Talent, hard work, desire -- they're all nice if you're trying to get to the top of your sport.  But all other things being equal, there are a few other factors that give one side the edge.  Random, ridiculous factors, such as ...

5 Acting Like a Jackass When You Score

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No matter how many times the NFL calls it unsportsmanlike and throws fines and penalty flags at it, excessive celebration after scoring might actually help a team win.  And it's true in just about every sport.  A study found that players who overtly celebrated with their teammates -- particularly during an important game were -- more likely to come out on top. 



This is what victory looks like. 

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Wait, what? 

The study looked specifically at shootouts in soccer.  For those of you who just frowned at the word "soccer" or try to avoid any information related to it out of principle, just pretend we're talking about sudden death in hockey.  For the completely unfamiliar, a shootout is exactly what it sounds like: Five players from each team get to fire off one penalty kick with only the keeper to beat.  Whichever team scores more goals wins.  It's not the ideal way to settle a winner but it beats tacking on overtimes until it becomes one of those endless and absurd sports. 



Yeah, we're looking at you cricket. 

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The study found that when a player scored, his team was more likely to go on to win if he showed visible signs of elation.  So walking away with a "that's how you fucking do it" smirk might make you look cool, but it's not helping your team. 

Even stranger, the study found that celebrating while facing the crowd didn't help, the player has to be celebrating in the direction of his team.