The Daily Dose/December 27, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience…
Leading Off will return after the first of the year.
Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow enjoys a relaxing day with the cat. Today’s Diary.
The plan today was to water the plants, shovel the driveway, finish the laundry and go to the next county for lunch at the Mexican joint and to pick up some things at the retailer…In the afternoon…In the morning I was going to read on the couch…But I started thinking that once I got settled in reading I was unlikely to want to get up to shovel snow or do anything else except go to bed…So I did all those things in the morning.
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.
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On This Date
In 1979 – The Soviet/Afghan war begins when the Soviet Red Army invades Afghanistan. The invasion stemmed from resistance to the 1978 Communist Party coup in the country and the war lasted until February 1989 when the Soviets withdrew, allowing the civil war to continue without them. It was the latest interference in Afghani affairs by the Soviets/Russians, who had begun meddling there in 1885 and the war led to boycotts by various nations of both the 1980 Moscow Olympics and the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
In 1981 – Wayne Gretzky of the Edmonton Oilers establishes a new NHL record for the fewest games needed to reach 100 points in a season in a 10-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Gretzky had four goals and an assist to break the record of 51 games that had been established by Phil Esposito of the Boston Bruins in the 1970-71 season. In 1983 Gretzky would become one of the few players in sports history to break his own record when he reached 100 points in 34 games, a mark that still stands.
In 1980 – John Lennon is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of five consecutive weeks with (Just Like) Starting Over. It was Lennon’s tenth Top 40 solo hit and his second and final #1 (Whatever Gets You Through the Night, 1974). The song also went to #1 in seven other countries, including Spain and Great Britain, was Billboard’s fourth biggest single of 1981, the 12th biggest of the decade and ranked 68th on Billboard’s 60th anniversary Hot 100 last year. Lennon had been shot to death on December 8, making Lennon the third act after Janis Joplin and Otis Redding to hit #1 posthumously.
Quotebook
Carpentier did it again!, a second time, and this was the blow perfected by a lifetime of training…it rocked Dempsey to his heels, but it broke Carpentier’s hand. His best was not enough. – Heywood Braun
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Besides My Sweet Lord, George Harrison’s other #1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 were Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) (one week 1973) and Got My Mind Set On Your (one week, 1987)
Today’s Stumper
Who is the only other NHL player to score 100 points in a season in fewer than 40 games? – Answer next time!
