The Daily Dose/May 16, 2020
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
Leading Off
Notes from around the human experience.
PLAY BALL…MAYBE: Like other elements of American life, major league baseball is making the first tentative, probably futile, plans to return. They would like to play an 82-game schedule beginning in July and among the obstacles to be overcome is how players are going to be paid because it is anticipated games will be played in empty stadiums, without the accompanying ticket, parking and concession revenue. MLB has proposed a 50/50 revenue split while players are on record as wanting their full salaries, on a prorated basis.
“Bro, Y’All Got To Understand…” Some players are more outspoken than others. Blake Snell, a not particularly bright pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays and the 2018 American League Cy Young Award winner, is on record as saying:
I’m not playing until I get mine.
All right, fair enough. He overcame tremendous odds to make it to the very top in a sport that also happens to be a very profitable business. I think Snell went a little overboard when he said he was risking his life, but he’s right: he paid the price, he should get the reward. You make the big leagues you are entitled to cash in.
Dry, Technical Matter: But good gravy, though, could he have sounded any more like an ungrateful, ignorant snot?
We’ll Field This One: No, he couldn’t. He sounds like a petulant child, actually, and could have sounded a bit more gracious for earning a living most can only dream about, but we agree with him. We won’t be burdened with this choice, but we wouldn’t play unless we were getting our full, prorated salaries. We play half a season, we get half a year’s pay. Players, after all, don’t get bonuses when there’s a spike in revenues, they shouldn’t take it in the shorts when revenues fall.
The Bottom Line: Historically, we are lousy prognosticators here at The Daily Dose, but this is likely to get ugly and the players have a long history of being united. Don’t bet against the season not being played over this.
Today At The Site
Writing worth reading. Usually.
The Diary of a Nobody: Sparrow has news from the kitchen. Today’s Diary.
I did remember to use the new purified water for coffee this morning and I could tell the difference so the purifier was a good investment…Also, I enjoyed morning coffee in one of the new coffee mugs and because I am keeping track, I know this is the last of the new dinnerware that’s been used…Well, except for the salad plates…I haven’t a salad yet, much less four of them, and these might not receive their first test drives for a while…The dinner plates, bowls and coffee cups, tho, all of those have broken their maiden here at The Shire and have been cleared for regular use.
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On This Date
History’s long march to today
In 1866 – The United States Congress authorizes the minting of a new five-cent piece, now commonly known as the nickel. It wasn’t the first five-cent piece produced by the United States, but it was the first made of copper-nickel. It had a shield on the obverse side and the number 5 surrounded by stars on the reverse side. The first US five-cent piece was known as the half-dime and was first struck in 1792, Today, a nickel costs about 9 cents to produce.
In 1980 – The Los Angeles Lakers win their seventh NBA title, defeating the Philadelphia 76ers 123-107 in Game 6 of the Finals. Magic Johnson, playing center for the injured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, had 42 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists. Johnson’s 42 points remain an NBA Finals rookie record and his 14-14 performance from the free-throw line was a record until broken by Terry Porter of Portland (15-15, 1990) and is now held by Kawhi Leonard (16-16, 2019). It was the Lakers’ first NBA title since 1972.
In 1960 – Elvis is at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the fourth and final week with Stuck on You. It was Elvis’ first chart single after a two-year stint in the Army was his 13th of 18 #1 songs. The song also went to #1 in the Netherlands, Canada and Australia and peaked at #3 in Great Britain. It peaked at #6 on Billboard’s country and soul charts and was Billboard’s ninth biggest song of the year.
Quotebook
The wisdom of the ages. Whatever.
Too often, the way taken is the wrong way, with too much emphasis on what we want to have rather than what we wish to become. – Louis L’Amour, Education of a Wandering Man
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
It’s not who you know, but what you know.
President Kennedy’s “We choose to go to the moon” speech was delivered at Rice Stadium on the campus of Rice University.
Today’s Stumper
Cheaper than Trivia Night at the bar.
What Elvis’ smallest hit on the Billboard Hot 100? – Answer next time!
