Michigan wins 2010 Big Ten Field Hockey tournament, 2-1 over Ohio State.
Field hockey?
Yes, field hockey.
Working nights, there's often not much going on around 2AM. But in Beijing, it's 4PM, and that was prime time during the 2008 Summer Olympics.While most everything was shown via tape delay, the NBC website offered raw video feeds live--no announcer, no commentary, just video and sounds of the game. So, looking through the available feeds one quiet summer morning, I saw the Netherland's Women's field hockey game and switched it on. I have to admit that I thought I knew what it was, but then again, I thought I knew what Olympic handball was. Turns out that's just dodgeball.
Anyway the Dutch women were playing I forget who, but within about a minute, it didn't matter. Because here was a game faster and more exciting than football (soccer, for those of us in the USA), where an awful lot of time is spent chasing a comparatively large ball with nothing to show for it, but not as out of control as ice hockey, and with the added advantage of players not periodically beating the crap out of each other. But it has one element that elevates the game to a level unmatched in any other sport, a moment of pure sublimity on the field of play.
The Penalty Corner.
When an infraction is committed in an area near the goal, the aggrieved team is usually awarded a penalty corner, which is a set play pitting a select group of attackers against five defenders. But in reality, it is beautifully staged choreography, as a collective breath is drawn, held and then violently loosed. Standing to one side of the goal, an offensive player assumes an exaggerated lunge, before rocking back and inserting the ball into the penalty circle towards her teammates. Another player blocks the ball, and it may then be deftly passed back and forth, confusing the defenders, until ultimately they take a shot on goal, hoping to tip in off another player's stick, or they may simply try and blast it past everyone. The defenders, meanwhile, have donned masks and, upon insertion, have burst from the confines of the goal cage in a display of controlled chaos, like so many Roughriders charging San Juan Hill, ready to stop the invasion at any cost.
Not surprisingly, an awful lot of goals are scored from penalty corners.
After the Olympics ended, the televised field hockey opportunities grew scarce, as in non-existent. While very popular in Europe among both women and men, in the US it's almost exclusively a women's college game. Fortunately, Northwestern University has a team, which means I've been able to catch almost every home game since. Unfortunately, the Wildcats lost in the first round of this year's tournament, which is how we get back to Michigan and Ohio State. We could go on, but let's save some for later. Catch the fever.
It really is called insertion.
And then someday we'll discuss curling.
Yes, field hockey.
Working nights, there's often not much going on around 2AM. But in Beijing, it's 4PM, and that was prime time during the 2008 Summer Olympics.While most everything was shown via tape delay, the NBC website offered raw video feeds live--no announcer, no commentary, just video and sounds of the game. So, looking through the available feeds one quiet summer morning, I saw the Netherland's Women's field hockey game and switched it on. I have to admit that I thought I knew what it was, but then again, I thought I knew what Olympic handball was. Turns out that's just dodgeball.
Anyway the Dutch women were playing I forget who, but within about a minute, it didn't matter. Because here was a game faster and more exciting than football (soccer, for those of us in the USA), where an awful lot of time is spent chasing a comparatively large ball with nothing to show for it, but not as out of control as ice hockey, and with the added advantage of players not periodically beating the crap out of each other. But it has one element that elevates the game to a level unmatched in any other sport, a moment of pure sublimity on the field of play.
The Penalty Corner.
When an infraction is committed in an area near the goal, the aggrieved team is usually awarded a penalty corner, which is a set play pitting a select group of attackers against five defenders. But in reality, it is beautifully staged choreography, as a collective breath is drawn, held and then violently loosed. Standing to one side of the goal, an offensive player assumes an exaggerated lunge, before rocking back and inserting the ball into the penalty circle towards her teammates. Another player blocks the ball, and it may then be deftly passed back and forth, confusing the defenders, until ultimately they take a shot on goal, hoping to tip in off another player's stick, or they may simply try and blast it past everyone. The defenders, meanwhile, have donned masks and, upon insertion, have burst from the confines of the goal cage in a display of controlled chaos, like so many Roughriders charging San Juan Hill, ready to stop the invasion at any cost.
Not surprisingly, an awful lot of goals are scored from penalty corners.
After the Olympics ended, the televised field hockey opportunities grew scarce, as in non-existent. While very popular in Europe among both women and men, in the US it's almost exclusively a women's college game. Fortunately, Northwestern University has a team, which means I've been able to catch almost every home game since. Unfortunately, the Wildcats lost in the first round of this year's tournament, which is how we get back to Michigan and Ohio State. We could go on, but let's save some for later. Catch the fever.
It really is called insertion.
And then someday we'll discuss curling.
posted by Unknown at 3:09 PM
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