Daily Dirt: ‘Spring is the time of the year when it is summer in the sun and winter in the shade’

At some point, life will get warmer in the spring, or so I am told… All that and more in today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 264 of The Daily Dirt.

1. Springtime in West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri is a nasty animal. 

One day it’s 70 degrees and sunny, the next finds snow falling. The thermometer probably won’t settle into any great period of normalcy until July, but natives to this area of the country are used to it. We’re tough! But that still doesn’t make those frozen afternoons in April any more bearable.

I recently came across the following quotes that I think do a great job of summing up this time of the year. I should disclose I came across these thoughts after returning home following a trip to the supermarket, a trip that demanded I wear my winter jacket, a hooded sweatshirt and gloves during what we call a “spring day” in Quincy: 

Gold medal: “Spring is the time of the year when it is summer in the sun and winter in the shade.” – writer Charles Dickens.

Silver medal: “In the spring, I have counted 136 different kinds of weather inside of 24 hours.” – author, humorist and entrepreneur Mark Twain, the Northeast Missouri native who experienced this first hand.

Bronze medal: “Spring will come and so will happiness. Hold on. Life will get warmer.” – author Anita Krizzan.

2. Time for another edition of Overrated/Underrated:

Overrated: New York Yankees. The once-mighty Yanks might actually be only the fourth-best team in the American League East behind Toronto, Tampa Bay and Boston.

Underrated: San Francisco Giants. Right now, these guys are not getting much love because the Dodgers and Padres are in the same division, but the Giants are legit (again) and have a manager, Gabe Kapler, who understands the nuances of analytics and how to get the most out of a roster that on paper is “not that good”.

Overrated: Mariska Hargitay, who earned raves for years as officer Olivia Benson on “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit,” but in recent seasons her character has lost her edge. Nowadays, she just sighs a lot.

Underrated: Through the years, Donnie Wahlberg has emerged as both an above-average actor — and presence, as detective Danny Reagan on “Blue Bloods”. It’s hard to believe he initially rose to prominence as the leader of the New Kids on the Block.

Overrated: Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss). If we ever could have afforded to lose one of the Fab Four on “Seinfeld,” it would have been Elaine. Jerry was the heart and soul of the group, George was Everyman and every man sympathized with his plight .. and Kramer stole just about every scene he had any sort of significant role. That leaves Elaine, who all too often was little more than window dressing.

Underrated: Kramer (Michael Richardson). Kramer never received ample screen time during the series’ run. I have always contended Cosmo deserved a series of his own.

3. Some local race fans may remember that rising NASCAR star Tyler Reddick raced twice in Quincy in 2013 as a teenager.

At the time, Reddick was a long-haired California native trying to make his mark in late model racing, with an eye on a future in NASCAR. Less than a decade later, Reddick — and his relatively new corporate short-haired look — is an established standout on stock car’s biggest stage at the still-tender age of 26. Reddick looked to have his first career NASCAR Cup race victory in hand, only to be taken out on the last lap in a crash with Chase Briscoe in last Sunday’s nationally televised dirt race on the high banks at Bristol, Tenn. Reddick led more laps than any other driver in the race, but could not hang on during that final circuit on the half-mile Bristol track. When Reddick and Briscoe crashed out of contention, Kyle Busch, slipped past both for a narrow victory.

Here are NBC Sports’ latest NASCAR driver rankings:

• 1. Ryan Blaney.
• 2. William Byron.
• 3. Joey Logano.
• 4. Chase Elliott.
• 5. Alex Bowman.
• 6. Ross Chastain.
• 7. Kyle Larson.
• 8. Kyle Busch.
• 9. Tyler Reddick.
• 10. Chase Briscoe.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — Steve remembers the time he considered auditioning for a role on “Seinfeld”. Actually, it was to be a stand-in for Newman. “I always imagined hearing the line … ‘Hello, Eighinger!’

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. Is Newman like the fifth Beatle?