Time to Ditch Moments of Silence?

A great athlete dies. Fans, coaches, and teammates want to honor the deceased, and rightfully so. So what do we traditionally do when we go to a large arena, soon after the person's death? We have a moment of silence.

Time to ditch the moment of silence.

Read what the British will be doing in honor of a recently deceased football (soccer) star:

English clubs to applaud in memory of Alan Ball

LONDON (AP) -- All 92 clubs in England will applaud for a minute this weekend in memory of Alan Ball, a member of England's 1966 World Cup-winning squad who died Tuesday.

Ball made a total of 743 English league appearances for Blackpool, Everton, Arsenal and Southampton. He later managed seven English clubs in a 19-year career.

The Premier League said all players would also wear black armbands.

"Alan made an enormous contribution to league football as a player and a manager and his part in English football's proudest day will live long in the memory," said Andy Williamson, the chief operating officer of the Football League, which comprises 72 clubs. "Having a minute's applause at every match this weekend will give supporters the opportunity to pay their own tribute."

This procedure, to me, is dead on, pardon the pun. A player plays in front of thousands of screaming fans, game in and game out. Why should fans stand silently to honor this player when s/he would have revelled in a round of cheers?

Thanks for the Memories, Mellanby!

Well Flyers fans, our old buddy Scott Mellanby is hanging up the skates. He called it quits after 21 years of mucking and grinding, six of those years in the vaunted Spectrum of yesteryear. At age 40, Mr. Mellanby put in a solid career and had some memorable highlights, namely:

-364 goals, 476 assists, for 840 total points, and 2,479 minutes in the penalty box (that's almost 2 day's worth of penalties!) as a tough "never quit" right winger
-Made two trips to the Stanley Cup (one for the Flyers, one for the Panthers), though he never won it, honored as team captain, and earned an All-Star Game appearance; unfortunately he ended his career with the third most games played without winning the Cup, according to his Wikipedia entry
-A run in with a rat: He splattered a rat with his stick when it ran across the locker room, thus prompting his hometown Panthers fans to pelt the ice with rubber rats whenever he put the biscuit in the basket
-Founded Athletes Against Autism Foundation, to help fund research to cure Autism

Mellanby had a good run and played for one of the more exciting eras of Flyers hockey, from 1986-91.