The Rarest Scoring Play in Football

Andrew Collier, MD, has worked as an orthopaedic surgeon in Pennsylvania with Philadelphia Orthopaedic Associates since 1985. Andrew Collier, MD, has also served as team physician with little league and high school football teams, receiving a special distinction from the school board upon his retirement.

In the American sport of gridiron football, teams can score in a variety of ways, including through six-point touchdown plays and three-point field goals. Other scoring plays, such as a successful two-point conversion following a touchdown or a safety, are less common. However, perhaps the rarest scoring play in football is valued at one point.

A traditional safety occurs when an offensive player carrying the football is tackled in his own end zone. The defensive team automatically scores two points on the safety and kicks off to the opposing team. A one-point safety, on the other hand, can only occur during a one- or two-point conversion attempt. Should the defense gain possession of the football before being tackled in its own end zone, a safety is called and the tackling team receives a single point.

Skiing at Switzerland's St. Moritz

Andrew Collier, MD, is an orthopedic surgeon with Philadelphia Orthopaedic Associates, where he’s been since 1985. A skiing enthusiast in his free time, Andrew Collier, MD, has traveled extensively, including to the Switzerland resort town of St. Moritz, to try new routes.

The first winter-sports resort in the world, St. Moritz was established more than 150 years ago. It remains a popular destination for skiers as well as other outdoor sportsmen. Located in the Engadine valley in the south of Switzerland, near the Italian border, the resort enjoys consistent weather, with reliable snowfall and approximately 300 sunny days each year.

Its skiing amenities and accommodations are excellent, with 58 lifts and 350 kilometers of pistes divided into four sectors. Each sector offers its own advantages to skiers. A good choice for intermediate skiers, Corviglia is the main sector with a peak at 3,057 meters. Corvatsch, the north-facing sector, offers some of the best conditions in the region and has the highest lift, which takes skiers up 3,305 meters. This sector is best for freeriding.

In addition to great slopes, St. Mortiz offers half a dozen accommodation options and several restaurants.                             

Understanding the Basics of Skiing

For the last three decades, Andrew Collier, MD, has functioned as a physician and orthopaedic surgeon with Philadelphia Orthopaedic Associates in Pennsylvania. Outside of his work as a surgeon, Andrew Collier, MD, enjoys spending time with his family. He is especially fond of taking family ski trips to places such as Austria and Switzerland.

There are a number of techniques individuals must master as they become familiar with the sport of skiing. However, one important piece of information involving how skis actually move on snow is often overlooked. The ability to ski down a mountainside is rooted in the principle that the freezing point for water changes with pressure. In other words, as skis are pressed against the snow, the applied pressure melts the snow. The result of the melting snow is a thin layer of water that allows the skis to travel downhill with little resistance.

This aspect of skiing plays a critical role in the concept of seeking out the path of least resistance. Skis naturally tend to travel in a straight path down the hill. In any other direction, skiers are forced to push more snow out of the way, creating added friction and slowing progress. A person can take advantage of the path of least resistance by taking a sideways position in order to slow down and come to a stop.