Friday, January 10, 2020

Briefly. 

Trivia #1: What is taphophobia?

Trivia #2: In the Super Bowl era, a top 2 offense has faced a top 2 defense seven times in playoff games. Who is the only top-two offense to win such a game? 

The fires in Australia are beyond belief. More than 17.9 acres have been burned across Australia’s six states – an area larger than Belgium and Denmark combined. 27 people have died including several volunteer firefighters. A conservative estimate has about half a billion animals affected with millions likely dead. The number of total animals affected could be as high as one billion nationwide, according to ecologists. More than 2,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged and the smoke is so bad in Sydney that air quality measured 11 times the “hazardous” level. Forgive me as I go on, dry lightning was responsible for starting a number of fires though police have also charged 183 people for fire-related offenses since November. In December, fires in Victoria’s East Gippsland region traveled 12.4 miles in just five hours. 

Jason Garrett, what took so long? 

Congratulations, you’re doing it wrong. A New Jersey man had arranged to set off fireworks outside of an indoor rock-climbing facility in Howell Township, to coincide with a marriage proposal his friend was planning. However, the fireworks were mistaken for gunfire, the facility was evacuated and the man was charged with disorderly conduct. 

Tom Brady still has 30 career playoff wins which is more than 27 other NFL franchises. Just sayin’. 

Speaking of Tom Brady, a report came out that Brady played this season with both an elbow injury and a foot injury. Please, save it, will ya? The “average” NHL player plays through everything from broken bones to lacerated arteries and bullet wounds to lost limbs. Brady played “hurt?” Please! 

Save the Spinners!!!! 

Capital punishment, just say “yes!” 27 year-old Trevor Rowe of Texas picked up his girlfriend’s 10-month old daughter from her mother’s home, crammer her into a backpack and left her on the front passenger floorboard while he went to work. During his lunchbreak he found her “lightly crying but breathing”, put her back into the backpack, placed her in the trunk and went back to work. He didn’t return until 5 p.m. and found she had stopped breathing. She died and he was arrested for capital murder. 

The Celtics’ Kemba Walker was given a technical foul Wednesday night for using profanity towards a referee in response to a call he disagreed with. He continued to use profanity and, per rule, was ejected. Said Walker “I mean, it’s the first time I’ve been ejected in my whole life. I am a two-time sportsmanship award winner as well. So maybe I should get a little leeway.” – And there you have it. Today’s professional athlete, above and beyond the rest. 

Marcus Smart, as I’ve said in the past, is a true “gamer.” But Marcus, don’t push your offense. Play your shutdown defense and let your offense come to you. You ain’t that good pushing the ball up the court. 

Borden Dairy Co. filed for bankruptcy, becoming the second major U.S. milk seller to do so in two months as competitive pressures, declining consumption and falling profits made its debt load unsustainable. A boom on dairy alternatives like soy, rice and nut milk, along with prices for raw milk have put the squeeze on Borden and others. 

Useless information supposed to fire my imagination: 2020 American League rankings: Red Sox out of playoff picture 

In more than 6,500 episodes of Wheel of Fortune, Vanna White has never worn the same the same gown twice. 

If Julian Edelman doesn’t one day suffer from the effects of CTE, I will be shocked. The guy can take a hit and he takes many. 

Definition of “pizza” | verb – As in, “no one out pizzas the hut.” 

The #1 UConn women’s hoop team had their 98-game home winning streak snapped last night by #6 Baylor. 

Are Ford pickups falling behind? First, GMC comes out with the new-age tailgate, then Chevy unveils the camera that sees “through” the trailer. What has the F-150 introduced lately? Still, the F-150 is the leading seller of pickups in America. 

People often stop me in the streets and ask; “Ed, what ever happened to Ryan Westmoreland?” OK, no one has ever asked me that but Westmoreland, the #1 prospect of the Red Sox and 21^st-ranked player in all of minor league baseball just 10 years ago, then had a five-hour operation to remove a cavernous malformation on his brain stem. Now, 10 years later, Ryan will be back on the field as an assistant coach on Bob Prince’s staff at UMass Dartmouth. Good for him, the twice-named NH Gatorade Player of the Year at Portsmouth High School. 

R.I.P. Buck Henry (89) – Noted Hollywood screenwriter was co-creator (with Mel Brooks) of “Get Smart”, wrote “The Graduate” and hosted SNL several times. Speaking of Get Smart – the “shoe phone” and “cone of silence” – just two examples of pure genius! 

Trivia #1 answer: What is taphophobia? – The fear of being mistaken for dead and then sealed in a coffin and buried in a grave. (You knew that, right?)

Trivia #2 answer: In the Super Bowl era, a top 2 offense has faced a top 2 defense seven times in playoff games. Who is the only top-two offense to win such a game? – The San Francisco 49ers over the Dallas Cowboys in the 1994 NFC Championship.

“In the shuffling madness
Of the locomotive breath
Runs the all-time loser
Headlong to his death

Oh, he feels the piston scraping
Steam breaking on his brow
Old Charlie stole the handle
And the train – it won’t stop going
No way to slow down”

– Jethro Tull