The Daily Dose/January 28, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy

Leading Off: Hut, Hut, Hike
Proving, among other things, that us humans will find anything to whine about, a recent story at espn.com talked about the fact that four of the officials on the crew that officiated the infamous Rams/Saints NFC championship games were from the LA area. The implication wasn’t that these officials were in league against the Saints, but that the NFL should have had more sense than to have assigned them to the game in the first place.

Oh good, gravy, this is nonsense. We’ve officiated, more or less, 3,000 games over the years – from tee ball to college – and the work required to become even a competent high school varsity official is enormous and makes impartiality second nature because making calls becomes second nature. There is no time to think who is benefiting from your call and who isn’t, much less where the participating teams are from.

(Let me tell you something, it is a habit you actually have to think about to overcome. The very few times over the years we’ve intentionally called something incorrectly – usually to regain some order when working home plate – we’ve had to actually tell ourselves what we were going to do.)

Now, we saw the same play you did and this does not explain why the call was missed and it remains difficult to believe a penalty wasn’t called. As we’ve joked Helen Keller probably could have made that call. We’ve blown calls before and it usually happened because we got caught anticipating a play that either happened or did not happen. Not always, though. Sometimes we just missed it. Sometimes you look at a play and tell yourself to call something and nothing happens. It’s a (small) part of the officiating trade.

The story – whose quotes were unattributed and whose writer’s only experience with officiating is probably whining about it – talked about a “perception of bias” because of where some of the officials lived. This perception is uninformed and to think a professional league should consider this when issuing assignments is nonsense. Of course, in the second decade of the 21st-century news cycles are constant and people need to post things and drum up interest but, please, know what you are talking about.

Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow is busy at the hotel, to include spending an hour on the phone with tech support because the credit card processor isn’t working.

…I have a gentleman on the line who is brimming with confidence…He reports he has been fully briefed on my situation, that he handles situations like this in his sleep and that I am mere minutes away from billing every credit card on the planet for whatever amount I desire.

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On This Date
In 1980 -The Coast Guard buoy tender USCGC Blackthorn collides with the freighter SS Capricorn in Tampa Bay harbor. The Blackthorn was heading out and the Capricorn was heading in and had, for some reason, turned left, which confused the ensign who was manning the conn in place of the captain who was in the engineering spaces investigating a problem. As usual in these circumstances, usual navigation procedures weren’t followed and the results of the official investigation had significant blame for the Capricorn and some for the Blackthorn, too. 23 of the 50 crewmen on the Blackthorn died.

In 1904 – The tradition of issuing letters for outstanding athletic performance at a school is inaugurated when the University of Chicago gives blankets with the letter “C” sewn on them to all seniors that had played during the 1903 season. The Maroons, then members of the Western Conference – later the Big Ten – went 12-2-1 that season. Chicago was a founding member of the Big Ten and remained in the conference until abolishing football following the 1939 season.

In 1956 – Tennesse Ernie Ford is at #1 on Billboard’s country Best Sellers in Stores chart for the seventh of ten consecutive weeks with Sixteen Tons. The song was written by Merle Travis and was based on the experiences his father and brother had working coal mines. Sixteen Tons was originally the B side of the single You Don’t Have to Be a Baby to Cry and earlier had spent seven weeks at #1 on Billboard’s pop Best Sellers in Stores chart.

Quotebook
Great events make me quiet and calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves.
Queen Victoria

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
The NCAA basketball record for Most Wins by a Team is 111, done by the UConn women from November 2014 through March 2017.

Today’s Stumper
How many future members of the College Football Hall of Fame were a part of the 1903 Chicago Maroons football team? –Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/January 25, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy

Leading Off: 
Leading Off will return.

Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody:The saddest of all possible words: Sparrow may not make it to 50 hours of sleep this week.

The weekly total is at 42.5 right now and based on recent averages for the Saturday Sleep Session (SSS) we might not make it….We’ll see…

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On This Date
In 1962 – Ranger 3 is launched by the United States, sent to the moon to obtain pictures and other information before it is sent crashing into it. Hilarity ensued, however, as within a minute after liftoff malfunctions in assorted guidance systems began, causing trajectory errors, and Ranger 3 arrived at the moon hours early and 22,000 miles off-target. As far as is know, Ranger 3 remains in the solar orbit it settled into.

In 1997 – The Green Bay Packers defeat the New England Patriots 35-21 in Super Bowl XXXI in New Orleans. It was the third Super Bowl title for the Packers, and their first since Super Bowl II, Pat Summeral and John Madden were the announcers, Luther Vandross sang the national anthem and the Blues Brothers, ZZ Top and James Brown performed at halftime.

In 1974 – Ringo Starr is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 with You’re Sixteen. The song spent one week at #1 and marked the second appearance of the song on the Hot 100, following Johnny Burnette peaking with it at #8 in 1960. It was Starr’s second and final #1 as a solo act on the Hot 100 and he was the third former Beatle to hit #1 on the Hot 100. John Lennon would be the last, in 1974.

Quotebook
But in truth, success doesn’t demand a price. Every step forward pays a dividend.
Dr. David J. Schwartz

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
The other nations to host an Olympic Games without winning a gold medal were Switzerland (1928 winter), Canada (1976 summer, 1988 winter) and Yugoslavia (1984 winter).

Today’s Stumper
How many #1 songs has Ringo Starr had as a solo act on the British charts? –Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/January 25, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy

Leading Off: The State of Our Union
The annual State of the Union address is the latest casualty of our government’s shutdown. President Trump was willing to give the address as scheduled next Tuesday, but Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, appropriately, if you ask us, has declined to issue the requisite invitation to the president to address a joint session of Congress. For his part, President Trump –President Trump! – has accepted this, but only after some blustering about how he would deliver the State of the Union address from somewhere else.

He couldn’t really do this, of course. Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution is very clear on the matter, stating, in part, that the president:

…shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union…

He can’t do that from a truck stop. He has to do it either in person or, as used to be the norm, in writing.

This is of no particular consequence anyway: we do not need a presidential address to tell us the state of the American union is a complete, utter and humiliating mess. You know it, I know it and the president and Congress know it, too. The president is being his usual petulant self, while Congress, sensing blood, is battening down the hatches while you and me, the American electorate, instead of protesting this dysfunction, are now accepting this nonsense as the norm.

Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: There is more snow to move at The Shire, including Sparrow removing snow from the carport’s roof, while Jerry reports he isn’t getting a whole lot of action on his house.

Afterward, I asked Jerry about his house and he shook his head and violated the Second Commandment by using the name of God’s only begotten Son in a manner inconsistent with praise, saying he’s only had one offer on the house and it was for 299, less than the 325 he’ asking and apparently holding firm at, because he turned that offer down…

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On This Date
In 1937 – The first of 18,262 episodes of The Guiding Light debuts on NBC Radio. The show was actually canceled twice by NBC, in 1939 and 1946, brought back by popular demand each time. The show moved to CBS Radio in 1947 and to CBS Television in 1952 and its 72 years on the air makes it the longest-running soap opera ever and the fifth-longest show in broadcasting history.

In 1924 – The first Winter Olympics opens in Chamonix, France. The Games were organized by the French as part the Summer Games later held in Paris and featured 258 athletes from 16 nations participating in 16 events. Previously winter sports like hockey and figure skating had been held at the Summer Games, which resulted in the only instance of Summer Olympic titles being defended at a Winter Games. France finished with three bronze medals, marking the first a host nation did not win a gold medal.

In 1969 – I Heard It Through the Grapevine Marvin Gaye is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the seventh and final week. The song was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong and had earlier been a #2 hit for Gladys Knight and the Pips. The song was the first of three #1s on the Hot 100 for Gaye and I Heard It Through The Grapevine was also in its seventh and final week at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart, his fifth of 13 #1s on the soul chart.

Quotebook
One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day has been.
Sophocles

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Ted Bundy’s last meal was steak, eggs and hash browns, the standard last meal then served by Florida to condemned who decline to specify anything else. Reports from the era indicate Bundy didn’t eat his final meal.

Today’s Stumper
On what other occasions did a host nation not win a gold medal in the Olympics? –Answer next time!

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The Daily Dose/January 24, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy

Leading Off
The bickering continues. Our government shutdown is now five weeks old. The Speaker of the House announced she will not invite the president to appear before a joint session of Congress for the State of the Union address and members of the Coast Guard, who are part of the Department of Homeland Security and not the Defense Department, are not being paid with some only putting food on the table thanks to assistance from food banks.

You know, when we were in the Navy it was fun to joke about Coasties being shallow water sailors whose toughest job is tossing out life preservers. It’s the nature of the service and a lot of fun because if you don’t think submariners get their share of jokes you are deluding yourself. In reality, though, all hands in the Navy have the highest possible level of respect of our friends in the Coast Guard. They deserve better than being obliged to go to food banks to put food on the table.

Everybody should be ashamed of themselves. The president should be ashamed of himself and every member of Congress should be ashamed of themselves, too. While we’re at it, we should be ashamed of ourselves as well.

We should be ashamed for electing and reelecting this crap in the first place. Ashamed for tolerating this. Ashamed for taking a flier on demanding better at the ballot box. Ashamed for accepting whatever our elected leaders choose to spoonfeed us and accepting the shackles our government is putting on us. Because we are being shackled, America. Shackled by elected leaders that know they will not be held accountable on Election Day and are free to send Coast Guard sailors to food banks with impunity.

And that is what we should most be ashamed of: we keep reelecting partisan and fractured, bickering and substandard government. This is all our fault. We deserve better, but we are not demanding better.

We have been at war every day for 30 years and we are $22 trillion in debt. No nation can survive perpetual war and fiscal insanity and if you and me – we the people – don’t do something our country will collapse, perhaps before this half-century is out.

When it does, we will have no one to blame but ourselves.

Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow is enjoying a routine night at the hotel until a crush of people show up at the same time, plus he makes a unilateral decision to change the brand of kitty litter they put in the cat’s box, plus Sparrow goes out for a late breakfast at the Mexican joint in the next county.

I don’t understand this, either…For three hours it’s as if you’re working in the Gobi Desert and then BOOM it’s Grand Central Station…It is one of the eternal Wonders of the Front Desk…I’d gotten my work done around 0015 and for the past three hours I’d been working on projects for when the bell that I keep on the front desk rings…Three people…Two want to buy sundry items (some water, a sports drink, and some power bars) and another guy is looking for a room.

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On This Date
In 1989 – Ted Bundy, a convicted serial killer originally from Vermont, is executed in the electric chair by the state of Florida. Bundy was executed for the  1978 murder of a 12-year-old girl, had been condemned for two other murders and had confessed to over 30, though his exact total will never be known. Bundy got scared towards the end and began confessing to assorted murders and promising more information if his life was spared. It wasn’t and Bundy spent most of his last night on Earth crying and praying to whomever he felt would do him the most good.

In 1990 – Clarence Gaines becomes only the second NCAA basketball coach to earn 800 wins when Division II Winston-Salem State defeats Livingstone 79-70. Gaines would retire in 1993 after 47 years at Winston-Salem State with 828 wins, then the second-most in NCAA history, trailing only Adolph Rupp. Gaines now ranks 17th on the NCAA’s all-time win list.

In 1942 – Glenn Miller is at #1 on Billboard’s National Best Selling Retail Records chart – one of several predecessors to the Hot 100 – with Chatanooga Choo Choo. The song was in its fifth of six weeks at the top and was Miller’s third of four consecutive #1 songs, a Billboard chart record that stood until Elvis Presley had five consecutive #1s on the Hot 100 from 1959-61. The song appeared in the movie Sun Valley Serenade and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song From a Movie.

Quotebook
He had the courage to defy his enemies because he did not have the intellect to doubt his truth. He was what he had to be to do what he had to do.
Will Durant
The Story of Civilization: The Reformation
Regards Martin Luther

Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Challenger Deep got its name from the HMS Challenger, a British ship that in 1875 sounded the first depths in the area.  

Today’s Stumper
What was Ted Bundy’s last meal? –Answer next time!

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