Saturday night’s victory by the University of Southern California over Washington State by a score of 27-6 undershot the Vegas point spread by 21 points, which had USC faored by 42 points. When playing a PAC-10 opponent, USC is now the safest bet in Vegas. I can’t recall the last time USC covered the spread in its own conference or against unranked outside opponents. In fact, this year I don’t think my alma mater has covered the spread against any team.
You’ve heard, no doubt, or "moral victories." Last night’s USC victory can only be dubbed a "moral defeat." It was painful to watch.
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It’s been a while, admittedly, since I ventured back here to craft another aphorism, but here goes:
"In the United States, it’s not just that the battle is not always to the swift, or even that time and chance happeneth to us all, but that bullies, jerks and the obnoxious always rise to the top of the hard-working Average Janes and Joes. And then they take credit for their hard work!"
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Now that the Los Angeles Angels have done ’80s and ’70s nights at the ballpark, I have a proposal for a 2000s Night, to wit:
Everyone could show up with bounced checks stapled to their t-shirts with the words "Insufficient Funds" temporarily tattooed on their foreheads.
Alternately, everyone could show up with their waterboards and do a demo during the seventh-inning stretch.
I’m sure there are some more appropriate costumes and approaches. Stay tuned.
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It’s been a while since this event took place, but I found it touching and moving (and had technical difficulty with the videos in between). The minor league baseball team Orange County Flyers, which has ties to Cal State Fullerton where it plays its home games, went out of its way to honor Fullerton alum and baseball player Jon Wilhite.
Jon was the sole survivor of the April 9 automobile accident that took the lives of Los Angeles Angels rookie pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others. Jon suffered what’s called an internal decapitation–his spine was severed below the head.
Amazingly, the staff at UC Irvine Medical Center were able to fuse his spine so he can now walk among the living.
Jon was there this night with his family, his surgeon, the first responders who saved him, the families of the other local victims (except the Adenharts), the Flyers and the opposing Calgary team–and of course, adoring fans.
It turns out that Phil Nevin, Flyers manager and CSU Fullerton alum (and Fullerton native), had spent time visiting the recovering Wilhite and his family in the hospital.
It was a touching ceremony. When, after the National Anthem had been sung, the stadium sang in unison Take Me Out to the Ballpark in honor of the fallen Angels, Wilhite sobbed, and so did I–and many others.
Here Jon (in white shirt with sunglasses on chest) chats with his surgeon before the ceremony:
Here’s the pregame ceremony during which Jon’s father spoke and thanked everyone:
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Still I’ve utterly failed to connect Benjamin Franklin’s aphorisms from Poor Richard’s Almanack to any human conduct in modern American society or government (especially in light of the recent spectacle of rampant greed from coast to coast–sorry, not just Wall Street, but Main Street and Gov Street as well), I’ve decided to come up with my own aphorisms. Here’s my first, a variation on "rules are made to be broken":
Rules are made to be flouted with impunity by those who think they’re too good for them–and to torment the rest of us into sheepdom.
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Seriously, drugs can ruin you, and I mean the legitimate kind–the ones prescribed by your doctor.
About two weeks ago, I started sensing a numbness and then a weakness in my legs. I rationialized it all to a side-effect from developing a severe backache after peeling potatoes (go figure, but I think I mused about this over at my other blog, Le Food News). However, things got worse to the point where I often felt I would collapse to the ground and not be able to get myself up.
Then I chanced upon an ESPN segment about the 70th anniversary of his July Fourth speech in which Lou Gehrig proclaimed himself "the luckiest man on earth." As the program then tracked his deterioration into death at 37 from ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), I could see the same symptoms in my muscular degeneration To say the least, I was scared to death.
Fortunately, a voice inside me took me back to the day that my cardiologist (who treats me for my family history of arrythmia) told me I should start taking Lipitor to reduce a "risk factor." Of course, my LDL was perfectly normal at the time, but he told me he himself took 10 mg a day, so I figured, "Ok, I’ll give it a try." My LDL went from about 90 to 48 (at which point he told me it was "too low"). But now ,a year later, my voice inside reminded me that he also had warned that the drug could have side effects on the liver and might produce "weakness in the legs."
Might? Wow, I thought I was on death’s doorstep, so I immediately–without consulting any doctor–stopped taking Lipitor. It’s been three days, and my legs seem improved but still somewhat numb in my right thigh.
I went online and found various forums in which people compared Lipitor to having ALS. One man even said his legs and muscles remained weak after quitting the drug for six months, though I think he was taking a much higher dose at 80 mg. I also saw that many sites recommended taking something called CoQ10, a coenzyme (whatever that is) that Lipitor seems to destroy. I immediately ordered a two-month supply.
Folks, I can only conclude that the best heatlh care reform is to watch carefully what you do and what you ingest. I was looking Lou Gehrig’s fate in the face and then realized that my doctor had steered me down that path. From now on, I’ll do my research in advance.
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If this be the future, it’s time for me to check out of Planet Earth.
An airline in China will now begin selling standing-room-only seats.
You heard that right–standing room only, but with a catch. You will get a safety belt fastened around your waist, a minor concession over subway and bus travel.
Great, so no one can use the aisles to go to the bathroom? On the plus side, I guess it would prevent terrorists from getting to the cabin.
With this "innovation," China’s Spring Airlines will now become Coffin Airlines.
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"Get Small!" "Go Green!" "Lose Billions of Taxpayer Dollars!"
Also spract Obamathustra.
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The Orlando Magic have now featured seven-year-old Gina Marie Incandela four times singing the National Anthem, and four times they’ve won.
Remarkable since Gina was born with autism and couldn’t even pronounce words. Her parents enrolled her in the University of Central Florida, where speech therapists used music to coach her into speaking. It worded magic (there’s that word again), and especially so after she heard Leanne Rimes sing "The Star Spangled Banner." She copied that recording, learned it by heart, and you can now hear the results in this video:
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