The Daily Dose/January 28, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off: Hut, Hut, Hike
Proving, among other things, that us humans will find anything to whine about, a recent story at espn.com talked about the fact that four of the officials on the crew that officiated the infamous Rams/Saints NFC championship games were from the LA area. The implication wasn’t that these officials were in league against the Saints, but that the NFL should have had more sense than to have assigned them to the game in the first place.
Oh good, gravy, this is nonsense. We’ve officiated, more or less, 3,000 games over the years – from tee ball to college – and the work required to become even a competent high school varsity official is enormous and makes impartiality second nature because making calls becomes second nature. There is no time to think who is benefiting from your call and who isn’t, much less where the participating teams are from.
(Let me tell you something, it is a habit you actually have to think about to overcome. The very few times over the years we’ve intentionally called something incorrectly – usually to regain some order when working home plate – we’ve had to actually tell ourselves what we were going to do.)
Now, we saw the same play you did and this does not explain why the call was missed and it remains difficult to believe a penalty wasn’t called. As we’ve joked Helen Keller probably could have made that call. We’ve blown calls before and it usually happened because we got caught anticipating a play that either happened or did not happen. Not always, though. Sometimes we just missed it. Sometimes you look at a play and tell yourself to call something and nothing happens. It’s a (small) part of the officiating trade.
The story – whose quotes were unattributed and whose writer’s only experience with officiating is probably whining about it – talked about a “perception of bias” because of where some of the officials lived. This perception is uninformed and to think a professional league should consider this when issuing assignments is nonsense. Of course, in the second decade of the 21st-century news cycles are constant and people need to post things and drum up interest but, please, know what you are talking about.
Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow is busy at the hotel, to include spending an hour on the phone with tech support because the credit card processor isn’t working.
…I have a gentleman on the line who is brimming with confidence…He reports he has been fully briefed on my situation, that he handles situations like this in his sleep and that I am mere minutes away from billing every credit card on the planet for whatever amount I desire.
A subscription are required to read The Diary of a Nobody, The Bottom Ten and our pretty funny books.
Click here to subscribe. Reasonable rates.
On This Date
In 1980 -The Coast Guard buoy tender USCGC Blackthorn collides with the freighter SS Capricorn in Tampa Bay harbor. The Blackthorn was heading out and the Capricorn was heading in and had, for some reason, turned left, which confused the ensign who was manning the conn in place of the captain who was in the engineering spaces investigating a problem. As usual in these circumstances, usual navigation procedures weren’t followed and the results of the official investigation had significant blame for the Capricorn and some for the Blackthorn, too. 23 of the 50 crewmen on the Blackthorn died.
In 1904 – The tradition of issuing letters for outstanding athletic performance at a school is inaugurated when the University of Chicago gives blankets with the letter “C” sewn on them to all seniors that had played during the 1903 season. The Maroons, then members of the Western Conference – later the Big Ten – went 12-2-1 that season. Chicago was a founding member of the Big Ten and remained in the conference until abolishing football following the 1939 season.
In 1956 – Tennesse Ernie Ford is at #1 on Billboard’s country Best Sellers in Stores chart for the seventh of ten consecutive weeks with Sixteen Tons. The song was written by Merle Travis and was based on the experiences his father and brother had working coal mines. Sixteen Tons was originally the B side of the single You Don’t Have to Be a Baby to Cry and earlier had spent seven weeks at #1 on Billboard’s pop Best Sellers in Stores chart.
Quotebook
Great events make me quiet and calm; it is only trifles that irritate my nerves.
Queen Victoria
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
The NCAA basketball record for Most Wins by a Team is 111, done by the UConn women from November 2014 through March 2017.
Today’s Stumper
How many future members of the College Football Hall of Fame were a part of the 1903 Chicago Maroons football team? –Answer next time!
Let’s Be Friends: follow me on Facebook.
