Poll

17 votes (62.96%)
2 votes (7.4%)
10 votes (37.03%)
6 votes (22.22%)

27 members have voted

Face
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February 17th, 2011 at 9:33:30 AM permalink
Story: 70+ year old Richard Marsh was selected as a contestant in a hockey competition. Mr. Marsh had to shoot a puck from the goal line on one end of the ice into a net located on the goal line at the other end of the ice, where the net was completely covered save for a "slightly larger than 3 inch slot" dead in the middle. The prize? $50,000.

For those who do not know, a standard hockey rink is 200 feet long. Each goal line is 13 feet away from the end boards, making it 174 feet between goal lines. The puck is exactly 3 inches wide. So, this 70 something must shoot a 3" puck 174 feet into a hole thats JUST big enough to allow the puck to go through. Simple, right?

Before stepping up to the plate, so to speak, Mr Marsh proclaimed that if he makes this shot, he is donating the entire $50,000 to the St. Vincent Heart Center of Indiana, as they had fixed his heart and saved his life. Very admirable, but really....what are the chances?

Mr. Marsh takes the stage, and after a humorous exchange with the local mascot, steps into the crease, fires his shot.....and 172 feet later, the puck slaps the back of the net! He has done it! Or has he?

The story goes that the insurance company official (who was never named) had given Mr Marsh instructions that his shot must be taken from BEHIND the goal line. As I have not seen any behind the scenes footage, I can not verify this claim. I can, however, verify that not one single person spoke to Mr Marsh while he was on the ice save for the mascot, who undoubtedly did not coach Mr Marsh on the rules of the competition. There were even reports from journalists at the event who stated that no such advisement was given to Mr Marsh, but who knows the validity of these claims. He said, she said, ya know? As a result, since Mr Marsh took his shot FROM INSIDE THE CREASE, therefore giving him an 18 inch advantage, the insurance company cried foul and refused to pay him a dime.

What is the general opinion of this event? I am of course biased; my love of hockey, hatred of insurance companies, and admiration for this 70 year old man leave me hoping said insurance company goes bankrupt yesterday, but I have a hang up with the rules portion of this event. Was he supposedly advised of where to shoot from? Yes. Did he obey? No. But was he even advised? Don't know. But even if he was, is shooting a 3" puck through a 3.1" hole from 172.5' away that much different than shooting a 3" puck through a 3.1" hole from 174' away? This guy doesn't think so. What say you?

Closure - The owners of the ice rink who held the competition ended up paying Mr Marsh the $50,000 out of principle, which he donated the St. Vincent Heart Center of Indiana.
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DJTeddyBear
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February 17th, 2011 at 10:06:42 AM permalink
Often, these typse of thing are not gambles of the promoter (in this case, the venue), but are gambles by insurance compaines. They amortize the contest and come up with the rules, and figure out how much to charge the promoter to cover it if someone wins.

The insurance company is generaly a specialty company that does not handle ordinary insurance, therefore it is not the same company that handles the promoter's regular insurance needs.

That being the case, if it was me as the promoter / venue owner, I would have paid the man, then sued myself. This would have created a battle between the venue's business insurance carrier and the specialty insurance company - a battle which would have required a judge to figure out.
I invented a few casino games. Info: http://www.DaveMillerGaming.com/ ————————————————————————————————————— Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown. But how much does it cost to knock on wood? 😁
Ayecarumba
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February 17th, 2011 at 10:30:03 AM permalink
I voted "don't pay". I have to assume the insurance company rep would not risk the bad publicity unless he had a good reason. Despite the circumstantial evidence to the contrary, if the requirement to be behind the goal line was clearly provided, and Mr. Marsh did not adhere to it, he fouled his attempt and should not be paid.

Kudo's to the owners of the rink for paying, even though they didn't have to.
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DJTeddyBear
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February 17th, 2011 at 11:50:50 AM permalink
By the way, WHO was on the ice?

Did anybody, other than Mr Marsh, put the puck on the ice?

Did anybody stop and say that it was too close to the goal before he shot?

I'll assume the insurance guy DID tell him where to shoot from. However, this was a high-pressure moment. You can't give a person a list of instructions, and expect them to be followed to the letter several minutes later, in that type of situation.

I speak from experience.

As a DJ, I often do weddings. Every time, I will talk to the Best Man about a minute before he is to do the toast, and tell him: "Talk slowly, clearly, and speak up. When you're done, make sure you drink your champagne, so everyone else drinks thiers."

More often than not, he'll rush, mumble, and forget to drink.
I invented a few casino games. Info: http://www.DaveMillerGaming.com/ ————————————————————————————————————— Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown. But how much does it cost to knock on wood? 😁
kenarman
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February 17th, 2011 at 11:53:40 AM permalink
I have had insurance of various kinds for almost 50 years. I have had only a handfull of claims during that time. I have either had to fight or not got paid for every claim I have ever made. Insurance companies are the devil.
Be careful when you follow the masses, the M is sometimes silent.
rdw4potus
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February 17th, 2011 at 12:40:58 PM permalink
I'm very interested to see how strong the correlation ends up being in the vote count for #1 and the vote count for #3.
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Ayecarumba
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February 17th, 2011 at 1:59:27 PM permalink
At one of the college bowl games this past season, Dr. Pepper was sponsoring a contest where two "students" competed side-by-side throwing footballs through a hole in a container that looked like a giant can of soda. The prize was an oversized check for a large "scholarship". One of the contestants looked like a jock. He was very comfortable with the football. The other was a girl who looked like she was in way over her head. I though she would have a hard time heaving the football the required 10 or 15 yards, much less making it accurately into the hole in the soda can.

Well... she trounced him. Someone wisely coached her to forget throwing the ball with the classic spiral motion, ala John Elway, and to use a two hand, basketball "chest pass". It was funny to look at, but she was dead on accurate.

Why bring this up? I think this is a great example of following the letter of the rules, but not the spirit of the contest. Since a two handed technique was not disallowed in the rules, the results had to stand. However, I would not be surprised if a "one hand" requirement is added next year to keep the "football skill" aspect alive.
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FinsRule
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February 17th, 2011 at 2:46:47 PM permalink
If I was the owner of the team, I would have paid the guy the $50,000 (which he did), but then, announced to the world who the insurance company was that refused to pay.

What type of heartless (pun!) company refuses to donate $50,000 to charity because of a technicality. If people knew what insurance company this was, that company would be out of business fairly soon I imagine.
Face
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February 17th, 2011 at 3:11:41 PM permalink
Quote: DJTeddyBear

By the way, WHO was on the ice?

Did anybody, other than Mr Marsh, put the puck on the ice?

Did anybody stop and say that it was too close to the goal before he shot?

I'll assume the insurance guy DID tell him where to shoot from. However, this was a high-pressure moment. You can't give a person a list of instructions, and expect them to be followed to the letter several minutes later, in that type of situation.



I did not see it from the very beginning, and therefore could not say who placed the pucks on the ice. At the point in time I seen it, one puck was on the goal line (the mascots) and one puck was at the top of the vertical cut line in the crease, which is 1 foot away from the line (Mr Marsh's). There were two guys in each corner, who I assumed to be rink tenders, the mascot, Mr Marsh, and one guy behind the crease who was announcing the event. Mr Marsh puckhandles for a moment, then defers to the mascot who expertly and tediously lines up his shot before picking the puck up by hand and throwing it. Everyone laughs. Once the mascot misses, Mr Marsh gets his puck, which still isnt on the line, stick handles once, then shoots the sucker in. No one on the ice attempted to stop him or adjust the puck, and there was nothing but celebration upon him winning.

I think that plays into my belief he should get paid. The puck was off the line for well more than 30 seconds while the scene played out, and no one had the decency to correct it. And even without that, the difficulty level of this shot is so far off the charts. When you consider the hole was only about 2% bigger than the puck that needed to pass through it, and the puck had to travel across an imperfect, sliced up and uneven surface, it's more difficult than kicking a basketball over your head backwards from full court and swishing it. I wish I had a good math brain; I'd argue that the precision needed for this shot is so high that his particular shot would have made it from 3 or even 4 hundred feet, not considering influence of additional imperfections in the surface. 18 inches just couldnt have mattered.

I guess in the end, rules are rules (if in fact they were even communicated properly). Still, if some 70 something made that shot to donate $50,000 to a hospital that saved his life, as well as many others, I'd pay him out of principle. I'd think it'd be a hell of a lot cheaper than fixing the bad publicity.
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Ayecarumba
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February 17th, 2011 at 3:21:38 PM permalink
A video of the event is on YouTube. According to the poster of the video, the insurance company that reneged, was Allstate.

Edit: According the Huffington Post, it was clarified that that Allstate was the sponsor of the event, but not the insurance company that voided the contest. The unnamed third party insurance company supposedly specializes in these types of events.

Edit #2: A statement from the team absolving Allstate here
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Face
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August 15th, 2011 at 4:00:27 PM permalink
Not to drum up a dead thread, but I'm beginning to think God hates hockey...

From KARE11 -

FARIBAULT, Minn. -- It's being called the "shot heard 'round Faribault."

"The place went crazy," says Vance Vinar. "No one could believe it."

Between periods of a charity hockey game Thursday at Shattuck St. Mary's, fans could buy a ten dollar raffle ticket for the chance to win $50,000.

The catch? Make an improbable shot. Shoot a puck from center ice into a 3 and a half inch hole in the goal. An 89 foot shot!

"A hockey puck is three inches wide and an inch high," says Vinar, the organizer of the charity game. "The odds are like making a hole-in-one."

11-year old Nick Smith from Owatonna was the lucky name drawn and the shot was made. One fan described the crowd as "louder than a Stanley Cup game."

The amazing shot isn't the entire story.

"I was outside when my name was called," says Nick Smith. "So Nate took the shot in my place."

No one suspected anything. Nate and Nick are twin brothers.

"I walked back in and my friend told me my brother made the shot," says Nick. "I was shocked."

Both brothers have played hockey since they were 3 years old, but both admit the shot was pretty lucky.

"I just lined up and yeah...made it," says Nate. "I was pretty stunned."

Nate and Nick's dad came forward Friday and told event organizers that it was the other brother that made the shot. He told KARE-11 simply, "that's the right thing to do."

That Nate-for-Nick swap may mean they forfeit the cash prize, but either way the amazing sports memory has been made.

"If we get the money, we'll save it for college," laughs Nate. "It was pretty cool."

(Copyright 2011 by KARE. All Rights Reserved.)

/sigh. Kudos to the father for setting a great example and showing his kids right from wrong by coming forward and admitting the switcheroo. I just hope they get paid, because taking $50,000 from an 11 yr old is likely to leave a lasting negative impression on the kid.
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poosmells
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August 17th, 2011 at 4:54:31 PM permalink
Sounds like an insurance agent to me
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FleaStiff
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August 17th, 2011 at 5:15:55 PM permalink
Quote: Face

Nate and Nick's dad came forward Friday and told event organizers that it was the other brother that made the shot. He told KARE-11 simply, "that's the right thing to do."

Egads!! One would think that by the time the man was old enough to have sons that are eleven years old he is old enough to have gotten over that Honesty Is The Best Policy guff.
odiousgambit
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August 18th, 2011 at 2:00:04 AM permalink
Quote: FleaStiff

Egads!! One would think that by the time the man was old enough to have sons that are eleven years old he is old enough to have gotten over that Honesty Is The Best Policy guff.



I was thinking about that. I think you'd find here not only that you just have to keep your mouth shut, but you would have to persist with the deception. The check gets made out to the wrong person, the media keeps interviewing the wrong person, kids at school congratulate the wrong person, etc, plus other things that come along as a surprise. Meanwhile all along as Poppa you have to try to manage all this deception and still look your kids in the eye.
the next time Dame Fortune toys with your heart, your soul and your wallet, raise your glass and praise her thus: “Thanks for nothing, you cold-hearted, evil, damnable, nefarious, low-life, malicious monster from Hell!”   She is, after all, stone deaf. ... Arnold Snyder
Face
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September 3rd, 2011 at 6:07:54 PM permalink
/SIGH. It's official. The kids get nothing. Well, nothing except a life lesson. "Never tell the truth. Ever."
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Face
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September 3rd, 2011 at 6:08:38 PM permalink
Holy frack, double post.
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Face
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September 3rd, 2011 at 6:08:38 PM permalink
Holy frack, triple post.
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