The Bottom Ten/NCAA Week 2 By Gaylon Kent America’s Funniest Guy
With no less – and no more – than five (5) teams with double-digit losing streaks, the 2020 race for the ESPNCup is already shaping up to be one those “generational races” that will see several teams going right down to the last missed block or offsides call of the year. It’s so tight right now that our patented B-10 TitleTrak Radar is already blowing out power grids from Massachusetts to the Bayou.
This week’s mess:
Editor’s Note: there were seven (7) ESPNCup champions in 2020. All are referred to as defending champions.
1. New Mexico State (0-2; lost to San Diego State 28-10) Mitigating Factors: Aggies retain top spot with first blown lead of season, using strong finishing kick to get outscored 28-0 in second half…Offense getting smiley faces on playbooks for producing three (3) interceptions, six punts in second half…Entire game bores everyone west of Rockies with 20 punts, 13 penalties. Numbers Game: Aggies show mastery of fundamentals with 61 penalty yards, 48 rushing yards for excellent 1.2708333-to-1 Penalty-Yards-To-Rushing-Yards ratio. Next Loss: at New Mexico
The Daily Dose/September 6, 2021 By Gaylon Kent America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off Notes from around the human experience.
OH, JESUS H: While wondering what the dullest thing we could possibly write about today was, we thought about an item in Sunday’s popular On This Date segment which noted that on Sept 5, 2009, the Black Eyed Peas were at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 with I Gotta Feeling. The song would spend 14 weeks at #1.
Dry, Technical Matter: Here’s where it gets almost interesting: in rankings issued at appropriate times, Billboard ranked I Gotta Feeling as the 4th-biggest song of 2009 and the 5th-biggest of the decade.
Fly In The Ointment: Just for funsies, we checked the Billboard 60th Anniversary Hot 100 (2018) and found the song ranked 7th and further research yielded the tidbit that I Gotta Feeling was the highest-ranked song from the Double Aughts in the survey and therefore it is entirely logical to call it the #1 song of both 2009 and the Double Aughts.
Oh Yeah: Research into Billboard’s methodologies for rankings for both charts was – perhaps for the best – unsuccessful. Whatever method they used, however, is not in step with the Official Daily Dose Chart Ranking Methodology.
Get Your Notebooks Out, Class Is In Session: For our money, the only way to rank #1 songs is by weeks at #1. If tiebreakers are needed you go to weeks in Top 10, weeks in Top 40, weeks on Hot 100. If there is still a tie – something we don’t want any more than you do – you can refer to weeks at #2, #3, etc, until you have a winner.
FunFact: Using this method, Mariah Carey’s 2005 hit We Belong Together was the biggest song of the Double Aughts. It, too, spent 14 weeks at #1, however, it’s 23 weeks in the Top 10 is one more than the 22 weeks accumulated by I Got A Feeling and it is right that Billboard ranked it the #1 song of that decade. However, for reasons we’re positive Billboard thought good, We Belong Together ranked #14 on the 60th Anniversary Hot 100, seven big notches below I Got A Feeling.
The Bottom Line: Oh, hell, screw it. We need a drink. Have a good holiday.
Today At The Site Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow explains that sold out means sold out. Today’s Diary.
And as we’ve discussed here before, being sold out is a lot like being pregnant: either you are or you aren’t: there aren’t varying levels of sold outness…For example, there’s not “sold out” “double sold out” and “completely sold out”; either you are sold out or you have vacancies and tonite we were sold out…
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Columns, books, shopping lists, click here to get in on the laughs. 4Ever & Ever ($8.99) and monthly ($2.99) plans available.
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On This Date The long march to today.
In 1901 – President of the United States William McKinley is shot by Leon Czolgosz in Buffalo. McKinley was shot twice in the abdomen and would die on Sept 14th from gangrene. Czolgosz was arrested immediately and would be tried, convicted and executed within 45 days. McKinley was succeeded by Vice President Theodore Roosevelt and was the third president to be assassinated, after Abraham Lincoln and James Garfield.
In 1946 – The All-American Football Conference plays its first game with the Cleveland Browns defeating the Miami Seahawks 44-0 before 60,000 fans at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium, then the largest crowd to see a professional football game. The AAFC would last for four seasons before folding with the Browns winning all four league titles. The Browns, San Francisco 49ers and the original Baltimore Colts would later join the NFL.
In 1952 – England’s Vera Lynn is at #1 on Billboard’s Best Sellers in Stores chart – a predecessor to the Hot 100 – for the ninth and final consecutive week with Auf Wiederseh’n, Sweetheart, the first foreign act to top a Billboard pop chart.It was the third of seven top 40 hits for Lynn, her second of three Top 10 hits and remains her only #1 song. The song also peaked at #10 in Great Britain and was Billboard’s fifth-biggest song of the year. Lynn died in 2020 at 103.
Some Philosophy Crap The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
If my skin is thick, I will survive a great deal. If I am sensitive, I will perish. Ernst Weiss Georg Letham, Physician and Murderer
Answer To The Last Trivia Question Knowledge is power.
The record for most consecutive weeks at #1 on a major Billboard singles chart for an act is 54, done by Eddy Arnold and his Tennessee Plowboys, who topped the Juke Box Folk Records chart with five different songs from November 15, 1947 through December 3, 1948.
Today’s Stumper Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
Who was the first British act to have a #1 song on the Hot 100? – Answer next time!
The Daily Dose/September 5, 2021 By Gaylon Kent America’s Funniest Guy
The Sunday Bottom 5 A ranking of some things.
1. COVID-19 – With everyone now hospitalized for COVID unvaccinated, the only reason not to get vaccinated is ignorance or bullheadedness…You malcontents are holding up progress…Go get the shot now…Thank you in advance.
2. California Gubernatorial Recall Election– California voters voting to recall governor on Sept 14th for second time this century…While Governor Newsom is hardly image on stained glass window, Sunday Bottom 5 pollsters “pretty sure” recall should be used for criminal infractions or gross negligence, not simply because you don’t like someone.
3. Donald Trump Supporters– New 3-hole staple, former president remains a lying sexual predator who believes the moon is part of Mars…And that the Revolution was won by the securing of British airports…Sunday Bottom 5 pollsters remain “pretty sure” asking Trump supporters which of these elements continues to solidify their support still reasonable question.
4. President Joe Biden – Afghanistan withdrawal would’ve been quagmire for Son of Man…Yay: getting US out of war not declared by Congress…His comment about not having another generation of Americans fighting there was spot on…Boo: we left people behind…We should’ve told Taliban we’re not leaving until everyone who wants to flee is out and to say the hell out of our way or else.
5. Texas Abortion Law – Good gravy, Texas, some women don’t even know they’re pregnant at the six-week mark…Sunday Bottom 5 pollsters respect both sides of the argument, but remain “dead certain” this is something the government must stay out of…It is not their job to legislate morality.
Today At The Site Writing worth reading. Usually.
Yay for Read Free Sunday (RFS) at The Diary. Enjoy.
Amy, typically, makes some small talk and the guy’s chatty but he is under the impression it’s Memorial Day weekend and not Labor Day weekend. Mindlessly, Amy corrects him but yours truly is nodding approval and pointing at him as if both hands were pistols and he just won a prize:
“Sir, you’re the guest, you want Memorial Day, you got Memorial Day…I’m a vet, I’ll make a speech right now.”
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Columns, books, shopping lists, click here to get in on the laughs. 4Ever & Ever ($8.99) and monthly ($2.99) plans available.
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On This Date The long march to today.
In 1698 – Tzar Peter the Great of Russia imposes a tax on beards, designed to Westernize the appearance of Russian nobility. The tax was met with significant resistance because a beard was considered mandatory in the Russian Orthodox Church. The tax varied according to the residence and social status and those paying it were issued a token to show compliance. Peter died in 1725 and the tax was repealed by Catherine the Great in 1772.
In 1921 – Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators establishes a new major league record for most strikeouts in a career in a 4-3, 11-inning loss to the Philadelphia Athletics. Johnson struck out seven to break Cy Young’s record of 2,803 career strikeouts. Johnson would retire in 1927 with 3,509 strikeouts, a mark that stood until 1983 when it was broken by Nolan Ryan, who still holds the mark with 5,714 career strikeouts. Johnson’s total is now good for ninth on the all-time list.
In 2009 – The Black Eyed Peas are at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the ninth of 14 consecutive weeks with I Gotta Feeling. It was the second of three #1 songs for the group and their fifth of seven Top 10 hits. Depending on the methodology, the song was either Billboard’s #1 or #4 song of the year – and was its 29th-biggest of 2010 – and either it’s #1 or #5 song of the decade and it ranked seventh on Billboard’s 60th Anniversary Hot 100 in 2018. The song replaced the group’s Boom Boom Pow at #1 and the 26 consecutive weeks the Black Eyed Peas spent at #1 is an all-time record for a Billboard pop chart.
Editor’s Note: there will be a rather dry, technical discussion of chart-ranking methodologies in an upcoming Leading Off segment.
Some Philosophy Crap The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
It will produce a useful illusion. Mankind is much led by sounds and appearances. Alexander Hamilton
Answer To The Last Trivia Question Knowledge is power.
The first game show to air on American television was Truth or Consequences, which first aired on July 1, 1941. It would air regularly from 1950-88.
Today’s Stumper Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What’s the record for most consecutive weeks at #1 by an act on a Billboard pop, country or soul chart? – Answer next time!
I texted Commander Dave [about the change] however The Wizard Sparrow texted him at his home number, about as effective as shouting the request to him…
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Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books. It’s easy reading on any device.
Columns, books, shopping lists, click here to get in on the laughs. 4Ever & Ever ($8.99) and monthly ($2.99) plans available.
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On This Date The long march to today.
In 1972 – The Price is Right, a game show where contestants try to guess the price of items so they can win fabulous prizes, debuts on CBS Television. The show was hosted by Bob Barker until 2007 and since then by Drew Carey and there have been nighttime versions, as well. It is still on the air, the longest-running game show in the history of American TV and will begin its 50th season will begin later this month.
1906 – The New York Highlanders (Yankees) establish a new major league record for most consecutive doubleheaders swept in 7-0 and 1-0 wins over the Boston Pilgrims (Red Sox). It was the fifth consecutive doubleheader sweep for the Highlanders, research into whose record they broke was inconclusive and the record still stands. The streak would end on Sept 16 when the Highlanders split a doubleheader with the Washington Senators.
In 1960 – The Highwaymen are at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of two consecutive weeks with Michael. It was the first chart singles for the group, their first of two Top 40 hits and remains their only #1 song. The song also spent nine weeks in the Top 10 and in October spent a week at #1 in Great Britain. The song – also known as Michael Row the Boat Ashore – dates from the 19th-century and was originally a spiritual sung by American slaves.
Some Philosophy Crap The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
Can man triumph over nature? Never. He, man, is only an experiment on the part of nature, the terrible. Ernst Weiss Georg Letham Physician and Murderer
Answer To The Last Trivia Question Knowledge is power.
The American League record for most career total bases is held by Ty Cobb, who had 5,854 total bases between 1905-1928.
Today’s Stumper Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What was the first game show to air on American television? – Answer next time!
I saw Mousa in the parking lot rustling some carts and I said howdy cause Mousa is one of this planet’s good people and I asked how he was enjoying being a citizen and he laffed said it was good, however, he said he’s already forgotten most of the stuff he was required to learn for his citizenship test…I laffed, too, patted him on the chest and said a lot of us have forgotten those things as well.
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Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books. It’s easy reading on any device.
Columns, books, shopping lists, click here to get in on the laughs. 4Ever & Ever ($8.99) and monthly ($2.99) plans available.
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On This Date The long march to today.
In 301 – The country of San Marino, an enclave located in northeast Italy, is founded by St Marinus. A stonemason by trade, Marinus had fled nearby Rimini and built a monastery on Mount Titano, regarded as the founding of San Marino. Over the years the country added several communities and its borders have remained unchanged since 1463. While not the oldest country in the world, San Marino is the oldest uninterrupted republic on the planet.
In 1972 – Henry Aaron of the Atlanta Braves establishes a new major league record for most total bases in a career in an 8-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. Aaron had two singles and a walk to break Stan Musial’s record of 6,134 total bases done from 1941-63. Aaron would finish his National League career with 6,591 total bases and retired in 1974 with 6,856 total bases, National League and major league records that still stand.
In 1983 – The Police are at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart for the seventh of 17 non-consecutive weeks with Synchronicity. It was the third of four Top 10 albums for the group and remains their only #1 and it produced four Top 40 hits, including the #1 Every Breath You Take. The album won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and was Billboard’s third-biggest album of the year and its eighth-biggest of 1984.
Some Philosophy Crap The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
Such is man. He sets himself a goal…But as soon as it costs blood, he wants to be on his way. Ernst Weiss Georg Letham Physician and Murderer
Answer To The Last Trivia Question Knowledge is power.
Bill Tilden won 16 US Open titles during his career: seven singles, five doubles and four mixed doubles
Today’s Stumper Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
Who holds the American League record for most total bases in a career? – Answer next time!
