This has been one of those weeks when there are not at least two or three “major” events (outside of the ever-present political scene) that really draw my attention but rather one where lots of “minor” thoughts enter my mind and cause me to ponder.
Here are several of those that somehow have occupied at least a slice of my time this past week. Things I wonder about—
How in the world could the Yankees have looked more like a Little League team than they did in the fifth inning of game five with the Dodgers, blowing a 5-0 lead? A dropped fly ball in center field, a short-armed throw from shortstop to third base, and failure to cover first base on a routine grounder all added up to allowing LA to tie the game. Add in a later balk and a catcher’s interference, and the Bronx Bombers will have the entire winter to lick their wounds.
Why do more football players than you would expect drop the football before crossing the goal line for a sure touchdown? Another example was evidenced by the Jets the other night against the Texans, taking away the first score in what was a close game throughout. I guess you would say it was a case of premature celebration?
Why more registered voters don’t actually vote has always baffled me. Although this election cycle will have a huge number of participants, off-year elections have issues of local importance sometimes decided by a few as 15-20% of the electorate.
Why have some foreign carmakers recently started producing models that don’t have the ability to carry AM radio channels? I guess it has to do with interference by all of the electronics on board causing “too much static” but man I’ll be searching for Reds broadcasts with WLW out of play while driving my wife’s Volvo!
Why do so many professional sports teams, and for that matter college teams, have so many uniform combinations that are not even always in the traditional team colors? Sometimes it’s even hard to know who’s playing because of the lettering on the jerseys—PHX, The ‘Hood, The City (which one?), Los Rojos, Zg4H (just made that one up but you get my drift!).
How did sports officials use to call games of all sorts without the use of instant replay? Amazingly the vast majority of calls on the field of play are confirmed although there are plenty of important “overturns” made. One baseball call from the past that stands out in my mind as having reason to have been reversed if replay was available to the officiating crews—in the ‘85 I-70 World Series between the Royals and my revered Cardinals the Redbirds were within three outs of clinching the title in Game Six in Kansas City, leading 1-0. Umpire Don Denkinger made a terrible call at first base allowing KC’s lead off batter in the ninth to reach base safely although replay showed him to be out by at least a half a step. Despite howls of protest, the call stood as replay wasn’t a part of the official equation at the time. You guessed it, the Royals scored two runs to win the game and tie the Series at three games apiece, and then dominated game seven by an 11-0 score to claim the championship. We were living in St.
Louis at the time and the fans of Cardinal Nation were besides themselves for many years (some of whom now live in Darke County are still distraught!).
Another example of a blown call of importance came in the ‘79 Rose Bowl contest between USC and Michigan. In the second quarter of a 7-3 game with the Trojans ahead and at the Wolverine’s three-yard line, USC running back Charles White tumbled into the end zone for an apparent touchdown, although pictures showed the fumbled ball floating through the air way before the goal line. A PAC-10 (remember that conference?) official correctly marked the recovered ball at the one-yard line but was overruled by a Big Ten linesman who called the play a touchdown. The Trojans went on to a 17-10 victory—think the Big Ten ref made many friends in the State Up North?
How much bigger can cruise ships get? After watching so many ads over the past few weeks, it seems like most MVL towns could fit on one of them (think Greenville, Piqua, Sidney, Troy, etc. Okay, I might be exaggerating a little, but you could combine Arcanum, Versailles, and Ansonia!).
Why are so few kids going out for basketball and other sports at the high school level at many schools? I know that there are a variety of reasons given—too many other outside activities, work, don’t want to sit the bench, etc. Used to be that the first week of practice was always for tryouts to be selected for the team with one of the emotionally toughest days being “cut day.”
How does Kirk Herbstreit cover so much ground? He was in LA on a Thursday night for the Vikings-Rams game on Prime, in Bloomington, Indiana Saturday morning for College Game Day on ESPN, and in College Station, Texas that evening for the ESPN telecast of the Texas A&M-LSU contest. And he does something similar every week—has to have use of a private
ABC-ESPN jet!!
Finally, why do I like Double Stuffed Golden Oreos so much? Not a huge fan of regular Oreos but I do have a weakness for the other; just give me a quart of milk, and I’m good to go! Stay healthy and active!!