at the risk of piling it on (gotta love egriz after a loss), i figured the griz were in big trouble when somebody posted pictures of a few of them jumping in the frigging clark fork, presumably a day or two before the game. first, it showed that they were more concerned about the weather than the team they were going to play. second, doing that any time, but particularly shortly before you need your body to be at full strength, is stupid. if you or i had jumped in the river last week, i guarantee we'd be feeling it the next day, simply because it is brutal to one's body both directly, and by causing a major stress response.
additionally, the paper said something like half the griz were sleeveless during the game. i assume that includes the punt and kick return teams, because they played like they were frozen solid. this is the 21st century, and lightweight, flexible cold weather exercise gear that keeps the heat in and wicks the moisture away can be purchased very easily. cc knew this. sub-zero temperatures require the body to work very hard (expend energy) to keep itself warm. the more your body is spending energy keeping warm, the less you have for football. moreover, if you are cold (and pretending not to be), your hands lose the ability to grip, as we saw on the last first down run by the cc qb - a couple of guys easily had him, but couldn't hang on. if their hands had been functioning closer to normal, i highly doubt that run would have happened. if i were the coach of the team, every player would have been wearing sleeves, with the exception of the running backs, who would only have sleeves down to the elbow (the need to feel the ball). every player would have a football poncho, and been required to wear it on when on the sidelines. in other words, i would have done what the cc coach did. i also would have asked johnson to skip the gloves. his accuracy was not the best this season anyway, so to put an extra, unfamiliar layer on top of his hands couldn't have helped. there are ways to warm up ones hands (chemical warmers, etc) between plays. you know, like the cc qb did.
the bottom line of this novel is that you don't minimize the effects of the cold by "out toughing it". you minimize them by being smart, and wearing appropriate clothing for the endeavor you are engaged in. the advantage the griz had was several more days to find the best combination of gear to deal with the sub-zero weather and move around as naturally as possible. instead they jumped in the flippin' clark fork and came out sleeveless. it undoubtedly had an effect.
additionally, the paper said something like half the griz were sleeveless during the game. i assume that includes the punt and kick return teams, because they played like they were frozen solid. this is the 21st century, and lightweight, flexible cold weather exercise gear that keeps the heat in and wicks the moisture away can be purchased very easily. cc knew this. sub-zero temperatures require the body to work very hard (expend energy) to keep itself warm. the more your body is spending energy keeping warm, the less you have for football. moreover, if you are cold (and pretending not to be), your hands lose the ability to grip, as we saw on the last first down run by the cc qb - a couple of guys easily had him, but couldn't hang on. if their hands had been functioning closer to normal, i highly doubt that run would have happened. if i were the coach of the team, every player would have been wearing sleeves, with the exception of the running backs, who would only have sleeves down to the elbow (the need to feel the ball). every player would have a football poncho, and been required to wear it on when on the sidelines. in other words, i would have done what the cc coach did. i also would have asked johnson to skip the gloves. his accuracy was not the best this season anyway, so to put an extra, unfamiliar layer on top of his hands couldn't have helped. there are ways to warm up ones hands (chemical warmers, etc) between plays. you know, like the cc qb did.
the bottom line of this novel is that you don't minimize the effects of the cold by "out toughing it". you minimize them by being smart, and wearing appropriate clothing for the endeavor you are engaged in. the advantage the griz had was several more days to find the best combination of gear to deal with the sub-zero weather and move around as naturally as possible. instead they jumped in the flippin' clark fork and came out sleeveless. it undoubtedly had an effect.
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