The baseball season has started, NASCAR has revved up for the summer and football is right around the corner. All these sports, at one time, could only be enjoyed during the day. Mr. Electric®, a company committed to powering tomorrow, looked at how electricity and lights changed sports forever.

On the night of September 28, 1892, the game of football was changed forever when Wyoming Seminary played Mansfield State Normal School in the first-ever night game. The game lasted 20 minutes, consisted of a total of ten plays and ended with neither team scoring. The game ended early due to several players getting hurt by running into light poles caused by the insufficient lighting system. The first night game West of the Mississippi was played in Kansas by the now, Wichita State, and Sterling College in 1905. With upgraded lighting systems many games are now played at night. On September 28, 1992, Monday Night Football celebrated “100 years under the lights” in a game featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and St. Louis Rams.

Baseball was behind football when it came to playing at night. Though teams had played at night since the 1880s, many teams did not make it common practice until many years later. The first ever Major League Baseball game to be played at night took place on May 24, 1935, in Cincinnati when the Cincinnati Reds played the Philadelphia Phillies. The Chicago Cubs were the last Major League Baseball team to finally host a game at night in their home stadium of Wrigley Field. The game took place on August 9, 1988. The World Series had its first night game in 1977. Now, every Major League Baseball stadium has lights and night games are a common occurrence.

Bristol Motor Speedway was the first NASCAR track to have lights installed for night races in 1992. In order for night racing to take place in NASCAR lights had to be designed that would not blind the drivers as they raced around the track. Bristol was one of the first tracks to have night racing. Since 1992, many tracks have added lights for night racing. Some of the most popular night races take place at Kansas City, Richmond, Charlotte and Bristol Speedways. None of these sports would be where they are today without the advent of electricity and intelligently designed lighting systems.

Recessed lighting has recently become a popular style choice among home owners and builders, as well as for commercial buildings. It provides a neat and clean appearance that provides light without interrupting the flow of the room or the lines of the ceiling, or in some cases a wall. There are a few things you need to know if considering using recessed lighting either as part of a new home being built or as a renovation project in your current abode.

Design Choices

The design choice of recessed lighting provides clear advantages over other types of lighting. There is less chance to make a “wrong” choice, as the fixture itself doesn’t present as traditional lighting. A bit of the frame may show and you can pick the color or material, but there aren’t really shapes, sizes and style choices that aren’t readily apparent as what befits the room. Typically a plain white that matches the flat white of your ceiling paint on either a square or round frame is going to match any home. It’s an especially great choice for the neutrality of adding lighting to an investment home.

Installation

The installation of recessed lighting does require a bit of planning in order to be conducted properly. Of course it’s always an option to replace traditional fixtures with recessed lights, but it’s really easier to plan them with a new building or during a major remodel while the walls are torn down. The lights have to be placed properly to both provide their function of lighting the room while maintaining a notable aesthetic that doesn’t detract from other focal points in the room.

Usage

One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning®, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing® and Mister Sparky® are North America’s most trusted home services brands thanks to the skilled, hardworking tradespeople who proudly wear our uniforms. That’s why we’re equally proud to announce a partnership with Mike Rowe, creator and executive producer of CNN’s “Somebody’s Gotta Do It” and Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs.”

In addition to his TV work, Rowe is the founder of the mikeroweWORKS Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting honest work and reinvigorating the skilled trades. Our home services brands have committed to donating $100,000 in scholarships to mikeroweWORKS over the next 12 months, and will work alongside Rowe to promote the skilled trades industry and empower future and potential trade professionals.

The partnership, announced yesterday at our annual convention in Las Vegas, features Rowe in television, radio and print advertisements, where he will appear alongside real technicians from each of our brands. Rowe will also work with the companies to highlight the benefits of careers in the plumbing, electrical and HVAC industries. No other home services provider has embarked on a partnership of this kind to promote skilled trades and the professionals who’re carrying those industries forward.

“We are pleased to join forces with Mike and appreciate his commitment to the trades,” said Mark Baker, president of franchise for the three brands. “The men and women with careers in this field power all three of our brands. We are excited to support them and share the message of how our trusted technicians, plumbers and electricians are like superheroes to our customers, often saving the day when they encounter a problem and helping to protect their homes and families.”

Rowe became a household name by working alongside tradespeople in essential but often unglamorous fields in his two television programs. Since establishing mikeroweWORKS in 2008, he has written and spoken extensively about the value of hard work, the widening skills gap, offshore manufacturing, infrastructure decline and related topics. To date, his foundation has awarded more than $3 million in education “work ethic” scholarships for schools around the country.

“The goal of mikeroweWORKS is pretty simple - help close the skills gap by encouraging men and women to get the training they need to pursue good jobs that actually exist,” said Rowe. “One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing and Mister Sparky are perfect partners because, collectively, they offer thousands of jobs waiting to be filled. And they know first-hand what a "good job" really is. I'm flattered for the chance to speak on their behalf and grateful for their generous donation to my foundation."

Join us in welcoming Mike Rowe to our home services family, and watch for him in new advertisements for our brands coming soon!