It’s 5:30 Sunday morning, so of course I’m up, thinking counterintuitively. This time I’m not alone. The broadcaster on WIP is interviewing Tobias (Toby) Moskowitz about common misconceptions in sports.

Home field advantage isn’t about staying home while the visitors have to travel to a distant city. It’s not about playing on the frozen tundra to which you’re accustomed while your opponent has to tough out the unfamiliar conditions. It isn’t about the support you feel from thousands of cheering fans clad in your team colors.

It’s the referees. They’re more likely to make calls in favor of the home team. Or so Moskowitz and his team of researchers have concluded, after years of study. These and other common sense but not often cited observations debunk sports myths you may have used to win arguments all your life. They could be a great prompt to your own research into any number of misconceptions about your favorite game, sport, or team.

Scorecasting by Tobias J. Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim.

“Scorecasting is both scholarly and entertaining, a rare double. It gets beyond the clichéd narratives and tried-but-not-necessarily-true assumptions to reveal significant and fascinating truths about sports.” —Bob Costas