Sharing a birthday

A few other card bloggers have posted happenings on their birthdays so I might as well follow suit.


With a birthday on October 10, it periodically falls as it does this year on our Canadian Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to any Canadians reading this!


A couple years ago while visiting my friend Les, he showed me some of the stuff he saved from the early parts of his music career. It was neat seeing some of his early promo photos but there was a small stack of cards among his stuff that caught my eye.


He explained to me that record stores weekly passed out cards with the hit parade charts on them. While flipping through them and laughing at some of the songs on them, I came across a card from my birthday. When I mentioned that, he gave it to me. From Ottawa, here is the CFRA Top 30 chart from my birthday.

Maybe I should spend some time and listen to all these songs on my birthday

I enjoy Neil Diamond's music, and saw him in a great Ottawa concert many years ago. Cracklin' Rosie isn't my favorite song of his, but it is up there so I can't complain that it was number 1 on the charts the day I was born.


People


Searching on the internet, and borrowing cards (when I can) from The Trading Card Database, here are some famous people who share my October 10th birthday.


Robert Gould Shaw - 1837


   - I learned his story when he was played by Matthew Broderick in the 1989 movie "Glory".


Thelonious Monk - 1917


   - Famous jazz musician and composer. One of his compositions, "Straight, No Chaser" helped inspire the name for one of my favorite music groups, Straight No Chaser.


Ed Wood - 1924


   - I really need to watch "Plan 9 From Outer Space" again.


James Clavell - 1924


   - One of the writers that adapted the book "The Great Escape" into the movie, he is also known for his "Asian Saga" that included the book and mini-series "Shogun".


Peter Mahovlich - 1946

1975-76 Topps #50

   - Peter played for Team Canada in the 1972 Summit Series against the Soviet Union. He won multiple Stanley Cups and made two All-Star teams in his long NHL career.


Ben Vereen - 1946

   - Okay, I don't really need an excuse to go to Youtube to show one of my favorite clips from "The Muppet Show", but I figure sharing a birthday is good enough.


David Lee Roth - 1954

1991 Brockum Rock Cards #117

   - I'm pretty sure that one of his solo songs (that I just watched again on Youtube) made 14 year old me look up what a gigolo was.


Bradley Whitford - 1959


   - Probably best known for his role as Josh on "The West Wing", a show that I enjoyed.


Brett Favre - 1969

1994 Upper Deck #250

   - Famous for his appearance in "There's Something About Mary".

Mario Lopez - 1973


1992 Pacific Saved By The Bell #106

   - Mr. A.C. Slater himself.


Chris Pronger - 1974

1993-94 O-Pee-Chee Premier #485

   - Hated by a lot of Canadian hockey fans for how he requested a trade out of Edmonton and for cheap hits against a couple of Ottawa Senators.


Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - 1974

1994 Wheels High Gear - Day One #183

   - Son of The Intimidator, among other accomplishments he has won two Daytona 500s.


Shane Doan - 1976

2007-08 O-Pee-Chee #367

   - One advantage to having a mother living in the Phoenix area is I've had the chance to see Doan play multiple times.


Troy Tulowitzki - 1984

2016 Topps Archives #136

   - I've always liked how he plays the game. My friends are loving his playoff play this year.


Andrew McCutcheon - 1986

2012 Topps Archives #66

   - Another player that I like how he plays the game.


Geno Smith - 1990

2013 Fleer Retro #49

   - Okay, I really only have him here to show a Mountaineer for Matt. (McCutchen is good enough that I would have posted him above anyways.) I think he'll be starting games again in the NFL this year.


Famous deaths on my birthday include William H. Seward (1872), Edith Piaf (1963), Yul Brynner (1985), Orson Welles (1985), Ken Caminiti (2004), Christopher Reeve (2004), and Alex Karras (2012).


History


My birthday, October 10, 1970, is the day that Fiji gained it's independence from the United Kingdom.


October 10 is also the National Day of Taiwan, referred to as Double Ten Day. It commemorates the start of the Wuchang Uprising of 1911 which led to the collapse of the Qing Dynasty and the founding of the Republic of China.


Cleveland Browns


Including while they were in the AAFC, the Cleveland Browns have played ten times on October 10th, with a record of 5-5. As might be imagined, most of the wins were before I was born.


On October 10, 1948, in the AAFC, the Browns were home to the Brooklyn Dodgers and beat them 30-17. Otto Graham was the quarterback for the Browns, but the team scored their touchdowns on rushes by Edgar Jones, Bill Boedeker and Marion Motley, and a fumble recovery for a touchdown by George Young.


On October 10, 1953, the Browns, now in the NFL, won at home, 37-13, against the Philadelphia Eagles. With Otto Graham at quarterback, the team passed for 343 yards and one touchdown, and had two rushing touchdowns from Chick Jagade.


On October 10, 1954, the Browns won at home, 31-7, against the Chicago Cardinals. The Browns, with Otto Graham, passed for 346 yards and 3 touchdowns, with a rushing touchdown added by Maurice Bassett.


October 10, 1964 was a 23-7 loss at home to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Frank Ryan was the quarterback and was 13-29 passing for 167 yards with a touchdown. Jim Brown rushed 8 times for 59 yards but added 5 receptions for 77 yards.


The Browns were once again at home to the Steelers on October 10, 1971 and they won 27-17 behind Bill Nelsen at quarterback, and rushing touchdowns by Leroy Kelly and Bo Scott.


Another home win over the Steelers happened on October 10, 1976. In that 18-16 game, Don Cockroft was the offensive star with four field goals, but missing a convert after a rushing touchdown by Cleo Miller. Sadly this was the Browns last win on my birthday.


In a game that I remember watching on October 10, 1993, both Bernie Kosar and Dan Marino were injured and although the Browns were winning 14-10 at the half, the Dolphins, behind Scott Mitchell scored the only points of the second half to win 24-14.


The 1999 expansion team had a chance to win their first game on October 10, 1999 at home to the Cincinnati Bengals. Sadly, the Bengals scored on a 2 yard touchdown pass with five seconds to go in the game (and missed the 2-point convert) to win 18-17. Tim Couch was the quarterback for the Browns that day.


The only road game the Browns have played on October 10th happened in 2004. Jeff Garcia led the Browns into Pittsburgh where they lost to the Steelers 34-23. The sad part is that Garcia was also the team's leading rusher that day with 41 yards.


The last time the Browns played on October 10th was at home to the Atlanta Falcons in 2010. The starting quarterback was Seneca Wallace, but he was hurt late in the second quarter and replaced by Jake Delhomme for the rest of the game. The Browns were winning 7-6 at the half, but ended up losing the game 20-10. The Browns had a team total of 48 rushing yards.