Hockey Grandpa

OK, now that's a role I did not see coming.  But where the grandkids lead, we follow.

I spent last weekend at the State Tournament.  That sounds impressive, but actually youth hockey has lots of state tournaments.  There are Divisions, so large communities and small don't go head to head.  That's fair, some of those Milwaukee suburbs have buckets of money to spend on ice time and so forth.  There's age groups.  These have various names such as Pee Wee, Squirt, Microbe etc.  We are in the 10 and under cohort.  Gotta say, put these kids on skates and add various protective kit and some of them look like they oughta be shaving already.  (Disclaimer, a couple of the larger players with flowing Fabio style hair dos did turn out to be girls.*  So shaving unlikely).  And there are A and B classes.  This seems a bit flexible, and the politics of how kids are put here or there are byzantine.

But it is high quality play, and contrary to popular misconceptions all the Hockey People we've encountered are civilized.  Intense at times, but civilized.  A few random images and thoughts....

One thing I had not encountered before are the Big Heads.  Also referred to as Fatheads after a company that pioneered the concept...and may I say, the name choice was audacious.  Now you can have them made locally, and pretty much every player has one.  They provide much potential for creative photography.

On the ice action is impossible to show with a still photo, its all about the sudden turns of the player, the bounce of the puck, the reaching just that last inch to poke away a shot that would turn the tide of the game.  But to prove I was there...

I'm learning many new traditions of this little subculture.  Vehicles going to State need to be decorated.  Usually with a name and jersey number but sometimes with a broader theme:

Even at this level there are injuries during a game, or more likely collisions where a player is shaken up.  The refs immediately whistle to halt time and both teams get down on a knee where ever they were.

A coach comes out, and after a moment - likely a long moment for that player's family, he or she is helped off the ice.  Both teams then stand and rattle their sticks on the ice in a salute.  

The weekend had entries in both the W and L column, but the grandson's team finished with a hard fought win in which both teams played well.  End of hockey season.  On to baseball.  Oh, and soccer concurrently.  And fishing.

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* My observation is that the girls while few in number did seem to draw penalties out of proportion to said numbers.  Make of that what you will.

On the March

Many people know that the months of the year have a rather distinctive Roman flair.  Thanks, Julio-Claudian calendar!  March is a particularly interesting month.  Meteorologically, sure.  Also Etymologically.  

The oldest words out there are from the oldest human experiences.  Which sadly include war.

The name comes from the Latin Martius meaning Month of Mars.  Mars of course was the God of War, no doubt getting the name from the blood red color of Mars, the planet this time, in the night sky.  Various other words spin off.  Martial, as in military or fighting generally such as martial arts.  But neither Martini the drink nor Martini the rifle trace back to Mars.  Those stories are...complicated.

But what about Marching?  Surely the most martial of activities?

Well, not exactly.  It seems to come from the French word marche, meaning boundary.  Prior to that it goes back to Frankish times, when French and Germans were kindred peoples and languages.  The sense of a boundary is preserved to some extent.  For instance the ill defined area where England adjoins those pesky Welch is referred to as The Welch Marches.

That of course is exactly the sort of place your army would have to visit regularly and sometimes in haste.  So by the early 15th century the French had another word marcher, meaning to "stride, march, to trample underfoot".  It's probably derived from marche, but neither Mars nor his Red Planet have anything to do with it.

Although in keeping in the spirit of things, the official symbol of Wales is a Red Dragon, with the color likely influenced by the long, bloody wars along the Welch Marches.

The Baseball Riot of 1903

In honor of the start of Pitchers and Catchers reporting to Spring Training, a little baseball story from the history of Chippewa Falls.  It happened here:

This is a birdseye view created in 1906.  The ball diamond is fainted titled "Athletic Park". It is on the South Side of town, in roughly the area once known as Frenchtown.  To be more precise, Frenchtown historically was in the open area just downstream from the ballpark, but people still used - in fact still do use - the term a bit liberally.  And in this case perhaps appropriately, as Frenchtown was always the site of much mischief...  

The story is related in an article dated August 18th, 1903, with the title:

BASEBALL GAME ENDS IN TROUBLE

It sounds like quite the messy affair.  Evidently the Eau Claire manager, a man named Peterson, refused to take action when a group of his fans got out onto the field and obstructed the base paths.  Chippewa Falls fans obviously took exception to this and went out to try removing them by force.  

It was said that at one time there were three "scraps" going on - presumably individual or group in nature, and that there was work for "an army of policemen".  There actually were some police officers on hand, and they came in for criticism for not collaring the ring leaders.  Arrests were made, most notably of a Chester Bell.  He was said to be doing no worse than several others, but as we'll see, he was a dubious character.

With the score actually being debatable due to fan interference, the umpire eventually adjusted the final tally from 8-5 for Chippewa Falls to a 9-0 victory.  I'm aware of no existing rule that would justify this.  Although the Eau Claire manager came in for criticism, and may also have been arrested, the teams were not involved and were said to be gentlemen.   

A few parting thoughts on the nature of lawlessness on the south side of Chippewa Falls.  As mentioned above, this is in a loose sense the area called Frenchtown.  This was the earliest European settled site in the current city limits and has always been a place of raised glasses, raised tempers and mischief.  That remarkable pre-Civil War community was essentially wiped out by floods in 1880 and 1884.  But.....  The oldest and most notorious saloon in old Frenchtown, the Rosseau House survived the floods and was taken a couple hundred yards upstream to a location described as "..moved to the ball park.." where it continued on as a saloon.  Sadly for today's narrative it had been moved again one year prior to the Baseball Riot and converted to a private residence  another couple hundred yards up on higher ground.

Chester Bell would seem to be a 20th century version of a typical Frenchtowner.  I may be mixing up two different men here, but the newspapers of both Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire have numerous references to a man of that name.  In the 1890's he was a peripheral figure in a burglary ring and escaped from the Eau Claire jail.  Recaptured he did a few years behind bars.  Later a gent of the same name had several instances where he claimed to suffer injuries, usually walking on old plank sidewalks, and sued for damages.  Certainly seems like our lad.  Being tossed in jail after the baseball game he was given the option of paying a $100 fine or sitting it out and having his day in court.  He went with the former.

And then tried unsuccessfully to have the money paid back to him!

Athletic Park was built in 1894, although there are suggestions that the site may have been used informally for a longer time.  It's demise is not well documented, but by 1919 subscriptions were being sought to fund a new field on the site of the Fair Grounds over on the "respectable" side of town.  Over those roughly 25 seasons a lot of interesting contests were held there.  But those ae stories for another day.

Interestingly, the legacy of baseball on this exact spot continued.  I came to town in 1985.  It was a decade or so later when my oldest son was playing ball.  One year, perhaps 1987 or so, the baseball playoffs for his league were thrown off schedule by several days of torrential rain.  His game was rescheduled, and moved to Murphy Field, an old and seldom used facility on the south side.  I remember that we didn't play all that well in this game, but that the field was impressive.  Back behind home plate there were huge walls rising up, clad in some sort of cement if I remember rightly.  Not long after this area became pat of the sprawling city yard waste dump and gravel storage lot.  Until about 9 years ago there was still a lonely concessions stand along the first base side, waiting for customers who would never return.  

Here's the site today, with Murphy Field and Athletic Field roughly marked off.   Athletic Park in blue, with the batter hitting the ball from roughly where the word Riverside sits.  Murphy Field in red, where none of our little leaguers were in danger of plunking one into the river despite the outfield being in that direction.  Those buildings around the edge are on top of that big wall.  Fun to have a century of baseball, and more, in one spot.  Notice that there is a rail line, more riverbank, and a new road since the early days.

Beans for Deer Update

Brief update on The Great Bean Experiment.  

If you are wandering in late, here's the deal.  Our family recently bought some hunting land "up north".  Last year we did pretty basic improvements, but from some perspectives the entire point of having such a property is to keep you permanently busy with upgrades.

In particular we want the White Tail deer population there to be happy, contented, plump and, er, tasty.  So we planted a few All You Can Graze food plots.  But wait, there's more.

One of my sons has access to beans.  Lots of them.  Assorted types.  I got about 30 pounds for Christmas.  I planted several varieties, just to see what would grow with minimal help.  As it happens, all of them did ok.  Admittedly using potting soil, but also middle of winter on a chilly countertop.  Germination rates varied, but 50% to 80%.  Not bad.

Eventually I took one or two promising specimens of each and transplanted them for further testing.  The rest went outside to provide fresh greens for whatever critters skulk around our compost bin.  Here's how things look with about six weeks of very indifferent care:

Not  bad.  Not bad at all.  I was more than a little 

surprised to see they had decided to be climbers.

The varieties of beans under scrutiny are Pinto, Black and Navy, all supposedly bush type beans.  But near as I can tell from casual research, even these varieties have gangly adolescent stages.

Now that I am officially a bean farmer, you might wonder just what we'll do with these.  Subject to the usual contact with the real world, here's the theory.

Deer will much anything green and growing right down to the ground, probably to the demise of said beanie plant.  But our supply of dried beans is substantial, and they appear willing to grow with only modest help.  So we'll probably go here and there in the cleared areas of the hunting land and just chuck large numbers of beans out into the world every couple of weeks.  Sure, many will be chow for mice, squirrels and other critters, but some will grow.  I'm thinking some sort of catapult would actually be the most efficient way to get them out there.  I mean, if you have your own bit of land why not use it to deploy small medieval siege engines?

FIRST Robotics 2026 - Putting it all Together

It's very helpful to bring your robot to a Pre-Season scrimmage.  This is a first chance to run on an actual field similar to competition, and with other robots.  And its a chance to renew old acquaintances, check out other designs, etc.   So well worth the trip and the day of work shop time it costs.....if you can get your act together in time.

Here's our robot on the scrimmage field....

And here's some of what it took to get there....

At the event we were trying out several new members for drive team.  The level of experience ranged from "a little bit" to none.  There were some occasions when they zigged instead of zagged, and once when the robot controller did not work....because they had not hit the Power On button!  But when you run something like 12 trial matches you have time to identify and stomp on all manner of bugs.  Loose wires, a burnt out motor, forgetting to set the robot's computer orientation system to FIELD.  By the end things were running well, at least as the basic "scoop things up, line things up, launch things up" protocols.

There remain quite a few small to medium sized tasks.  Adding a climber being the most obvious.  But with the basic build complete we'll probably stop making Weekly Progress videos and perhaps turn to special features.

Solid work.  Solid bunch of students.

Nimrods Redux

It's been a while since we've heard from the Nimrods Giant Ski team.  Last season they  mentored a younger team of Giant Skiers.  And how did the little ingrates repay 'em?  Well, that and so much more can be found in this fascinating video of the Nimrods setting some sort of Guinness World Record by skiing across (a small part of) Lake Superior.

Sandland Update - and for some reason a product review of a generator.

My friend Gabe is a Man for all Seasons.  This is a longish video but does show what has been going on at Sandland, the Playground for the next Thousand Years.   

If that's a bit long for your tastes, here' just a few seconds of video from my recent work session underground.   The maze is getting complex enough that I sometimes get turned around.  And when that happens you can encounter strange lights and sounds in the darkness...