The Daily Dose/August 2, 2023
By Gaylon Kent – America’s Funniest Guy™
Leading Off
Notes from around our human experience.
HUT, HUT, HIKE: One of the things we’re looking forward to this college football season is seeing whether or not the Pac-12 will survive. This is the final year of their current alignment as next year USC and UCLA move to the Big Ten (!) and Colorado returns to the Big 12. This leaves the conference with nine teams.
Lights, Cameras, Action The Pac-12’s current TV deal expires after this school year and Tuesday the conference shared details of an offer with its members. It’s with a streaming service and you don’t have to be Roone Arledge to know that this will pay a lot less than other conferences are getting.
A Classic Yay/Boo Situation: On the one hand, yay because it’s the third decade of the 21st century and we should be able to watch games wherever the hell we want and it could be the Pac-12 is at the vanguard of a revolution. On the other hand, boo, because they probably aren’t, because a streaming deal is not going to pay Pac-12 schools $30 million a year and all that matters is money now and it is not unreasonable to expect every school that can flee to do so as soon as they can.
The Bottom Line: It’s hard to say whether Congress or the NCAA does a better of simultaneously being pimp, whore, and john. Both continue to offer master classes in the art and it ain’t going to change. Cal and Stanford might show some sense and say no to the insane travel being in the Big Ten or Big 12 would provide, and we would not die of shock if the Cardinal and Bears join Oregon State and Washington State in the Mountain West Conference.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody – Sparrow’s Tuesday morning routine is shaken to the core. Today’s Diary.
The big news – and it’s huge – is there was not an appearance by Dray the Dairy Delivery Driver (DDDD) this morning…
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On This Date
Extra, extra, read all about it.
Editor’s Note: due to time constraints, these items have run before.
In 216 BC – The Carthaginians, led by Hannibal and outnumbered by over 30,000 men, defeat the Romans in the Battle of Cannae in the Second Punic War in southeastern Italy. Despite his inferior numbers, Hannibal was able to surround the Romans and all but annihilate them, the Roman death toll of over 48,000 remaining one of the largest single-day death totals in the history of battle. The Second Punic War would last until 201 BC and result in a Roman victory.
In 1980 – Teofilo Stevenson of Cuba becomes the first boxer to win three Olympic gold medals in one division at the Moscow Summer Olympics. Stevenson defeated Pyotr Zayev of the Soviet Union 4-1 to add to the gold medals won in 1972 and 1976. Stevenson was not allowed to compete at either the 1984 or 1988 Olympics due to Cuba’s boycott, but he would go on to win the gold medal at the 1986 world championships. Stevenson died in 2012 at age 60.
In 2008 – Katy Perry is at # on the Billboard Hot 100 for the fifth of seven consecutive weeks with I Kissed a Girl. It was the first chart single for Perry and her first of nine #1 songs. The song went to #1 in 17 other countries including the Czech Republic, Norway, and Great Britain, and was Billboard’s 14th biggest song of the year. The song was the 1,000th #1 song of the Rock Era, which began on July 8, 1955, when Bill Haley and the Comets hit #1 with Rock Around the Clock. The Hot 100 debuted in 1958.
Some Philosophy Crap
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
The first lesson of philosophy is we cannot be wise about everything. We are fragments in infinity and moments in eternity; for such forked atoms to describe the universe, or the Supreme Being, must make the planets tremble with mirth.
Will Durant
The Story of Civilization, Vol. III: From Caesar to Christ
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Knowledge is power.
Louis Armstrong is the oldest act to hit #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100. He was 62 when Hello Dolly went to #1 in 1964.
Today’s Stumper
Match wits with Gaylon. It’s not that hard.
Who are the two other boxers to win three Olympic boxing gold medals? – Answer next time!
