Not Wearing a Hockey Goalie Mask on the Ice Can Leave One Always Ready for Halloween November 1, 2010

Playing Goalie in Hockey Without a Mask is a Sure Way to Get No Dates

Plante Without Mask

On This date in History:   Today, hockey players all wear helmets and goalies all wear masks.  In fact, many goalies have developed masks with creative designs on the front.  However, masks and helmets were not always the norm.  It wasn’t until the late 70′s or early 80′s that players were required to wear helmets and even then, veteran players who began playing before the rule was put in place had the option.  Gordie Howe played hockey until he was 51 years old and he never had his head covered.  Goal keepers were a little ahead of the game and it wasn’t by rule.  On this date in 1959, Montreal Canadiens goalie Jacques Plante first wore a mask in a game. Prior to that, goalies did not wear a mask and routinely they were hit in the face by a puck flying at what, up to 100 mph? Maybe faster. And those pucks are made of hard rubber. I’d say that a flying puck left a mark or two.  I suspect that  goalies in the NHL at that time did not have hottest girlfriends on the team. But Plante wasn’t the first to try a mask. The first was Clint Benedict of the old Montreal Maroons who wore a partial leather mask in the 1930′s for a brief time but he said it obscured his vision so he stopped using it.

Plante With Mask

Now, Plante had used a white fiberglass mask in practice all season but his coach wouldn’t let him wear it in a game.  But, in a November 1, 1959 game, he got hit in the face as a puck screamed across his nose and mouth. The blood poured.  He went to the locker room for stitches.  It took more than 20 minutes, which was a long time for stitches in a hockey game. Seems that the delay was not due to a slow doctor but instead was a result of  Jacques arguing with the coach about his returning with a cream colored mask.(not sure why it wasn’t the white one) He told the coach either he wore the mask or he didn’t play. Later, Plante explained, “I already had four broken noses, a broken jaw, two broken cheekbones and almost 200 stitches in my head,” he pointed out. “I didn’t care how the mask looked.” See, Plante was so good that he could do just about whatever he wanted. He even knitted his own underwear….hardly a manly, tough goalie sort of thing. But he said it calmed his nerves.

Plante courageously put on a mask, to the chagrin of his coach, after he was pummled on Nov 1 1959

It seems pretty courageous for anyone to go into the goalie box without a mask. And Plante did just that. But, it took perhaps even more courage to enter the box wearing a mask. He was jeered and mocked by other players and the fans for years. I’m sure “sissy” wasn’t the only word that he was called. But, after a few years, other goalies thought it might be a pretty good idea and since one of the best did it, why not? The practice of wearing a mask became the norm across the league and today goaltenders embrace the mask as they put all sorts of wild designs on the apparatus to express their personality or show loyalty to the team.

Jacques Plante: A profile in courage. You don’t suppose that the other goalies decided the mask was a good idea when they saw Plante, after wearing the mask, with the best looking dates in the league?

Weather Bottom Line:  Look for a big change for the end of the week as a big fat area of high pressure comes down from the north driving Arctic air our way with perhaps a little hurricane moving up off the east coast to help drag down the cold air.  I could argue that a couple of models want to give us snow on Thursday…but I won’t make that argument now.  No weather excuse not to vote though…should be seasonal with a fair amount of sunshine on Tuesday.

Without Cold Winters, We Might Not Have Basketball January 20, 2010

Not Sure If This is What Naismith Had in Mind and It's Not Clear We Ever Would Have Heard of Michael Jordan if it Weren't For Cold Massachusetts Winters

Women's Basketball Was introduced to Smith College A Few Months After 1st Men's Team. This is Smith practice in 1903

On This Date in History: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is in Cleveland.  Not sure why Cleveland was picked except maybe the state and city provided good tax incentives.  But, at least its in a big city.  Baseball’s Hall of Fame is in tiny Cooperstown, NY.  I love that town.  The Pro Football Hall of Fame is in Canton, Ohio.  The Hockey Hall of Fame was supposed to be in Kingston Canada but funding dried up.  Eventually, it ended up in Toronto.  I think the first time the term “Hall of Fame” was used was in 1900 when the Hall of Fame for Great Americans was established at New York University, now Bronx Community College.  Then, the sporting world jumped on the bandwagon.  I believe that myth, folklore or history suggests that baseball was first played in Cooperstown and football in Canton, which is why those towns were chosen.  The Basketball Hall of Fame is in Springfield, MA because, on this date in 1892, the first basketball game was played.

Dr. Naismith's gym class produced the first basketball team. They consisted of nine players and their coach, pictured here on the steps of Springfield College Gymnasium. Back row: John G. Thompson; Eugene S. Libby; Edwin P. Ruggles; William R. Chase; T. Duncan Patton. Center: Frank Mahan; James Naismith. Front row: F. G. Macdonald; William H. Davis; Lyman W. Archibald.

It was invented by James Naismith, probably during the Christmas holidays in late 1891.   It really came about as a matter of necessity than anything else.   See, Naismith was a Physical Education teacher at the YMCA International Training School in 1891.  Today, it is referred to as Springfield College.  It gets cold in Massachusetts in the winter.  He had to find an indoor game of “athletic distraction” for the students.  He considered outdoor games such as Lacrosse and Rugby but thought they were too rough, though he did figure a way to eliminate tackling of Rugby was to disallow running and he liked the idea of the goals of LaCrosse.  Then, he remembered a game from his youth called Duck on a Rock.  Something about trying to knock a “duck” off the top of a large rock by throwing another rock at it.  I guess the prospects of throwing rocks in a closed building wasn’t too appealing but he did gain some inspiration from his recollection of that game.

1936 Olympics Are remembered as the Nazi Olympics by many and the Olympics of Jesse Owens humiliating Hitler. But For Naismith, they were the showcase for his game

The rules of the game have evolved.  Originally, Naismith used soccer balls and the baskets were peach baskets.  No one thought of punching a hole in the bottom of the baskets so, when a goal was scored, either a long dowel had to be used to punch the ball out or a guy on a ladder had to climb up to retrieve the ball.  So, the game wasn’t as fast paced as it is today.  Also, originally, bouncing or dribbling the ball as one moved was not part of the rules.  But, you couldn’t run with it either.  It was strictly a passing game.  The court was also half the size of the modern playing area.  Many people today say that basketball players are the best athletes in the world, but I suppose that was not the case back in the day.   Due to the popularity of the YMCA, the game spread rapidly across America and eventually was adopted by organizations in other countries.    Naismith lived to see the little game he invented become an Olympic sport in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.  By that time, the game had evolved to include movement being allowed as long as a player bounced, or dribbled the ball; the dimensions of the court were doubled; the number of players for each team at any given time was reduced from 9 to 5 and there was an introduction of a free throw line for foul shots.  Oh…and someone did figure out that it might be a good idea to have baskets with an open bottom end.   It is interesting to note that basketball is the only sport in which the women’s game developed simultaneously with the men’s game as Smith College took up the sport in 1892, shortly after Naismith had invented it in Springfield.

Here are the original 13 rules as outlined by Naismith:

1)The ball may be thrown in any direction with one or both hands.

2)The ball may be batted in any direction with one or both hands, but never with the fist.

3)A player cannot run with the ball. The player must throw it from the spot on which he catches it, allowance to be made for a man running at good speed.

4)The ball must be held in or between the hands. The arms or body must not be used for holding it.

5)No shouldering, holding, pushing, striking or tripping in any way of an opponent. The first infringement of this rule by any person shall count as a foul; the second shall disqualify him until the next goal is made or, if there was evident intent to injure the person, for the whole of the game. No substitution shall be allowed.

6)A foul is striking at the ball with the fist, violations of Rules 3 and 4 and such as described in Rule 5.

7)If either side make three consecutive fouls it shall count as a goal for the opponents (consecutive means without the opponents in the meantime making a foul).

8)Goal shall be made when the ball is thrown or batted from the ground into the basket and stays there, providing those defending the goal do not touch or disturb the goal. If the ball rests on the edge and the opponents move the basket, it shall count as a goal.

9)When the ball goes out of bounds, it shall be thrown into the field and played by the first person touching it. In case of dispute the umpire shall throw it straight into the field. The thrower-in is allowed five seconds. If he holds it longer, it shall go to the opponent. If any side persists in delaying the game, the umpire shall call a foul on them.

10)The umpire shall be judge of the men and shall note the fouls and notify the referee when three consecutive fouls have been made. He shall have the power to disqualify men according to Rule 5.

11)The referee shall be the judge of the ball and decide when it is in play in bounds, to which side it belongs, and shall keep the time. He shall decide when a goal has been made and keep account of the goals with any other duties that are usually performed by a referee.

12)The time shall be two 15-minute halves with five minutes’ rest between.

13)The side making the most goals in that time shall be declared the winners.

Thursday Morning low still isnt here

Weather Bottom Line:  The song remains the same.  The shortwave ridging did materialize on Tuesday afternoon but only served to dry the air enough to take out the fog and get the temperatures to the mid to upper 40′s.  There probably was some freezing fog on surfaces like cars and handrails Tuesday morning but road temperatures probably weren’t low enough to cause problems.  Anyway, we still have the pokey low coming in from the west along the stalled frontal boundary.  Look for chilly rain off  and on through early Friday.  Rain chances will go up throughout the day on Wednesday and crescendo on Thursday.  Saturday still looks okay but Sunday…we may even hear some thunder and see some lightning.  At this point, models are hinting at colder air for the last week of January, possibly a little snow.  But we’ll see…the data has been inconsistent and its more than a week away.

Warmer Than Average Winter? Playing Hockey Goalie Without A Mask? November 1, 2008

Probability of being warmer than average this winter...hmmm

to see a video of the coolest waterfall you’ve ever seen, CLICK HERE

A Warm and Dry Winter? It’s going to be warmer than average and great this weekend. Get out and enjoy

Not Too Wet?

Click Pic for animation

it. Snow White and I had a nice scull on Friday afternoon and she found new birds to talk to…the Turkeys…whom she gobbled back and forth with. Meanwhile, the headline says that the Climate Prediction Center says that it will be a warmer winter than normal. But, if you look at the temperature map with the colors indicate that there is a 50% chance of it being warmer than normal to our north and a 40% chance of it being warmer than normal around here. Hmmm…seems to me that means there is a 60% chance of it being something else, right? I dunno…I wasn’t all that great with statistics and often statistics can make no sense whatsoever. For instance, if you get 30 people in a room statistically speaking, odds are two of them have the same birthday. Doesn’t make sense to me either but that’s statistics. And Mark Twain said there were three kind of lies: Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics. So, That’s their story. Gotta tell you, if the long wave pattern of the last few weeks holds true, it will be a warmer than average year…but long wave patterns can change and we have a La Nina/El Nino neutral situation that is forecast to stay put. Here’s a portion of the report with a link to the whole thing.

While the model spread continues to include possibilities ranging from El Niño to La Niña, the recent decrease in subsurface and surface temperatures favors a return to La Niña over the development of El Niño. However, based on current atmospheric and oceanic conditions, recent trends, and model forecasts, ENSO-neutral conditions are expected to continue into early 2009. Here’s a Link to the ENSO discussion

On This Date in History: A Man of Courage on Two Counts

Plante Without Mask

On This date in 1959, Montreal Canadiens goalie Jacques Plante first wore a mask in a game. Prior to that, goalies did not wear a mask and routinely they were hit in the face by a puck flying at what, up to 100 mph? Maybe faster. And those pucks are made of hard rubber. I’d say that a flying puck left a mark or two. Somehow I don’t think goalies in the NHL had the hottest girlfriends on the team. But Plante wasn’t the first to try a mask. The first was Clint Benedict of the old Montreal Maroons who wore a partial leather mask in the 1930′s for a brief time but he said it obscured his vision so he stopped using it.

Now, Plante had used a white fiberglass mask in practice all season but his coach wouldn’t let him wear it in a game. But, in a November 1, 1959 game, he got hit in the face as a puck screamed across his nose and mouth. The blood poured. He went to the locker room for stitches and

Plante With Mask

it took more than 20 minutes, which was a long time for stitches in a hockey game. Seems that Jacques was arguing with the coach about his returning with a cream colored mask.(not sure why it wasn’t the white one) He told the coach either he wore the mask or he didn’t play. Later, Plante explained, “I already had four broken noses, a broken jaw, two broken cheekbones and almost 200 stitches in my head,” he pointed out. “I didn’t care how the mask looked.” See, Plante was so good that he could do just about whatever he wanted. He even knitted his own underwear….hardly a manly, tough goalie sort of thing. But he said it calmed his nerves.

It seems pretty courageous for anyone to go into the goalie box without a mask. And Plante did just that. But, it took perhaps even more courage to enter the box wearing a mask. He was jeered and mocked by other players and the fans for years. I’m sure “sissy” wasn’t the only word that he was called. But, after a few years, other goalies thought it might be a pretty good idea and since one of the best did it, why not? The practice of wearing a mask became the norm across the league and today goaltenders embrace the mask as they put all sorts of wild designs on the apparatus to express their personality or show loyalty to the team.

Jacques Plante: A profile in courage. You don’t suppose that the other goalies decided the mask was a good idea when they saw Plante, after wearing the mask, with the best looking dates in the league?