The Daily Dose/July 16, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
We were reading an article on Novak Djokovic’s apparently thrilling five-set, tie-breaker victory over Roger Federer in the men’s Wimbledon final when we came across a quote from Federer. It came in response to a question about the new fifth set tiebreak, which goes into effect when the fifth set is tied 12-12. It’s a new rule at the Championships, designed to cut to the chase and prevent matches from lasting three days. It was the first Wimbledon final to utilize the 12-12, fifth set tiebreaker, probably a good thing because without it they might still be playing. Federer said:
I respect whatever the rule is.
Imagine that, a professional athlete, any athlete, publicly declaring respect for a rule. What a refreshing point of view, especially nowadays when respect for anything, rules, authority, oneself is a vanishing commodity.
We see it on a daily basis. We saw it last week when a minor league pitching coach got thrown out of an Atlantic League game for arguing balls and strikes called by an electronic pitch-calling program. This is where we are at right now: arguing decisions not even made by a human!
Now, in fairness to the coach – former major league pitcher Frank Viola – he wasn’t actually arguing with a computer program, he was arguing with the plate umpire who declined to exercise his prerogative to overrule the electronic umpire, something you probably won’t see unless a pitch that ends up in the nickel seats is called a strike. Viola completely lost his mind, something we are seeing more and more of in sports, and elsewhere, nowadays. Lighten up, Frank. You are arguing, in essence, with an experimental technology that your league is the petri dish for. There was no reason to take to DefCon 1.
And, of course, there are the daily examples provided by our president, Donal Trump, who every day continues to ignore the rules of protocol and civilized discourse. In fact, the only rule Trump seems to follow is the rule – usually adhered to only by first-graders – of drawing as much attention to yourself as possible.
We continue to tolerate it, though. We are tolerating the blather and the venom and the racism and friends when we ignore our leader(s) ignoring these rules we are ignoring them ourselves. There are no two ways about it.
We deserve better than this. We deserve an America that has some sort of dignity and respect for decorum, for others, and for ourselves. We are not going to get the America we deserve though, until we start demanding it, both individually and collectively.
Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: There was an inspection at the hotel, Sparrow goes out to lunch and has the latest on the nesting robins at The Shire. Today’s Diary.
We used to always get reamed on these inspections at the timeshare I used to work at…Good gravy, the Son of Man could have been running the place and there would still have been five pages of discrepancies…I was a supervisor and I’d get called into the office and get beaten upside the head and I’m thinking damn, guests (owners, actually, and boy, they are exponentially more tedious to deal with than hotel guests) are being treated cordially and the phone is getting answered and I’m Satan incarnate because some BS forms aren’t filled out or desk clerks are being friendly and personable instead of reciting the lousy, corporate-scripts we’re given.
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.
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On This Date
In 1969 – Man’s greatest adventure begins when, at 9:32am EDT, Apollo 11 lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center on Florida’s east cost. Commanded by Neil Armstrong and manned by lunar module pilot Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and command module pilot Michael Collins, Apollo 11 would enter Earth orbit twelve minutes later and after an orbit-and-a-half began the three-day trek to the moon. The crew had been woken at 4am and were served the traditional pre-flight meal of steak and eggs. They began their trek to launch pad 39 at 6:30 – about the time fueling of the Saturn V rocket commenced – and began entering the command module a bit before 7am.
In 1950 – Uruguay wins their second World Cup, defeating host Brazil 2-1 in the final game of the championship round robin. Trailing 1-0, Uruguay got goals in the 66th and 79th minute, to win a game most everybody, especially the Brazillians, thought Brazil would win. The 1950 World Cup remains the only one where the title was not determined in a championship game that followed a single-elimination stage and remains the last World Cup title match featuring two teams from South America. The crowd 199,584 remains the largest crowd to see a sports event that was not an auto or a horse race.
In 1977 – The Commodores are at #1 on Billboard’s soul chart – then known as the Hot Soul Singles chart – for their only week with Easy. It was the third of seven #1 songs on the soul chart for the group, and their fifth of 13 Top 10 soul hits. The song also peaked at #4 on Billboard’s Hot 100, their biggest pop hit until Three Times a Lady hit #1 the following year. The Commodores last hit the Hot 100 in 1985 when Nightshift went to #5.
Quotebook
If I should die it would only be a sign that my star has run its course.
Adolf Hiter
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
The Philadelphia Phillies have lost the most games in major league history, 10,964.
Today’s Stumper
Who was the backup crew for Apollo 11? – Answer next time!
