BagOfNothing.com

• I thought I knew a lot about Benjamin Franklin, but it wasn’t until yesterday that I learned he was the Governor of Pennsylvania from 1785 to 1788.
• As a 49-year-old man, I shouldn’t care what others think or seek approval from anyone, but I still do. For instance, I wrote about my confirmation experience yesterday. The week before, I emailed my closest and oldest friends about it. I told them I didn’t expect them to be able to make it, but I wanted them to know about it. We have gotten better at keeping in touch and sharing what’s going on in our lives. Of the five, one attended, and that meant a whole lot. Two replied, but it wasn’t a ringing endorsement. Two are SBC pastors; one went to seminary. I didn’t need their approval, but I hoped to have their blessing. There is a bit of a history to all this. I’ve always felt judged or felt they were concerned when I brought up things not directly Evangelical Christian related or endorsed, like my love of U2. In high school, when Billy Joel’s River of Dreams was released, I mentioned how I liked the religious imagery and how I connected with it. My youth director then told me I need to be careful what I listen to especially since Billy Joel is Catholic. I think my step into the Episcopal church is Catholic Splenda to them.
• I can’t catch a break. I wanted to buy a replacement television for my bedroom. My goal was at least 40″ and no more than $100. After a few weeks, I spotted a 43″ on Woot, but it lacked a remote. That would work since it will just be in the bedroom, and I don’t mind using my phone. The TV arrived last week, but I just unpacked it, and sure enough, there’s a bloody remote. Remember, Woot stated it would not include one. So, now, because I’m ethically bound, I have to pack the television and remote back up and send it back and ask them to send me another TV without a remote. Like I said, I can’t catch a break. Or, I guess I could just keep it and consider the included remote as a small win, but I’m not sure if I could live with myself.
• Why? Kids aren’t even old enough to vote.
  
• Ain’t no way you will ever get me to use the Hussaini Hanging Bridge Pakistan.
  

  6. Hussaini Hanging Bridge , known as a most dangerous bridge in the world very narrow , old and too high above the lake Borit located in Northern Pakistan pic.twitter.com/cU7LyhBYSN

  — The Adventurous Soul (@TAdventurousoul) October 28, 2024

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• I was so happy things worked out so that BoyGeeding and I could watch the unforgettable ending of Game 1 of the World Series. I fondly remember watching Kirk Gibson’s iconic home run with my father, and I have a feeling BoyGeeding will carry the memory of Freddy Freeman’s HR much the same way.
  
  Yup, in a sea of Dodger blue and Yankee blue, one person behind home plate wore a red MAGA hat. Fans speculated she was a plant as she never lifted her head up from her phone the entire game. Hey, I get it; it’s her First Amendment right. But we are down to single digit days until election day and the political environment is toxic enough. People are escaping to sports to get away from the real world for two to three hours. It’s a selfish act and shows you are inconsiderate of others. And this might sound strange, but if it were a black hat that blended in, I would feel differently about it.
• I’m not sure when the Dodgers started to play I Love LA after a win but I love it. Yeah, I’m definitely rooting for the Dodgers this time. Speaking of LA, that place will do just fine hosting the Olympics. All of this was going on Friday night without a hitch. What an amazing city with all those major sports venues.
  
• Pete Rose died on September 30, 2024 and there’s yet to be a funeral. Personally, I think burials or cremations should happen within two weeks, preferably less than a week.
  • The family of Pete Rose and the Cincinnati Reds announced that a visitation for baseball’s all-time hit leader will be held at Great American Ball Park on Nov. 10. The event will be free and open to the public from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m ET.
  • After reading this, I wonder if they will take donations.
    

    I asked Pete Rose once about dying and how he would want his funeral to go, and I’ve been thinking about that a lot today. This one passage from my book seems to capture everything about Pete Rose. #CharlieHustle pic.twitter.com/HZGxDCIx5o

    — Keith O’Brien (@KeithOB) October 1, 2024

• I love AI.
  

  If Game of Thrones was filmed in a Trailer Park pic.twitter.com/3W6xAgEdUL

  — Jon Snow (@LordSnow) October 24, 2024

• I’m convinced I can do this with Coca-Cola.
  

  Well, that was fun! @drpepper @drpeppermuseum @FOX4 #drpepperchallenge pic.twitter.com/mZKIFEwJif

  — Kylie Capps (@wxkyliecapps) October 25, 2024

• I suppose this is the start of a new chapter in my life—a letting go of the past, a small, uncertain step towards an unknown and unpredictable future. May the Lord thy God help me, for I have no idea what I’m doing and lack a compass and map for this journey we call life.
  I believe I’ve mentioned the tall dude before. He’s the ninth-ranked offensive guard in the country and will be a freshman at the University of Oklahoma this fall.
   

• The Army and Navy service academies both have undefeated football teams. Yesterday, I learned they can’t partake of NIL, making their undefeated records even more impressive. I also learned that with all the college conference changes, they are both in the same conference. Their annual rivalry game is considered a non-conference game. However, depending on their win/loss records and conference, there can be a scenario in which they would play each other again the following week. That brings up all sorts of questions regarding tradition and the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy (CIC Trophy).
• Speaking of the Army-Navy game, I left a message on the Hardline Helpline about it last night, referencing that it’s never called Navy-Army and that we should never hear the Red River Rivalry called the OU-Texas game. It just doesn’t flow or sound right. And yes, I ended it in typical Helpline fashion using that word that starts with a Q.
• Why did villains in silent movies always tie women to train tracks? I mean, of all the options, why a train track?
• What is a sports equinox? Here’s when MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL will come together in 2024 – Oct. 28, 2024, will be the 31st sports equinox in history.
  • Oct. 28, 2024, is one of the rare dates on the sports calendar that will feature professional baseball, football, basketball and hockey games. From the World Series to Monday Night Football to the NBA and NHL seasons, there is action across the board.
  • The first one occurred on Oct. 17, 1971, with a World Series Game 7, 12 NFL games, three NBA games and six NHL games. Nine sports equinoxes occurred between 1971 and 1980, another fell on Oct. 27, 1985, and then it was 16 more years before another one happened again on Nov. 4, 2001. There has been at least one sports equinox every year since 2015, including three in 2022 and one in 2023.
• Stacey Williams, the former Sports Illustrated model who accused Donald Trump of groping her in 1993 with Jeffrey Epstein witnessing, is originally from Dallas. At least, that’s what her Wiki page said.
• Reading this was maddening. It proves McConnell has no spine and is nothing but party over country.McConnell says ‘MAGA movement is completely wrong’ and Reagan ‘wouldn’t recognize’ Trump’s GOP

• “I’m not at all conflicted about whether what the president did is an impeachable offense. I think it is. Urging an insurrection and people attacking the Capitol as a direct result … is about as close to an impeachable offense as you can imagine, with the possible exception of maybe being an agent for another country,” said McConnell.

• He called the rioters who entered the Senate chamber, “narcissistic, just like Donald Trump, sitting in the vice president’s chair taking pictures of themselves,” adding it was a “shocking occurrence and further evidence of Donald Trump’s complete unfitness for office.”

• McConnell also expressed support for special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump’s actions around the 2020 election and the insurrection. “I think it was the single most – in a category by itself – of how wrong all of it was and there’s no doubt who inspired it, and I just hope that he’ll have to pay a price for it,” said McConnell. “If he hasn’t committed indictable offenses, I don’t know what one is.”

• But he does know what he’s talking about:“Trump is appealing to people who haven’t been as successful as other people and providing an excuse for that, that these more successful people have somehow been cheated, and you don’t deserve to think of yourself as less successful because things haven’t been fair,” he said.

• I wonder what prompted Helen Mirren to say this; it seems so random:
  • “I always say it’s so sad that Kurt Cobain died when he did because he never saw GPS as it’s the most wonderful thing to watch my little blue spot walking down the street. I just find it completely magical and unbelievable,” she said.
• True in 1984, true today in 2024, or at least, should be.
  

• It’s been a crazy busy week.
• Last night, 0-6 Kennesaw State, a 27-point underdog, stunned 5-0 Liberty University 27-24 for its first-ever win versus an FBS team. It couldn’t have happened to a better school. Well, maybe one other.
• 53 years after the race, NASCAR awards victory to Bobby Allison
• Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy Says Only One Thing Is Driving Roster Retention Right Now
  • “Player retention is based on money,” Gundy told the media on Monday. “I’ll give you an example. If you’re playing on our team and we go 3-9 and right now you’re making $12,000 and we say, ‘Hey, if you come back we’ll pay you $250,000.’ What are you gonna do? Player retention is probably 90% built on money right now, not other things. It’s changed.”
• Employee’s homemade meal blamed for mass food poisoning at Maryland seafood distributor
• I had an epiphany yesterday. I realized I often confused actors Terence Stamp and Malcolm McDowell. A little research tells me I’m not the only one, and it’s pretty common. It didn’t help that Malcolm McDowell played a guy called Terrance on Entourage.
  
• Elite Texas Quarterbacks Spreading Throughout College Football
  • The state of Texas producing great quarterbacks is as commonplace as the state producing great brisket. But even by already high historical standards, the current group of college QBs who grew up playing under Friday night lights in the Lone Star State is remarkable.
  • The article is about a week old, but these tidbits still hold true:
    • Twenty-eight percent of the current starting QBs in the Power 4 conferences are from Texas, including six each in the Big 12 and SEC.
    • Twenty-three percent of the top 100 nationally in passing yards per game are from Texas, including nine of the top 22. Twenty-five percent of the top 100 in pass efficiency are Texans.
• I don’t expect any of you to be able to attend, but I just wanted to let you know that now that I’ve completed all my confirmation classes at my local Episcopal church, my confirmation will take place this Sunday at the 11:00 a.m. service. The Cowboys play in the evening game, so there shouldn’t be any sports scheduling conflict.
• How elderly dementia patients are unwittingly fueling political campaigns

More than 1,000 reports filed with government agencies and consumer advocacy groups reviewed by CNN, along with an analysis of campaign finance data and interviews with dozens of contributors and their family members, show how deceptive political fundraisers have victimized hundreds of elderly Americans and misled those battling dementia or other cognitive impairments into giving away millions of dollars — far more than they ever intended. Some unintentionally joined the ranks of the top grassroots political donors in the country as they tapped into retirement savings and went into debt, contributing six-figure sums through thousands of transactions.

• Mariano Rivera showing what he used as a home made baseball glove as a child pic.twitter.com/TEeVyBjFjN

  — Historic Vids (@historyinmemes) October 24, 2024

• A lot of young folks don’t know, and older folks don’t remember that a college football all-star team would play the defending Super Bowl champions. Here’s Walter Payton as a college all-star playing against the Steelers.