The Daily Dose/June 16, 2019
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
The Sunday Bottom Five
Celebrating the worst of the week that was.
- Toronto – 72 years after hosting first-ever NBA game, city wins first NBA title as Raptors defeat Warriors in six games…Title immediately becomes city’s third-biggest sports story, behind Maple Leafs new season ticket mini-plan, new nets for goals.
- MLB Attendance – Highlights and newspaper pics continue to feature so many empty seats baseball games are now reminiscent of old Christmas Day Aloha Bowl games played in front of five (5) people….2019 attendance already down 565,000 from 2018, with 19 teams showing decreases from 3,000 to 218,00 fans…Miami Marlins almost averaging as many fans per game as Triple-A Las Vegas team.
- Los Angeles Lakers – Hardly for the first time in their history, Lakers trade for one of best players in game…Usually, this results in an NBA title or two, but now one only wonders how the team – in disarray since Jerry Buss died – will screw this up.
- Santa Anita – Iconic LA-area track bravely continuing with racing cards despite more horses dying after running on their track…November Breeder’s Cup still on, though Sunday Bottom Five pollsters “pretty sure” Cup organizers have back-up plan on agenda for next meeting.
- Canada – While noted country usually good for winning Olympics, Junior Worlds fairly regularly, Great White North hasn’t produced team that has played for Cup since 2011 or a team that’s won it since 1993…26-year drought longest since Montreal Canadiens went hour-and-a-half without winning Cup in 1960’s.
Today At The Site
The Diary of a Nobody: It’s the latest from the hotel, and the Sparrow’s have their anniversary BBQ. Today’s Diary.
For the first time in months, I did the wake-up call announcement…The pecking order is usually Brandon and then Quentin and over the winter even Mark got in on the thrills on their days off, so Pipes Sparrow has been relegated to bullpen duty…I came back strong tho, with a friendly greeting, a concise, accurate weather forecast (chance of afternoon showers, highs in the low 70s) and closed graciously with thanks for staying with us…A quick check of the phone log showed there were no shortage of wake-up calls, either, tho nobody came to the front desk to comment on my greeting.
It’s Sparrow, an average man passing an average life.
The drivel simply does not stop: please click on the button to read The Diary of a Nobody. $5.99 includes all entries, past, present, and future.
On This Date
In 1846 – Giovanni Maria Mastai Ferretti of Italy is elected pope, and takes the regnal name Pius IX. He was elected on the fourth ballot, on the second evening of the conclave and would reign for 31 years, still the longest reign by an elected pope in church history. The conclave was held at the Quirinal Palace – a bit east of the Vatican in Rome – and remains the last conclave held outside the Vatican.
In 1938 – Jimmie Foxx of the Boston Red Sox establishes a new American League record with six walks as the Red Sox defeated the St Louis Browns 12-9. Foxx scored two runs and did not have an official at-bat in the game, and tied the major league record established in 1891 by Walt Wilmot of the Chicago Cubs, then known as the Colts. The record still stands and was last accomplished by Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals in 2016.
In 1962 – George Jones is at #1 on Billboard’s country chart – then known as the Hot Country Singles chart – for the fifth of six consecutive weeks with She Thinks I Still Care. It was Jones’ 18th of a country-chart record 168 hit singles and his third of 13 #1 songs. History remains unclear if Jones actually liked the song or not. Some say he did not, while Jones insists he was. The song would return to #1 in 1974 when Anne Murray changed the ‘She’ to ‘He’.
Quotebook
…he who has nothing to lose can afford all risks.
Harriet Beacher Stow
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Willie Anderson of Scotland took the fewest years to win four US Open golf championships, four years. He won in 1901 and then from 1903-05.
Today’s Stumper
Which unelected pope served longer than Pius IX? – Answer next time!
