study

The Dodgers are too good, and too rich. If the owners of other major league teams ultimately deem that combination so objectionable that they shut down the sport this winter because of it, they will risk a rupture in one of the greatest fan bases in American sports history.

The four million tickets the Dodgers sold last season tells one part of the story. Here is an arguably better one: For decades, the Dodgers and Lakers have dominated Los Angeles sports and left every other team far behind in popularity.

For now, after back-to-back World Series championships, the Dodgers have left even the Lakers far behind in popularity, and every other team in town even further behind.

In a Loyola Marymount survey asking Los Angeles County residents to identify their favorite among the 12 pro sports teams within the local media market, nearly half picked the Dodgers.

The Dodgers’ lead over the Lakers — 43% to 28% — represented the largest gap between the teams in the nine editions of the survey, first conducted in 2014 by the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Center for the Study of Los Angeles.

The Rams ranked third, at 7%, followed by the Kings at 5% and the Angels at 4%.

The two women’s teams — Angel City FC and the Sparks — tied for last, each with less than 1% of the vote. Even when the study separated votes by gender, the two women’s teams got less than 1% of the vote from women.

As recently as 2018, five teams beyond the Dodgers and Lakers — the Angels, Clippers, Galaxy, Kings and Rams — attracted at least 4% of the vote. In this year’s survey, only the Rams did.

“I’m a big Rams fan,” said Fernando Guerra, the center’s director, “and I still put the Dodgers first.

“I love all these teams. But, when you have to choose one, it’s the Dodgers.”

Dodgers president Stan Kasten pointed to the popularity and excellence of the players, the cherished ballpark and the generational fan support as factors contributing to the top ranking.

“If you have a lot of good elements but you don’t win, you’re not going to be as high,” Kasten said. “And, if you win but you don’t have the other elements, you’re not going to be as high.

“I think, right now, we’re as close as you can be to clicking on all cylinders.”

Beyond the winning, Guerra cited Shohei Ohtani as a driving force behind the Dodgers’ popularity, and not just as a tourist attraction, merchandise driver, and the foremost product endorser in sports.

In 2018, Ohtani’s debut season with the Angels, 8% of fans that identified themselves as Asian picked the Angels as their favorite team and 34% picked the Dodgers — a terrific showing for the Angels, since the study polls residents in L.A. County, not Orange County.

That demographic this year: 4% picked the Angels, 47% picked the Dodgers.

In their 10 years since returning to Los Angeles, the Rams have made seven playoff appearances and two Super Bowl appearances, winning one. All that, and a half-century in their previous run in L.A., and their membership in the most popular sports league in America, and the best they could do was 7%.

“It’s just tough to break the Lakers’ and Dodgers’ hold,” Guerra said. “It’s not like we don’t love the Rams or the others. It’s just not your top priority.”

The Lakers and Dodgers have combined to win 20 championships in Los Angeles. The other 10 teams that call this market home have combined to win 16.

In the 13 seasons since Mark Walter and Co. bought the Dodgers, the team has won 12 division titles, made five World Series appearances, and won three championships. In the same time, the Lakers have won three division titles, advanced past the first round of the playoffs twice, and won one championship.

Walter bought a controlling interest in the Lakers last year. He has installed Lon Rosen, formerly the Dodgers’ executive vice president and chief marketing officer, as the Lakers’ president of business operations.

“When the Lakers are winning a lot of championships, they’re No. 1,” Rosen said. “When the Dodgers are, they’re No. 1.

“It’s a good position to be in, since we control both teams, and both teams are highly successful.”

In this moment, the Dodgers are highly successful.

“The Lakers and Dodgers are going to be neck and neck very soon,” Rosen said. “The Lakers will 100% be champions again soon.”

The Dodgers do not concede the days of neck and neck will return. Kasten, remember, said the Dodgers were as close as they could be to clicking on all cylinders.

“We don’t take that for granted,” he said. “We know we can do even better.”

Serious food poisoning cases for UK tourists at popular travel hotspots revealed

All UK travellers and tourists planning a trip abroad have been issued a warning by health officials after a new study showed high levels of food poisoning hitting some popular resourts. A study from Cambridge University found 13 destinations in particular having higher odds of people contracting serious food poisoning such as Shigellosis, Salmonellosis, and Giardiasis.

The Foreign Office-backed Travel Health Pro website this week issued an alert warning people to take precautions, especially when travelling to popular destinations outside the EU – although some hotspots there were flagged up in the report too.

Travel Health Pro said: “All UK travellers and tourists planning a trip abroad are reminded to follow good food and water hygiene advice. This study shows that visiting countries outside of the EU, and to high-risk areas which had low water, sanitation and hygiene scores, increases the risk of infections that can cause stomach upset, like diarrhoea or vomiting.

Between 1 July and 15 October 2023, a rise in stomach bugs was reported in travellers returning to England from popular holiday destinations, including Egypt, Mexico, Tunisia and Turkey. Many of these travellers stayed in all-inclusive tourist resorts. The study also suggests the true number of infections is likely to be higher, as it only counted cases diagnosed in travellers after they returned home.”

Destinations where high levels of food poisoning were detected in UK tourists are:

• Egypt
• Mexico
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• Jamaica
• Dominican Republic
• Cape Verde
• Morocco
• India
• Pakistan
• Thailand,
• Greece
• Spain

The study said: ”Thirteen destinations were associated with higher odds of becoming a case, of which the highest odds were reported for Egypt, Mexico, Tunisia, and Turkey, with the odds of illness in travellers to Egypt 23 times higher than those visiting France.

READ MORE: UK tourists return with virus that ‘makes you ill for 3 years’ from 25 holiday hotspots – full listREAD MORE: Spain hotspot ‘doubles’ charge for UK travellers from today

“For those travelling to low-risk destinations, eating undercooked meat or fish, eating meat or fish purchased from local restaurants and airports, drinking purified water, and swallowing water from environmental water sources (rivers, lakes, sea, and swimming pools) were all found to be associated with higher odds of illness. In high-risk destinations, eating foods consumed on trips or excursions, swallowing water from environmental sources, drinking fruit juice or smoothies, and eating foods from hotel buffets were all associated with higher odds of being a case.”

Travel health pro this week urged people to take these steps:

• Practice good food and water hygiene at all times, even in high-end, all-inclusive resorts.
• Wash your hands often, including before eating or preparing food, after using the toilet, after changing nappies and before and after sex.
• Eat recently prepared food that is fully cooked and served piping hot.
• Where there is no clean water supply, drink only bottled or boiled tap water (this includes brushing your teeth).
• Always avoid ice in your drinks.
• Avoid fresh fruit that you have not peeled yourself and salads not washed with bottled or boiled water.
• Avoid swallowing water from ponds, lakes and untreated swimming pools.

If you become ill abroad:

• Drink plenty of ‘safe’ fluids, such as bottled water, or tap water that has been boiled and cooled, and use oral rehydration solutions so that you do not become dehydrated.
• Get early medical advice if you are at greater risk of complications from gastrointestinal infections, this includes babies/young children, older adults, pregnant women and people who are immunosuppressed or have ongoing health conditions.
• Seek medical help if symptoms (such as diarrhoea and vomiting) last more than a few days or are not improving.
• Wash contaminated clothes or bedding on a hot wash and clean toilets, taps and door handles regularly.
• Avoid using swimming pools if you have a stomach bug. Take children on regular toilet breaks and check nappies often. If you have been told you have cryptosporidium do not use a swimming pool for 2 weeks after your diarrhoea has stopped.

March 11 (Asia Today) — Nearly half of South Korean high school students are using artificial intelligence to help them study, a survey showed, as the government moves to expand AI education in public schools.

According to a survey conducted by education company Jinaksa of 3,525 high school students nationwide, 47.7% said they use AI for studying at least once a week.

The most common usage frequency was once or twice per week at 25.2%. Another 14.4% said they use AI three times or more each week, while 8.1% reported using it almost daily.

Meanwhile, 22.7% said they never use AI for studying, and 29.6% said they use it only once or twice a month.

Students most frequently used AI to ask for explanations of unfamiliar concepts, accounting for 49.7% of responses. Other common uses included help solving problems at 29.0%, summarizing notes or reading passages at 27.9% and requesting feedback on answers at 17.4%.

The findings suggest students are not using AI simply to find correct answers but increasingly treat it as a question-based learning tool that explains concepts and helps guide problem-solving.

Education officials are also expanding artificial intelligence education in public schools.

The Ministry of Education said it has designated 1,141 elementary, middle and high schools nationwide as “AI focus schools” in cooperation with 17 regional education offices.

These schools will integrate AI-related lessons across subjects and expand interdisciplinary programs that combine artificial intelligence with existing curricula. Schools will also strengthen ethics education to encourage responsible use of AI and provide activities such as AI clubs and hands-on learning programs.

The ministry plans to gradually expand the program to 1,500 schools by 2027 and 2,000 schools by 2028.

Woo Yeon-cheol, director of the admissions strategy research institute at Jinaksa, said students are increasingly using AI as a form of “digital tutoring.”

“Students are not simply using AI to complete assignments,” Woo said. “They are using it to ask questions about concepts they do not understand and to check the direction of problem solving.”

He added that the ability to ask questions anytime and receive immediate explanations is helping AI become a new learning support tool.

Woo also noted that even as the government moves to expand AI-based education in schools, students have already been adapting quickly to AI-driven learning environments outside the classroom.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260311010003167