I am by no means a soccer fan, but the other night I watched the Women\u2019s World Cup \u2014 that turned out to be an \u201cexciting\u201d one-to-one tie between the United State and the Netherlands. Anyhow, during the game one of the announcers mentioned the term \u201chat trick.\u201d Needless to say, there was not hat trick in the game I was watching, but I got to thinking about that phrase. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I was growing up in Oklahoma, most people around Maysville had never even heard of soccer and I\u2019d heard the term hockey, but there were no hockey games played anywhere near were I grew up. I was an adult when I first heard the term \u201chat trick\u201d \u2014 and I always associated it with hockey. I was told that the feat of scoring three goals in a hockey game was known as a hat trick\u2026. it didn\u2019t make much sense to me, but I really didn\u2019t understand hockey, so I just accepted it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I thought today was as good as any to explore a little further.
Here is the \u201ctrue story\u201d from the Hockey Hall of Fame as to the origin of the phrase hat trick:
When Chicago Blackhawks winger Alex Kaleta visited Sammy Taft\u2019s Toronto haberdashery in January, 1946 before a game with the Toronto Maple Leafs, he fell in love with a fedora. But Kaleta \u2014 who had just returned to playing professional hockey after serving in the Canadian military during World War II \u2014 didn\u2019t have enough money to buy the hat. So Taft cut him a deal: If Kaleta could score three goals against the Maple Leafs at the game that night, he\u2019d give him the hat for free. (Turns out that Kaleta scored four goals that night \u2014 Chicago lost to Toronto 6-5 \u2014 but he got a free hat.)
So that\u2019s the Hockey Hall of Fame\u2019s story, and as far as I know, they\u2019re sticking to it\u2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But apparently, the term \u201chat trick\u201d actually originated in British cricket. A bowler who retired three batsman with three consecutive balls was entitled to a new hat at the expense of the club to commemorate this feat. Eventually, the phrase was applied to a single player scoring three goals in any goal sport and later to three victories or successes in sports as different as horse racing and golf. The phrase finally broadened to include a string of three important successes or achievements in any field.\u00a0
If I have three glasses of wine with dinner, I usually refer to that as a hat trick\u2026.
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I am by no means a soccer fan, but the other night I watched the Women\u2019s World Cup \u2014 that turned out to be an \u201cexciting\u201d one-to-one tie between the United State and the Netherlands. Anyhow, during the game one … Continue reading