The Daily Dose/November 16, 2018
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
In The News
One of the more fruitless endeavors we can indulge in is comparing sports figures from different eras. That is not going to stop us from doing that today.
It’s fruitless because in any sport where performance can be objectively measured – like track and field – it has been established that athletes can run and jump and throw farther than their predecessors. It would follow that today’s team sports athletes would be better than their predecessors. But we seem to forget this when comparing athletes from different eras.
(The exception to this, of course, is Bob Beamon’s Olympic long jump record of 29 feet, 2.5 inches at the 1968 Mexico City Games, which still stands.)
But we are going to compare LeBron James and Wilt Chamberlain anyway as LeBron recently pass Wilt for fifth place on the NBA’s career points list in an attempt to determine who we would rather have on our team.
LeBron has won three NBA titles to Chamberlain’s two. Both have four MVP awards and LeBron has three NBA Finals MVP awards to Chamberlain’s one. Wilt averaged 30.1 ppg over his career to LeBron’s 27.2.
If the sole criteria were stats Wilt would win hands down because he was a statistical juggernaut. Wilt holds the NBA records for most points (100) and rebounds (55) in a game, and for most career rebounds and his 50.36 points-per-game in 1961-62 is a record that is on our very short list of records that will never be broken. Wilt also holds the NBA single-season record for most rebounds per game with 27.2 in 1961-62. Wilt also led the NBA in assists in 1967-68 making him remains the only player in NBA history to lead the league in scoring, rebound and assists. LeBron has his statistical;
But the sole criteria isn’t stats. An intangible that cannot be measured is competitive greatness – the tendency to be at your best when it is required – and LeBron has given a clinic in this every year. He hasn’t won the title every year, but he hasn’t had the supporting cast.
Given the choice, we’ll take LeBron, though if we wouldn’t whine if forced to take Chamberlain.
Today at the Site
Sparrow and The Wife meet some friends at the college in town for their annual holiday dinner, though Sparrow whines because they didn’t make prime rib on today’s edition of The Diary of a Nobody.
Speaking of holiday meals, we are starting to plan for the real Thanksgiving next week…Marian said she would like a ham and I completely lost my mind and said we should also have deep fried shrimp and shells and cheese and why shouldn’t ol’ Sparrow bake a pie, too???
Well, because ol’ Sparrow has never baked a pie in his life, that’s why…Regular readers of the crap know few are capable of overestimating their own cooking skills as ol’ Sparrow…
The Thought for the Day is an encore from January of this year, author Deng Ming-Dao talking about overcoming ourselves.
You have your talents, too, and those that get on in this world are usually those that have maximized their talents. And those talents don’t have to bring us fame and fortune, either, to ensure a happy life. All we have to do is get the most out of them, because when we do that, what is meant to happen in our life generally does.
On This Date
In 1940 – George Metesky, known to History as the Mad Bomber, places his firsts bomb in New York City, at a building used by a power utility. The bomb was found before it went off, as was another the following September. His first bomb that went off came in 1951 and bombings continued through 1956, causing some injuries but no deaths. Metesky, bitter over a 1931 job injury suffered when he worked for Consolidated Edison, was arrested in 1957 after a search of company files. Metesky admitted to placing 32 bombs but was judged criminally insane and admitted to a mental hospital. He was released in 1973 and died in 1994.
In 1957 – Bill Russell of the Boston Celtics establishes a new NBA record when he grabs 49 rebounds in a 111-89 win over the Philadelphia Warriors. The old record had been 38 by Maurice Stokes of the Rochester Royals in January 1956. The single-game record is now held by Wilt Chamberlain (see above), though Russell’s 32 first-half rebounds remain the NBA record for rebounds in a single half.
In 1985 – Starship is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first of two consecutive weeks with We Built This City. It was the first #1 song for the group that first charted as Jefferson Airplane in 1967 and the song also went to #1 in Canada and Australia and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. Not everyone liked the song, however, and it sometimes appears on lists of the worst songs of the era.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Before moving to Chicago for the 1921 season, the Chicago Bears were the Decatur (Illinois) Staleys.
Today’s Stumper
Of the top ten scorers in NBA history, how many have played for the Los Angeles Lakers? – Answer Next Time!
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