DAILY DIRT: The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat? Well, that’s the way it is

April 10, 2025 | By Steve Eighinger, Muddy River News Minister of Culture and Doctor of Love

Vinko Bogataj is the ski jumper who bit it in the opening of ABC's Wide World of Sports. ABC

Daily Dirt for Thursday, April 10, 2025

Let’s start off the day with a resounding yabba dabba do! … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 1,253 of The Daily Dirt.

1. If nothing else, some of those 1960s TV shows left us with some rather cool sayings and one-liners that have managed to survive — and even thrive — over the years.

Any self-respecting boomer will remember most, if not all of the following. How many remain a part of your daily conversations all of these years later? Here’s my favorite 10 lines from those days of yore:

1. “And that’s the way it is.” –Walter Cronkite, signing off the nightly “CBS News”. (No newsman’s delivery was imitated more than Cronkite during his prime, and this one specific line was the principal reason.)

2. “Yabba dabba do!” –Fred Flintstone, “The Flintstones”. (This catchphrase remains commonplace today, and is always used in a group scene with the mandatory verbal exclamation point.)

3.”The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.” –Jim McKay, “ABC Wide World of Sports”. (If you’re a guy, you have used this at least a thousand times over the years, and not only in regard to sports.)

4. “Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.” –announcer, “Batman”. (I often wonder if even half the people who use this line nowadays have any idea of its origin.)

5. “I’m smarter than the average bear.” –Yogi Bear, “The Yogi Bear Show”. (There have been all sorts of alterations, but this, folks, was the original.)

6. “Book ’em, Dano.” –Detective Steve McGarrett, “Hawaii Five-O”. (Short. Sweet. To the Point. It never goes out of style.)

7.”Would you-u-u belie-e-eve?” –Maxwell Smart, “Get Smart”. (In some circles, “Get Smart” is considered a classic sitcom. I’m not sure about that, but this line certainly was/is.)

8. “Live long and prosper.” –Spock, “Star Trek”. (I was never a huge “Star Trek” fan, but I always got a kick out of hearing people pull this line out and use it in an otherwise mundane conversation.)

9. “Sock it to me” — from “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-in”. (To this day, every time I hear this I always envision Goldie Hawn.)

10. “Danger, Will Robinson, danger.” — Robot Model B9, “Lost in Space”. (I used to watch this show as a wee lad, simply to hear this line.)

Honorable mention: “I’m smarter than the average bear.” –Yogi Bear, “The Yogi Bear Show”. (There have been all sorts of alterations, but this, folks, was the original.)

2. Did you know (Part 328)

That the part of your nose that separates the nostrils is called a “columella”.
That Mountain Dew has a new exclusive Mango Rush flavor, currently available only through Little Caesar’s Pizza. Supposedly, the availability will be more widespread in May.
That McDonald’s is now serving its own signature lemonade nationwide for the first time. Previously, it had only been available in selected markets.
That Sonic has a new berries (including raspberries and strawberries) and cream drink, which also includes a “splash” of Sprite.
That those little bumps on raspberries are called “drupelets”.

3. For a change, the past week has been relatively calm when it comes to The Great Plate Debate IV.

There were no earthshaking spottings among personalized license plates across West-Central Illinois and Northeast Missouri. Oh, there were plenty of interesting plates, just none that The Daily Dirt Board of Control deemed medal worthy:

These were the top plates staff members saw and readers reported: