The Daily Dose/September 5, 2018
By Gaylon Kent
America’s Funniest Guy
In The News
Nike recently announced a new ad campaign featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, the one who started the NFL anthem protest movement in 2016. The campaign will feature Kaepernick in a variety of mediums and Nike’s familiar ‘Just Do It’ slogan will be prominent as well.
Since everything in America nowadays causes division, sides were immediately taken on this vital issue. Some applauded it while some got their shorts in a knot over it with some malcontents refusing to buy or sell Nike products. There is no such thing as bad publicity unless, as the old adage goes, it involves a dead woman or a live boy – and reaction like this was exactly what Nike was hoping for, don’t kid yourself.
(An article also noted the deal puts Kaepernick in the upper echelon of NFL players that do business with Nike, which would be true if Kaepernick were actually in the NFL, which he’s not. He has not been able to find work in the NFL since the end of the 2016 season.)
We’re not marketing experts here, but this will probably end being brilliance on Nike’s part. They will probably move a lot of product, which is all this hullabaloo is designed to do anyway.
Today at the Site
A fire alarm goes off at the hotel on today’s edition of The Diary of a Nobody. This obliges Sparrow to actually work, assuring guests they are not going to die and dealing with the fire department, who show to verify there really isn’t a fire. Later, Sparrow finds himself at an ATM in town trying to get cash from Raj’s debit card so they can refund a guest and the drawer only had $17 in it.
Yours truly has The Thought for the Day. It’s from a column I wrote in 2012 about how Penn State’s football program got off easy in the Jerry Sandusky scandal and how us consumers usually get whatever we are willing to tolerate.
Longtime fans know The Bottom Ten/NFL Week 2 survey is reserved for the Interregnum Poll, a collection of witless social commentary because the NFL regular season hasn’t started yet. As always, the Jim Hanifan Medallion, symbolic of NFL preseason ineptitude, is awarded.
On This Date
In 1698 – Tsar Peter the Great of Russia imposes a tax on beards. The tax is aimed to westernize Russian nobility and the clergy and peasants are exempted from this tax. Resistance in deeply religious Russia was strong and police were authorized to shave those who did not pay the tax. Those who paid the tax were issued a copper or silver token.
In 1906 – The first legal forward pass in American football is thrown by St Louis University player Bradbury Robinson to teammate Jack Schneider in a 22-0 victory over Carroll College. The forward pass had been legalized earlier in 1906 by a forerunner of the NCAA, and the Billikens used it extensively in finishing the season 11-0.
In 1970 – War by Edwin Starr is at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the second of three weeks. The song was originally done by the Temptations, but their record company did want to alienate anyone, so they had Starr record the version released as a single. Despite having a chart career that spanned three decades, War was Starr’s only #1 hit on any Billboard or British chart.
Answer To The Last Trivia Question
Mark Spitz broke the record of five gold medals at one Olympiad that had been held by American gymnast Anton Heida in 1904, American shooter Willis Lee in 1920 and Finnish distance runner Paavo Nurmi in 1924
Today’s Stumper
Who was the other act that charted on the Billboard Hot 100 with War? – Answer next time!
Shameless Plugs
Backstairs at the Monte Carlo: A Vegas Memoir!: Clock in with the graveyard crew at the Monte Carlo Security Department on the glamorous Las Vegas Strip. You’ll meet drunks, reprobates and scoundrels, and those are just the officers! The funniest Vegas memoir ever! Promise!
The Regular Guys: Meet Lenny and
