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<p>Funny you should mention hockey, Canuckguy. In his book, Outliers, Gladwell analyzes the Canadian Hockey league to find out what the top players have in common and what accounts for their success. It’s too involved to go into here, but the overwhelming commonality is their birthday. The vast majority are born in January and February. It has to do with the cut-off dates for eligibility when they are young. The ones who are the oldest do the best because at whatever age they start (I forget – 6?), there is a huge difference in size and ability if you are born in January, or December, 11 months later. Obviously, that isn’t everything, but the cumulative effect of that headstart becomes overwhelming.</p>