Detroit Red Wings' goalie Jimmy Howard hasn't exactly been faring well of late. After coming back from a mysterious groin injury -- and don't you just hate it when your groin gets twisted out of shape -- Howard has been somewhat porous between the pipes.
Put another way, #35 of the winged wheel rinksters has started to resemble a screen door on a submarine when it comes to stopping shots from opponents. Lately, the guy's had a hand in turning on more flashing red lights than your average fire departments responding to a five-alarmer. Let's just say he's been giving up more goals than management is happy with.
But never fear, the problem has been solved, or so sayeth Howard himself. According to reports, JH watched film along with his goalie coach and they came to an astounding conclusion.
Howard wasn't watching the puck with his eyes, and this can make a difference as an NHL goaltender. Well, no kidding Jimbo. Who would have ever guessed such a small detail as a goalie maintaining visual contact with the puck might cut down on those pesky red lights? Doh!
ZZ Top once had a hit song about driving while blind. It's not generally recommended. Neither is flying a plane. The likes of Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, and Roy Orbison were certainly mega-musical talents -- but I dare say it might give one pause to see any of them seated in the cockpit while boarding an airliner. Granted, many have overcome such a physical impairment to excel at what they do. But if I'm about to go 500 MPH at 35.000 feet, which hopefully includes a safe landing at the end, I think I might just wait for the next flight out to the same destination with a different pilot. If Ronnie Milsap shows up with 4 bars on his sleeves, then I'm calling Greyhound. And if THAT driver turns out to be Danica Patrick, the trip wasn't that important in the first place. But that's just me. Everybody has their little prejudices. Different strokes, but I digress.
Back to Jimmy Howard. He can watch film with his goalie coach all he wants, but there's a better method of solving his problem. Developing bat-like sonar is probably beyond his capabilities, but how about....
Bloodsport. Ring a bell?
That was the 1988 movie starring Jean-Claude Van Damme in the ultimate martial arts tournament in Hong Kong. Playing the part of real life Frank Dux, Van Damme was faced with a brutal villain, one Chong Li, who had killed his previous opponent, in the finals. The dastardly Li threw a crushed salt pellet into Dux's eyes, which blinded him. Foul play indeed.
But as we know, Dux had trained under the legendary master Senzo Tanaka, who had taught him to channel his "inner vision". Of course the American prevailed. They always do in the movies.
Jimmy Howard is an American from New York. Maybe he should seek out Tanaka if he's still around. Couldn't hurt, and he might still have a hero left in him deep down somewhere.
Goaltending in the NHL while blind. Now THAT would take some serious training and discipline.
And who knows? This could catch on. Major league baseball pitchers that can throw 100 MPH fastballs are already intimidating to batters. Imagine if one of them was totally sightless bringing the same heat. How scary would that be?
But you never know. People have overcome huge obstacles before and gone on to be quite successful.
Nevertheless, I'm going to take a peek in the cabin the next time I board a flight.
That couldn't hurt either.
No comments:
Post a Comment