Rambling through central Illinois, gauging how much per hour it would take for me to drive a school bus.
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The cartoon page will be changing again, and this time not by our choice. Mike Marland, the artist who draws R.F.D., will retire on Jan. 30. So his final cartoon should be in our Feb. 2 issue. Marland told The Daily Cartoonist website that, due to arthritis, he has been creating R.F.D. using Photoshop since August of 2020 and misses drawing the strips with pen and paper. Marland’s strip has been syndicated by King Features Weekly Service since 1992. … The Knox County Clerk’s office compiled a list of the most popular baby names in 2022 out of 643 babies born in the county. Leader among girls was Charlotte with five babies, placing ahead of Ivy and Olivia (four apiece) and third-place choice Ava, Chloe, Ella, Hannah, Hazel, Nora, Ophelia and Sophia (three apiece). For boys, there was a tie at five babies each for Kai and Theodore. Hudson and Michael took second with four babies each while third place (three babies) was shared by Benjamin, Cole, David, Daxton, Declan, Henry, Jameson, Jazon, Oliver, Ryker, Samuel and Wyatt. … Still wish I had named one of my own kids Moses.
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Much has been made about pro football players serving as our incarnation of Roman gladiators. There are certainly similarities. But there is a significant error in that logic that was graphically illustrated by the recent cardiac arrest of Damar Hamlin during a Monday Night Football game. This was a huge game with major ramifications for the NFL playoffs, for bettors and for millions of fantasy football players. Even pausing the game created all sorts of headaches. But pro football players are not gladiators, whose deaths in the arena were an accepted and even hoped-for result. Led by coaches in the game (and public sentiment), the NFL made the right call to cancel the game. The outpouring of support for Hamlin since has been amazing. Seeing a tragic story turn inspirational has been wonderful to witness. … Will Hamlin’s injury cause more parents to shy away from football? Probably. Worth considering, though, is that heart-related deaths are a sad reality in every sport. Ballroom dancing, soccer and even golf have stories of professionals dying on the field, or dance floor. And research by the National Athletic Trainer’s Association found that sudden cardiac death accounted for 76 percent of youth sports deaths in the U.S. from 2007-15. The largest proportion were in basketball (36 percent), followed by baseball (16 percent ), football (16 percent) and soccer (13 percent). Yes, there are inherent dangers in sports – for that matter in doing anything. But the same is true for doing nothing.
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A new section in this space is Stupid Politics. First entry is the U.S. Consumer Product Safety commission considering a ban on gas stoves. Next up is a 16 percent pay raise for Illinois lawmakers, approved by Illinois lawmakers. … So much for Happy New Year. A New Year’s Day trip to the farm turned into an emergency by merely opening a door. For five years, the storage container in which we keep our tractor and gear held mice at bay. No longer. When the door opened, mice emerged from all sides. Now the battle is on. Sticky traps. Poison. And soon a new rubber gasket for the door to replace the old, brittle one the mice chewed through. … Parting shot: As a wise critter once said, “I hate meeces to pieces.”
Contact Jeff Lampe at (309) 231-6040 or jeff@wklypost.com
