Robservations: Useless facts to help you pass the time
What are sports, at their most basic essence? Just a way to pass the time.
Sure, you get exercise, you get social skills, you get the thrill of victory and agony of defeat, etc., etc. But no matter what the sport, whether you’re competing or spectating, you are guaranteed a pastime, if nothing else.
And what are sports columns, at their most basic essence? Again, just another way to pass the time.
Whether it takes you three minutes to read these 16 inches, (or in the case of some of my friends, maybe a half-hour), it’s a hopefully pleasant diversion; something to take your mind off of house payments, office politics, court battles — you name it.
With all that in mind, this week’s dose of random Robservations has no real agenda. There are no venomous diatribes, no back-patting praises, no hard-edged opinion of any sort.
It’s just a few paragraphs to distract you for a while, and maybe even entertain — or educate — you along the way.
How do I intend to do that, you ask? Simple — useless sports trivia.
So just to pass the time, here’s a list of totally useless sports facts. Feel free to use them as conversation starters, or just blurt them out so all your friends know what a truly sad, pathetic geek you are.
— The silouhette on the NBA logo is modeled after Laker player and coach and current Memphis Grizzlies president Jerry West.
— The silhouette on the Major League Baseball logo is modeled after Harmon Killebrew.
— Seven Olympic gold medal-winning boxers went on to eventually win the heavyweight championship of the world.
— Baseball legend Connie Mack’s real name was Cornelius McGilicuddy. His nickname was “The Tall Tactician.” (Back in the early 1900’s, they weren’t as hip when giving out the nicknames, I guess. Of course nowadays, he’d just be “C-Mack.”)
— A forfeit in baseball is recorded as a 9-0 score. In football, it is recorded as 1-0.
— Cal Hubbard has the distinction of being the only person elected to both the NFL and MLB Halls of Fame. Also a member of the college football HOF, Hubbard was a nine-year NFL lineman, who went on to a stellar career as a major league umpire.
— Since the beginning of the modern Olympic Games, only two countries have competed every time they were held: Greece and Australia.
— NASCAR proudly claims that its roots come from the tradition of southern “moonshine” runners. The last NASCAR driver to actually serve jail time for running “shine” was Buddy Arrington. He was also the last driver to compete in a Chrysler.
— In 1986, Danny Heep of the New York Mets became the first player in a World Series to be in the lineup at “DH” (designated hitter), and have the initials “D.H.”
— In the four professional major North American sports (baseball, basketball, football and hockey), there are only seven teams whose nicknames do not end with an “s.” These teams are the Miami Heat, the Utah Jazz, the Orlando Magic, the Boston Red Sox, the Chicago White Sox, the Colorado Avalanche, and the Tampa Bay Lightning.
There. Those didn’t make you think much at all, did they? And they got you through a few minutes of your Friday.