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The Daily Dose/September 3, 2010
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
Notes from around the Human Experience...
WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON HERE?: Earlier this week President Obama announced that combat operations in Iraq have ceased.
Well, no they haven't. There are still 50,000 troops in Iraq and they aren't there to pave tennis courts or dig swimming pools. They may not be there to seek and destroy the enemy, but we feel if you have 50,000 troops in a foreign country, you can classify that as a combat operation.
Can Someone Please Talk Straight With Us…Pretty Please: Sigh. We went through this in the Bush Administration in 2003 when Bush stood on the deck of an aircraft carrier and announced the war in Iraq was over.
Since that declaration of victory, over 4,000 troops have celebrated peace in Iraq by being killed.
HUT, HUT HIKE: This nation's 141st college football season began Thursday night. And, as usual, our fave story line is that for the 141st consecutive season there will not be a playoff to determine a national champion.
Well, Let's Be Fair Here: College football actually predates the NCAA, which wasn't formed until 1905, primarily to regulate football, which was racking up an astounding number of deaths and serious injuries.
FunFact: The NCAA didn't bother to hold its first national championship until the 1921, in track and field.
Historical Context: Nobody was getting too worked up over a football playoff after the 1921 season, either. The entire post-season consisted of three games. Cal and Washington and Jefferson played to a scoreless in the Rose Bowl and Centre College completely whored themselves out, defeating Arizona in the San Diego East-West Christmas Classic before heading to Dallas and losing to Texas A&M defeated 22-14 in the Dixie Classic.
Back To The Future: Times change though, and anyone who thinks an NCAA-sponsored playoff would not instantly become an American classic is high. Sure, there would be some whining about the passing of the bowl system but we'd get over it.
Dry, Gregorian Calendar Matter: The way the calendar works out this year, the NCAA could begin a 32-team football playoff on December 4 and have the championship game played on New Year's Day, which is on a Saturday in 2011.
Wow, Isn't 32 Teams A Lot? No, not really, the NCAA Division III football playoff, played by kids who are not on scholarship and are real, actual students, has 32 teams. There is really no argument against a playoff, except maintaining the status quo.
And what are they protecting? SEC and Big Ten schools each received $1.85 million from the BCS last year. Pac-10, ACC, Big East and Big XII schools each received slightly less, because their conferences only had one BCS team.
Numbers Game: When you consider the biggest college athletic department budgets now top $120 million a year, we find ourselves wondering why BCS schools are circling the wagons for what is, relatively speaking, a pittance.
FunFact: College football was first played in this country on November 6, 1869 when Rutgers defeated visiting Princeton 6-4. A week later Princeton got revenge, winning 8-0. Despite the fact these were the only two games played all season, the BCS selects Notre Dame and Alabama to play in the BCS title game.
USA! USA! The American Revolution comes to an end on this date in 1783 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. Representing the United States are John Adams, Benjamin Franklin and John Jay. British Member of Parliament David Hartley, styled His Britannic Majesty's Minister Plenipotentiary for the occasion, so he could sign a piece of paper admitting defeat, represented King George III.
The Wretchedness Of Slavery And The Blessedness of Freedom: Frederick Douglass, then a slave, begins his trek to freedom on this date in 1838. Speaking from a purely logistical standpoint, it wasn't all that difficult. Using identity papers given to him by a free, black sailor, Douglass, fleeing from Baltimore, crossed to Delaware before proceeding to Philadelphia and then New York City. The journey took less than 24 hours. Douglass was about 20 at the time, and this was his third escape attempt.
But all that came out later. In his book Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, (1845) Douglass only says that:
…on the third day of September, 1838, I left my chains and succeeded in reaching New York without the slightest interruption of any kind.
Well, Okay: Douglass said this sparse account was necessary because he did not want to cause trouble for those who helped him and he did not want to give slaveholders a tool with which to thwart other slaves from escaping.
More Great Moments In Race Relations: Auschwitz Deputy Camp Commander Karl Fritzsch begins killing Soviet POW's with a new type of gas, Zyklon B, on this date in 1941. The initial test lasts about 20 hours and about 600 Soviet POW's and 250 sick Polish prisoners are killed. Zyklon B would eventually be used to kill over one million Jews.
The Nazi's were very pleased with the results. One supervising doctor remarked:
Shouting and screaming of the victims could be heard through the opening and it was clear that they fought for their lives.
Not So FunFact: Fritzsch was also famous for selecting random prisoners to be starved to death after an escape. Over the holidays he enjoyed having a tree decorated and then putting dead Jews under it. Mankind was deprive of seeing Fritzsch tried and executed for his rottenness and his ultimate fate is unknown. Some sources claim he died at the Battle of Berlin, while the Soviets he claim he was captured by the British in Norway.
Thought For The Day: I would at times feel that learning to read had been a curse rather than a blessing. It had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eye to the horrible pit, but no ladder upon which to get out. In moments of agony, I envied my fellow-slaves for their stupidity. - Frederick Douglass, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: President George Washington's first choice for Secretary of the Treasury was noted financier Robert Morris, who declined the position.
Today's Stumper: Who taught Frederick Douglass to read? - Answer next time!
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