Game On!

With college football season bringing out the fans, cookouts and the posturing that goes hand-in-hand with bragging rights, we have compiled a few interesting facts to get you through those commercial interruptions and half-time breaks.

¨ The Oklahoma Sooners hold the record for the longest winning streak in college football. The streak lasted 47 games, from 1954 until 1957.

¨ College football fields were originally 120 yards long and 100 yards wide.

¨ The most popular names for four-year college mascots are Eagles and Tigers.

¨ The white stripes on a college football are designed to help the receiver see the ball better.

¨ According to studies, it is estimated that 30% of tailgaters never make it inside the stadium.

¨ The longest field goal in college football was a 69-yarder by Ove Johansson of Abilene Christian in 1976.

¨ Goal posts were moved to the rear of the end zone in 1927. Before that, numerous injuries occurred when players would accidentally run into them.

¨ The record for most consecutive games without being shutout belongs to BYU (361 games over 28 years).

¨ In 1895, the North Carolina Tar Heels became the first college team to utilize the forward pass.

¨ Miami Hurricane quarterback Vinny Testaverde became the first (and only) player to win the Heisman, the Maxwell, the O’Brien and be selected first overall in the NFL Draft (1987).

¨ Michigan cornerback Charles Woodson was the first Heisman Trophy winner not to play an offensive position. The award, handed out since 1935, did not go to a defensive player until Woodson won it in 1997.

¨ The first college football game took place in 1869 between Princeton and Rutgers University. Each team had 25 players on the field, and no forward passing was allowed. Rutgers won by a score of 6 to 4.

¨ The oldest football still in existence, which is thought to have been made circa 1550, was discovered in the roof of Stirling Castle, Scotland, in 1981. The ball is made of leather (possibly from a deer) and a pig's bladder.

America's Dumbest Criminals

Palm Beach, FL - Frank Singleton, a 21-year-old resident of Palm Beach, had just been released from jail after he finished his sentence for a trespassing charge. Right after he was released, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office stated that, “He was no further than the jail’s visitor parking lot when he attempted to carjack a 2006 Nissan 250z.” The vehicle’s driver had just parked in the visitor parking lot. That’s when Singleton ran towards her and told her to, “Get out of the way,” then pushed her aside and got inside the car. However, he could not escape, since the car had a manual transmission which Singleton could not operate.

Livingston County, MI - Heather Quigley showed up at the jail with a document ordering the release of her husband. He did get released (when the time was right), but Heather is now being held. It seems she didn't do a very professional job of forging the release document and so was charged with attempting to effect an escape.

Pennsylvania, PA - Christopher Allen Koch, aged 28 from Pennsylvania, decided to rob a bank. He arrived at the bank around 11:40 am and sat in his car in the parking lot of the bank for 20 minutes. The robber didn’t read the opening or closing hours of the bank and was not aware that it closed at noon. He was surprised when he tried to enter at 12:01 pm while wearing his ski mask, gloves and holding a gun. The bank employees spotted Koch and wrote down his license plate number, which was enough for the police to find him. Koch was later charged with an attempted robbery and possessing instruments of a crime.

Tuscon, AZ – 56-year-old Leighton Deming and 42-year-old Thomas Marciano tried to sell a headdress, which they claimed had been worn by Geronimo, over the internet. Their ad included the wording "only serious candidates must respond because it is illegal to sell eagle feathers in the United States." Apparently the FBI was a serious candidate...

El Paso, TX – The Times reported the arrest of 47-year-old Dale Smith, who became violent in a bar, even brandishing a pistol. The hand holding the gun was attached to his, well, prosthetic arm. It-the arm-fell off.

Fort Worth, TX – Reuters News Service reported that a 17-year-old held up a Taco Bell in Ft. Worth and then ordered a chalupa. The police were there before his order was, and his waving a toy gun at the officers bought him a shot in the arm and in the leg.

Stories of Christmas Past

The Mail Train’s Gift: A Life-Changing Message

My mother told me this story from World War I many years ago. Christmas 1917 was coming, but because her brother Archie Clikeman was missing in action and presumed dead, the family was not going to celebrate.

The townspeople of Parker, South Dakota, always joked that the small-town postmaster read all the postcards whenever the mail train came into town. On that Christmas Eve, he lived up to his reputation.

The family was always grateful that the postmaster, instead of waiting for the rural mail to go out the day after Christmas, called my grandmother and told her that Archie was being held as a prisoner of war. Archie even wrote on the postcard that he was well.

Of course, my mother said, that turned out to be the best Christmas ever. Archie came home after the war and lived to a ripe old age.
—Kay Johnson, Parker, South Dakota

Fate Threw a Tree at Us

During the hustle and bustle of Christmastime 1958, we told our children, ages 3 and 4, about the beautiful Christmas tree we would have in a few days. On Christmas Eve, at the bakery we had recently purchased, we counted the receipts, cleaned the shop and headed for home with our two sleepy children.

Suddenly, we remembered we had not gotten a tree. We looked for a vendor who might have a tree left, to no avail.

About a mile from home, we stopped for a red light. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew, and something hit the front of our truck. My husband went out to investigate.

The next thing I knew, my husband was throwing a good-sized evergreen into the back of the truck. He went into the mom-and-pop store at the corner where we were and asked the proprietor how much he wanted for the tree. He said he wasn’t selling Christmas trees that year.

We never did find out how the tree got in the middle of the road, but somehow we feel we know. Incidentally, it was the most beautiful tree we have ever had.
—Gertrude Albert, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Our Pennies Made All the Difference

Many years ago, when I was making 75 cents an hour, my three children asked for bicycles for Christmas, but I couldn’t afford them.

So that January, I put three bikes on layaway. I paid all through the year, but a week before Christmas, I still owed $14.50. The Saturday before Christmas, my son Ricky asked how much I needed. When I told him, he asked if he could pour the pennies out of the penny jug we kept.

I said, “Son, I don’t care, but I know there’s not $14.50 worth of pennies in there.”

Ricky poured them out, counted them, and said, “Mom, there’s $15.50 worth of pennies.” Ecstatic, I told him to count out $1 for gas so I could go get the bikes.

I’ve always thought of this as our little miracle. It was as blessed a Christmas as anyone could ever have.
—Dot Williams, Canton, Georgia

2017 Total Solar Eclipse

By:  Ashley Hollifield

We have all heard about, if not watched, the Great American Solar Eclipse that happened recently. This eclipse traveled from Oregon through South Carolina in a 70 mile wide band spread exclusively across the United States for the first time in 99 years. This is a super cool thing to watch now because we know what is happening. However, historically people have been really superstitious about this natural phenomenon, and have come up with some very interesting ways to describe what they thought was happening.

In Vietnam, people believed that a solar eclipse was caused by a giant frog devouring the sun, while Norse cultures blamed wolves for eating the sun.

In ancient China, a celestial dragon was thought to lunch on the sun, causing a solar eclipse. In fact the Chinese word for eclipse, chih or shih, means to eat.

According to Hindu mythology, the deity Rahu is beheaded by the gods for capturing and drinking Amrita, the gods’ nectar. Rahu’s head flies off into the sky and swallows the sun causing an eclipse.

Traditionally, people in many cultures get together and bang pots and pans together to scare away the demons that are causing the eclipse.

Many people believe that solar eclipses are unsafe for pregnant women and their unborn children and are asked to stay indoors during the event. (There is no scientific evidence behind this theory!!)

In many parts of India it is believed that people must fast during an eclipse because any food cooked or prepared during one, will be unclean or impure.

On a more positive note…

The Batammaliba, who live in Benin and Togo, used a solar eclipse as a teaching moment. According to their legends, an eclipse of the sun meant that the sun and moon were fighting and the only way to stop them from hurting each other was for people on earth to resolve all conflict with each other.

And Finally, People in India believe that flowers planted during a solar eclipse are brighter and more colorful than flowers planted at any other time of the year.

If you had no knowledge of what was happening, what would be your best description to someone else of what was actually going on?

Whatever you believe, I hope that everyone enjoyed The Great American Solar Eclipse.. I know I sure did!

America's Dumbest Criminals

RIDGECREST, CA — An alleged burglar in California whose luck ran out when he got stuck inside a home’s chimney has been arrested.

Officers from the Ridgecrest Police Department were initially dispatched to a home Sunday after reports of a triggered burglary alarm.

A few minutes later, police got another call — this time from a woman who claimed that her friend was trapped in a chimney at the same address.

When officers arrived, they discovered Keith Schultz, 28, wedged in the chimney. 

Schultz, who was covered in soot in his mug shot, was eventually rescued from the chimney by firefighters. He was taken to Bakersfield jail and charged with burglary.

MESA, AZ — In Mesa, Arizona, a home break-in was foiled when the burglar jumped through the bedroom window—and got trapped in a clothes hamper. Cops took it from there. (That definitely wasn't the kind of clean getaway he had planned.)

ANCHORAGE, AK — Police in Anchorage, Alaska, spent at least some of August searching for a man in a “fairly realistic” bear costume who was caught harassing several actual bears in the Chilkoot River. “This is not the first time we’ve encountered a man in a bear suit,” Fish and Game spokeswoman Megan Peters told the Associated Press, though the experience apparently did not help them make an arrest.

FRESNO, CA — Recently, a woman in Fresno, California, was stopped at a DUI checkpoint for being soused. Ever helpful, she offered up this info: “My husband’s right behind me, and he’s even drunker than I am.”

VERO BEACH, FL — Rempe, 24, drove his 2002 Toyota through the front door of Indian River County Jail’s Building C. That didn’t work, so he backed out and then tried to go through the fence. That also didn’t work, so he tried to climb the fence, where he got stuck on the razor wire. What was Rempe trying to accomplish? He told police he wanted to visit friends who were currently incarcerated, a decision he’d reached after getting high on “flakka,” a synthetic stimulant.

KISSIMMEE, FL — A man suspected of stealing a car was arrested Monday after he pulled over to view the solar eclipse, investigators said.  Orange County deputy sheriffs from the auto-theft unit were following Rosado, 22, when he parked the car at Harbor Freight Tools on Osceola Parkway near Kissimmee, they said.  After buying a welder’s mask to view the eclipse, Rosado walked back to the car, put the mask on and started looking up at the sky, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jane Watrel said.  While Rosado was wearing the mask, deputies moved in and arrested him, Watrel said.

Now That's Funny...

Sleepless Saving Time

Twice a year, we change the clocks for daylight-savings time. And twice a year, my normally punctual assistant arrives late to work the Monday after we do so. I finally had to find out why. “Do you have a problem remembering to spring forward or fall back?” I asked. “Oh, no,” she said, pouring herself a cup of coffee. “What gets to me is staying up until 2 a.m. to change my clock.”

Strong Man on the Job

The strong young man at the construction site was bragging that he could out do anyone in a feat of strength. He made a special case of making fun of one of the older workmen. After several minutes, the older worker had had enough.

“Why don’t you put your money where your mouth is,” he said.

“I will bet a week’s wages that I can haul something in a wheelbarrow over to that outbuilding that you won’t be able to wheel back.”

“You’re on, old man,” the braggart replied. “Let’s see what you got.”

The old man reached out and grabbed the wheelbarrow by the handles.

Then, nodding to the young man, he said, “All right, get in.”

Too many cooks

A wife is scrambling eggs when her husband bursts into the kitchen.

"Careful," he cries. "Careful! You’re cooking too many at once. Too many! Scramble them! Now! We need more butter. They’re going to stick! Careful! Now scramble them again! Hurry up! Are you crazy? Don’t forget to salt them. You know you always forget to salt them. Use the salt. Use the salt! The salt!"

The wife turns and asks, "What is wrong with you?" Her husband calmly replies, "I wanted to show you what it feels like when I’m driving."

Life Hacks

Everyone could use a few shortcuts in life. Just making some things a bit easier could make a big difference. Here are a few life hacks that are sure to bring a smile.

Top Toys

Each year there seems to always be that one toy that has people lining up for miles in order to purchase. Here is a list of the most popular toys through the decades.

1920’s – Yo-Yo - An ancient invention, but made popular by Pedro Florez, who began manufacturing it in the U.S. He then sold his toy company to Don Duncan who launched the toy’s popularity into the stratosphere with his Yo-Yo Trick Contests.

1940’s – The Slinky- Created by a mechanical engineer who accidentally knocked over some ship springs and they walked instead of falling. After Christmas demonstrations at Gimbel’s Department store in Philadelphia, the first 400 slinkys sold within minutes.

1970’s – Star Wars Action Figures- Released in 1978, Star Wars action figures sold like hotcakes until 1985. They were relaunched in the mid 90’s before the release of three more installments of the space saga. Original 1978 action figures are now collector’s items worth up to $200,000.

2000’s – Wii- Holiday shoppers waited for hours for the Wii, which was cheaper than its competition (Sony Playstation 3 and Microsoft X-Box 360), and by Christmas Nintendo had sold some 3 million units.

I Had No Idea...

• Seeing family you haven’t seen in a while? Not sure what to talk about during the Thanksgiving feast? Maybe these interesting little factoids will get the conversation flowing. 

• The first TV dinners were created by Swanson in 1953, due to the surplus of turkey’s leftover from Thanksgiving. The first one contained turkey, cornbread dressing, frozen peas and sweet potatoes.

• There is no evidence that turkey was eaten at the first Thanksgiving. It is more likely that they ate venison and a lot of seafood. 

• Turkey doesn’t actually make you sleepy. The chemical tryptophan is found in turkey but is found in higher concentration in soybeans, parmesan and pork. Perhaps the sleepiness just comes from eating so many calories in one big meal. 

• Thanksgiving didn’t begin with the pilgrims. It was made a public holiday by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. 

• It is estimated that 46 million turkeys’ are eaten on Thanksgiving. That is more than Christmas (22 Million) and Easter (19 Million).

• The first Macy’s Day Parade in 1924 did not have any balloons. Instead, over 1000 employees walked with nursery rhyme floats and the animals from Central Park Zoo. The first balloon appeared in 1927, it was Felix the Cat.

• Black Friday is the busiest day of the year for plumbers. According to Roto-Rooter, there is a business increase of 47-50% on the Friday after Thanksgiving. It is also not for the reason you might think… It is mostly the kitchen sink that gets clogged. 

• The night before Thanksgiving is the biggest drinking night of the year, beating out New Years Eve and Cinco De Mayo. 

• Humans are 75% genetically identical to pumpkins. 

Who Knew?

The largest employer in the world is the United States Department of Defense with a little over 3.2 million employees. Next up is The People’s Republic of China with 2.3 million employees, Then Walmart with 2.1 million.

Bubble Wrap was originally invented in 1957, but not to be used as a packaging material. Rather, for use as wallpaper.  Needless to say, it didn’t sell well. Nor did their next idea to use it as greenhouse insulation.  Finally, in 1959 its creators got the idea that it could be used to protect the IBM 1401 during shipments. That one worked out and the rest is history.

Nintendo’s name comes from the Japanese “Nintendou.” Roughly translated “Nin” means “entrusted” and “tendou” means “heaven,” so basically “leave luck to heaven.” If this seems a strange name/slogan for Nintendo, perhaps it is important to note that it started out as a playing card company in 1889.

It wouldn’t be until 15 years after basketball was invented before someone got the bright idea of putting a hole in the bottom of the basket to allow the ball to pass through it, so it wouldn’t have to be manually retrieved every time someone made a shot.

The Lone Ranger’s sidekick’s name, Tonto, means “moron/fool/stupid” in Spanish. As a result, in the dubbed Spanish version, the character’s name is change to “Toro,” meaning “bull.”

All clownfish are born male. If the female of a group dies, the dominant male will then begin to gain weight and will become the female of the group. After he becomes a she, she selects a breeding partner from the available males, which is almost always the largest male available.

Spring Cleaning Tips

Deep Clean Shower Head

After having a shower, fill a sandwich bag with baking soda and vinegar and tie it around the showerhead using an elastic band.  Leave this to soak overnight then any debris will come off easily with an old toothbrush.

Store Sheet Sets in Pillow Cases

Finding matching bed sets can be a huge time waster but solved easily by organising your linen.  Fold matching bed sets into the corresponding pillowcase so they are all kept together.

Use a Lemon to Clean Stainless Steel

Annoying water stains on your tap and sink? Halve a lemon and use it to scrub stainless steel.  It will also make your kitchen smell fresh and citrusy.

  

Microwave Sponges

If you’ve only got one sponge to do all of the spring-cleaning with, disinfect it quickly and easily by putting it in your now spotless microwave for two minutes.  Just make sure your sponge doesn’t have any metal on it.

Steam Clean Microwave

Had a baked beans explosion? Clean your microwave the easy way by mixing two tablespoons of white vinegar and a few drops of your favorite essential oil with water and blast it for 5 minutes.  You’ll be left with a shiny clean microwave that smells amazing with zero scrubbing required.

Fold and Stack Clothes Vertically not Horizontally

Organize yourt-shirt drawer by folding them and stacking vertically not horizontally.  This way you can flip through to find the one you want easily and minimize creasing which means less ironing, always good.