Written by author and news reporter Daniel Millhouse, this blog is about pop culture, sports, science, and life in everyday America.
Friday, October 28, 2016
108 Things That Have Happened Since the Cubs Won the World Series
With the Chicago Cubs battling it out with the Cleveland Indians for the title of World Series champion this year, one of Major League Baseball's longest droughts will come to an end.
The Cleveland Indians are currently in the middle of the longest drought in the American League having last won in 1948. The Cubs aren't much better. Their last appearance was in 1945, but their last World Series victory was in 1908.
In those 108 years, a lot has happened. Events that changed world history; people that were born or died; and changes in popular culture. So here's a list of 108 events that happened in the 108 years since the Cubs last won a World Series.
1. World War I
2. World War II
3. The creation of the state of Israel
4. Ronald Reagan was born (and died)
5. The Mexican Revolution
6. Lenin's October Revolution
7. The United States adds Arizona, New Mexico, Alaska, and Hawaii to the union
8. Major League Baseball expanded from 16 teams to 30 (Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, Seattle Pilots/Milwaukee Brewers, Houston Astros, ANAHEIM Angels, Washington Senators/Texas Rangers, New York Mets, Kansas City Royals, Toronto Blue Jays) and 7 teams moved/changed their mascot (Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, New York/San Francisco Giants, Boston/Atlanta Braves, Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics, St. Louis Browns/Baltimore Orioles, Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins, New York Highlanders/Yankees)
9. The Great Depression
10. The Social Security Act
11. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
12. India and Pakistan become independent countries
13. I Love Lucy airs for the first time
14. Lucille Ball was born (and died)
15. Television is invented
16. Disneyland opens for business
17. Rock'n'Roll is invented
18. Jean Harlow was born (and died)
19. Scientology was formed
20. The NFL formed
21. 19 different American presidents are elected
22. 9 popes take the helm of Catholicism
23. Mount Rushmore is finished
24. The city of Las Vegas, Nevada incorporates
25. Berlin Wall is constructed (and falls)
26. Medicare and Medicaid created
27. President Lyndon Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act into law
28. The fall of the Ottoman Empire
29. Iraq was created
30. The Titanic sinks
31. Motorized movie cameras replaced hand-cranked cameras
32. The crossword puzzle is invented
33. Life Savers candy is created
34. The modern zipper is invented
35. Bras are invented
36. Charles Jung invents fortune cookies
37. Band Aids are invented
38. Pluto was discovered
39. Velcro is invented
40. The Holocaust
41. Prussia falls
42. Bubble gum is invented
43. The game, Monopoly, is invented
44. Credit cards are invented
45. Yugoslavia forms and falls
46. The Hindenburg disaster
47. The NBA formed
48. Pablo Picasso died
49. Nikola Tesla died
50. Martin Luther King Jr. was born (and assassinated)
51. The hula hoop is invented
52. Superman is created
53. The first handheld calculator invented
54. Wyatt Earp died
55. Women's Suffrage
56. Prohibition
57. The Star Spangled Banner is adopted as the national anthem of the United States
58. The Empire State Building was built
59. The Dust Bowl
60. Mark Twain died
61. The Cold War
62. Bettie Page is born (and died)
63. Mother's Day is nationally recognized
64. The NHL is formed
65. Frank Sinatra is born (and died)
66. The Bloody Mary cocktail is created
67. The Black Sox scandal
68. The first black baseball player plays in the MLB (Jackie Robinson)
69. McDonalds opens up their first restaurant
70. The KKK ran the city of Anaheim, California
71. Thomas Edison died
72. The minimum wage was created in the United States
73. Leo Tolstoy died
74. Sigmund Freud died
75. The first home versions of refrigerators were sold
76. Ranch dressing was created
77. Desegregation of schools
78. Franz Ferdinand was assassinated
79. Snickers candy bars was created
80. Wizard of Oz was released in the theaters
81. Instant coffee was invented
82. D-Day
83. The Roswell incident
84. The rise of AIDS
85. Babe Ruth's whole career
86. The Grand Canyon is declared a National Park
87. Bugs Bunny and the other Warner Brothers cartoons were created
88. Mickey Rooney was born (and died)
89. Amelia Earhart disappeared
90. The CIA was founded
91. HG Wells died
92. The Charleston and Jitterbug dances were created
93. Teddy Roosevelt ran for president under the Bull Moose Party ticket
94. The modern hula-hoop was invented
95. The vaccine to Polio discovered
96. Marie Curie died
97. Japanese attack Pearl Harbor
98. Modern scuba diving invented
99. Al Capone is held at Alcatraz
100. Bonnie and Clyde's crime spree
101. The discovery of King Tut's tomb
102. The Spanish flu killed millions
103. The first talking movie
104. The first radio station goes live
105. The Dust Bowl
106. Penicillin is discovered
107. French fries are introduced to America via soldiers returning home from World War I
108. Christ the Redeemer statue erected in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
And as a bonus...Ford introduced the Model T to the world while the Cubs were playing the last World Series they won.
Thursday, October 27, 2016
Patriots Show Disrespect to Bills
Looks like the New England Patriots are at it again. In their last game against rival Buffalo Bills the Patriots ran right through the middle of the Bills' pregame warmups. Is there a specific rule against this? No. It's a matter of respect...or disrespect in this case.
Every year the Patriots find themselves embroiled in a new controversy. Deflategate being one of the most recent ones which led to Tom Brady being suspended for the first four games of this season.
Another being that multiple visiting teams have complained their headsets don't work when they visit Gillette Stadium. It isn't until a referee checks that they magically begin to work again. If a team's headset doesn't work, the other team is supposed to go without their headsets as well to even up the odds. Opposing coaches have complained that they hear the radio broadcast of the game instead of their coordinators.
Somehow, despite constantly pulling things that would dirty the image of any other team, the Patriots seem to be able to shed the dirt and remain a favorite of millions of fans. How? Maybe it's because they win. It would be hard for the NFL to come down on a team that brings them millions of dollars in revenue. Plus Patriots owner Robert Craft and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell are known to be good friends.
Now this...
For whatever reason, the Patriots ran right through the Bills pregame warmups, disrespecting their rival in the process. But why? There was no reason other than the Patriots decided to be punks. It's doubtful that the whole team had an airheaded moment at once and accidentally did this.
These two teams will face each other again this season. The Bills have already publicly said that if the Patriots do this again, retaliation will be a guarantee. And who could blame them? If the Patriots do it again, they deserve to get their butts kicked.
Will it happen again? Who knows.
Thursday, October 20, 2016
The 5 Scariest Mainstream Clowns
Screencap from Poltergeist |
Coulrophobia...the fear of clowns.
With all the creepy clowns hitting the news these days people are genuinely scared of those who were meant to entertain people originally. Clowns were entertainers that were supposed to cheer up children. Parents would hire clowns to entertain their children at birthday parties. Other clowns such as Bozo would be a daily staple for children in the 1950s.
Now, all has changed. People have genuine phobias about those who don the red nose and colorful clothing. That's why the following list is not the typical happy-go-lucky list of clowns that make you happy.
You won't see DC Comics' Joker on here. While being a very mainstream character these days and having the nickname "The Clown Prince" to live up to, the Joker is thought to be the victim of unforeseen circumstances. Team that up with the "super-sanity" and his crime boss tendencies, the Joker is more mobster than clown.
These are the top 5 scariest clowns in the American mainstream.
1. Pennywise - This should be a give in. Google scary clown and images of Pennywise from Stephen King's It popup everywhere. Every thirty years this shape-shifter comes back to terrorize children. More of a supernatural character than a physical one, Pennywise lived in a realm called deadlights when not scaring and killing people.
2. Pogo - Who is Pogo you ask? Perhaps you know him by his real name...John Wayne Gacy. The serial murder's day job was entertaining children at parties and hospitals. At night he murdered an estimated thirty people at the very least. Nicknamed the Killer Clown after his reign of terror began, Gacy was eventually arrested and put to death by lethal injection in 1994.
3. Poltergeist Clown - This children's toy come to life was one of the scariest aspects of the Poltergeist movie. This toy with an evil smile should have never been allowed to be in the house by the parents. It wouldn't be long before this toy assaulted the child...no shock there. Just the scene of him crawling under the kid's bed was enough to give people nightmares.
4. Twisty - This clown was once the focus of the carnival show that became the focus of the fourth season of American Horror Story. After being accused of pedophilia, Twisty tried to end all by shooting himself in the head with a shotgun. He ended up failing at this, mangling his face by shooting off his jaw. Since then, he remained outside of the circus, kidnapping children and trying to entertain them. Don't worry...he hid the fact that he was missing his jaw by wearing a mask.
5. Ronald McDonald - Perhaps the biggest killer of all the mainstream clowns, Ronald has slowly killed many off by utilizing calories, sugar, and fat in almost all of his fast food. He rebranded his death packages as Happy Meals and millions of Americans would become addicted almost overnight. For those who weren't 100 percent sold on buying one of his death traps...a toy to sway a few more to eat his food while playing with their plastic choking hazards.
Sunday, October 16, 2016
2016 Millhouse MLB Awards
Christian Yellich put up a Silver Slugger level season in 2016; photo by Daniel Millhouse |
It was definitely a season to remember this season for Major League Baseball. The death of Jose Fernandez was definitely the lowlight of the season and was possibly one of the more tragic stories in all of sports this season. But this year also had many high points. The emergence of one of the best rookie classes in years, Ichiro reaching the 3,000 hit plateau, and David Ortiz putting up one of the best seasons of his career in his final season.
One day the Millhouse MLB Awards will be covered by all sorts of media. Until then, I present to you the award winners for the 2016 Major League Baseball season as picked by Daniel Millhouse.
American League:
MVP: Jose Altuve...This Houston Astros middle infielder won the batting title, played well enough to win the Gold Glove, tied for second in the league in stolen bases, hit a career high 24 homers, had 96 RBI's, and scored 108 runs. He was the total five-tool-player this season despite playing on a team that underperformed this season. Runners-Up...Mookie Betts, Miguel Cabrera, and David Ortiz.
Cy Young: Rick Porcello...If you asked anyone before this season started who the American League Cy Young winner might be, even Porcello himself would have never picked. He was 22-4 this season, was fifth in ERA (3.15), allowed only 32 walks with a 1.01 WHIP, and put up stats that MLB fans would have loved to see from David Price. Runners-Up...Zack Britton, Justin Verlander, and Corey Kluber.
Rookie of the Year: Michael Fullmer...This rookie pitcher stepped up and replaced the roster spot left vacant by Porcello when the latter left for the Red Sox. Fullmer gave the Tigers steady pitching for most of the season, giving Detroit a nice one-two punch with Verlander and Fullmer. The rookie was 11-7 with a 3.06 ERA. This spot almost went to Yankees' catcher Gary Sanchez who was the fastest player to reach 20 homers to begin their career, but it was hard to award a player with barely over 50 games played, the rookie of the year. Runners-Up...Gary Sanchez, Normar Mazara, and Tyler Naquin.
Fireman of the Year: Zack Britton...He was a perfect 47 for 47 in save opportunities and in 67 innings, he only allowed 4 earned runs and a .162 batting average. His ERA was a staggering 0.54 and his WHIP was 0.84. Still think lefties can't be closers? Runners-Up...Alex Colome, Wade Davis, and Roberto Osuna.
Manager of the Year: Jeff Banister...The Texas Rangers' manager led a team that wasn't predicted to ever make the playoffs. Yet, they did. They lost in the playoffs once they made it, but getting that far was an amazing feat considering the players he lost to the disabled list and those that underperformed. Runners-Up...John Gibbons, Buck Showalter, and Brad Ausmus.
Silver Sluggers: Catcher-Stephen Vogt, 1B-Miguel Cabrera, 2B-Jose Altuve, 3B-Josh Donaldson, SS-Xander Bogaerts, OF-Mookie Betts, Mike Trout, Ian Desmond, DH-David Ortiz
American League All Rookie Team: Catcher-Gary Sanchez, 1B-Dae-Ho Lee, 2B-Whit Merrifield, 3B-Ryan Healey, SS-Tim Anderson, OF-Nomar Mazara, Tyler Naquin, and Hyun Soon Kim, P-Michael Fullmer
National League:
MVP: Nolan Arenado...He led the league in homers and RBI's while hitting .294. Arenado also played some of the best defense at any position this season. There wasn't much he couldn't do except for maybe steal a couple of more bases. Runners-Up...Charlie Blackmon, Joey Votto, and Ryan Braun.
Cy Young: Kyle Hendricks...A pitcher that started the season as a free agent in many fantasy leagues, Hendricks took the National League ERA crown, posting a 2.13 ERA. Combine this with a 16-8 record, a 0.98 WHIP, and allowing only 15 homers the whole season, it was clear to see that Hendricks had a dominate season for the Cubs. Runners-Up...Jose Fernandez, Madison Bumgarner, and Jon Lester.
Rookie of the Year: Trea Turner...Playing out of position at centerfield, the Nationals were determined to find a way to get this top rookie into their starting lineup. Normally a shortstop, he still played good defense while hitting .342, stealing 33 bases, and hitting 13 homers. Runners-Up...Corey Seager, Trevor Story, and Seung Hwan Oh.
Fireman of the Year: Mark Melancon...Combining his season on the Pirates and Nationals, Melancon pushed Jonathan Papplebon down to setup man. He had 47 saves with a 1.64 ERA while compiling a 0.90 WHIP. Runners-Up...Kenley Jensen, Seung Hwan Oh, and Kenley Jensen.
Manager of the Year: Joe Maddon...So far it has been a magical season for the Cubs. It would have been even better if this happened last season to prove Back to the Future 2 right, but what can you do? The Cubs won over 100 games this season and there's a chance that they actually make it to the World Series. If they win, they'll break their long drought. Runners-Up...Dusty Baker, Bruce Bochy, and Clint Hurdle.
Silver Sluggers: Catcher-Wilson Ramos, 1B-Joey Votto, 2B-David Murphy, 3B-Nolan Arenado, SS-Jonathan Villar, OF-Ryan Braun, Charlie Blackmon, and Christina Yellich, P-Adam Wainright
National League All Rookie Team: Catcher-Wilson Contreras, 1B-Tommy Joseph, 2B-Jose Peraza, 3B-Brandon Drury, SS-Corey Seager, OF-Trea Turner, Travis Jankowski, and Keon Broxton, P-Seung Hwan Oh
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