The Daily Dose/July 16, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
HUT, HUT, HIKE: College athletic conferences have been realigning for years, of course, but the past two years matters have ratcheted up a notch with Oklahoma and Texas announcing they were moving from the Big 12 to the SEC and the recent announcement that USC and UCLA were moving to the Big Ten – the Big Ten! – in 2024. For West Coast football fans this was sort of like your parents announcing they were finding another family.
The move essentially creates two super conferences, the Big Ten and the SEC and everyone else is left to fend for themselves because with the exception of Notre Dame, there really aren’t any really big-name college sports teams out there.
Crystal Ball Me: There is no way this ends good. There is no one in charge and lacking vision and leadership the inmates are running the asylum now with everyone – players, coaches, teams, conferences – are out for themselves. Now, this isn’t really a bulletin; major division college sports has been nothing but a money grab since Harvard and Yale first rowed against each other in 1852, when it was held to get people to go to a new resort and was contested, in part, by ringers.
Dry, Technical, Matter: There was a time when colleges went through the motions of getting kids educated. Now, the motions can’t even be bothered with; there is neither collective thought nor a common good, merely an entire industry where everyone is looking out for themselves and trying to strafe us for every last possible dollar.
The Bottom Line: We strongly suspected the USC/UCLA announcement would set off several knee-jerk reactions that would see the increasingly irrelevant Pac-12 scrambling, either by other schools fleeing or their trying to con other schools to join, but that hasn’t happened and if it hasn’t happened yet we just might have some stability for a while. Or not. With no one in charge, who knows what the inmates might do.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow mows the lawn, though there’s rain in the forecast. Today’s Diary.
…but when you’ve been working the land as long as we have you know when to roll the dice and when not to, and while there were storm clouds over the next county, we made it, the rain not starting until a couple of minutes after we finished.
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On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
In 1790 – President George Washington signs the Residence Act, which establish what would become Washington, DC, as the nation’s capital and temporarily moves the capital from New York City to Philadelphia. The capital, though unfinished, opened on schedule, with Congress holding its first session there in 1800. Though currently governed by an elected mayor and a city council, Congress still retains authority over the district, and Washington, DC now has three votes in the Electoral College.
In 2017 – Roger Federer of Switzerland establishes a new Wimbledon record for most singles titles by a man in a 6-3, 6-1, 6-4 win over Marin Cilic of Croatia. It was the eighth singles title for Federer, breaking the record of seven established by Pete Sampras and William Renshaw and this remains the only Wimbledon final for Cilic, whose only major title came at the 2014 US Open. Federer remains the last man not named Novak Djokovic to win the Wimbledon men’s title.
In 1977 – The Commodores are at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – then known as the Hot Soul Singles chart – for the only week with Easy. It was the eighth of 26 Top 40 soul hits for the group, their third of seven #1 soul hits, and was their third of ten Top 10 pop hits. The song also went #9 pop in Great Britain and peaked at #4 on the Hot 100. In 1993 a version by Faith No More peaked at #58 on the Hot 100 and at #3 in Great Britain.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
We are all sculptors and painters, and our material is our own flesh and blood and bones.
Henry David Thoreau
Walden
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
The first major leaguer to pitch multiple no-hitters was Larry Corcoran, who pitched three, in 1880, 1882, and 1884. Ambidextrous, Corcoran was the first of two major league players who was listed as “bats left, throws both”. The other was Pat Venditte, who pitched for six big league teams from 2015-20.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
How many #1 songs have the Commodores had on the Hot 100? – Answer next time!
