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The Daily Dose
By Gaylon Kent
The Writer's Shack
Notes from around the Human Experience...Pics will return!
HUT HUT HIKE: Our blurb Thursday about January 15 being the anniversary of the first Super Bowl got us thinking about how this year's Super Bowl is on February 1 and how that seems like a long time for the NFL season to be extended.
Yeah, This Is A Bulletin: This will surprise you, but we were wrong! It's only 17 days, which really isn't all that long, especially, as some further research showed, when compared to other sports. In fact, of the four major leagues, it's the shortest a season has been extended from 1967 through today.
Play Ball: The baseball season might seem to be dragging on interminably, but it's actually in second place on the season-lengthening list, with a mere 23 days passing between the date the 1967 World Series ended, October 12, and the date Game 7 of this year's World Series is scheduled, November 5.
This actually isn't too bad, if you ask us, because baseball has tripled the number of playoff series it has. In 1967 the World Series was it; there were no other playoffs because the first place teams in the National and American leagues went straight to the World Series because the League Championship Series' wouldn't begin until 1969, when the leagues split into two divisions. Now, of course, there are three divisions and the best second place team in each league makes the Divisional Series.
He Shoots, He Scores: The NHL is came in third. In 1966-67, teams played 70 regular season games and the playoffs had two rounds, two best-of-seven semifinals and the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Final, which ended on May 2, 1967. The dates for the this season's Stanley Cup Finals aren't set yet, but last season's ended on June 4, making the season 33 days longer.
Dry, Cold, Technical Matter: The 1966-67 season is fondly recalled because it was both the NHL's 50th season, plus the last with only six teams. The next year the NHL would add teams in Philadelphia, Minnesota and Pittsburgh, which seemed logical enough, and would put two teams in California, including one in San Francisco which did nobody any good and isn't even in the league anymore, having moved to Cleveland before merging with Minnesota, which has since moved to that hockey hotbed known as Dallas.
Uh, Yeah, Whatever: They also put a team in St. Louis despite the fact no one in St. Louis had applied for a team, but the Chicago owner wanted a team in St. Louis because he owned the St. Louis arena and wanted to sell it to the new team. No team was placed in Canada, probably because their fans aren't as passionate about hockey as the fans in Los Angeles and San Francisco are.
And The Winner Is: The champion in season-lengthening - and it isn't even close - is the NBA. Good gravy, their season was almost two months longer last year than in 1966-67.
This is kind of surprising, because they play almost the same number of regular season games, 81 in 1966-87 and 82 last year. And the NBA has added just one more round of playoffs over the years. In 1966-67 eight teams (out of ten) made the playoffs, and now 16 teams make the NBA playoffs.
In 1967 there were three rounds of playoffs, best-of-five conference semifinals, and best-of-seven conference finals and NBA Finals. And they still got done before May, finishing on April 24.
That Was Now, This Was Then: Last year 16 teams made the playoffs and every series is now best-of-seven and some these series take two weeks to complete, meaning that last year the NBA season, which didn't end until June 17, was a whopping 54 days longer than the 1966-67 NBA season.
The Reader's Shack: We get letters here at the Writer's Shack. This missive came from Steve P., of Green Bay, Wisconsin. Steve took time out from digging his house out from the snow to a tidbit to our item about the Pentagon we ran on January 15.
Just a little info on the 284 bathrooms in the Pentagon. The number of bathrooms built was about twice as many for a building of that size. Why? When it was built, Virginia law stated separate bathrooms for "coloreds" and "whites". Unbelievable but true!
How Did We Miss This: Research for this column is not insignificant (it is also rather enjoyable) and we didn't come across that tidbit and we looked at more than official government propaganda on the matter, but given the time and the place - and the fact we did not look up Virginia building codes from the period - it is not a complete stretch to presume Steve's right.
What Do We Have For The Peanut Gallery, Johnnie? For having his email used in an actual Daily Dose column, Steve will receive an autographed copy of my book Backstairs At The Monte Carlo: A Vegas Memoir. As soon as he sends us a mailing address. Preferably his. Steve also has control of the board and will receive 500 bonus points.
I DO SOLEMNLY SWEAR…TO GO COMPLETELY CRACKERS: Ivan the Terrible was crowned Czar of Russia on this date in 1547. The first couple of decades or so went fairly well for Ivan, but would later grow unstable and preside over famines and massacres. In 1781 he beat his pregnant daughter-in-law for wearing immodest clothing and when his son objected he beat him, too, a beating which killed him. He would die in 1584, likely poisoned by an advisor for trying to rape his sister.
This Should Solve All Our Problems: The manufacture, sale and transportation of liquor was made illegal in the US on this date in 1920 when the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution took effect, one year after being ratified. It would be repealed in December, 1933.
The Eighteenth Amendment was a complete success. Nobody took or even a wanted a drink in the US after this date. The amendment was only repealed in anticipation of the end of World War II, when thirsty dad's would want a drink before dinner and so their wives could get sloshed while they were gone.
Thought For The Day: One must wait until the evening to see how splendid the day has been.- Sophocles
Answer To The Last Trivia Question: The previous trivia question is withdrawn. We're getting a variety of answers from various sources.
Today's Stumper: Hanging our heads in shame, we are not offering a trivia question today.
Comments? Recipes? Complaints? Email the Writer's Shack here!
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