The Daily Dose/Tuesday, September 3, 2019
The Daily Dose/September 3, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Leading Off will return.
Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow finds the guest’s laundry room a mess. Today’s Diary.
There was no small number of dryer sheets on the floor of the guest laundry room (it’s on the second floor) when I walked by…The box they came from was on the table and was still about half-full but someone was able to make the mess they were plainly hell-bent on making…Of course, I picked up the dryer sheets on the floor, but I left the box on the table, dryer sheets for someone else, with my compliments.
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.
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The Bottom Ten/NCAA Week 2: The carnage is total: there’s is complete turnover on the Bottom Ten medal stand.
It’s complete chaos – is there any other kind? – in the Bottom Ten this week as all of the Week 1 medal stand is ousted after wins against lower-level schools.
In their place, it’s Homecoming Week as three Bottom Ten stalwarts return to the spotlight, with Bottom Ten pollsters ‘pretty sure” Rice, Duke and New Mexico are back on the medal stand for the first in “like, ages and stuff”.
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On This Date
In 1838 – Frederick Douglass, born into slavery around 1818, he was never sure, escapes from the plantation he had been slaving on in Maryland. Dressed as a sailor and using borrowed papers from a free black man, Douglass went from Baltimore to Philadelphia to New York in less than 24 hours. While Douglass was always loathe to give details about his flight to protect those who helped him, he did say the trip was very routine except for some nerves when a train conductor inspected his papers.
In 1928 – Ty Cobb of the Philadelphia A’s, pinch-hits in the ninth inning and doubles for his last major league hit in a 6-1 loss to the Washington Senators in the first game of a doubleheader. Cobb would strike out in the ninth inning of the second game, also a loss, and would make his final major league appearance on September 11, popping out in another ninth inning pinch-hitting role. Cobb retired with 4,191 hits, a record that stood until broken by Pete Rose in 1985.
In 1966 – David Houston is at #1 on Billboard’s country chart – then known as the Hot Country Singles chart – for the fourth of nine consecutive weeks with Almost Persuaded.It was the first of six #1 songs on the country chart for Houston and the song also peaked at #24 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and earned a Grammy Award for Best Country and Western Recording. It would be 46 years before another song spent at least nine weeks at #1 on the country chart. In 2012, Taylor Swift spent nine weeks at #1 with We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.
Quotebook
This is our diamond, and must be treated like a diamond. Never settle. It’s never good enough until it is your best.
Michael Bennett
Creator, A Chorus Line
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
The Houston Colt .45s became the Houston Astros in time for the 1965 season.
Today’s Stumper
How many of his career hits did Ty Cobb have with the Philadelphia A’s? – Answer next time!
The Bottom Ten/NCAA Week 2
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The Bottom Ten/NCAA Week 2
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
It’s complete chaos – is there any other kind? – in the Bottom Ten this week as all of the Week 1 medal stand is ousted after wins against lower-level schools.
In their place, it’s Homecoming Week as three Bottom Ten stalwarts return to the spotlight, with Bottom Ten pollsters ‘pretty sure” Rice, Duke and New Mexico are back on the medal stand for the first in “like, ages and stuff”.
This week’s mess:
The Daily Dose/Monday, September 2, 2019
The Daily Dose/September 2, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
News from around our human experience…
Take Me Out To The Ballgame: There’s been a lot written about how America’s once national game, baseball, has changed and, for some, not for the better. We had the opportunity to investigate for ourselves this week when we were in Denver for a conference and we went to consecutive Colorado Rockies games.
Dry, Technical Matter: And you do see the difference on the field: in the two games we were at there were a combined nine home runs and 31 strikeouts, both rather common for today but totals that would have been considered high in other eras. Equally telling, the two games produced one bunt and one stolen base attempt.
You know what though? The average fan didn’t seem to care because fans have changed right along with the game. Most were there for their night’s entertainment and tonight it happened to be a Rockies game. Tomorrow it would be something else. Fans came late, had their fun, and left early.
Fly In The Ointment: But not as many fans are going to the stadium. Attendance is down throughout the big leagues and I don’t think anything on the field is the reason why. The fact is that it is very expensive to go to a single major league baseball game now. Baseball is a game that is played, and enjoyed, on a daily basis and baseball is no longer particularly affordable for working people to attend every day.
Take Wednesday night…Someone at the conference I am at scored some primo, club level seats, at no cost to us…Yay, because the ticket had cost someone $110…Not only that, the club level is exclusive meaning the mouthbreathers in the grandstand can’t bother you, meaning concession lines are shorter, a nice benefit…It was a first-class experience…It would also be an expensive one for a family of four, easily a $600 night because parking is $23 (though that includes ground transportation to the stadium) and how many families can afford that more than once or twice a season?
Strong Finishing Kick: Now, there are cheaper seats, of course, but sitting someplace besides Pikes Peak is now very expensive. Baseball has priced out the fan who in another era would have otherwise gone to a couple-three games a homestand. Instead of going to a dozen games a season they’re going to two.
Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow has his usual problems assembling a box. Today’s Diary.
The top I can usually figure out without drawing blood, but the box itself, good gravy, it makes me feel like an oaf…The instructions, at first, appear to be easy enuff but actually following them is another matter and I could probably assemble it quicker if I closed my eyes and put on mittens…I am generally able to get Side A folded over, but B and D always end up getting folded in directions not originally specified.
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.
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On This Date
In 31 BC – The Battle of Actium, a naval battle off the western coast of Greece between Agustus – then known as Octavian – and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra is fought. It resulted in a victory for Octavian, allowing him to consolidate power and was the decisive battle in the Final War of the Roman Republic. Antony and Cleopatra fled to Alexandria, where they would eventually commit suicide. The victory is regarded by some as the beginning of the Roman Empire.
In 1962 – Ken Hubbs of the Chicago Cubs establishes a new major league record for second basemen playing in his 74th consecutive errorless game in a 3-1 loss to the Houston Colt .45s, now the Astros. Hubbs broke the record that had been established by Bobby Doerr in 1948. The record was broken in 1989 by Ryne Sandberg (123) and the record is now 141, shared by Placido Polanco (Detroit, 2007) and Darwin Barney (Chicago Cubs, 2012). Hubbs died in a plane crash in February 1964.
In 2019- After a record 20 weeks at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – now known as the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart – Old Town Road by Lil Nas X featuring Billy Ray Cyrus falls to #2, replaced at the top by Truth Hurts by Lizzo. Earlier, the song had spent a record 19 weeks at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100, where this week it fell to #4.
Quotebook
Personally, I do not think the human mind has any limits but those we impose ourselves. Louis L’Amour
Education of a Wandering Man
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
There wasn’t a Trivia feature last time, you goofs.
Today’s Stumper
When did the Houston Colt .45s become the Astros? – Answer next time!
The Diary of a Nobody/September 1
Meet Sparrow, an average man passing an average life…
Sunday, September 1
I got off pretty easy tonight…What with a sold-out weekend and end of the month to do, it could have been a madhouse – full-tilt boogie until 0700, which goes against everything I stand, er sit, for – but there were very few calls or walkins demanding rooms and guests seemed content to sleep and not bother yours truly for towels and such.
The Daily Dose/Sunday, September 1, 2019
The Daily Dose/September 1, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Friends, The Daily Dose will return.
Click here to read today’s Diary of a Nobody entry.
And The Bottom Ten is back. In case you missed them, or want to relive the magic, here are the Week 1 surveys:
The Bottom Ten/NCAA Week 1
The Bottom Ten/NFL Week 1
The Daily Dose/Saturday, August 31, 2019
The Daily Dose/August 31, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Friends, The Daily Dose will return Monday. Promise.
Click here to read today’s Diary of a Nobody entry.
And The Bottom Ten is back. In case you missed them, or want to relive the magic, here are the Week 1 surveys:
The Bottom Ten/NCAA Week 1
The Bottom Ten/NFL Week 1
The Diary of a Nobody/August 30
Meet Sparrow, an average man passing an average life…
Friday, August 30
After whining about the food for most of my stay, I must say breakfast was really good today…The chef’s special was a really good English muffin sandwich: sausage, egg, cheese…Everything was hot, too, probably because I was there right when it opened at 0600…I ate so much I didn’t even take the box lunch they had for us after we were all done.