I AM NOT SURE where you live but Kildare was covered in a blanket of snow this morning and getting the car started was a 10-minute job involving a dustpan and a kettle full of almost boiling water.
The morning and afternoon sun combined to clear away most of the snow but it got me thinking about classic matches and moments when Mother Nature got elemental and sports got in the way.
Here are some memorable moments when sportstars pulled their socks up an extra inch and braved the frost and sleet for our viewing pleasure.
Earlsy woz ‘ere
What better way to warm up for an Autumn international than to ‘big up’ your hometown in the snow? Keith Earls had the right idea in 2010. (©INPHO/Billy Stickland)
Turin the heat up
Juventus, and Alessandro del Piero, ground out a 0-0 draw away to Steaua Bucharest on a frosty evening in Romania. (Matthew Ashton/EMPICS Sport)
No fear, no gloves
Legendary Green Bay coach Vince Lombardi did not want his players to look soft by wearing gloves despite it being minus 16 degrees during this 1967 match that was christened ‘The Ice Bowl’. There was no whistle after the first play as it stuck to the referee’s mouth and was not used again:
YouTube credit: NFLupdatesndpicks
Let’s leave it there so lads
Hurlers from Cork and Down escape the atrocious weather for an earlier than expected half-time break in 2007. (©INPHO/Lorraine O’Sullivan)
Spot the ball: Glentoran v Linfield (’95)
Chaos ensued between Glentoran and Linfield on 26 December, 1995 when the orange ball went AWOL and a white ball was the only replacement:
YouTube credit: jillhancot
12 inches… of snow
The official NFL website has a class Top 10 of bad weather games that includes the infamous ‘Snowplow game’ from 1982.
Three tears after that epic, 3-0 encounter, and we travel to Wisconsin. There had been 12 inches of snow the night before the Green Bay Packers and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers clashed in 1985. Cue white-line fever as the Packers won 21-0 at Lambeau Field:
YouTube credit: LambeauPackerBacker
Blizzard
Spurs and Nottingham Forest were forced to abandon their FA Cup clash in 1996 when they snow became too snowy. Tottenham’s Jason Dozzell was not impressed but when was he ever?
YouTube credit: timhilliier
Trom-snow v Chelsea
A UEFA Cup shocker for Ruud Gullit and his side on their trip to play Tromso IL of Norway in 1997:
YouTube credit: karlzzzen86
G…gg..gg… Galway
Just over 1,000 brave souls, and 30 rugby players, showed up at the Sportsground on 17 December 2010 to watch Harlequins edge out Connacht 15-9 in dicey conditions. (©INPHO/James Crombie)
H.D glory
Sky Sports loved playing with their new High Definition cameras in 2008 when Manchester United came back from a goal down to snatch a draw away to Middlesboro.
Rooney levelled with tie with a swivel and crisp finish. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
Nice one Alan
Alan Shearer gets no sympathy from Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan after a training-ground slip in 1996. (Owen Humphreys/PA)
*What are your favourite snow and sports related memories.
