Another strike against the US in their battle against China for the overall medal count in the Olympics: LIVESCIENCE reports that German researchers have concluded that referees seem to favor athletes who have red uniforms. In a related story, the New England Patriots have announced plans to change their uniforms to red jerseys with red pants and red helmets (except for an alternate jersey that is red, but with lettering that is a slightly different shade of red).

The researchers showed a group of tae kwon do referees footage of fights between two opponents of similar skill levels - one wearing blue and one wearing red - and asked them to score the fights. They then later showed them the same fight, but with the uniforms digitally altered so that the colors were reversed. The researchers showed that the bias towards the athletes wearing red was quite noticeable:

“On the whole, competitors in red scored an average of 13 percent more points than their opponents in blue. Athletes who started out in blue were awarded more points when they later appeared in red, and those who started out in red received fewer points when in blue. “

The lead researcher on the study suggests that referees could have an subconscious reaction, perceiving the athletes wearing red to be more aggressive or dominant than they really are. Or, they just might like red better.

Seeing as though four of the last six World Series winners have had red as a primary uniform color, I wouldn’t bet against the Red Sox, Angels or Diamondbacks this season. Although it makes you wonder just how bad the Reds really are.