The long and the short and the ball

Thursday 24 October 1996 18:02 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

There is something strange going on here. Too much soccer causes small balls, according to research done on Italian boys. Young footballing enthusiasts who train hard are more likely to develop varicose veins in sensitive areas - possibly leading to infertility in future.

But football obsession was strong a generation ago, when male infertility was much less of a problem. So what can the explanation be? Well, in short - shorts. In days gone by when stocky footballers wore flapping, saggy knee-length sacks of cloth all was well. Training in today's skimpy nylon is, we suspect, the problem. For the sake of the future of the human race: bring back the baggies!

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in