The Daily Dose/July 23, 2021
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
HUT, HUT, HIKE: Oh baby, this is an exciting time for college sports, mainly because we are watching the NCAA become more irrelevant by the minute. First, college players are now able to earn whatever cash and benefits their talents will get them. Two, powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma, currently in the Big 12, have asked about joining the powerhouse SEC.
Yay/Boo: Yay for college players being able to cash in legally on their talents. For years – since the first Harvard/Yale regatta in 1852, actually – college athletes have been mere chattel used to make colleges – and later conferences and the NCAA – lots of money. Anything given to the athlete was under the table and illegal.
Boo for the NCAA getting off scot-free. Though they remain a wonderful example of being pimp, whore and john all rolled into one, they will still be raking in the same money because none of the money going to athletes is coming out of their pocket. It’s all coming from businesses that want to pay a kid for an endorsement.
Warning: Be careful, though. If you don’t think a gambler or two will be lurking trying to pay some broke long snapper or some other key but equally anonymous player willing to affect a point spread you are high. They may well find clients, too, because while some studs will be making major breesh, most college players will get little or nothing and wondering why they shouldn’t be able to visit the pay window, too.
Fortunately, with gambling now an acceptable, and encouraged, pastime, and with there being no shortage of gambling sites, there will be no shortage of outlets to report major, suspicious shifts in betting lines. This won’t stop a fixed game from being played, though, and don’t be surprised if they pop up from time to time.
More Yay/Boo: Yay for Texas and Oklahoma seeking greener pastures, the free market at work.
Boo, because this will set off another round of conference realignments, and perhaps mean the end of the Big 12, and will expose the major division schools as merely out to make every last possible dollar, but we already know that, so it’s hardly a bulletin.
The Bottom Line: This is going to be a mess, even by NCAA standards. Between some college players making a pile of cash while others make nothing or very little and schools switching conferences, as quickly as a decade from now we could be looking back at this summer being the start of a major shift in the major division collegiate sports landscape.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow meets one of the owners of the weed shop going up next door and some real estate news from the neighborhood. Today’s Diary.
The big news, tho, is CC reported the windmill two plots down from the weed store was sold, tho it’s unknown if someone will live there or will take advantage of the commercial zoning…Some snooping around the county assessor’s site sold the house/former coffee shop was sold for 317 to a couple from town…The plot in between the weed store and the windmill – a vacant quarter-acre or so – remains on the market.
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On This Date
The long march to today.
In 1940 – Acting Secretary of State Sumner Welles issues an order stating the US will not recognize the annex of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania by the Soviet Union. Known as the Welles Declaration, the order led to five decades of the US continuing to recognize the Baltic States and independent nations and a later order by President Roosevelt protected Baltic state assets. The three countries regained their independence in 1990-91.
In 1964 – Bert Campaneris of the Kansas City A’s ties the major league record for most home runs in his first major league game in a 4-3, 11-inning win over the Minnesota Twins. Campaneris homered in the first and seventh innings, both of Jim Kaat, to tie the mark established in 1889 (Charlie Riley, Columbus Solons, American Association) and 1951 (Bob Neiman, St Louis Browns) and has done three times since.
In 1983 – Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard are at #1 on Billboard’s country chart – then known as the Hot Country Singles chart – for the only week with Pancho and Lefty. It was the tenth of 17 #1 country songs for Nelson and the 32nd of 38 #1 country songs for Haggard and the song also went to #1 on Canada’s country chart. The song was written by Townes Van Zandt, who included it on a 1972 album, though the song didn’t chart.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
The only graceful way to accept an insult is to ignore it; if you can’t ignore it, top it; if you can’t top it, laugh at it; if you can’t laugh at it, it is probably deserved.
Russell Lynes
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
In addition to the 1912 Summer Olympics, Stockholm also hosted the equestrian events of the 1956 Melbourne Games, due to Australian quarantine laws.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What is the major league record for most hits in a player’s first game? – Answer next time!
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