DAILY DIRT: TOY BOX crashes Great Plate Debate party; can GEM CITI join BE A BETH and IMDUMB?

September 7, 2024 | By Steve Eighinger, Muddy River News Minister of Culture and Doctor of Love

Try all you want people, you will never defeat the greatest license plate of all time. — Seinfeld (NBC)

We’re getting close to crunch time. Is there an gold-medal worthy plate waiting for us to spot? … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,052 of The Daily Dirt

1. We’re getting close to the home stretch run in the 2024 Great Plate Debate, our third annual year-long competition for the most creative license plates found in West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri.

And while GEM CITI continues to hang on the gold-medal position, there continues to be plenty of movement behind that No. 1 position. The latest change finds TOY BOX taking over the bronze medal spot this week, knocking out U DRUNK following the weekly vote of the Daily Dirt selection committee.

“We considered the TOY BOX license plate to be especially creative, considering the car it was spotted on — a vehicle that obviously had absorbed a large portion of the owner’s bank account,” committee member LaMar “Moon Doggie” FitzGerald said.

As in past years, the ’24 competition continues through Dec. 31.

For those who may have forgotten, here are the past champions:

2023: BE A BETH

2022: IMDUMB

Gold medal: GEM CITI

Silver medal:STARVED

Bronze medal: TOY BOX

Best of the rest this week:

TURN 2
T BOY 55
POOKEE 7
QUINCY
6 CHICO
BG BOYS 4
8 (just the number, looks pretty sweet on a license plate)
SACMAN 1
LO LAW

2. Did you know (Part 115)

That former pro wrestlers Jerry “The King” Lawler and The Honky Tonk Man are cousins.
That Jack Marshall, the guy responsible for the theme song of “The Munsters,” is the father of Frank Marshall, the guy who produced the “Indiana Jones” and “Back to the Future” movies.
That late actor Burt Reynolds and longtime ESPN college football analyst Lee Corse were college roommates at Florida State.
That pro wrestlers Curt “Mr. Perfect” Hennig, Rick Rude, Nikita Koloff and Road Warrior Hawk all went to high school together in Robbinsdale, Minn.
That Jim Kelly played college football with former pro wrestler Lex Luger at Miami, Fla. Luger started out at Penn State, but transferred.
That actress Beverly D’Angelo is the granddaughter of Howard Dwight Smith, man who designed world-famous Ohio State University football stadium.

3. This week’s best of “Found on Facebook”:

“A rhinoceros is basically a unicorn that let itself go a bit.”
“Some kids knocked at my door, asking for a small contribution toward a local swimming pool. I gave them a cup of water.”
“Chuck Norris can gargle sand.”
“What do Winnie the Pooh and Alexander the Great have in common? Same middle name.”
“My dentist pulled out the wrong tooth. He said it was acci-dental.”

Steve Thought O’ The Day — At the moment, my picks for the American and National League MVPs:

American