Plenty of Nothing

Hiroshige Foxfire

Did you know about the foxes who congregate around a certain tree on New Year's Eve and breath fire? You can read about it at the Brooklyn Museum site, and view the rest of Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo as well.

Ruint

The King of Scotland used to sit in Dunfermline Palace, drinking the blood red wine. (Photo taken from Jack Deighton's site A Son of the Rock.)

Morton visit East End Park in Dunfermline today after having dethroned Partick at Cappielow on October 6th. If Morton win and Partick lose then the Ton will take over first place. [Well, Partick didn't lose. They beat Airdrie 7 - 0. Morton and Dunfermline played to a 2 - 2 draw. Morton goals by Campbell. Morton remain in third place.]

The BBC has rated Morton the most economical Saturday out of the First Division.

Partick and Queen of the South have advanced to the Ramsdens Cup final in April. It's Partick's first cup final of any kind in 41 years.

Queen's Park cross town to Ibrox today to play Rangers for their first league meeting since 1958.

Morton are drawing larger crowds. Their match against Partick on October 6th at Cappelow attracted 3,445 spectators. Last season the best crowd for a league game at Cappielow was 2,621.

Scotland's national team trained at Cappielow prior to their game with Wales, yet still managed to lose.

Rangers are not having an easy time of it in the Third Division. Though they have a perfect record at Ibrox, they have yet to win away. There's a cup final atmosphere whenever they visit an opponent's park, which tends to bring out the best in the other team. At the moment there are just seven points searating first and tenth place in the division. In the other two divisions the difference is 17 points.

Morton Reserves beat Rangers Reserves 3 - 1 Wednesday.

Sligo Rovers have won the League of Ireland Premier Division title for the first time in 35 years. Last night UCD visited some other Irish Rovers (i.e., Shamrock Rovers) [and lost 2 - 1.] Next weekend is the final one of the LOI season.

It's the final of the Korean FA Cup between Pohang Steelers and Gyeongnang FC. Pohang have won the trophy twice before, in 1996 and 2008. Gyeongnang (another red and black team) have only ever been runners-up ... in 2008. So today's is a grudge match. [Pohang win 1 - 0 !!]

Tomorrow Mito HollyHock visit Yamaga Ptarmigans. [Yamaga win 2 - 1.]

Broke

In 1814 the merchants of Halifax addressed the shortage of coin circulating in Nova Scotia by striking this half penny commemorating the recent victory of HMS Shannon over USS Chesapeake in the ongoing War of 1812. In the place of George III the coin featured the victorious Captain Philip Broke of the Shannon. The coin quickly lost its value and by 1825 was considered worthless.

About the Norwegian GET-ligaen

The GET-ligaen is the top pro hockey league in Norway. The GET part of the name refers to the league's chief sponsor, a cable TV company. Before the name-change the league was called the Eliteserien.

There are ten clubs in the GET-ligaen. Each team plays a 45-game schedule from September till March. A playoff involving the top eight teams follows, with best-of-seven quarterfinals, semifinals and finals. The playoff winner is Norwegian Champion. The ninth- and tenth-place teams play a double-round-robin tournament with the top two teams from 1. divisjon (the second tier) excluding reserve teams and clubs that don't want to be promoted, and the best two finishers qualify for next season's GET-ligaen.

The current GET-ligaen clubs are:

Frisk Asker Ishockey. The Tigers. The sports club IF Frisk Asker was founded in 1922 and began playing hockey in 1935. They merged with IK Tigrene in 1969. Tigrene had been Norwegian champions twice, and the combined club has been three times more. They wear orange, black and white, of course. Their rink is the Askerhallen, which seats 2,400. Asker is a western suburb of Oslo.

Lillehammer IK. This club was founded in 1957, and played on an outdoor rink until the construction of 3,194-seat Kristins Hall as part of a successful campaign to get the 1994 Winter Olympics. Lillehammer won their only Norwegian championship to date in that year of 1994. Red, blue and white.

Lørenskog IK. Founded in 1963. Colours: red, blue and white. Rink: Lørenskog Ishall (capacity 2,400). Lørenskog is an eastern suburb of Oslo. [Mike Weber of the Buffalo Sabres has signed with Lørenskog.]

Rosenborg Ishockeyklubb Elite. (RIHK for short.) Rosenborg come from Trondheim and are thus the northernmost GET-ligaen club. This is their third season in the top tier. They play in the 3,000-seat Leangen Ishall. Black, white and silver. In the Middle Ages Trondheim had the Tolkienesque name Nidaros. [Jack Skille of the Florida Panthers and Deryk Engelland of the Pittsburgh Penguins have signed with Rosenborg.]

Sparta Warriors. The crest says 1928, but the club did not begin playing hockey until 1958 and had to restart in 1995 after a bankruptcy. They play at the Sparta Amfi (with seating for 3,450) in Sarpsborg outside of Fredrikstad. They won their first Norwegian championship two years ago. Blue, white and red.

Stavanger Oilers. Current Norwegian champions. Stavenger is a North Sea oil city opposite Aberdeen, Scotland. Founded in 2000, the Oilers play at the DNB Arena (capacity 4,500). Colours are black, white and yellow. They have quite the cool logo. [Eric Nystrom of the Dallas Stars has signed with Stavanger.]

Stjernen. Founded in 1960, they play at the 2,473-seat Stjernehallen in Fredrikstad. Red and white. Two-time Norwegian champions. Check out the Sternen brand bread at their website.

Storhamar Dragons. Three-time Norwegian champions. They were founded in 1957 and play at the comparatively large (6,091-seat) OL-Amfi in Hamar, which is in the same neck of the woods as Lillehammer. Yellow and blue.

Tønsberg Vikings. Founded in 1963. Rink: Tønsberg Ishall (capacity 710). Colours: red and white. This is their first season in the top league. Tønsberg is to the south of Oslo near where Oslofjord widens into the Skagerrak.

Vålerenga Ishockey. 26-time Norwegian champions. This Oslo sport club began in 1913, but did not take up hockey till after the 1952 Olympics and the construction of the 4,450-seat Jordal Amfi. Colours: blue and red.

Maple Asphalt

The Newfoundland Store

where they sell:

Orangember

Demerais Building Construction, 2006, #2

About the Dutch Eredivisie

The Eredivisie is the top ice hockey league in the Netherlands. Holland is not a hockey power, even though skating is part of the national mythology, but there are NHL players signing up with this league for the duration of the lockout, so it's worth a look.

There are currently seven clubs in the Eredivisie, six in the Netherlands and one in Belgium. Each team plays a 36-game schedule from September to March, followed by playoffs. The playoff winner is declared Eredivisie champion. There is also the Dutch Cup, which is contested by the six Dutch Eredivisie clubs plus the eight Eerste Divisie (second tier) clubs.

The league first appeared in 1945, but was inactive in 1948-49, and from 1950 to 1964. In 2010-11 and 2011-12 the league was replaced by a competition called the North Sea Cup when two Belgian clubs joined in. This year the Eredivisie is back, but with one Belgian club enrolled.

The clubs are:

Amsterdam G's. Formerly the Amsterdam Capitals. They play at the 1,200-seat Jaap Eden baan, named after a speed skater. Colours: red and black.

Eindhoven Kemphanen. The Fighting Roosters play at the IJssportcentrum Eindhoven (capacity 1,700). They wear orange and light blue.

Friesland Flyers. Founded in 1967, this club has won seven Dutch championships, all between 1976 and 1983. They play at the 3,500-seat Thialf in Heerenveen. Yellow, white and blue. There ought to be an annual tournament between the Friesland, Fife and Kloten Flyers.

Ruitjers Eaters Geleen. Formed in 1968, the Eaters (the name is taken from the Trail Smoker Eaters) are the current league champions. They play at the Glanerbrook Ijshal (1,200). They wear red, white and blue. Geleen is in Limburg, the uvula-shaped southern projection of the Netherlands, near the Rhine Palatinate.

HYS The Hague. Nine-time national champs, HYS (short for Haagsche Ijshockey Stichting) date back to 1933. Their home rink is the 2,610-seat De Uithof. They wear blue and two shades of red.

HYC Herentals. Herentals is in Flanders, Belgium. HYC were founded in 1971 and have been Belgian champions four times. They wear red and white. The Bloso Ijsbaan seats 1,200.

Destil Trappers Tilburg. The Trappers were founded in 1938, and have 13 Dutch championships. Their home rink is the Stappegoor IJssportcentrum Tilburg, which seats 2,500. Blue and yellow. [Dustin Jeffrey of the Pittsburgh Penguins was to have played for Tilburg but has moved on to Zagreb. Dale Weise of the Vancouver Canucks have signed with Tilburg.]

Demerais Building Construction, 2006, #1