Daily Dirt: How about the Steve Sugar Bowl, sponsored by … the Archies?

I need to sponsor a bowl game. I’m going to have to see if Muddy River News publisher J. Robert Gough can help me out … welcome to Vol. 141 of the Daily Dirt and today’s three thoughts.

1. College football bowl season is right around the corner. Here are some of the best names for this year’s contests:

• Jimmy Kimmel Los Angeles Bowl: I can’t believe Jimmy Fallon or Stephen Colbert haven’t copied this game plan.
• Cheez-It Bowl: For the record, one of my favorite snacks. Served best in a bowl, of course.
• Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: All kidding aside, this is a great name for bowl game. But I have been told always a little brisk, though, in Idaho in December.
• Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl: This game’s in Frisco, Texas, not San Francisco, Calif.
• Duke’s Mayo Bowl: If I actually liked mayo, I’m sure I’d buy Duke’s.
• Tony the Tiger Sun Bowl: Another great name.
• Barstool Sports Arizona Bowl: Has a nice ring to it.

2. Soda sales remain boffo box office in the United States. The following figures were gathered from various media reports:

• 1. Coca-Cola: The Real Thing continues to have a stranglehold on the top spot, with annual sales of $39 billion. That’s BILLION. Personally, Coke has been my favorite in this category for almost 50 years. Guess I’m not alone.
• 2. Diet Coca-Cola: 37.2 billion. What a massive stranglehold on the market Coke has. For you trivia buffs, when Diet Coke was introduced, it was such an immediate hit it eventually kayoed Tab, the company’s previous top low-cal entry. Tab was introduced in 1963 and stayed highly popular through the 1970s. Diet Coke emerged as a star of the future in the early 1980s.
• 3. Pepsi-Cola: $14.8 billion: Coca-Cola has really pulled away from its arch rival in recent years.
• 4. Dr. Pepper: 11.1 billion. This really surprises me. I would never have guessed Dr. Pepper would have even cracked the top 10.
• 5. Mountain Dew: $7 billion. For the record, my runner-up favorite.

3. To brighten your day, it’s the return of “Overrated, Underrated”.

Overrated: Any college basketball announcer not named Dick Vitale.

Underrated: Dick Vitale, the amazing Dickie V., who returned to ESPN for the Nov. 23 telecast featuring UCLA and Gonzaga. Vitale, battling cancer, broke down when the pregame rundown wound up being am unscripted tribute to him. Vitale, 82, has been with the network since its 1979 birth.

Overrated: The 1960s version of the Rolling Stones, who we tend to automatically label equal to the Beatles. The numbers, however, show the Stones had just one of the 30 top-selling singles of the decade. “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was No. 2.

Underrated: The Beatles, if that is possible. The Fab Four had 10 such singles, including No. 1 “Hey Jude”.

Steve Fact O’ The Day
Steve’s favorite group of the 1960s was the Archies. He knows the words to “Sugar, Sugar” by heart.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. He didn’t want Muddy River to sponsor “Steve’s Toilet Bowl.”