The polls, in general, didn't get it wrong about Ford vs. Carter and Romney vs. Obama, but the Gallup poll did, if Wikipedia can be believed. The final Gallup polls before those elections had those guys winning by a hair. I don't remember what the polls said about Gore vs. Bush, which was a real squeaker; didn't the Florida courts make the final decision with all those hanging chads?
Polls probably had nothing to do with forcing smokers outside...I made a leap regarding the bitter pill. Sorry about the confusion, but it made sense to me at the time.
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If Gallup, New Mexico tickled a few memory neurons of early TV don't forget it was in the lyrics of Route 66, a song often crooned back in the day. This was before the TV show of the same name, where the two guys drove around the country in their Corvette, getting their kicks.
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When TV was black and white, so were the notions of good and evil. The Lone Ranger was one of the many good guys, and their influence ran deep. TV had plenty of positive role models in those days, but then again, a lot of the issues were simple, in black and white. I had plenty of role models besides the Lone Ranger: Hopalong Cassidy, Joe Friday, Matt Dillon, and some lesser characters like Gabby Hayes. Then came Maverick, who was very likable but a little shifty, maybe not to be trusted.
Good role models seem hard to come by on TV these days; the characters are too much like normal people, although exaggerated. But then again, I don't look for role models anymore; the die is cast.
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I can see where sports can be "plain boring." They are meant to be played, not watched. Some sports I like to watch because I played a few, on a very informal basis. Some 3 on 3 touch football in the street, softball in the alley, basketball in the playground, pickup hockey in the park when they flooded the football field in the winter, stuff like that. It was fun, and more of an excuse to hang out with your pals than to be obsessed about winning or losing. No star athletes were in attendance; those guys played varsity.
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And every Friday night is taco night in Norway.
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