"Anyone
got the point spread
on the Celtics-Heat game?"
A new week brings challenges, among them, the temptation to
not take a day off and reuse old material here at The Spark. So imagine our
chagrin upon seeing that this is America Recycles Day, when we're all supposed to get the most out of what we
already have or get rid of what we have in the most Earth-friendly way. Of
course, seeing as how it's also National Clean Out Your
Refrigerator Day, the latter may be pretty easy.
(This onion may be able to walk to the recycling bin on its own.)
Not satisfied with helping the Earth, the powers that decide on holidays have
declared Monday National Philanthropy Day, whereupon we're not only supposed to congratulate those
who selflessly help others, but are encouraged to do likewise.
It's hard to argue with that sentiment, but if anyone could,
it’d probably be Samuel Clemens,
aka Mark Twain, whose autobiography
will be officially published today (even though it's been in the stores for a
week or so already), 100 years after his passing.
From all accounts, it’s full of interesting stories and observations, along with
Twain’s trademark cynicism.
One thing we're pretty sure Mr. Clemens did not write about was basketball.
Even though the game was invented by James Naismith in 1891 (some 19 years before Clemens's death), there are no
reports he ever attended a game – and he certainly didn't watch any on television,
as you can do tonight, when ESPN
kicks off the college basketball season (perhaps "tosses up the tipoff" is more apropos
here) with a 24-hour College Hoops Marathon, beginning Monday night/Tuesday morning with Miami at Memphis at midnight, ET.
The beginning of the basketball season isn't the only sporting event of the
week. Baseball will hand out its most prestigious awards this week and next, starting today with the presentation of
the two Rookie of the Year Awards - one for each league. This trophy is named after Brooklyn Dodgers infielder Jackie Robinson, who, in 1947, became the first African-American to crack Major League Baseball's color barrier, winning his own Rookie of the Year award
that same year.
The awards don't end there, though. On Wednesday, the National League's Cy Young Award winner will be announced tomorrow, with the American League version following on Thursday. This award is named after Denton True
"Cy" Young, who over 22 seasons
(from 1890-1911) won 511 games – almost 100 ahead of the closest competitor (Walter Johnson, who retired in 1927). The nearest anyone has come to that
total in even the last 80 years was Warren Spahn, who chalked up a "mere" 363 wins.
Suggested Sites...
- 7 Tips to Recycle Better - step one: don't keep buying things you already own.
- How to Clean Your Refrigerator - no more science experiments!
- James Naismith's 13 Original Rules of Basketball - let's see the NBA play one quarter with these.
- Jackie Robinson Breaks the Color Barrier - April 15, 1947. The day that changed America.
- Baseball-Reference: Cy Young - the career of the Pride of Gilmore, Ohio.
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