THE LEFT LANE
No kidding — it's Bone, Joint Decade

Advertiser Staff and News Services

So what can you do to support the global initiative to raise awareness of musculoskeletal health? If you run (or used to run), log on to aaos.org, select the 2003 AAOS Running Survey, and give the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons some feedback about your running program techniques, instruction and injuries. Survey results will be used to determine what additional injury guidelines need to be developed.

Yu-Gi-Oh! products tops in toys

Last year, market information showed Yu-Gi-Oh! sales were driven by 10- to 13-year-old boys who clamored for the video games and toys — especially trading-card games. Many of the latest Yu-Gi-Oh! products are geared to younger kids, and by the end of 2003, NPD expects the age distribution will shift more toward 6- to 9-year-olds.

After Yu-Gi-Oh!, today's top 10 licensed toys are, in order: Power Rangers, Transformers, Thomas and Friends, Star Wars, Spider-Man, Barbie, Beyblade, Disney Princess and Care Bears.

Rap's gaining ground, but rock's still No. 1

Reality: We're obsessed with old-time rock, and middle-aged audiences represent the largest group of record buyers.

So says the latest consumer profile from the Recording Industry Association of America.

Rock accounted for 24.7 percent of record purchases, more than 10 percent ahead of its closest competitor, rap/hip-hop, which ate up 13.8 percent of the pie.

Over the past decade, rap/hip-hop purchases have increased from 9.2 percent. This year it ranked second for the first time. Last year's No. 2 style — pop — dropped way down to fifth in the new survey, just below country.

There's other encouraging news for rap: If you combine it with another urban-identified genre, R&B (this year's third-ranking style), the two would end up a nose ahead of rock, with 25 percent of total purchases.