10 Sports and Entertainment Questions I Would Like Answered

You ever notice when mowing the lawn, driving on a trip, raking leaves, working on a project, or just relaxing, some unusual thoughts can come to mind?

These are not constructive or destructive thoughts, they are....just thoughts. Ideas, circumstances to ponder, and "what-if" situations. 

I'm certain there is a medical explanation for it. When I was younger, it was known as daydreaming. If an employer found out you were daydreaming, you would catch "Hail Columbia" from them.

If the teachers found you participating in this harmful activity, you could be "sent to the Principal's office" for not paying attention in class. Heaven help you if your parents gave you chores to complete, and found you mindlessly daydreaming before finishing.

The other day, as I was participating in the mind-dulling activity of cleaning out the gutters, my mind flashed back over the years to a variety of issues I have wondered about.

In hopes that someone will be able to provide long-lost answers to these questions, allow me to "put a few out on the table."

10) Whatever happened to Jethrine? Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. The twin sister of Jethro on the first season the Beverly Hillbillies ('62-'63), played by Max Baer in drag, with producer Paul Henning's daughter as the voice-over.

Where did she go? She disappeared after one season. Maybe Max Baer wanted double pay for the two roles.

9) Why is the Upper Peninsula considered part of Michigan? It is obviously the upper part of Wisconsin! The "Upper Peninsula" of Michigan is not connected to Michigan by land.

It is just the northern part of Wisconsin. Michigan has a bridge across the Straits of Mackinac to connect the "two peninsulas."

8) Why does the Big 10 insist upon calling itself that when there are 11 schools in the conference? From 1917 to 1946, the league was known as the Big 10.

The University of Chicago dropped out in '46 and the league became "The Big Nine" until 1953, when Michigan State was asked to join, again becoming the Big 10.

To hear Big 10 fans talk, they are all about tradition. Tradition says change your name to reflect the number of schools in your league like you did traditionally. And yes, I know you have the "double-secret" 11 imprinted on the Big 10 logo. That doesn't cut it.

7) Why do academics oppose the continuation of the college football season for another week to have a "mini-playoff" or "plus one"? Yet they say nothing about the basketball season, which starts in early November and runs until April? This seems to be a false front.

Protecting "student time" would not be affected by another week or two of football. The Conference and NCAA tournament play adds an entire month to the basketball season. Maybe youngsters aren't studious in the Spring.

6) Why don't more females go out for traditional male sports? Shouldn't there be more females wanting to play college football? I have a workman's understanding of the Title IX Rule of 1972, the Patsy Mink Act, the three prong test and all.

That is not what I'm talking about. I ask, why don't more women go out for the football team? That would bring about real discussion of whether changes need to be made in the current system addressing "accepted sex make-up of certain sports."

5) What is the reason for college football sideline reporters? Why do they stop coaches before halftime and ask questions, insinuating they have ineffectively performed their job as coach? By what authority does the reporter capture a coach before halftime? 

If we suffer from such attention-deficit disorder that we must have sideline reporting to keep our simple minds occupied every second of a game, why not allow these folks to privately interview coaches, and fans for that matter, and summarize the information before the second-half kickoff?

4) Certain schools have changed their nicknames as to not insult Native–Americans. These include Dartmouth and Stanford, who had the generic name of Indians.

Specific people like the Chippewas of Central Michigan, Seminoles of Florida State, and Utes of Utah have continued, apparently with blessing. What's the difference?

3) Where did Sputnik land? No really, where did it fall? I've asked people about this for years. Since it was the first thing ever to go into outer space, what happened to it? I heard a man once say "the weather has been messed up since they sent it up there."

2) Why did Billy Joe MacAllister jump off the Tallahatchie Bridge? We know sister and Billy Joe threw something off the bridge, why did he come back later and commit suicide?

1) Why were the Heisman Trophy winners from 1976–1988 so much better as a group  than the winners of the past 20 years? Has there been a change in how the voting is conducted due to pre-season publicity campaigns?

This is not to diminish the accomplishments of the winners in the past 20 years but the '76–88 group featured Earl Campbell, Herschel Walker, Tony Dorsett, Bo Jackson, Doug Flutie, Vinny Testaverde, George Rogers, Tim Brown, Billy Sims, Barry Sanders, Charles White, Mike Rozier, and Marcus Allen. This dwarfs any group of winners over the past two decades.

So there we have it, the 10 questions to be answered. Hopefully, I'll find the answers before the next time I have to perform any mundane chores. I would hate to end up in the Principal's office.