Until sports returns, my mind will continue to wander to find strange facts

Much like going through the withdrawals of other addictions, many of us are learning to cope with the loss of live sports. I still get the shakes when I think about not being able to watch the NCAA basketball or golf tournament or dozing off in the middle of a NASCAR race. Going cold turkey from Krispy Kreme doughnuts was easier.

I jump every time my cell phone chimes with an alert from ESPN. I even miss fishing shows.

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed with the way we approach our every day lives. For the most part, we’re either fighting for the last roll of toilet paper or holed up in our homes, destined to the sufferable punishment of watching continuous reruns of “Smokey and the Bandit, Part 3,” “We’re the Millers” and “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.”

Having so much free time also allowed me to look up some interesting things. And because I already did it, you won’t have to do it.

For example, did you know the famous island green at No. 17 at TPC Sawgrass’ Stadium Course isn’t an island. It’s a peninsula. An island is a body of land surrounded by water. The green at the par-3, 132-yard hole is connected by a solid piece of land. The walkway makes it a peninsula.

The current coronavirus scare also brings to light the use of three important words – suspended, postponed and canceled. When something is suspended, it eventually will pick up where it left off once it’s deemed safe. Postponed means an event won’t happen as scheduled, but there are plans to re-schedule it. Canceled – and by the way, it’s spelled with one “l,” not two – means it’s gone and it’s not coming back.

Also, what puzzles me is how they make a Cuba Libre in Cuba since it’s one of two countries in the world – the other is North Korea – that doesn’t sell Coca-Cola. How do you order a rum and coke in Havana without the coke?

Were you aware a meatloaf in Alaska made of moose meat is called a meatloaf? You can look it up, but you’re just wasting your time. I already did.

Another bizarre fact is it’s illegal for an unmarried woman in Florida to parachute on Sundays, punishable by fines, arrest and jail time.

It’s also on the Florida books that it’s illegal for a man to wear a strapless dress in public. Gowns and miniskirts, however, are all right.

Did you know Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts? No you didn’t.

What’s the only mammal that can fly? It’s a bat. Surprised?

What animal kills the most people? That would be the mosquito because it carries so many viruses and disease. And yes, an insect is an animal. I looked it up.

While this unique Florida law doesn’t affect me, did you know it’s illegal to fall asleep under a hair dryer?

Bet you didn’t know fortune cookies were invented in Japan, not China, and brought to the United States. In fact, they’re extremely rare in China since residents there usually opt for orange slices for dessert.

Twinkies only have a shelf life of 45 days, not eternity. How long as that box been sitting in your cupboard?

And to all my baseball friends, the sport was more likely to have been invented on the streets of New York City by children playing cricket, not by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, New York.

While many believe Mike and Carol from “The Brady Bunch” were the first married couple to share a bed, it’s actually happened in 1947 on the “Mary Kay and Johnny” show. And while we’re at it, “Psycho” was the first time a flushing toilet was shown in a movie, and director Alfred Hitchcock used chocolate syrup to mimic blood in the famous shower scene.

And that brings me to a final fun fact. Mr. Potato Head was the first toy to be advertised on television and an ad for the Bulova watch was the first commercial on TV. It was played at the beginning of the Brooklyn Dodger and Philadelphia Phillies baseball game in 1941.

And if you’re like me, you can’t wait for sports to return. My mind is tired from being used to process information, not relax during a good ballgame.