Great Game Previews In History: 30 November 2013

by J.R.

Today In History

The Treaty of Paris was agreed upon and signed by the dignitaries at the Hotel d’York in 1782, wrapping up the American Revolution.

It was exceedingly generous to the American Colonies, prompting the French minister Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, to say that “The English buy peace rather than they make it.”

British forces would withdraw and the western border of the new country was set at the Mississippi and, as such, included what would become Nashville and Chicago (but not St. Paul or St. Louis, only just barely). Benjamin Franklin couldn’t get the English to cede what is now Quebec (for better or worse). America also got certain fishing rights around Newfoundland.

In exchange, the Americans agreed to honor private debts and stop seizing Loyalist property.

And the world was given the greatest gift: America.

Happy Hour In The Heptarchy: Sweet Potato Casserole and Hap & Harry’s Ale

by J.R.

It’s five past 5 across Conference III (leave work early, Winnipeg as you are the only ones working), time to hit bricks and get that freakin’ weekend extra-started, am I right?

Of course I am.

It’s been a tough week for some of you so loosen your belt, pop a top, grab a spoon and stop being such a sourpuss. III Communication’s got good news for everybody.

3dō: Living Grumpy, Talking Rude

by J.R.

3dō is an occasional feature in which the meaning of Conference III is explained through prose, verse, song, interpretative dance, film, chemical formulae or illustrative anecdote relayed by old people.

Great Game Previews In History: 29 November 2013

by J.R.

Today In History

After he ignored the for-the-time progressive Polish constitution, the Russian-installed Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich is run out of Warsaw (in women’s clothes) as the November Uprising of 1830 kick starts the Polish-Russian War.

After running off the Grand Duke, the rebels — led by military cadets — managed to seize the city’s arsenal. Eventually, most of the generals of the Polish Army joined in, the Sejm dethroned the Tsar in Poland and a true war was on.

It took eight months, but eventually Russia — with nearly two-and-a-half as many soldiers — subdued Poland, then closed its university, with the Tsar declaring Warsaw “little more than a military garrison.”

Harsh.

Great Game Previews In History: Happy Turpucken!

by J.R.

Only one game on the schedule today, American (or “Real”) Thanksgiving, as the Predators try to start a tradition of Turkey Night hockey in Nashville, as the team indicated at the annual Skate of the Union address earlier this year.

In the south, Thanksgiving and hockey go together like sweet potato casserole and Skittles, and folks might need to some training to plan their Thanksgiving feast at a dinner hour instead of a supper one so they can get to the arena on time. So we’ll see what the crowd’s like.

Anyway, the Preds come in on the back-end of an up-and-back back-to-back, having shutout Columbus last night. It’ll be interesting to see if Marek Mazanec gets the call two days in a row with another game on the way Saturday. Nashville’s won five of six and is currently fifth in Conference III. Edmonton comes to town with the Western Conference’s worst record, so one assumes they’d be leading the SUDM.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving; we’ll get back to regularly scheduled programming soon enough.

Arbitrary Rivalry Wednesday: The 1904 Democratic National Convention vs The 1908 Democratic National Convention

by J.R.

With NBC declaring Hump Day as Rivalry Wednesday and then determining what is and isn’t a rivalry seemingly at random — tonight it’s Wings and Bruins! — III Communication will feature a true Conference III rivalry each and every Wednesday there’s an intra-Conference III game in Arbitrary Rivalry Wednesday Powered By Corporate Champions Wal-Mart Brand Frozen Peas.

Today, in honor of a real on-ice rivalry on the schedule, III Communication invites into the arena two wonderful century-old Democratic National Conventions: 1904 in St. Louis and 1908 in Denver

Throw out the record books — we’re doing this III Communication style.

Great Game Previews In History: 27 November 2013

by J.R.

Today In History

King Clovis I of the Franks dies November 27, 511.

Though he managed to unite much of what was now France under one ruler, his kingdom was divided among his four sons: Theuderic, Chlodomer, Childebert and Clotaire.

Why would anybody go through all the trouble of uniting something just to divide it? Maybe he didn’t care because he was dead.

In any event, the Merovingians managed to rule France for another 200 years, but the constant splitting  of the kingdom didn’t really work out to create a stable situation and eventually the Merovingians gave way to the Carolingians of Charlemagne fame.

Introducing The Conference III Championship Belt

by J.R.

Every sport should have a championship belt.

This is an idea that’s kicked around the Internet for awhile — there are a couple efforts to track the NCAA football belt: here’s one that starts in the 1970s and another that goes way back to the first game between Princeton and Rutgers. Here’s a site has a belt for NCAA basketball and the NFL and Grantland has one for the NBA.

In sports like the NBA and NHL with playoffs that include a large number of teams, if extended into the playoffs, the belt will almost always end up with the actual champion at the end of the year, which, while sensible, is boring (NB: if the title holder at the end of the regular season didn’t qualify for the playoffs, this wouldn’t necessarily be true, but if the belt makes it into the playoffs, it will be held by the actual league champion). And, as we know, Conference III is neither sensible or boring.

Great Game Previews In History: 26 November 2013

by J.R.

Today In History

Howard Carter and George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon, entered the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamen — you know him as Steve Martin character King Tut — on November 26, 1922, the first people to do so (in all likelihood) in 2000 years.

In all actuality, what Carter, Lord Carnarvon and Lord Carnarvon’s daughter actually entered was the antechamber; the burial chamber wouldn’t be breached until the following February, in part because the director of Egypt’s Department of Antiquities, Pierre Lacau, was a bit of a pain in the ass and took forever to catalog the antechamber. His modern-day successor is no different.

Famously, of course, when Carter peered into the chamber, Carnarvon asked if he could see anything.

“Yes. Wonderful things!”

3dō: The Nashville Predators Are America’s Favorite Hockey Team

by J.R.

3dō is an occasional feature in which the meaning of Conference III is explained through prose, verse, song, interpretative dance, film, chemical formulae or illustrative anecdote relayed by old people.