The Weekday Ramble is a daily dose of sports, music, culture, and more from Rambling On founder Erik Ritland. For more information check us out on Reddit, Twitter, Facebook, or at our website.
Thursday May 28, 2015
Our second installment of #FunFacts covers the B.S. Patriots, the most hated rock band ever, and a cool fat president’s connection with baseball.
Anatomy of a name
Before they joined the NFL the New England Patriots were called the Boston Patriots (prior professional football teams from that city included the Bulldogs, Braves, Redskins, and Yanks). In 1971 they moved to Foxborough and decided to change their name accordingly. They wanted to be called the Bay State Patriots but the NFL immediately saw that as a PR disaster. Though would consider the BS Patriots a fitting moniker.
Haters gonna hate
Nickelback is the most hated rock band in history. While stuff like that is usually subjective, I’d like to see somebody successfully argue against that. I’m not a huge fan of piling on when people hate stuff though. Sure, their lyrics are lowest common denominator and sometimes laughably bad, but their music rocks pretty hard. Fun fact: Chad Kroeger, their lead singer, has expressed a love for Abba. I can always get behind some love for Abba, another band that’s universally hated.
Howard Taft, Minnesota, and baseball
There are lots of cool things about Howard Taft, America’s fattest president. He was the last president to have facial hair (come on Obama, bring it back!), he inspired a ridiculous possum-themed teddy bear rip-off called Billy Possums, and he got stuck in a gosh darn bathtub.
One of his coolest achievements has a Minnesota connection. He was the first president to throw out the first pitch at a baseball game, hurling to legend Walter Johnson of the Washington Senators in 1910. Fifty years later, of course, the Senators became the Minnesota Twins.
Sources
http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2105807_2105808_2105822,00.html
http://www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00014704.html#ixzz3DQK7VuiZ
http://mentalfloss.com/article/58914/15-wonderful-william-howard-taft-facts
Erik Ritland is a writer and musician from St. Paul, Minnesota. His blog and podcast Rambling On features commentary on music, sports, culture, and more. He was also Lead Staff Writer for Minnesota culture blog Curious North. Support Erik's music via his Patreon account, reach him via email, or find him on Facebook and Twitter.
RSS Feed
