It's the statistic every sports editor already suspected: football fans think about their favourite game once every 12 minutes, according to Professor Richard Wiseman of Hertfordshire University. (Name ring a bell? Last week Prof Wiseman told the Mail that "when you speed people up, they become stressed".)
Interestingly - for football fans, at least - the frequency of footballing thoughts varies according to the team supported. Sheffield United fans think of their heroes 110 times a day. Charlton fans are not far behind, and Chelsea supporters come third.
The revelation provides a chance for the Times to muse on what men think about for the other 11 minutes - or Times leader writers, anyway.
"Pass the ball, for Pete's sake! Crikey, are those real, luv? What are we going to do about Marcus Trescothick? Do you think that woman at the bar would be interested in Schumpeter? Right here in the bar? At least we haven't been relegated. And there's always next season. Pizza with extra pepperoni. What do you mean 40 minutes for delivery? Hey, I think she really fancies me..."
Guys. Is Frustrated of the Times Leader Desk right? Is it all about food, sex, sport and relatively obscure economists? And why don't you want to think about Everton so much (43 times a day)?
* This is an extract from the Wrap, our emailed digest of the daily papers. You don't have to think about it for long to realise what excellent value (£2 a month, £14.99 a year) it represents. Try it free for a month.
