The Daily Dose/February 20, 2026
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
HERE WE GO AGAIN: While you would like to think every NBA game features two teams trying their darndest to win, there are enough people saying enough teams are tanking this season to make you believe this really isn’t the case.
FunFact: And it’s not as if this is a bulletin, either. The NBA draft lottery was instituted 40 years ago because teams were tanking to earn the #1 draft pick. Now they are tanking to earn the best odds to win the drawing that determines the first few draft spots.
Dry, Technical Matter: Tanking is an interesting animal because the jobs of NBA coaches and players depend on them giving their very best. It’s how they earn and keep their contracts, and players appear to be playing hard enough, but there are teams sitting out or sitting down otherwise healthy players because the more they lose, the better their chances at winning the first pick in the draft.
Yawn: Look, we don’t care about the NBA any more than you do, but we do have a couple of suggestions: one, if the lottery is the problem, dump the lottery and again give the #1 pick to the team with the worst record. Or, if the NBA is feeling particularly draconian, do away with the draft.
The Bottom Line: Eliminating the lottery would force teams to tank openly, and we suspect this would be too embarrassing for NBA GMs. It would cost them fans, with the NBA becoming another version of pro wrestling, its events mere exhibitions instead of legitimate, professional competition. Eliminating the draft, meanwhile, would make everyone entering the NBA a free agent, which appeals to the libertarian in us, because it would give NBA newbies the same free-market rights any other employee has.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow has a long night at the hospital. Today’s Diary.
…and in Room 5 was an 86-year-old woman on a psych hold – and let me tell you something, 86-year-old broads who are crackers can be handful.
———
Would you like 4Ever & Ever access to Gaylon’s crap?
Of course you would.
Click here. It’s only $24.99.
Click here for complimentary chapters of all of Gaylon’s books.
It’s easy reading on any device.
———
On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
In 1933 – The US Congress sends what would become the 21st Amendment to the Constitution to the several states for ratification. Then known as the Blaine Act, it would repeal the 18th Amendment which had outlawed the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcohol in the US. It was ratified in December and remains the only amendment to repeal another and the only amendment ratified by state conventions instead of a state legislature.
In 2011 – Trevor Bayne becomes the youngest driver to win the Daytona 500. Bayne, 20, started eleventh and defeated Carl Edwards and Dave Gilliland, and it remains Bayne’s only NASCAR Cup. The race featured 16 cautions, with Bayne taking the lead for good during the final caution after David Ragan was black-flagged right before the final yellow flag was issued. Bayne remains the only driver to win the Daytona 500 in his first Daytona start since Lee Petty won the inaugural race in 1959.
In 2010 – Kesha is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the eighth of nine consecutive weeks with Tik Tok. It was the first chart single for Kesha, and her first of seven Top 10 hits and two #1s. The song also went to #1 in 18 other countries/territories, including the Commonwealth of Independent States, Norway, and Croatia, peaked at #4 in Great Britain, and was Billboard’s #1 song of the year and its 24th-biggest of the decade.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
It is more important to know where you are going than to get there quickly. Do not mistake activity for achievement.
Mabel Newcomer
Answer To The Last Trivia Questions
Knowledge is power.
James Ingram’s other #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 was I Don’t Have The Heart, which spent one week at #1 in October 1990.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What was the most recent amendment to the US Constitution? – Answer next time!
