Hi I possted this comment in the Mundane Forum and Andrew suggested I post it here in the sports forum so here tis

When Mercury is retrograde I have noticed Sport Scores are the highest ever and records are smashed. I have also noticed the Aussies either score incredibly high in the cricket or are thrashed. Also I have noticed troops tend to withdraw when Merc is retograde and agreements are signed ( but I wonder are they honoured). I am going to have to observe the shadow period more closely too it seems to be a REAL grey area!!
We are now in the Criket season here in Australia with the Mercury retrograde shadow here the Aussies look like they are going to get a flogging from the South Africans. I will be on the look out for high scores in other sports and records that fall. Please any sports record or highest scores you notice with Merc Retrograde share them here, thanks

I find Sunny's input on Mercury interesting and worthy of examination.

When it comes to deciding planetary values and placements in contests the planets are ordered according to their brilliance; Sun, Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn, being places 1) Gold, 2) Silver, 3) Bronze, 4) Tin, 5) Iron and 6) Lead. However, Quicksilver - Mercury, is liquid, movable and does not fit into this order. This is because Mercury represents the Record, which is a relative that is moved every time it is broken.

If in a competition Mercury lies beyond the range of the Sun, the competitor that wins the Gold medal does not break the record. However, if the Sun, Moon and several other planets in their propper order, come above Mercury - then several contestants beat the record in their way to winning the contest.

My example chart is cast at a time I was living beyond the Arctic Circle and regarded the Womens javelin competition of the Summer Olympics of 1988 - Horary: Aug.11 1988, time 17.34 GMT, 68N42, 15E25. This chart has collapsed house cusps, as may occur in the Arctic regions - Asc 4 SG and MC 1SG26. However, the point is not related to houses or house systems but recognizing the order or the planets in the chart. Mercury 28Leo, Sun 19Leo, Moon 10Leo, Venus 3CN, Jupiter 3GE, Mars 9AR and Saturn 26SG. In this chart the Gold medal falls short of the World Record (Mercury close to Regulus), which was proven perfectly true.

What happens when Mercury is retrograde? Are records more likely to be broken? Does performance change? I am sure that several here may have some idea or experience that they may contribute with.

Just looking at events which are taking place during the retrograde mercury period during January.

First one I can find is the English Carling Cup semi finals. The first legs take place with Mercury direct and the second legs when Mercury is retrograde.

The comparison between the first and second legs may be worthy of consideration for this observation.

I'd be careful with the Merc. retro. Big Brown was quite a race horse until Merc went retro. The least horse to win... won the race and Big brown came in last. Also last Oct 2008 on a Monday night foodball game. The N.Y. Giants were playing the Cleveland Browns. Nobody would take the Browns to beat the World Champs. But I could see Merc retro in the chart representing the Giants. What happened? The Cleveland Browns won the game.
Like I said... be very careful with that one. V/r LionKing

Not my topic, but Lee Lehman likes sports and is fiendish about keeping accurate records - she has the 1998 data in SolarFire format for a bunch of different sports up for download over at her site if that'll help anybody out:

http://www.leelehman.com/mundane_data.html

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