Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sports Sounds Dirty
Posted by Christopher Frizzelle on Tue, Apr 28, 2009 at 9:44 AM
Sounders player Brad Evans has a new nickname: "Five-Hole." Jose Romero of the Seattle Times put a post up about it yesterday, but I don't get the explanation. Fnarf, help me out?
Photo from the Sounders website.
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1
The "five-hole" is the space between a goalkeeper's legs.
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The term five-hole derives from the target practice sheets or plastic tarpaulins used to cover the mouth of the hockey goal. These sheets (often with the image of a crouching goaltender printed on them) completely cover the space between the goalposts and crossbar except for four holes - one in each corner. These holes are often numbered one through four. The number five-hole (usually not cut out of the sheet or marked) is the space between the printed goaltenders legs. These five holes represent the best places to shoot the puck in order to score.
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2
Picture it this way, Chris: you can score on a goalkeeper in the four corners of the net (top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right) or you can also score by shooting the ball between the goalkeeper's legs, hence "five-hole".
At least that's how it works in the game of hockey. Do players score much in the five hole in soccer? It seems pretty improbable, given the dimensions of the ball. You'd have to be one hell of a bow-legged keeper to let one in that way.
At least that's how it works in the game of hockey. Do players score much in the five hole in soccer? It seems pretty improbable, given the dimensions of the ball. You'd have to be one hell of a bow-legged keeper to let one in that way.
3
Would the six-hole be the space between the legs, but from behind?
e.g., "This guy's coming up behind me, he's all over my six... hole."
e.g., "This guy's coming up behind me, he's all over my six... hole."
4
@2: not as much as hockey, I believe, but it does happen (see Evans' goal on Saturday). I've never heard the term used before, but they don't play a lot of hockey where I pick up most of my terminology.
6
It happens plenty in hockey but I would imagine due to the difficulties of getting a 5 hole goal in soccer you could be given a nickname over such a feat.
7
Yeah, I had never heard the expression before either until last Saturday night. We always called it a "nutmeg".
8
Yeah, it's a nutmeg. And it does happen, not usually to keepers but to outfield players, because they are trying to spread themselves wide, reaching for the ball, or changing direction, so the legs are apart. Same thing with the keeper; he's trying to make himself as big as possible, and also correcting at the last second, so there're gaps.
Never heard "five-hole" before.
Never heard "five-hole" before.
9
It's a hockey term (as mentioned above) and a great place to aim for in hockey.
A soccer player who shoots a lot at the 5-hole wouldn't be very successful and it might be a way of teasing a non-scorer who got lucky with a goal through the legs.
Oh, and soccer sucks.
A soccer player who shoots a lot at the 5-hole wouldn't be very successful and it might be a way of teasing a non-scorer who got lucky with a goal through the legs.
Oh, and soccer sucks.
10
@9: yeah, it's not a good thing to teach players to do, because it means they're shooting straight at the goalkeeper. Sometimes they get lucky, and it seems that Evans has gotten lucky enough to get a nickname out of it, but it's not a good plan in soccer.
12
How pathetic, a grown man liking a sport because it's the cool thing to do. Watching soccer and not knowing what the 5 hole is, is like watching basketball and not knowing what an alley-oop is. Hipster Douche 101: Enjoy things that suck and no one else likes.
13
Just think of him as a guy who has a really really big unit he can use in addition to his hands and feet.
14
@12, you're an idiot. It's not a soccer term, never has been. It's more like watching basketball and not knowing what poisson distribution is.
16
Evans has scored both his goals this way - Saturday against SJ, and one in the opener against NY.
@14 - ESPN commentators used the term when describing Evans' goal in the opener; it's not as common a soccer term as nutmeg, but it's not really that rare, is it?
@14 - ESPN commentators used the term when describing Evans' goal in the opener; it's not as common a soccer term as nutmeg, but it's not really that rare, is it?
17
@12 "a grown man liking a sport because it's the cool thing to do"
Well yeah, but so what? A lot of people get into sports that way. And if Frizzelle ends up becoming a lifelong soccer fan, then more power to him!
Well yeah, but so what? A lot of people get into sports that way. And if Frizzelle ends up becoming a lifelong soccer fan, then more power to him!
18
@17: Fair enough, although if he didn't want to be ridiculed he should have taken 30 seconds to look it up himself instead asking what turned out to be a dumbass question in a notoriously unforgiving environment.
19
@16: I've been watching soccer for 25 years, and I've never heard it. But maybe it's an MSL thing. I've never really watched MSL before this year. Most of the commentary I see is Canadian, on Fox Soccer Channel, based in Winnipeg I believe. Though you'd think Canadians, who live and breathe hockey from birth, would use it. I dunno. The US soccer fraternity is turning out to be a world unto itself.
@18: I think the question has in fact turned out to NOT be a "dumbass" one at all, since it's not a common soccer term.
@18: I think the question has in fact turned out to NOT be a "dumbass" one at all, since it's not a common soccer term.
20
Here's a question:
MLS stands for "Major League Soccer," sort of like "Major League Baseball." Unlike MLS, though, MLB refers to the fact that the teams play in one of the two "major leagues" (AL and NL). What is the name of the league in which Sounders FC play? Which "major league" does MLS refer to?
MLS stands for "Major League Soccer," sort of like "Major League Baseball." Unlike MLS, though, MLB refers to the fact that the teams play in one of the two "major leagues" (AL and NL). What is the name of the league in which Sounders FC play? Which "major league" does MLS refer to?
22
fnarf, it's a dumb-ass question, as in:
"that was awesome! dude alley-oop'ed the ball off his forehead and in! what an awesome footballer"
"that was awesome! dude alley-oop'ed the ball off his forehead and in! what an awesome footballer"
23
oh btw: as goalie, 5-hole is one of the first terms you ever learn -- as in, "don't forget to protect your 5-hole"
(OK, so there's no 5-hole in water polo, but that sport just plain sucks to play)
(OK, so there's no 5-hole in water polo, but that sport just plain sucks to play)
24
@22, try again in English and I'll see if I can figure out what you're trying to say.
@20, Major League Baseball doesn't refer to anything about the NL or AL, which aren't really separate leagues in any meaningful sense. There's only one governing body now, Major League Baseball. Your logic doesn't make any sense. The soccer league is called "Major League Soccer", full stop.
@20, Major League Baseball doesn't refer to anything about the NL or AL, which aren't really separate leagues in any meaningful sense. There's only one governing body now, Major League Baseball. Your logic doesn't make any sense. The soccer league is called "Major League Soccer", full stop.
25
Fnarf, when you say you'd never heard the term "five-hole", are you saying that you've never heard it applied to soccer or that you'd never heard it at all?
If the latter, I'm absolutely shocked that you aren't a hockey fan. I would have thought those years in and around Boston would have exposed you to the game.
If the latter, I'm absolutely shocked that you aren't a hockey fan. I would have thought those years in and around Boston would have exposed you to the game.
26
I'm familiar with the term "5 hole". Heard it a lot while growing up in the Boston area suburbs. In soccer, though, we always called it a "nutmeg". I have no idea why. It applied more on the field than scoring a goal, though that did happen at times too. It was always a source of pride for the "nutmeger" and shame for the "nutmegee"
28
It isn't just that he scored the goal through the goalie's legs. After scoring, he held up five fingers and could clearly be seen yelling "5 hole."
29
@25, nope, never heard it at all. I did have a roommate give me some lessons in how to watch hockey (don't try to watch the puck), but it never really took -- and I was only in Boston for five years total.
30
I'm not speaking about the practical distinctions between the AL and NL, or who controls what. My point is that "Major League Baseball" is so titled because MLB teams play in one of two "major leagues" (the AL and NL).
(Incidentally, the PCL very nearly became a third major league prior to the relocation of the Dodgers and Giants.)
If the name of the soccer league is "Major League Soccer," well, that's shoddy nomenclature. It should the the "Major Soccer League" or "National Soccer League" or something along those lines.
(Incidentally, the PCL very nearly became a third major league prior to the relocation of the Dodgers and Giants.)
If the name of the soccer league is "Major League Soccer," well, that's shoddy nomenclature. It should the the "Major Soccer League" or "National Soccer League" or something along those lines.
31
iirc, Evans was holding up five fingers and shouting "through the five hole! through the five hole!" it was cute. I think he got a kick out of it because that was how he scored his first goal of the season as well, and it's not exactly a common way to score in soccer.
32
Sports leagues can be made up of subsidiary associations, divisions, conferences, etc., which compete for dominance of the overall league. The league itself need not be composed of subsidiary leagues.
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