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The Daily Dose/November 20, 2007
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
   
More notes from around the human experience, as we get the latest from Pakistan, where General Pervez Musharraf finally gets the ruling he wants from the Supreme Court, On This Date visits the very beginnings of the Tour De France and the colonies, plus real college football playoffs. The Column Four Foto is perennial fave, and birthday girl, Bo Derek.
REAL. LIVE. DICTATORSHIP.: Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf is sending some very nice mixed signals this week. On Monday, the Supreme Court he packed with supporters - and this was not the upset of the year - dismissed petitions that claimed Musharraf's reelection in October was invalid. This was not a surprise because Musharraf's declared emergency rule Nov. 3 more or less to dismiss the then-sitting Supreme Court, which was showing signs of having the nerve to rule against him.
OTOH: The Musharraf regime has also released about 3,500 opponents - mainly dreary lawyers and other whining malcontents - that had been jailed since the crackdown. A government spokesman said the remaining prisoners - about 2,000 - would be released as well, except for those who actually faced real, criminal charges.
Still Though: Police Monday detained about 175 journalists who had the nerve to protest emergency rule in separate protests around Pakistan.
On The Bright Side...Maybe: Optimists insist the Supreme Court's ruling will allow Musharraf to step down as commander of the army and serve solely as civilian president, though there is very little precedent for dictators to relinquish control of their army and renounce their dictatorial powers for mere civilian rule.
ON THIS DATE: In 1902, two French journalists, while discussing ways to drum up interest in their newspaper over lunch at a Paris cafe, come up with the idea for the Tour de France. The first Tour was held the following summer, from July 1-19. It consisted of six stages and France's Maurice Garin was the winner, earning 3000 francs. Garin would later have his title stripped after being found guilty of doping. We're kidding, but doping has always been a part of the Tour, though in those early years it mainly consisted of riders using booze or ether to dull the pain, instead of trying to enhance their performance.
In 1620: Peregrine White was born on the Mayflower in Massachusetts Bay, the first child of English parents born in New England. White's father would die shortly after landing, and his mom soon remarried, resulting in the first wedding in New England. White would eventually settle in Marshfield, Massachusetts and live to be 83-years-old.
WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON HERE? Like those bugs that scurry around when you open a manhole cover, 48 colleges actually played in real, live NCAA-sponsored football playoffs this past weekend as the Division II and Division III got underway. The I-AA tournament begins this weekend. The presidents and chancellors and athletic directors of the big schools would tell you that college football playoffs would never work but here we have evidence to the contrary, as three NCAA divisions hold real, championship playoffs, while its biggest division lets computers and humans vote - vote! - on who will play for a championship that isn't even sponsored by the NCAA!
Real. Live. Playoffs: In Division III, two time defending national champion Mount Union won their 34th straight game, opening with a relatively difficult 42-18 win over Ithaca, itself winners of three national championships from 1979-93.
Ten-Hut!: The Purple Raiders are probably doing extra wind sprints at practice because
Ithaca's first quarter touchdown was the first points allowed by Mount Union since late September. They were also the first first quarter points allowed this year, the first touchdown surrendered by the first team defense and was the first time the Purple Raiders trailed this year.
FunFact: We're not much on adjetives here at the Writer's Shack, prefering to let you draw your own conclusions, but since 1990 Mount Union is 220-10-1, a winning percentage of .953., which we are going to go out on a limb and proclaim 'astounding'.
Games Of The Day: Two games were decided in the last second, too, and we don't mean boring field goals, either. North Central got a 19-yard touchdown pass on the last play of the game to pull out a 44-42 win over Franklin. The pass culminated a 65-yard drive over the last 1:07 of the game.
Live From Cleveland: Case Western got a seven-yard touchdown pass with two seconds remaining to beat Widener 21-20.
There was even an overtime thriller, as North Carolina Wesleyan defeated regional top seed Washington and Jefferson, denying the Presidents two point conversion in OT.
FunFact: The two participants in the Dec. 15 Amos Alonzo Stagg Bowl, D-III's national championship game, will have played in five playoff games, half their regular season. While big colleges say they can't have a playoff because it would interfere with their treasured student-athletes' study time, it's easy for D-III athletes to keep up with their studies because D-III schools are smaller and therefore not as academically rigorous as the schools with big-time college football programs.
The Sort Of Big Boys: The 16-team I-AA playoffs begin Friday. Actually, they are officially known - and we are not making this up - as the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs, since the NCAA, for reasons we're sure they thought good - changed the names of the two major divisions to - and, again, we are not making this up - Football Bowl Subdivision and Football Championship Subdivision.
You Got To Be Kidding Me: No, we are not. We have no idea what was wrong with Division I-A and I-AA. Official Writer's Shack policy is to ignore this silly change, and we still use the I-A and I-AA designations.
The Leader Board: Anyway, two-time defending national champion Appalachian State, who got this clustermess of a college football season started by beating Michigan, opens at home against James Madison, while top seed Northern Iowa hosts New Hampshire.
Dry, Technical Matter: Like you, we are hoping for a rematch of last years NAIA national championship game where the USF Cougars defeated the USF Cougars 23-19. On Saturday, USF opened with a 35-7 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State, while USF defeated Lindenwood 35-14.
What The Hell's Going On Here, Dammit?: The first USF is the University of Sioux Falls, while the second USF is the University of St. Francis.
Can We Cram Even More Obscure, Lower Level College Football Tidbits Into Today's Column? We're Just Curious: No, that's enough for today. Go in peace, serve the Writer's Shack.
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