Briefly.
The L.A. Dodgers started the season at 11-12. Since then they have gone 65-20. DYK, they lost the other night to Atlanta after holding a lead. They had previously set a major league record by winning 53 consecutive games when leading at any point during the game. Incredible!
Trivia #1 (tough one): Charlie Hough and Steve Carlton each hold the MLB career league record, AL & NL respectively, for what?
Trivia #2: Where was the first public beach in the U.S. (1895)? Revere Beach, MA; Myrtle Beach, SC; Miami Beach, FL; Lighthouse Beach, MA; Long Beach, CA
A woman and her husband from the Swedish village of Jokkmokk were hiking in the mountains recently when they called police to tell them she was having trouble walking. Police dispatched an air ambulance and mountain rescue team only to discover the woman was having trouble walking because she was tired from all the hiking. The couple ended up paying $3,600 for the helicopter ride.
This week’s sign of the apocalypse: Atlanta’s Julio Jones took a spill while jet skiing in Lake Lanier when he hit a boat wake. He resurfaced but his $100,000 earring did not.
This week’s sign of the apocalypse, part deux: Lombardi Middle School, located in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and named after legendary Packers coach Vince Lombardi, will not offer football in 2017 because it was unable to find coaches.
Tourists have said naked female panhandlers, known as “desnudas”, are harassing them in NY’s Times Square. Desnudas is Spanish for “naked”. Past proposals to license the often obnoxious street performers, mostly naked with body paint, went nowhere because most of them are illegal immigrants and wouldn’t register anyway.
In today’s non-news, Tom Brady turned 40 yesterday.
Safety Diving, you’re doing it wrong. He was considered one of the best, if not the best, safety divers in the world, and Stephen Keenan died after coming to the rescue of a fellow diver. Keenan was an expert at free diving – meaning no breathing equipment – and as a safety diver he provided essential backup to other divers in case they got into trouble. He was trailing Italian free diver Alessia Zechini as she attempted to navigate a notorious 85-foot-long tunnel at a depth of 184 feet in Egypt. She became disoriented at 165 feet and Keenan dove down to assist and began guiding her back to the surface. She made it back but Keenan himself apparently blacked out in the last 30 feet of the ascent and could not be revived upon being rescued.
This news excites me greatly. Red Sox’ injured reliever Carson Smith begins his rehab assignment this weekend.
Quote of the week: “That’s just how we are. That’s just Texas.” – Cathy Hanks, neighbor of a woman who was not immediately identified, who shot and killed an armed intruder in her home.
Tuesday night was the first time this season where Christian Vasquez caught Chris Sales. Rick Sutcliff interviewed Sales on Monday night and they discussed how Sales never calls off the catcher. Never. Sales got pounded Tuesday night which makes one wonder whether the battery of him and Vasquez will be seen again this year…
I’m a hater, we’ve been there before. Now some of you may be of the opinion that this was a nice gesture, sincere, thoughtful, blah, blah, blah. The Chicago Cubs gave a world Series ring to Steve Bartman. I say, “no way!” Steve Bartman, best known for deflecting a foul ball that was set to land in left fielder Moises Alou’s glove with the Cubbies five outs from the World Series in 2003. The article I read said that he “…accidently deflected a foul ball…”. He didn’t “accidentally” deflect it! He reached for it! If he had caught it would they have said he “accidently” caught it?
Edward A. LeLacheur Park, home of the Boston Red Sox’ short-season Class A affiliate in the New York-Penn League (NY-PL) and right down the road in nearby Lowell, MA, has been named the best short-season ballpark in the country for 2017 by Ballpark Digest. LeLacheur Park beat out the stadiums of all 22 short-season clubs in the NY-PL and Northwest Leagues.
A grandmother from New South Wales, Australia, is having second thoughts about the ingredients inside Coles’ ice cream sandwiches after one failed to melt in her driveway after four days.
R.I.P. Ara Parseghian (94) – Parseghian won two national championships at Notre Dame (1966 & 1973). At the time he retired, Parseghian had established himself as part of the “Holy Trinity” of coaches at Notre Dame – no offense Lou. Ara was so beloved by students that when weather turned bad , chants of “Ara, stop the rain!” or “Ara, stop the snow!” cascaded down from the grandstands. DYK, Ara played two seasons with the Cleveland Browns.
“I don’t know if I practiced more than anybody, but I sure practiced enough. I still wonder if somebody – somewhere – was practicing more than me.” – Larry Bird. Just one reason why he was so great and just one reason why Tom Brady is so great.
Trivia answer #1: Balks – Hough had 32 (AL) Carlton had 82 (NL)
Trivia answer #2: Revere Beach
“Sittin’ here resting my bones
And this loneness won’t leave me alone, listen
Two thousand miles I roam
Just to make this dock my home, now
I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watchin’ the tide roll away, oh
Sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time”
Ed's Head On Friday 