Blog post

January 1, 2015 [LINK / comment]

Winter Classic: outdoor hockey in D.C.!

As a fitting way to observe the Happy New Year, the 2015 edition of the National Hockey League's Winter Classic is about to get underway at Nationals Park. The Washington Capitals are hosting the Chicago Black Hawks, with the game starting at 1:00 P.M. So, of course I had to make a new hockey diagram, which happens to be the fifth such diagram I have done. It's based on photos I've seen in the Washington Post.

• Nationals Park (2015)
• Dodger Stadium (2014)
• Citizens Bank Park (2012)
• Fenway Park (2010)
• Wrigley Field (2009)

Other than Dodger Stadium, all stadiums listed above were hosting the Winter Classic. The inaugural (2008) Winter Classic was played at Ralph Wilson Stadium in suburban Buffalo, New York, the 2011 Winter Classic was played at Heinz Field in Philadelphia, and the 2014 Winter Classic was played at Michigan Stadium (football capacity 102,000) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. There was no such event in 2013 due to the NHL lockout. (See wikipedia.org.) This all got started in 2003 when the Edmonton Oilers hosted Montreal Canadiens in the Heritage Classic played at Commonwealth Stadium (football capacity 56,000) in Edmonton, Alberta. That's 300 miles north of Montana: br-r-r-r!!! The Heritage Classic was revived in 2014 and may renew Canadian interest in outdoor hockey.

In addition, there was a hockey match at Progressive Field in January 2012, with Ohio State hosting the University of Michigan, so I'll probably get around to doing a hockey version of that as well.

Dude, where's the bowl games?

Has anyone else noticed how few bowl games there are on TV today? It used to be that New Year's Day was chock full of such collegiate football extravanzas, but today all I see scheduled are the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Cotton Bowl, the Citrus Bowl and the Outback Bowl. (Corporate sponsor names are omitted in the interests of brevity.) I don't understand why they have been spreading out bowl games throughout late December and early January. For what it's worth, the very first official, bona fide College National Championship football game will be held on January 12, between the winners of the Sugar Bowl and the Rose Bowl. Good riddance to the FBS!