higher in offensive pressure situations (.633 to .616) and were better in special teams play (.584 to .531).
Taken together, it appears that Pittsburgh is going to have to play almost flawless football to win this game, and they must win the battle of turnovers. Seattle has performed much better overall.
The 44-year-old PhD. licensed sport/performance psychologist in Palm Beach assigns points on each play for "focused execution," and "pressure management" and game totals range from .000 to 1.000 (perfection).
"Scoring at .600 is excellent," said Murray. "But to a sport psychologist, no team ever reaches perfection." Seattle's .566 is almost as good as it gets.
As new Chiefs coach Herman Edwards once said, "On every play somebody screws up." Many good football coaches are now encouraging their teams to place their focus on one play at a time. The MPI measures how well a team does this. Its power comes from the number of plays in a game (approximately 150) and the inclusion of mental factors in the scoring.
The MPI accurately forecast the blowout upset win by Tampa Bay over Oakland three years ago (in Arizona Republic), and forecast "extremely close games" the past two years. Two years ago, the game was tied with 4 seconds remaining. Last year was the first time the game was tied entering the 4th quarter.
The MPI has been featured by ESPN The Magazine (December, 2002) and Murray has appeared on hundreds of radio and television stations to discuss the MPI and sport psychology. Last year, Dr. Murray appeared on ESPN Radio's affiliates in Dallas, TX and Blacksburg, VA, Ron Jacober's award winning "Sports on Sunday Morning" on KMOX in St. Louis, Mo., numerous radio programs in Canada, and Bloomberg Radio's "Bloomberg on the Ball" with Bob Goldsholl. He will again appear on Bloomberg Radio Saturday January 28 six times, and in multiple updates every day leading up to the game.
Murray provides lectures, mental coaching, and sport psychology services to athletes and teams in many sports. He has helped NFL players. He authored "Smart Tennis: How to Play and Win the Mental Game," endorsed by Lindsay Davenport, the most successful tennis player over the past six years, and Vincent Spadea credited Murray for helping him overcome the longest losing streak in tennis history and winning his first tournament in Scottsdale.
Dr. Murray is available for interviews
John F. Murray, PhD
Licensed Sport Psychologist
340 Royal Poinciana Way Suite 339J
Palm Beach, FL 33480
Telephone: 561-596-9898
Web: http://www.JohnFMurray.com
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