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BUCS
WILL PLUNDER RAIDERS SAN DIEGO -- January 21, 2003 -- Throw out uncontrollable variables like weather, injuries or crowd. Concentrate on performance under pressure, focus, confidence and energy control. And in the end, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will defeat the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XXXVII. So predicts the creator of the Murray Performance Index™ (MPI™), Dr. John F. Murray, who has used the index throughout this NFL season and the playoffs to quantify the degree to which a team performs to perfection. The complimentary Super Bowl numerology by “The Football Shrink: Tampa Bay (.518) and Oakland (.520) posted almost identical MPI scores in their conference championship victories. However: The Bucs' two playoff wins came against the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles, opponents with better MPIs than the opponents (New York Jets, Tennessee Titans) the Raiders stomped on the way to San Diego. Perhaps more revealing, the Buccaneers’ MPI has been climbing in three of the four major performance categories while the Raiders are trending downward on three of four. “The Raiders have looked impressive on the scoreboard,” says Murray, “but by a clinical play-by-play evaluation their execution has hardly been that of a juggernaut. Individual big plays have covered for blown assignments and a remarkable number of major penalties. The Bucs have been much more consistent, especially on defense.” The 41-year-old Ph.D. licensed sport psychologist breaks down NFL games, assigning point values on each play for "focused execution" and "intensity management." A humdrum 3-yard run may earn 50 points; a sensational clutch catch, 100; a play with penalty or turnover, zero. Game totals range from 0 to 100 percentage points (perfection). “Scoring at 60 percent of perfection is excellent; an MPI of .700 almost always guarantees a win," says Murray. "But to a sport psychologist, no team ever reaches perfection. As Jets coach Herman Edwards said, 'On every play somebody screws up'. Looking back, even the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who won all 17 games they played, never approached 1.000.” Murray analyzed every Dolphins game this season and reported the MPI results on his radio programs to his home market of South Florida. His MPI has been covered by ESPN The Magazine (Dec. 23, 2002) and endorsed by columnist Fritz Quindt of The Sporting News and Ron Sellers, the former Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys wide receiver. Murray studied more than 30 players on Steve Spurrier's 1996 national champion University of Florida football team for his doctoral dissertation and interned with Mike Price's Rose Bowl team at Washington State University before beginning his practice four years ago. He currently provides motivational counseling for several NFL players and has received testimonials from the likes of legendary coach Jimmy Johnson. John F Murray, PhD – Licensed Sport Psychologist –
Telephone: 561-596-9898 What is the MPI? The
Murray Performance Index™ (MPI™) is the method that sport psychologist
Dr. John F Murray developed to quantify observed mental performance
in a football game. It is an index of perfection, and the percentage
scores indicate how close a team came to perfection. The
MPI provides a football team an extremely accurate rating of how they
"performed" in every phase of a game (offense, defense, special
teams and overall) independent of the final score, which can be
misleading. Players, coaches, fans and media often minimize the importance of mental skills in football. The MPI quantifies this important factor. Although winning is the obvious goal of every game, athletes often dwell on outcome and this leads to inappropriate focus and lower than optimal performance. Teams are often overly excited after a win or discouraged after a loss. They rarely know exactly how well they performed. The MPI accurately quantifies focused execution and intensity management better than the final score. The MPI rates every play for execution, and takes into account pressure situations. This hard-hitting and accurate appraisal of performance allows teams to look more clearly in the mirror, and to receive critical feedback for improvement. Coaches gain insight and set better goals for the team. The MPI is based on sport psychology principles, providing the team a huge mental advantage. A brief interpretive summary after each game further explains how the team performed, what the numbers mean, and steps the team can take to improve in their next game. How do the numbers relate? Scores
range from 0-100, with 0 low, 100 high and 50 average. Teams set goals to
reach a certain score. Dr. Murray predicts that if a team scores 70 or
more on the total score, they will win the game 99.9% of the time. Scoring
is based on set rules with some minor interpretive flexibility based on
Dr. Murray's professional judgment and experience. Some examples:
penalties earn zero, while great catches in important situations earn
100 points. Ask Dr. Murray to determine your football team's MPI in person or through videotape analysis of games. You will receive a written report on your team's performance and future needs for improvement. He can also follow-up his rating by providing your team mini- lectures, workshops, speeches, and sport psychology consultation to address specific needs based on his findings. You will receive a written report on your team's performance and future needs for improvement. How will the Murray Performance Index help enhance my publication? Dr. Murray will be making available his invaluable MPI analysis of the season’s NFL playoffs, and every play of the 2003 season, in a syndicated column. Contact him for more information. Please contact Dr. Murray by email at info@johnfmurray.com or by telephone in the United States at: (561) 805-5858 (office), (561) 596-9898 (cell), or (561) 805-8662 (fax). © Copyright John F. Murray, Ph.D. 2002 All Rights ReservedMurray Performance Index™ (MPI™) Copyright 2002 by Dr. John F. Murray, All Rights Reserved
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