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Among the monks, there was a certain Ichirai, a man of great strength and agility, who served the holy teacher Keishū at the Jōenbō. Having followed Jōmyō and fought in his wake, this Ichirai now wished to pass him, but found the beam too narrow. "Your pardon, Jōmyō," he said. He put his hand on the flap of Jōmyō's helmet, made a brisk leap over his shoulder, and went on fighting.
The Tale of the Heike, chapter 4, part 11 (translation by Helen Craig McCullough.)
These humungous hoods and capes were worn by women in the Azores until the 1930s. Source.
The big hoose in Kirkcaldy is Raith House. Source: Google Maps.
Morton visit Raith Rovers. Raith have won both previous meetings and outscored Morton 6 - 0. They are the only team that can sweep Morton this season.
However, Rovers have earned only one win in March, and that was against Stirling Albion. Morton have three wins this month, all of them against Championship sides. If Raith lose today they will fall behind Dunfermline or Dundee or both, depending on how their game goes. Morton can finish the day as high as fifth or as low as ninth.
Rabin Omar and James Wallace have been loaned out to Dumbarton.
Former Morton goalscorer Scott Tiffoney has signed with Partick Thistle.
Fouad Bachirou's Comoros national team has made the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time.
Morton have been cited for participating in a friendly without first securing SFA authorization.
Other Championship matches:
Alloa [2 - 2] Ayr United
Heart of Midlothian [2 - 3] Queen of the South
Inverness CT [1 - 0] Arbroath
Dundee [3 - 2] Dunfermline*
*Plenty of Nothing Championship League Cup semi-final. If Dunfermline win then the cup final will be next Saturday against Hearts. If Dundee win then there will be no cup winner, because the last Hearts/Dundee fixture has already passed, and backtracking is not allowed. There is the chance that Hearts will collapse entirely, not win the divisional title, and have to meet Dundee in the playoffs, but it's mighty slim.
[Raith Rovers 1 - 0 Morton.]
Other matches:
UCD 2 - 2 Athlone Town (last night)
Montrose [2 - 2] Clyde
Progres Niederkorn [4 - 1] Hamm Benfica
J2: Mito HollyHock [3 - 0] Matsumoto Yamaga (tomorrow)
JFL: Iwaki FC [2 - 0] FC Kariya (tomorrow)
Aomori prefectural championship, round one (tomorrow):
Match No. 4: Dogizaka FC [4 - 0] Hirosaki University School of Medicine SC
Dogizaka FC are obscure enough that the name is written in red on Japanese Wikipedia.
Postponed games:
Lowland League: Bonnyrigg Rose vs Vale of Leithen
Bonnyrigg Rose vs Bo'ness United
Highland League Cup semi-finals.
SWF Championship South: Edinburgh Caledonia vs Morton
Morton vs Livingston
Other developments:
Duran Lee has signed with Pacific FC. He previously played for HFX Wanderers and FC Edmonton.
The dates for the 2021-22 Scottish League Cup group stage are out. The league season will start July 31st.
League matches in which Morton beat the top team in their division, 1980s:
1980/12/6 Morton 1 - 0 Aberdeen (Premier Division)
1984/2/25 Morton 4 - 2 Partick Thistle (Division One)
1984/4/14 Morton 2 - 0 Dumbarton (Division One)
1987/3/21 Dunfermline 1 - 2 Morton (Division One)
Morton's relegation seasons:
2013-14 36 6 8 22 32 71 -39 20 10th, Championship
2001-02 36 7 14 15 48 63 -15 35 10th, Second Division
2000-01 36 9 8 19 34 61 -27 35 10th, First Division
1993-94 44 6 17 21 44 75 -31 29 11th, Division One
1987-88 44 3 10 31 27 100 -73 16 12th, Premier Division
1984-85 36 5 2 29 29 100 -71 12 10th, Premier Division
1982-83 36 6 8 22 36 81 -45 20 9th, Premier Division
1974-75 34 6 10 18 31 62 -31 22 17th, Division One
1965-66 34 8 5 21 42 84 -42 21 17th, Division One
1951-52 30 9 6 15 49 56 -7 24 15th, Division A
1948-49 30 7 8 15 39 51 -12 22 15th, Division A
1937-38 38 6 3 29 64 127 -63 15 20th, Division One
1932-33 38 6 9 23 49 97 -48 21 19th, Division One
1926-27 38 12 4 22 56 101 -45 28 19th, Division One
(Source: Wikipedia)
Historical matches:
March 27, 1915. Morton visited Queen's Park and beat them 0 - 2.
March 27, 1993. Morton were home to Dumbarton and won 2 - 1. Rowan Alexander and John Gahagan scored.
SFL Division Three results, March 28, 1925:
Peebles Rovers 1 - 0 Vale of Leven
Helensburgh 4 - 0 Nithsdale Wanderers
Leith Athletic 2 - 1 Queen of the South
Solway Star 1 - 0 Lochgelly United
Brechin City 2 - 2 Royal Albert
Mid Annandale 2 - 1 Beith
Montrose 0 - 0 Dykehead
Source: Glasgow Herald, March 30, 1925, p. 13.
Royal Albert versus Dykehead in the Lanarkshire Cup:
1905/3/18 Dykehead 2 - 1 Royal Albert
1908/2/29 Royal Albert 7 - 2 Dykehead (declared a friendly)
1908/3/7 Royal Albert 6 - 1 Dykehead
1911/2/25 Royal Albert 1 - 1 Dykehead (coin toss?)
1916/3/11 Royal Albert 1 - 0 Dykehead
1916/3/18 Dykehead 4 - 1 Royal Albert
1920/9/11 Royal Albert 1 - 1 Dykehead
1920/10/9 Royal Albert 3 - 0 Dykehead (at Coatbridge)
1922/8/26 Dykehead 1 - 1 Royal Albert
1922/10/7 Royal Albert 1 - 0 Dykehead
1923/9/15 Royal Albert 2 - 1 Dykehead
(Extracted from SFHA.)
Seasons of Solway Star:
1914-15 3 2 0 1 12 7 +5 4 3rd, SCL
1921-22 7 5 2 0 21 5 +16 12 2nd, SCL
1922-23 20 3 3 12 25 44 -19 9 10th, WoSL
1923-24 30 9 9 12 42 48 -6 27 11th, SFL3
1924-25 30 15 10 5 41 28 +13 40 3rd, SFL3
1925-26 29 9 6 14 50 62 -12 24 11th, SFL3
1926-27 29 8 4 17 48 79 +31 20 13th, SASS
1927-28 9 4 2 3 17 19 -2 10 4th, PL
1928-29 6 3 2 1 17 13 +4 8 2nd, SCLSS
1929-30
1930-31 16 7 4 5 40 35 +5 18 4th, SCL
1931-32 10 1 1 8 20 51 -31 3 11th, SCL
1932-33 6 1 0 5 7 15 -8 2 6th, SCLES
SCL = Southern Counties League
SCLSS = Southern Counties League, South Section
SCLES = Southern Counties League, East Section
SFL3 = Scottish Football League, Division Three
WoSL = West of Scotland League
SASS = Scottish Alliance, South Section
PL = Provincial League
Sources: SFHA, Wikipedia
Solway Star in the Scottish Cup:
1921/2/5 R1 Solway Star 1 - 5 East Stirlingshire
1922/1/28 R1 St Mirren 7 - 2 Solway Star
1925/1/24 R1 Solway Star 4 - 2 Stenhousemuir
1925/2/7 R2 Vale of Leven 2 - 2 Solway Star
1925/2/12 R2 Solway Star 3- 3 Vale of Leven
1925/2/16 R2 Solway Star 2 - 1 Vale of Leven (neutral site)
1925/2/21 R3 Celtic 2 - 0 Solway Star
1926/1/23 R1 Solway Star 2 - 2 Johnstone
1926/1/26 R1 Johnstone 0 - 3 Solway Star
1926/2/6 R2 Solway Star 0 - 3 Brechin City
1930/1/18 R1 Solway Star 0 - 8 Montrose
1933/1/21 R1 Hearts 3 - 0 Solway Star
1935/1/26 R1 Hearts 7 - 0 Solway Star
1937/1/23 R1 Larbert 1 - 3 Solway Star
1937/2/13 R1 Cowdenbeath 9 - 1 Solway Star
Source: German Wikipedia.
John Hawkes played Sol Star in the HBO series Deadwood.
Takao Yaguchi poses in the departure lounge of Akita Airport next to a relief based on his fishing manga Tsurikichi Sanpei. Source.
This statue in Saskatoon commemorates the meeting of Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier and then newsboy John Diefenbaker on July 29th, 1910. People love encounters like this in which the torch is passed symbolically from one generation to the next. Unfortunately, it's totally a bullshit story that Dief cooked up during the 1963 election campaign to try to impress voters in Quebec. Source. Also.
Emperor Antoku (1178-85) was enthroned at age two in place of his father the teenaged Emperor Takakura, who was forced into retirement by Tairo no Kiyomori as part of a wide-ranging Heike power grab. Antoku was Kiyomori's own grandson. Heike Monogatari spends the first three chapters building the case for the defeat of the Taira, but once that's in play sets out to create sympathy for them in their destruction, and pulls at the heartstrings with young Antoku's drowning during the final battle in the Shimonoseki Straits. Source.
The Tontine Hotel in Ardgowan Square, Greenock, was built about 1805, and could easily double as the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in a film shoot. Source.
It's Morton versus Dunfermline in Round Two of the Scottish Cup. This match was first postponed January 8th due to the frozen pitch at Cappielow, and again when the cup was shut down for Covid.
This is the round's only all-Championship match. Morton currently have a five-game winning streak against divisional opponents in this cup. (See below.) All-time, Morton are up 3 wins to 2 against Dunfermline in the cup. (See another thing below.)
These two clubs have completed their three league matches for 2020-21, each taking a win, a draw and a loss. The winner of this match will go on to face East Fife in Round Three.
Morton have not lost a Scottish Cup match at Cappielow since Celtic won there in 2010.
If Morton go on a winning streak in this cup, will they have enough time to play all their league and cup matches? Round Three would displace their April 3rd league match against ICT, Round Four their April 17th match against Hearts, and the quarter-final their April 24th match against Alloa. ICT could be played March 30th, Hearts April 20th, and Alloa April 27th. That leaves April 7th and 13th to cover postponements, but beyond that any postponed matches would have to be bumped into May, possibly interfering with the playoff schedule.
The situation is even more extreme for Clyde, should they go on a cup run. They are already committed to three matches a week some weeks just to finish their league fixtures.
Altogether there are sixteen League One and Two clubs still alive in this cup.
Other Round Two matches:
Dumbarton [4 - 0] Huntly
[Formartine 1 - 1 Annan. Formartine win on PK.]
Keith [0 - 2] Clyde
Stirling Albion [0 - 2] Raith Rovers
Arbroath [1 - 2] Falkirk
Peterhead [0 - 1] Stenhousemuir
Elgin City [0 - 4] Ayr United
Partick Thistle [3 - 0] Cowdenbeath
Buckie Thistle [2 - 3] Inverness Caledonian Thistle (See a third thing below.)
Nairn [1 - 7] Montrose
Brora Rangers [2 - 1] Heart of Midlothian OMG
[Morton 0 - 0 Dunfermline. Morton win on PK.]
Morton's last ten Scottish Cup matches against clubs in their own division:
2018/2/10 R5 Morton 3 - 0 Dumbarton
2018/1/20 R4 Dunfermline 1 - 2 Morton
2017/1/21 R4 Morton 2 - 0 Falkirk
2016/1/9 R4 Livingston 0 - 1 Morton
2014/11/11 R3 Airdrieonians 0 - 2 Morton
2014/11/1 R3 Morton 0 - 0 Airdrieonians
2012/1/7 R4 Raith Rovers 1 - 2 Morton
2008/2/2 R5 Morton 0 - 2 Queen of the South
2005/12/10 R2 Ayr United 3 - 2 Morton
2001/11/17 R1 Morton 1 - 2 Queen of the South
Source: fitbastats.
How many Scottish Cup matches have Morton played against the other 2020-21 Championship clubs?
14 Raith Rovers
12 Hearts
8 Queen of the South
7 Dundee
7 Ayr United
5 Dunfermline
4 Arbroath
2 Alloa
2 Inverness CT
Previous ten Scottish Cup matches in which both sides were named Thistle:
2020/12/12 Strathspey Thistle 0 - 4 Buckie Thistle
2015/2/7 Partick Thistle 1 - 2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle
2009/1/10 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 3 - 0 Partick Thistle
2006/2/15 Partick Thistle 1 - 1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle (Partick won on PK.)
2006/2/4 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2 - 2 Partick Thistle
2002/3/5 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 0 - 1 Partick Thistle
2002/2/23 Partick Thistle 2 - 2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle
1985/1/30 Meadowbank Thistle 4 - 2 Partick Thistle
1980/12/20 Buckie Thistle 3 - 2 Meadowbank Thistle
1980/12/13 Meadowbank Thistle 2 - 2 Buckie Thistle
When have Morton been knocked out of the Scottish Cup in their first game?
2013/11/30 R4 Inverness CT 4 - 0 Morton
2008/11/29 R3 Peterhead 2 - 1 Morton
2001/11/17 R1 Morton 1 - 2 Queen of the South
2001/1/27 R3 Peterhead 4 - 1 Morton
1998/1/24 R3 Celtic 2 - 0 Morton
1993/1/19 R3 Arbroath 3 - 0 Morton
1986/1/25 R3 Dundee United 4 - 0 Morton
1982/1/23 R3 St Mirren 2 - 1 Morton
1977/1/9 R3 Morton 0 - 1 Ayr United
1976/1/24 R3 Morton 1 - 3 Montrose
1973/2/3 R3 Hibs 2 - 0 Morton
1967/1/28 R1 Morton 0 - 1 Clyde
1963/2/4 R1 Partick Thistle 3 - 2 Morton
1962/1/27 R2 Morton 1 - 3 Celtic
1961/2/11 R2 Forfar 2 - 0 Morton
1960/1/30 R1 Morton 0 - 1 East Stirlingshire
1958/2/15 R2 Morton 0 - 1 Aberdeen
1955/2/5 R5 Morton 1 - 3 Raith Rovers
1939/1/21 R1 Dunfermline 5 - 2 Morton
1934/1/20 R1 Partick Thistle 1 - 0 Morton
1933/1/21 R1 Stenhousemuir 1 - 0 Morton
1932/1/16 R1 Dundee 4 - 1 Morton
1930/1/18 R1 Dundee 2 - 0 Morton
1929/1/19 R1 Dundee United 3 - 1 Morton
1927/1/22 R1 Alloa 3 - 0 Morton
1924/1/26 R1 Airdrieonians 2 - 1 Morton
1923/1/13 R1 Raith Rovers 1 - 0 Morton
1921/2/5 R2 Rangers 2 - 0 Morton
1909/1/23 R1 Morton 0 - 4 Aberdeen
1903/1/10 R1 Hibs 7 - 0 Morton
1900/1/13 R1 Rangers 4 - 2 Morton
1896/1/11 R1 Morton 2 - 3 Dundee
1893/9/2 PR1 Kilmarnock 5 - 3 Morton
1887/9/3 R1 Dykebar 5 - 2 Morton
1885/9/12 R1 Cartvale 2 - 1 Morton
1881/9/10 R1 Levern 4 - 2 Morton
1878/9/28 R1 Busby 3 - 1 Morton
1877/10/6 R1 Barrhead Rangers 7 - 0 Morton
#18 Tim Stützle was the NHL's rookie of the month for February. Source.
Ottawa host Calgary.
Tim Stützle previously played for Adler Mannheim. Have any other Germans made the Senators' squad? Yes: Erich Goldmann (1 game, 1999-2000) and Christoph Schubert (268 games, 2006 to 2009).
Names of the Senator's rinks:
1. Ottawa Civic Centre. The WHA's Ottawa Nationals and Ottawa Civics played there.
2. Palladium (during construction). A palladium is a statue of Pallas Athena, the most famous example being the one brought from Troy to Rome by Aeneas. It doesn't have much to do with buildings. The word palladian does apply to buildings, if they look like buildings designed by Andrea Palladio (1508-1580). The Canadian Tire Centre does not look like a building designed by Andrea Palladio.
a.k.a. Corel Centre (1996-2006). Corel is an Ottawa high tech company best known for Corel Draw.
a.k.a. Scotiabank Place (2006-2013). Scotiabank owns much of the Caribbean.
a.k.a. Canadian Tire Centre (2013-present). Canadian Tire is worth about $20 billion and has its own currency.
Sens versus Flames so far this season:
February 25 Ottawa 6 - 1 Calgary
February 27 Ottawa 3 - 6 Calgary
March 1 Ottawa 5 - 1 Calgary
March 4 Calgary 7 - 3 Ottawa
March 22 Ottawa [2 - 1] Calgary
March 24 Ottawa [3 - 1] Calgary
(Home team listed first.)
I was going to follow the AHL's Canadian Division, but then they went and put the Stockton Heat in it, which ruined it for nationalism purposes.
The ECHL's Newfoundland Growlers are on hiatus this season. The Brampton Beast decided to shut down permanently. But next year there will be a team in Trois-Rivières.
