The Daily Dose/August 24, 2022
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.
HUT, HUT HIKE…OR NOT: The stories are eerily similar. Only the locations change: high school sports schedules are being significantly impacted because there simply are not enough people to officiate their games.
Running The Numbers: The figures are staggering: over 50,000 high school officials have left the trade since 2019 – some pandemic related, of course – and between two-thirds and three-quarters of new officials do not make it to Year 3. This impacts officials, too; those that have stayed are working more games and inexperienced officials are working varsity games years before they could normally expect to. And because some of those who have left are really good, the quality of officiating has gone down, too.
Thank You, Sherlock Holmes: The reason officials are leaving is because officials are now treated like crap, with both verbal and physical abuse on the rise. Who wants a workplace where you’re told you suck every five minutes and the risk of physical abuse is real? If your workplace provided this, you’d probably leave, too.
Dry, Technical, Matter: It wasn’t always this way. When we broke into the trade in 1991 sure, you got yelled at but usually only after what in the trade are known as bangers, the really close ones. Now you get crap all the time from everyone and there’s something else, too: it’s personal now, with those yelling at you acting like you’re stealing something from them or their precious little brat.
Get Your Daily Dose Policy Right Here: Our own opinion is good, let them scramble. Hopefully, games will start getting canceled because there aren’t officials for it or, better yet, let’s get coaches out there with a whistle and a striped shirt and some zero clue what they are doing have them make rather technical calls in partisan, highly-charged environments and see how they like it.
The Bottom Line: But we deserve better and we recommend that every sports official simply up and quit. Screw it. We’re professional men and women providing professional services and we leave and not come back until appropriate environments are provided.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow has the latest MPG figures for the new ride. Today’s Diary.
40.22 MPG….Back in the 40 MPG high life again.
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On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
In 1814 – The British army takes the capital of the United States for the second time, occupying Washington City and burning the White House, the Capitol, and other buildings. The British had also taken Philadelphia in the American Revolution and while taking a capital in wartime usually means winning the war, it didn’t in either case. In the Revolution, Philadelphia had already been evacuated and in the War of 1812, Washington City wasn’t regarded as being too important.
In 1925 – Helen Wills Moody wins her third consecutive US National Championship in tennis, defeating Kitty McCane Godfrey 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, New York City. It was the third of seven US Open titles for Moody, and her third of 19 Grand Slam titles. It was the only US Open finals appearance for McKane, who also won two Wimbledon titles and five Olympic medals. With Mary Browne, Moody also won her third of four doubles titles and the tournament became the US Open in 1968.
In 1985 – Aretha Franklin is at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – then known as the Hot Black Singles chart – for the fourth of five consecutive weeks with Freeway of Love. It was the 20th and final #1 soul hit for Franklin, an all-time soul chart record later tied by Stevie Wonder and now held by Drake (25). The song also peaked at #51 in Great Britain, at #3 on the Hot 100, and was Billboard’s 7th-biggest soul song of the year.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
We are going to sing so that they will remember this for the rest of their lives. There is no other reason to do it, folks, none.
Garrison Keillor
Love Me
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Caesar Chavez was born in Yuma, Arizona.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
What was Aretha Frankin’s first #1 soul hit? – Answer next time!
