The Daily Dose/September 12, 2018
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
In The News
We are not going to argue the merits of the call that led to the Serena Williams imbroglio in Saturday’s US Open final. In fact, we are going to presume umpire Carlos Ramos got it wrong when he warned Williams about receiving coaching from the stands. We’ve officiated many events over the years and we’ve blown a call or two ourselves. It happens.
Yes, the warning was against Serena but that was only because she was the one playing. The incident was instigated by a thumbs-up signal her coach had given and was not an indictment on William’s sportsmanship, which has always been above reproach. It was Serena who then chose to slam her racket and call the umpire a “thief”. For these actions Serena was docked a point and then an entire game.
As she should have been. Calling an official a thief cuts right to the heart of what we do. In some games, including one I’m working, you call an official a thief you are a removed from the game. You may not particularly like my day’s work, but you will respect it.
Everyone is taking Serena’s side on this, with even the World Tennis Association taking a couple of days to say Ramos acted within the rules. It’s understandable. Serena is among the very best ever at what she does and, as noted, it is beyond comprehension to think her integrity is anything but above reproach. Plus, America being America, the incident has been cast along both gender and racial lines with Ramos, who’s Portuguese, being derided the world over.
But what should Ramos have done when he was called a thief, give Williams a prize? No. White or black, male or female, Williams deserved her penalties.
Today at the Site
Sparrow starts taking some medicine in preparation for Thursday’s dentist trip on today’s exciting edition of The Diary of a Nobody. Also, Hotel B is such a mess, even by Sparrow’s low standards, that he is moved to actually clean up and throw some trash out.
Patty was hell bent on getting everything done as soon as possible, too, dropping cash from registers and self-checkout lanes about an earlier than most supervisors do it and I’m surprised she didn’t just shut the entire front end down at 2000 and send us all home.
Hut, hut hike, The Bottom Ten/NFL Week 3 is ready for your review, with Cleveland’s tie against Pittsburgh throwing the Bottom Ten medal stand into more disarray than usual. Also, the usual Pete Rozelle Award – issued to the league’s worst division – is being replaced by conference awards, the Ray Malavasi Pin and the Marv Levy Broach.
5. Pittsburgh at Cleveland – Barely nudges out Dallas/Carolina borefest for Week 1 Game of the Week honors…Not having winner key, but 23 penalties, 19 punts, seven (7) turnovers thrill regional audience, too.
The Thought for the Day will return.
On This Date
In 1959 – The Soviet Union launches the spacecraft Luna 2 to the moon. Earlier in the year, the Soviets had launched Luna 1 with the intent to crash it into the moon, but a ground control error caused it to miss the moon by several thousand miles. The following day, Luna 2 would become the first spacecraft to reach the surface of the moon, crashing into it, and became the first man-made object to land on another celestial body.
In 1962 – Tom Cheney of the Washington Senators strikes out 21 batters in a 2-1, 16-inning victory over the Baltimore Orioles, establishing the major league record for most strikeouts in a game. Cheney pitched in 118 games in his eight years in the big leagues and his 16 strikeouts in this game represent five percent of his career strikeout total of 345.
In 1981 – Diana Ross and Lionel Ritchie are at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the fifth week with Endless Love. The song would spend nine consecutive weeks at #1 and was Billboard’s second biggest song of the year, behind Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes, which spent nine non-consecutive weeks at #1, and the third biggest of the decade.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
The Hope Diamond, though considered priceless and irreplaceable, is insured for $250 million.
Today’s Stumper
What was the first US spacecraft to reach the surface of the moon? – Answer next time!
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