Plenty of Nothing

Saint Paul Ice Palace, 1887

Source.

Penny Black

This coin commemorates a stamp. Source.

Katharina von Bora by Lucas Cranach the Elder

Katharina von Bora was born on this date in 1499. She married Martin Luther in 1525. Source.

Héctor Poleo

Two Figures (1951) by Héctor Poleo. Source.

45th Empress's Cup Final

Reds vs Leonessa. Source.

It's the Empress's Cup final: Urawa Red Diamonds meet INAC Kobe Leonessa. Leonessa have won this cup six times, most recently in 2016. Urawa Reds have won it once, in 2021. These two teams met in the 2010 final.

Urawa are last year's WE League champions, which earned them a place in the 2023 Women's Club Championship where they made it to the final with Hyundai Steel Red Angels. That match has yet to be scheduled. Urawa also won the 2022-23 WE League Cup. And they won the Nadeshiko League four times. They have three players on the Japanese national team: Rion Ishikawa, Hikaru Naomoto and Kiko Seike.

INAC Kobe Leonessa won the previous year's WE League but did not go to the Women's Club Championship. They won the Nadeshiko League three times. They also have three players on the national team: Ayaka Yamashita, Shiori Miyake and Mina Tanaka.

Most recent league results:

2023/5/14      Kobe Leonessa 1 - 2 Urawa Reds

2023/1/15      Urawa Reds 1 - 2 Kobe Leonessa

2022/12/11    Urawa Reds 1 - 2 Kobe Leonessa

[Urawa Reds 1 - 1 Kobe Leonessa. Kobe win on PK.]

Meanwhile in Scotland:

Morton host Arbroath. Morton are fifth with 26 points, Arbroath tenth with 18.

Morton are on a run of ten games without a loss, league and cup. Arbroath are six matches without a win. In recent years Arbroath have had Morton's number, but the last time they met Morton won.

Morton were injury-plagued in the autumn but are more or less healed. Arbroath are the injured party now, with five defenders out.

Arbroath have signed Polish goalie Max Boruc on loan from Hibs, which could signal the end of Derek Gaston's reign.

Dougie Imrie has signed on till 2026.

Edinburgh City have been deducted six points for failing to meet the payroll or submit taxes. They're dead last in League One.

This is a Plenty of Nothing Consolation Cup Round One match.

[Morton win 3 - 0 on goals by Muirhead, Oakley and Gillespie.]

The other Championship matches:

Ayr United 2 - 0 Arbroath (January 23)

Former Celtic star Scott Brown is Ayr's new manager.

Airdrieonians (4th) [1 - 1] Partick Thistle (3rd)

Dundee United (1st) [0 - 0] Dunfermline Athletic (6th)

Queen's Park (9th) [1 - 2] Ayr United (7th)*

*This is a Plenty of Nothing Championship League Cup semi-final.

Raith Rovers (2nd) [2 - 3] Inverness CT (8th)**

**This is a Plenty of Nothing Consolation Cup Round One match.

Other matches:

Buckie Thistle vs Banks o' Dee [postponed]

East Craigie [0 - 1] Tayport

Linlithgow Rose [2 - 2] Celtic B

Armadale Thistle [4 - 2] Peebles Rovers

Benburb [0 - 0] Largs Thistle

Carluke Rovers [1 - 1] St Peter's

FC Isle of Man [1 - 0] Irlam

Carrick Rangers 0 - 1 Cliftonville (yesterday)

Hutchison Vale [1 - 2] Morton Women (tomorrow)

BSC Glasgow have dropped out of SWF League One and League Cup where they had reached the semi-finals.

Gamba Osaka [2 - 1] Mito HollyHock (friendly)

Scottish Junior Cup, Round Four:

Johnstone Burgh [2 - 2] Dundee Downfield [Burgh win on PK]

2023-24 Aberdeenshire Cup, Round One (January 24):

Hermes 3 - 2 Turriff United

Huntly 0 - 4 Fraserburgh

Inverurie Loco Works 5 - 3 Dyce

Lowland League Cup, Round One (January 23):

Broomhill vs East Kilbride (postponed)

Bangladesh Federation Cup, group stage (January 23):

Sheikh Russel 1 - 3 Fortis

also:

Sheikh Russel [0 - 0] Fortis (league match, today)

2023 Asian Cup, Group D:

2024/1/24      Japan 3 - 1 Indonesia

Historical matches:

1883/1/27      Morton 6 - 3 Lyle Athletic        Greenock and District Cup R1

1968/1/27      Morton 4 - 0 Falkirk    Scottish Cup R1

1996/1/23      Airdrieonians 0 - 2 Morton

Goals by Lindberg and Lilley.

Ayr United versus Queen's Park in the Ayr Charity Cup:

1914/5/2        Ayr United 2 - 1 Queen's Park

1915/5/8        Ayr United 5 - 3 Queen's Park

1916/5/3        Ayr United 3 - 1 Queen's Park

1918/4/13      Queen's Park 2 - 1 Ayr United

1919/5/17      Ayr United 4 - 2 Queen's Park

1920/5/18      Ayr United 4 - 0 Queen's Park

1921/5/14      Ayr United 4 - 1 Queen's Park

1922/5/9        Queen's Park 4 - 1 Ayr United

1923/5/15      Queen's Park 4 - 0 Ayr United

1924/5/3        Ayr United 2 - 1 Queen's Park

1926/5/1        Ayr United 1 - 0 Queen's Park

1927/5/9        Ayr United 3 - 1 Queen's Park

1952/5/3        Ayr United 2 - 1 Queen's Park

(Source: Scottish Football Historical Archive)

Arthurlie FC 1894-95:

1895/4/13      Arthurlie 2 - 4 Wishaw Thistle    SA

1895/3/30      Albion Rovers 4 - 1 Arthurlie    SA

1895/3/23      Royal Albert 5 - 1 Arthurlie    SA

1895/3/16      Arthurlie 0 - 1 Hamilton Academical    SA

1895/3/2        Johnstone 1 - 2 Arthurlie    SA

1895/2/23      Port Glasgow Athletic 6 - 1 Arthurlie    RCup F

1894/11/24    Arthurlie 2 - 0 Cartvale    RCup SF

1894/11/10    Hamilton Academical 6 - 3 Arthurlie    SA

1894/11/3      Wishaw Thistle 3 - 2 Arthurlie    SA

1894/10/27    Abercorn 2 - 4 Arthurlie    RCup R2

1894/10/20    Dykehead 5 - 3 Arthurlie    SA

1894/10/13    Arthurlie 1 - 3 Albion Rovers    SA

1894/10/6      Kilbarchan 1 - 3 Arthurlie    RCup R1

1894/9/29      Arthurlie 3 - 2 Royal Albert    SA

1894/9/15      Arthurlie 7 - 1 Johnstone    SA

1894/9/8        Arthurlie 1 - 1 Cambuslang    SA

1894/9/1        Arthurlie 0 - 2 Kilmarnock Athletic    SCup PR1

The Scottish Alliance fixture Cambuslang vs Arthurlie is missing, and Arthurlie vs Dykehead was not played.

(Sources: Scottish Football Historical Archives for the Scottish Alliance and the Renfrewshire Cup; The Beautiful Dribbling Game for the Scottish Cup.)

Alice Babs

Swedish jazz singer Alice Babs was born on this date in 1924, a hundred years ago. She worked extensively with Duke Ellington in the 1960s, for instance here.

Women's Chinese Ice Hockey League

Opening ceremony. Source.

The PWHL is not the only new league in town. 2023-24 is the first season for the Women's Chinese Ice Hockey League. (The Chinese name is 中国女子冰球职业联, which comes out of Google Translate as Chinese Women's Hockey Professional League). There are seven clubs: Beijing, Hebei, Shanghai, Sichuan, Harbin, Qiqihar, and the well-travelled Shenzhen Kunlun Red Star. The season began in November and is just about to wrap up.

The regular season is divided into three stages, each one a single round-robin. The first stage was played from November 25th to December 2nd in Qiqihar, the second stage from December 9th to 16th in Harbin, and the third from December 30th to January 6th in Shenzhen. By then each team had played 18 games. The top four teams advanced to the playoffs, which began January 19th in Beijing. There were two best-of-three semifinals leading to a best-of-three final. Source.

You'll remember that Shenzhen Kunlun Red Star played two seasons in the Canadian Women's Hockey League, 2017-18 and 2018-19. They lost out in the 2018 Clarkson Cup final to Markham Thunder. After the CWHL expired they showed up in Russia's Zhenskaya Hockey League where they played four seasons and won the championship twice. Four Canadians are on the current Kunlun squad: Danielle Fox, Ryleigh Houston, Kaitlyn Tougas and Kiana Wilkinson.

Kunlun, Harbin, Qiqihar and Beijing advanced to the playoffs. The semi-final pairings are Shenzhen Kunlun Red Star vs Beijing, and Qiqihar vs Harbin. [Kunlun beat Beijing, and Harbin beat Qiqihar. Kunlun won the final. Source.]

Maria Tallchief

Maria Tallchief, considered America's first major prima ballerina, was born on this date in 1925. She was a member of the Osage Nation. Source.

PWHL: Toronto at Ottawa

Toronto play their home games in the rafters of Maple Leaf Gardens. The ice is about three stories higher than in Dave Keon's day. Source.

Toronto brings the league's hinkiest defence to Ottawa. After six games Toronto have allowed 20 goals, or 3.33 per game.

Toronto's roster is almost totally Canadian. There are more Nova Scotians than Americans. (Carly Jackson is from Amherst, Allie Munroe from Yarmouth, and Blayre Turnbull Stellarton.) Ten Toronto players are Olympians. Jocelyne Larocque and Natalie Spooner have each appeared in three Winter Olympics and nine Women's Worlds.

Ottawa's rink is small by NHL standards, but Toronto's rafter arena holds only about 2,500, which pretty much dooms them to having the lowest average attendance in the league, even though they sell out. You'd hope they can move over to the Marlies' 8,000-seat rink as quickly as possible.

But Toronto Six played at the 1,200-seat Canlan Sports arena at York University.

These two teams met on January 13th in Toronto and Ottawa won 5 - 1.

Ottawa have played only three games so far, so they should bring their skating game, while Toronto bring the clutching and grabbing game they used against Montreal the other night.

[Ottawa wins 3 - 1.]

Ottawa roster:

  0    Sandra Abstreiter (G)    Memmingen, Providence Friars, Planegg

  2    Aneta Tejralová (D)    MoDo, Boston Pride, SKIF Nizhny Novgorod, Dinamo St Petersburg, Slavia Prague

  3    Zoe Boyd (D)    Quinnipiac University

  5    Victoria Howran (D)    University of New Hampshire, Connecticut Whale

  8    Natalie Snodgrass (F)    Minnesota Whitecaps, UConn Huskies

  9    Daryl Watts (F)    Wisconsin Badgers, Boston College Eagles, Toronto Six

10    Becca Gilmour (F)    Harvard, Boston Pride

11    Akane Shiga (F)    Toyota Cygnus, Obihiro Ladies

13    Mikyla Grant-Mentis (F)    Merrimack, Buffalo Beauts, Toronto Six    "Inside Mikyla Grant-Mentis's journey from PHF MVP to PWHL tryouts"

14    Hayley Scamurra (F)    Northeastern Huskies, Buffalo Beauts

15    Savannah Harmon (D)    Clarkson Golden Knights, Buffalo Beauts

16    Kateřina Mrázová (F)    Boston Blades, Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs, Brynäs, Connecticut Whale, Färjestad

17    Gabbie Hughes (F)    Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs

18    Malia Schneider (F)    Colgate University    [Schneider has gone to Sweden to play for Brynäs.]

19    Brianne Jenner (F)    Mississauga Chiefs, Burlington Barricudas, Cornell, Calgary Inferno

20    Taylor Davison (D)    Burlington Barricudas, York University, Toronto Six

21    Ashton Bell (D)    University of Minnesota-Duluth

25    Kristin Della Rovere (F)    Harvard

26    Emily Clark (F)    Wisconsin Badgers

28    Amanda Boulier (D)    St. Lawrence Saints, Connecticut Whale, Boston Pride, Minnesota Whitecaps

33    Jincy Roese (D)    Ohio State Buckeyes

34    Rachel McQuigge (G)    Princeton, Metropolitan Riveters

38    Emerance Maschmeyer (G)    Calgary Inferno, Harvard Crimson, Canadiennes de Montréal

81    Rosalie Demers (F)    Colgate

88    Lexie Adzija (F)    Quinnipiac

94    Fanni Garát-Gasparics (F) Fakel Chelyabinsk, Belye Medveditsy Chelyabinsk, Agidel Ufa, KMH Budapest, MAC Budapest, Metropolitan Riviters, Brynäs

Read about Ottawa's diversity.

Toronto Six: where are they now?

2022-23 roster:                    2023-24:

Brooke Boquist                   

Michela Cava                      PWHL Minnesota

Elaine Chuli                         PWHL Montreal

Shiann Darkangelo              PWHL Boston

Taylor Davison                     PWHL Ottawa

Lindsay Eastwood               Coaching at Kitchener Rangers.

Nadine Edney                     

Courtney Gardiner              

Emma Greco                      PWHL Minnesota

Brittany Howard                  PWHL Toronto

Carly Jackson                     PWHL Toronto

Dominika Laskova              PWHL Montreal

Leah Lum                            PWHL Montreal

Kati Tabin                            PWHL Montreal

Lexi Templeman                  

Saroya Tinker                      Attended the Ottawa camp, retired and is doing commentary.

Tereza Vanisova                  PWHL Montreal

Daryl Watts                          PWHL Ottawa

Breanne Wilson-Bennett      Coaching at Colgate University.

Alexis Woloschuk                

Emma Woods                      PWHL New York

Taylor Woods                       

Early Covers of George Harrison's Beatles Songs

Harrison and Havens. Source.

Gregory Phillips, "Don't Bother Me"

The Sunshine Company, "I Need You"

The Hollies, "If I Needed Someone"

James Taylor, "If I Needed Someone"

The Music Machine, "Taxman"

Big Jim Sullivan, "Within You Without You"

The Soulful Strings, "Within You Without You"

Bud Shank, "Blue Jay Way"

Charlie Byrd, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

Theo Bikel, "Piggies"

Ella Fitzgerald, "Savoy Truffle"

Terry Manning, "Savoy Truffle"

Shirley Bassey, "Something"

Peggy Lee, "Something"

James Brown, "Something"

Frank Sinatra, "Something"

Richie Havens, "Here Comes the Sun"

Nina Simone, "Here Comes the Sun"