The Daily Dose/January 16, 2021
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
PLAY BALL: Earlier this week the Washington Nationals announced an agreement with BetMGM to open a sports book at their stadium this season. Now, this is not the first such agreement between a team and a sportsbook, but it does illustrate a disturbing trend we’ve discussed here before: the ongoing relationship between leagues and their teams with legal sports betting.
Dry, Technical Matter: Very few seem to be getting worked up over this, either. We should, though, because there is little reason to suspect this will not be a license to print money and there will come a time when the players will want their cut of it. This probably won’t be an issue in major league baseball where players enjoy a free market for their talents, but in football, hockey and basketball – where players do not and get a percentage of a league’s revenue – it will be.
Fly In The Ointment: This is what we will have: leagues, teams and players with a financial interest in the betting handle of a game and friends if you don’t think there will come a time when it will be in their interest to lose a game in order to further betting interest in the following game you are high, legally in more and more states.
The Bottom Line: There’s a reason pro sports spent decades avoiding openly embracing organized betting: there cannot be even the faintest hint that their games are anything other than legitimate athletic contests, with both teams trying to win. Having leagues, teams and players with a financial interest in a game’s betting handle will change this and will, eventually, result in fixed games. Bet on it.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow almost freezes to death. Today’s Diary.
I enter the main pool following my workout this morning and the lifeguard informs me the pool is closed for the class that’s going on and could I utilize one of the other hot springs???…Of course I can, tho I ask if I could sneak thru because it’s below zero out and am told no, I can’t…Well, OK, but it would have been useful to know this before I’d gotten soaking wet so ol’ Sparrow wouldn’t have to report to the heart spring with a layer of ice on him…You get used to walking in only a swimsuit in the brutal cold here, but doing so wet for even that relatively small distance was really effing cold.
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.
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On This Date
The long march to today.
In 27 BC – The Roman Empire is founded as the Roman Senate names Gaius Octavius – known to history as Augustus – the first Roman emperor. Previously, the Roman Republic had been a collection of towns and provinces governed by elected magistrates and military commanders and the Roman Empire is generally considered to have ended in 476 AD. Augustus ruled until 14 AD and was succeeded by his adopted son Tiberius.
In 1960 – Gordie Howe of the Detroit Red Wings becomes the leading scorer in NHL history in a 2-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Howe has an assist and a goal, giving him 948 career points, breaking the record of 947 established by Maurice Richard of the Montreal Canadiens. Richard, still active, would reclaim the mark on the 21st, but Howe reclaimed it for good on the 24th. Howe retired in 1980 with 1,850 points and the record is now held by Wayne Gretzky with 2,857.
In 1982 – Ronnie Milsap is at #1 on Billboard’s country chart – then known as the Hot Country Singles chart – for the only week with I Wouldn’t Have Missed It for the World. It was the 19th of 34 #1 country songs for Milsap and his first of three for the year. The song also went to #1 on Canada’s country chart and peaked at #20 on the Hot 100, where it was his third of five Top 40 pop hits.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has destroyed itself within. The essential causes of Rome’s decline lay in her people, her morals, her class struggle, her failing trade, her bureaucratic despotism, her stifling taxes, her consuming wars.
Will Durant
The Story of Civilization, Vol. III: Caesar and Christ
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Basketball made its Olympic debut at the 1936 Berlin Summer Games. It had been a demonstration sport at the 1904 St Louis Games and the first women’s Olympic tournament was at Montreal in 1976.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What was Ronnie Milsap’s biggest hit on Billboard’s soul chart? – Answer next time!
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