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FIFA and the World Cup can learn two important lessons from Ice Hockey. First, the football/soccer needs a second referee on field. The game has gotten to fast with long passing putting the current lone referee in no position to make a good call – witness what swarming TV coverage showed viewers time after time in the current World Cup games- botched calls. The NHL adapted to this same problem by adding a second referee – and the two refs patrol roughly one half the ice but certainly follow action and are dedicated to calling a good game jointly.
The second lesson is that defense may very well win championships but it can be a loser in the long term if goal scoring declines. The excitement of the game trends ever downward. The NHL and Ice Hockey had to learn this lesson over 30 years and now tweaks it rules to ensure that scoring goals remains a part of Ice Hockey. FIFA should do the same.
The third lesson is that assists are vital to the game of Ice Hockey, Football/Soccer and any team sport. So assists should be measured that way. Yet FIFA and soccer/football have largely ignored assists – see here for the details around this comment about assists in FIFA leagues:
Record of assists was virtually not kept at all [in Football] until the end of the 20th century. The North American Soccer League kept assist statistics from its foundation in 1968, as its forebears the United Soccer Association and National Professional Soccer League had done the previous year. Analogous statistics were already being kept in basketball and in ice hockey, both established North American sports.
Instead the Golden Boot is awarded to the player who scores the most goals no assists in the World Cup. As well in recent proposals for rating players, FIFA has proposed two points for scoring a goal and one point for an assist. In contrast the NHL scores tallies one point for a goal and one point for an assist.
And look at the semi-finalists in this years World Cup. Germany, Netherlands and Spain interestingly enough are in the World Cup semifinals. All are passing oriented teams. In the quarterfinals, Germany dismembered Argentina 4-0 in which 3 of the 4 goals were tap or head ins after brilliant passing. The emerging soccer/football powers recognize that passing and assists are the real gold in football. FIFA should recognize that and like the NHL/Ice Hockey and award accordingly the power of assists.
The first and most important tip from Ice Hockey is that officiating must be up to snuff. No refereeing “uncertainty principle” will add to the charm of the game. Players quickly learn that referee deception is easy and thus the proliferation of shoves, pulls on pants and shirt, out and out wrestling on corner+free kicks, plus late tackles and other “fine” footwork. But even worse has been the outbreak of thespian diving and writhing as a weapon of mass deception that slows and ultimately ruins “the beautiful game”. The adding of one more referee dividing the pitch roughly in half is vital to the game – as the superb World Cup TV coverage has made abundantly clear.
The second lesson of Ice Hockey for the World Cup and football is that wilting defense wins games and championships; but at the cost of a Pyrrhic victory. Defensive, low scoring games loses fans in the long term. This year’s World Cup is a dramatic example. Many of the games in the group elimination were defensive struggles for which blowing the vuvuzelas was most appropriate – Boring Big Time. Ice Hockey had to learn this lesson over 30 years.
Look at what the goalie comes packed with to defend his net. Ever expanding padding, much bigger glove, and generally greater bulk to cutoff shots at the net. And the same applies to the other players equipment – so the frequency with which players dive to the ice to block shots has increased manifold.
Big surprise! The number of goals scored in a hockey game had been gradually falling nearly every year for 25 years. The game, which is fast and exciting, was losing its most important element – scoring goals. So the NHL over the past ten years has modified its rules. Toughened checking from behind penalty calls, limited the size of goalie and player padding and blockers, and even considered widening the net. But the bottom line is that scoring has seen an uptick and the NHL is constantly monitoring the goal scoring status of the game.
Now except for the goalies glove , football does not have the equivalent padding for defensive advantage as in hockey. So FIFA is going to have to seriously consider actions that will bring about more goals scored. Certainly improving the officiating with an additional referee will cut down on diving, wrestling on corner + free kicks, and shoving and tugging on body or clothing, plus late tackles. But that may not be enough.
FIFA will have to consider more offensively oriented rule changes. perhaps scoreless or 1-1 games would see offside rules relaxed for the last 30 minutes. Perhaps the first pass over the midline would never be offside. Imagine the number of goals that would produce! Or maybe no offside once the ball has been passed over the top of the box line. But as soon as the ball passes back over the top of the line, offside applies again until the ball recrosses the line. Maybe rigorous enforcement of no player contact rules now that an additional referee is available for scrutinizing the action on corner and free kicks would produce more goals.
But goals is what soccer/football needs to make the game exciting again. Now FIFA can say “What, Me, Worry? We have the most popular sport in the World – it is even taking off in North America”. Two answers to that. Golf and basketball are picking up ever greater popularity world wide. And just see what a few more World Cups and other Football Championships won by penalty kicks does for the game as goals become ever harder to come by.
My niece, Alicia Surveyer, has been working with some very interesting design motifs – silhouettes, shadows and reflection. There is a touch of avuncular bias but also a broader view of an artist taking the Group of Seven, especially Lawren Harris’ later works, into a new direction. These elements can be seen in recent paintings by Alicia.
Bolsena Dusk
This painting has a wonderful silhouette masking where clouds and limbs intermix, sumptuous colors, and a subtle reflection of those sunset colors in the waters. The mood and hues are reflective.
Vermillion Lake
This is on of the most design playful of Alicia’s paintings with 3 stripped tree trunks, a mountain that could be an ominous cloud, a sun ray that becomes a pointing cloud – and it all looks like a landscape sailing through the scene and time. Such great visual puns bring a smile to ones eye and mind.
Out of the Shadows
This is one of my favorites for its bold convention breaking design and colors. It is a roadside shadowed by shading from trees in Color. But the simplified design with the tree trunks and branches in front and the crimson leaves behind in the style of a medieval painting gets tricked into revelation by the shadow. The use of polygon but proportionate lighter areas gives the depth and shading cues to pull the piece together. Lovely with a dash of lemon.
To see a full selection Alicia’s paintings visit here.
Port Hope has a library with a range of good services but a bad case of prickly librarians. Perhaps it is because they cannot control the level of conversations. Perhaps it is a brittle composure and inconsistent sense of civility. Perhaps there are impending budget cuts.
But expect inconsistency on keeping conversations under control, use of cell phones [you will have to go outside even in the bitter cold of winter], and expect inconsistency even in help. Port Hope’s Library has become so mixed in its services. This is in contrast with so many other libraries in the Northumberland area – Cobourg, Hastings, Warkworth, Campbellford and others. It is passingly strange – the library has so many books on Jane Austen and civility – but it is a role of the die if you can expect to find common sense and sensibility there.
At the Legion Hall during the Warkworth Maple Syrup Festival, I came across a really tasty find, the Kawartha Fruit Winery plus Jelly, Jams and Preserves Place [I have added the latter phrasing]. Now my friends in Toronto who are truly gourmands and fine wine samplers would enjoy the Winery half of the above craftings. I think Bruce and Janet, Warren and Eva would truly be lip smacking at the prospect of tasting some of the fruit wines.
And why not? The wine list has the attraction of tastes familiar and sweet brought to a vintner’s zest. Here is a sampler of what is available from Kawartha Wines:
Apricot – very rich full flavor, silky feel with smooth long finish, one of our best and most popular.
Blueberry – soft full flavor, rich finish, surprising taste.
Cherry – light, refreshing flavour, crisp clean finish, excellent with all meat or on its own.
Cranberry – if you like cranberries you will love this wine – crisp, clean, slightly tart, very long finish.
Nectarine – luscious, smooth, flavourful – very popular – one of our best.
Peach – intense peach flavour, full rich body, long peach finish – very popular
Pear (Bosc) – one of our best- beautiful gold color, medium body with pear flavour and long finish.
Plum (Golden) – beautiful golden colour, light, crisp taste, great on its own or with food.
Plum (Shiro) – light, very crisp with a hint of tartness – very popular, great on its own or with food
Raspberry (red, purple, golden) – perennial favourites, very intense raspberry nose blows you away, nothing else like it, very full, rich and luscious, unbelievable finish, often sells out.
Rhubarb – light bodied fruity wine, surprising flavour, very popular
Strawberry – another perennial favourite, very complex aroma and flavour, very long finish, absolutely delicious.
Vidal Ice Wine – intense flavour, rich bouquet of apricot and peaches, well balanced with good acidity, very long finish, served chilled on its own after dinner.
Maple Syrup Wine – a unique presentation of Kawartha Country Wines, rich maple syrup nose and flavour, well balanced, luscious and full bodied, truly exciting and very special – a truly unique Canadian product.
However, this party being a teetotaler and a sweet tooth would like to reverse the focus and describe some of the Jams, Jellies and Preserves available. The varieties were intriguing – Spice Apple Jelly, Peach Wine Jam, a number of Plum Preserves with and without Wine. And that was just for starters. Amazing combinations of strawberry, raspberry, blueberry, rhubarb, cranberry, plum, mango, nectarine, maple syrup, and other delicious sweeties. The choices simply intrigued the mind’s taste buds. I finally got the following:
Blackberry with wine Preserves – surprisingly light and tasty, great with crackers and cheese
Cherry calvados jelly- a touch of tart yet cherry smooth, a delightful pick
Strawberry with wine – the wine extends the flavor. I can tell you great with waffles and ice cream
Mango and rhubarb jam – the two fruits blend well together suggesting a sweet marmalade
Peach apricot jam – tingling tart yet smooth and satisfying, great on chicken or fish
I had to trade up to get the latter two jams, but that is another story. So now I am looking forward to Spring and Summer for an opportunity to take some trips up to the Kawartha Winery for its fine fruit wines but also for jellies and jams and other sweets preserve me.
The Warkworth Maple Syrup Festival had a number of great finds at the in town shows. Shhh, don’t tell the kids but you could have a great time at the Antiques, Arts and Crafts shows alone. I certainly did and made some great finds. For example, at the Crafts show in the City Hall building, Diane Irvine from Napanee Ontario was showing her various wood carvings. They are done in a style like a wood carver I knew back in my Boy Scout days and Woodsmanship Merit badge, Enos Smithern.
Like Enos, Diane knows her woods. Which are soft, which are dry and long fibered, and which are, most important, knot free. We chatted about hardwoods like Maples and Oaks. And the softer carving woods like Basswood and Buttonwood. Softer woods allow for bolder stokes and cuts like so:
For example, shaping in the face follows the wood rings but also builds for nice sculpted curves. But really bold strokes like in the beard to the left are much easier to do in the softwoods.
There are two things I really liked about Diane’[s carvings. First, she was not afraid to use coloring and wood tints. Some carvers consider the wood’s natural colorings as paramount – and in some pieces that is rightfully so. But at other times, staining with colors can add emphasis and styling that just works:
Here the colorings add a distinctive style and a sense of humor. And that is the second attribute in Diane’s wood works – a simple wry humor perfect for on the cottage or along the garden walkway as so:
One can find out more at Diane’s website, the Workshop Wizards, located in Napanee where the Wizards offer classes in wood working and stained glass including summer camp outings and birthday parties. Such a pleasant find at the Maple Syrup Festival.
