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SPECIAL REPORT: Cold presents new challenges

Baby it's cold outside.
And for the roadsters, that's means making some fine adjustments to their game to account for the effect the wintery temperatures have on the evil orange plastic ball. Like getting out of the way.
"That ball stings you a little more when it hits you in the legs," said Cowboy Bill, whose side struggled Sunday as they never recovered from a 7-1 deficit en route to a 16-15 defeat in a timed game. "Defensively you play a little more tentatively as far as getting in front of shots, especially from the big guys."
As the plastic gets cold and hard, it also gets bouncier, making it harder for players to control.
"You're not sure it's going to end up on your stick as often as it might because it doesn't have any absorption," said Cowboy Bill.
"You've got to have a little softer touch when you're taking passes," said Velma, who made some key saves early in Sunday's game to win his first career start in net. "You've got to have a bit more of a spongy stick and cradle it a bit more when you're making a pass."
"It moves a little faster," said the Colonel, who bounced back from a knee injury suffered last week. "You don't get the same sort of cushioning on the surface, but that means you can move it around a bit more on the surface."
Glaring into the cold winter sun also presents a new challenge to goalies at the west end of the court.
"The goaltender is not going to be able to see the balls," said the Colonel. "Whoever is shooting that way will be taking lots of shots, just throw the ball at the net and hope it goes in."
But most of the roadsters welcome the cold, bright days of December. Especially after the gloom and rain of November.
"The sun is out, it's not raining," said Cowboy Bill.
"I love to play in the cold when it's dry," said the Colonel. "You never really overheat, you can keep going for great portions of the game, you can run hard. These are some of the most ideal conditions."

This season's holiday break will be brief. Which likely comes as welcome news for the roadsters, many of whom were frustrated and discouraged when snow and ice storms scuttled almost a month's worth of action in late December of last year and early January.
Sunday Morning Road Hockey will take a one week holiday hiatus with no game scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 27. Play will resume the following week, Jan. 3, with the annual Shrimp Ring Bowl, the league's traditional celebration of the new year.