Sunday Potpourri No. 17

Today's post comes with the Standard Sunday Disclaimer: "The post title is using the term 'potpourri' in the second of the two senses listed here. The post may also be rather short, although not necessarily so."

Killer Cupcakes

In the language of college football, an opponent whom your team is expected to defeat easily is called a "cupcake." Every team schedules them, as a way of building up a favorable win/loss record. Even teams that play the "cupcake" role themselves in some of their games schedule games against "cupcakes" of their own to compensate. As you would expect, there is a cluster of teams at the bottom of that food chain who almost never win a game...

Due to the nature of college football scheduling, in which game contracts are signed years in advance, sometimes the "cupcake" you have scheduled turns out to be better than expected by the time the game actually gets played. This always produces some of the most entertaining games of any given college football season.



Just yesterday, for instance, No. 1 Ohio State struggled to beat Northern Illinois 21-14, Minnesota barely beat Kent State 10-7, and Indiana edged Western Kentucky by the same margin, 38-35. And that's just in the Big Ten.

My beloved Missouri Tigers struggled to beat their cupcake yesterday, too, prevailing 9-6 over Connecticut (which only won two games last year) at Faurot Field in Columbia. They were extremely fortunate to win that game, and will need to play much better if they're going to successfully defend their SEC East championship.

Every so often, of course, the "cupcake" turns killer. Just ask Penn State. Ask Arkansas. And that's just in the first two weeks of this season...

Things That Make Me Sad: Left Behind Edition

For a pro football fan, nothing is sadder than a Sunday on which every team but yours is in action. Because they were featured on this week's Thursday Night Football game (the less said about which, the better), my beloved Kansas City Chiefs won't be playing today. They actually won't be playing next Sunday, either, since their next scheduled game is on the road against the Green Bay Packers on Monday Night Football.

Say "hello" to a 1-2 start, Chiefs fans...

Chemistry Humor

[Note: If you don't get this joke, you're not spending enough time on social media...]

Until Next Time...

Although it is ubiquitous nowadays, there was a time when Johann Pachelbel's famous Canon in D was virtually unknown among classical music fans. A very popular 1968 recording of the work by the Jean-François Paillard Chamber Orchestra caused an explosion of interest in it when American classical music stations began playing it in 1970. By the time I began my teaching career in September 1977, it had become one of the most commonly-played classical pieces at weddings and other ceremonies. It is among the handful of works that even non-fans of classical music recognize and embrace.

Today's send-off is a soothing performance of the work by classical guitarist Per-Olov Hindgren. Enjoy...