The most iconic of all possible sports apparatuses - football's slingshot uprights- was invented right here in Montreal by disgraced former Als Coach Jim Trimble, Joel Rottman from Hudson and Alcan engineer Cedric Marsh in 1966.
The idea popped up during a meeting at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel when Rottman sprung what seemed like a crazy idea onto Trimble.
The goalposts were showcased at Expo 67, unveiled at the Autostade and then were quickly adopted by the NFL in 1967.
The curved unipod structure was padded at the bottom to avoid injury. It replaced the old-style goalposts which were essentially soccer nets with verticals extended upwards.
Prior to that goalposts were more dangerous because they were on the goal line and had two posts. The new ones were placed six feet behind the line. Jungle Jim had been a veteran CFL coach best known for his aggressive play. He had brought teams to the finals five times before being hired in 1963 by Als owner Ted Workman.
Trimble's contribution to the sport almost made up for his otherwise awful time here in Montrela.
After three miserable seasons as Als' head coach Trimble assaulted Gazette sports writer Ian MacDonald just prior to the Grey Cup game in Toronto in November 1965 (a game in which the Alouettes were not participating). The much-smaller MacDonald made some sort of negative comment to the coach. He ended up with two black eyes and a broken rib.
Trimble was not charged with assault and an apology was accepted but his days in Canadian football were over and he eventually went onto work for the New York Giants brass before dying in 2006.
The story of Trimble's attack on MacDonald have become legendary, some claim that Trimble brought him to his hotel room and tortured the scribe for hours before letting him go.
His sons say that MacDonald had been mercilessly needling Trimble, whose tolerance broke when he was called a coward and Trimble merely hit him a few times and then tossed him into a lake. One article from 1967, written by the great Red Storey, suggested Trimble be used as a salesman for the CFL.
Montreal was also responsible for inventing the current-style hockey net as well, as we've explained elsewhere on this site.
Bill Lee's Space ball?
ReplyDeleteWeaver
Nah, for question one, its a physical thing that you see in every game in Americas most popular sport.
ReplyDeleteThe Nike Swoosh?
ReplyDeleteGood try. But its even more obvious. First - whats the biggest sport in America? Second, what is the main central thing that they use in the sport that was changed from the old times? The Montreal-residiing co-inventor of this innovation was employed by the local branch plant of that sport until he was let go for torturing a journalist. So he was suddenly very keen on inventing something, presumably due to money issues.
ReplyDeleteAh! The football?
ReplyDeleteRight sport. But it wasnt the actual football, is was the other iconic piece of thingy.
ReplyDeleteFor the second question: I believe the first Spyder Roadster (the car that James Dean crashed in) was assembled in Quebec.
ReplyDeleteFor Question 2: James Dean died when he crashed his Spyder Roadster, a car first assembled in Quebec.
ReplyDeleteThe tuning-fork shaped uprights, safer than the previous design because there is half the chance a player would crash into it.
ReplyDeleteGoalposts, I'm guessing?
ReplyDeleteAstroturf?
ReplyDeleteIt was the goalposts and I believe the designer was Cedric Marsh. Am I right?
ReplyDeletePatrick G
Interesting info on McQueen. I was around when he passed away and I remembering reading the explanation that he might have picked up his illness from working with asbestos lined brake pads for many years. McQueen was a big car/motorbike enthusiast, as you know.
ReplyDeleteBut your explanation sounds like it has more foundation.