12/21/24
September 09, 2022
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
First game of a new NFL season with the way teams now hold back their starters in the pre-season, you expect some turnovers and rust, but Josh Allen was throwing laser darts into tiny slivers of time and space.
Plus, Allen went at Jalen Ramsey and got the better of him now and then, which is good for extra quality points.
posted by beaverboard at 10:28 AM on September 09, 2022
If I ever apply for it, I will be authorized to add the designation UE to my signature. It stands for 'United Empire' and it signifies that one of my ancestors (my great-great-great-grandfather) remained loyal to England during the Revolution. My father was born in Nova Scotia where the ancestors fled after being expelled from New York in 1783. My mother was the real Anglophile. She was from Barbados, then the British West Indies, which many call 'Little England'. Her passport was from England, and among her keepsakes was a bracelet made of gold coins bearing the likeness of King George V, uncle of Queen Elizabeth II. I'm old enough to remember a little bit about the last few months of World War 2 and that England was on our side and had a king. The coronation of Elizabeth II was televised, and I remember watching it on our tiny black-and-white set. There was also a thing called Newsreels that were shown in the movie theaters, and these frequently featured news from Great Britain. So the passing of the Queen has some meaning for me.
I might note that the name Charles for a King of England has a rather unfortunate history. Charles I was beheaded by the Parliamentarians (led by Oliver Cromwell) during the English Civil War. Charles Ii fled to France with a price on his head, and he returned at the end of the Civil War to be restored to the throne. Winston Churchill's "History of the English Speaking Peoples" is probably the quickest and easiest read on the subject. We will see if '3rd time's a charm' works out well for Charles III.
posted by Howard_T at 11:00 AM on September 09, 2022
Howard may be the only person on SpoFi who has any memory of King George VI.