Like many Canadians, hockey and basketball are the two sports I watch most. Though I enjoy both equally – and in the playoffs, probably even prefer hockey a bit – I generally watch a lot more regular season basketball than hockey. I suspect this is true for many hockey+basketball fans, especially in the United States,Continue reading “How to stop me from changing the channel during regular season hockey games”

NBA teams score about 40 field goals per game on average, not counting free throws. NHL teams score about 3 goals per game on average. Per minute of play, the number of field goals in an NBA game is about 16.5 times higher than the number of goals in an NHL game. An NHL teamContinue reading “NBA-style Hockey”

Everyone who watches hockey knows that a second overtime period would be much better than the shootout. But the NHL hasn’t gone for this yet, perhaps because it worries that fans still like the shootout, or perhaps because the players don’t want additional overtime periods that would increase their workload and risk of injury. IfContinue reading “Alternative 2nd Overtime Ideas for NHL Regular Season Games”

One of the ironies of the truck protests in Ottawa is that they helped show that socially vibrant outdoor gatherings and activities can take place, even in very cold weather, so long as streets are at least partially shut off from car traffic. The protests also provided yet another illustration of the reality that large,Continue reading “Game On: Road Traffic as Enemy #1 During Covid”

The bike-in-a-box is a way to stay warm, fit, and social in cold outdoor weather, in a way that doesn’t waste energy. It’s a little bit like a one-person portable sauna (see ridiculous pictures below), except that it’s not actually a sauna, and it can be used by more than one person at a time.Continue reading “The Warmly Behatted Bike-in-a-Box, for Winter Outdoors”

For every 10 men over 65 years old in Canada, there are nearly 12 women over 65 years old. For every 10 men over 85 years old, there are roughly 20 women over 85 years old. This is true of most countries, more or less. Combined with the fact that older people tend to getContinue reading “Archway Bikeways (with low-ceiling outer lanes)”

Ice sports face a double threat from climate change. Outdoor rinks are being impacted by warming weather in northern latitudes and mountain altitudes, while using indoor rinks or travelling long distances to go on winter-sports vacations could be impacted by carbon pricing. If you do travel to those colder climates however, or better yet ifContinue reading “Lake Hockey (A New Type of Shinny and Bandy, for the Robo-Zamboni Era)”

North America’s mega-parking lots make cities hotter and, in many cases, more prone to flooding than they would otherwise be. By incentivizing car usage, they may also make cities more prone to traffic jams, air and noise pollution, and road accidents. And they are becoming emptier now than ever before, even during holiday shopping seasons,Continue reading “Wall Ball, Target, and Rainforest (The New Brick and Mortar American Sports)”

There are 11 sports stadiums in the world with a capacity of over 100,000, according to Wikipedia. Eight of these are American college football stadiums. Two, including the largest stadium of all, are cricket grounds. Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat, India can seat up to 132,000 fans as of 2020. The Melbourne Cricket Ground inContinue reading “Bellringer (an alternative version of soccer, for cricket grounds and baseball stadiums)”