League Championship side Norwich City "painted the away dressing room at Carrow Road pink in a move that could calm opposition players and lower their testosterone levels," according to Callum Davis of the London TELEGRAPH. Canaries Sporting Dir Stuart Webber "informed supporters of the redecorating job" at a fans' forum on Thursday. The club has not "made an official comment on the news" but Dr. Alexander Latinjak, a lecturer in sport psychology at the University of Suffolk, said, "Pink has an effect, not because it is pink, but because it's linked to childhood experiences. If it is true that pink lowers testosterone levels then the coach should know exactly how to use that advantage tactically. Now that teams will know about the pink locker room, they could take counter measures to ensure higher testosterone levels" (TELEGRAPH, 8/20).
WORTH THE TROUBLE?: The BBC reported painting the opposition's dressing room pink "is not a completely novel idea" -- the University of Iowa has previously done it in an attempt to give its American football team "the upper hand" on its visitors. In its two games at Carrow Road this season, Norwich has lost 4-3 to West Bromwich Albion and beaten League Two side Stevenage 3-1 in the FA Cup, "so the jury is out on whether the move is paying off." Latinjak said, "I personally wouldn't have spent the time bothering to change the locker room color. There are a lot of things you do before you do that" (BBC, 8/20).
