Here is a great post by Fungo that was posted a while back. I believe this is under the "Editorials" tab on this site.
So your son has hit 87 on the ole radar gun but he can’t quite hit the magical 90. It’s no BIG DEAL!! Sit down and tell him there is not much difference between 87 and 90.
Boy do you have your work cut out for you. There is no way you can convince him or anyone else there is no difference. Ninety is the only word in the English language that has been etched in stone!
The bureau of standards in Fort Collins, Colorado has "90" emblazoned into the granite floor in the center of the rotunda of the visitor’s center. They consider ninety to be the cornerstone of life. Ninety is part of our heritage. Ninety is the king of standards, The measuring rod of life. History will not allow us to substitute 87 for 90. Never has. Never will.
Who can you blame for this terrible travesty?
Not anyone on the HSBBW or even in baseball. It goes much deeper than that. I can tell you this, once he hits 90+ on the radar gun, your life changes, you become....... it’s hard to explain.
Why is it such a part of our life?
If I live to be ninety years old
My heart was beating ninety miles an hour
It is really hot outside must be ninety degrees
Ninety miles and hour down a one-way street. (Bob Dylan / Down in the Groove album)
He was going ninety to nothing
Are you a 90 pound weakling? (Charles Atlas bodybuilder)
That dude passed me going 90 miles an hour (Bubba explaining to Alabama highway patrol)
A wreck at ninety miles an hour (Lyrics from Stonewall Jackson’s BJ the DJ song)
She is so pert and petite. I would guess no more than 90 pounds!
That pitcher can throw 87 mile per hour. Sorry......almost there