In a Mutt Shell

Continuing on from my previous post, note this excerpt:

1930 – James ‘Bucky’ Mutscheller (March 31, 1930 – April 10, 2015) American football player and coach

James Mutscheller had cropped up on following the lead that brought us to the notable Births and Deaths found on the March 31 Wikipedia page.  Because of the “James” and “Dog Theme” pattern clusters, I limited my search to those named James, and any name that reminded me of “dog”.  It just so happens that James Mutscheller is an addition to both, given the cryptic “mutt shell” in his name ... a play on “nutshell”, a saying often used when giving the short, simple and straight to the point explanation on a topic.  His date of death, April 10, didn’t mean much to me at the moment, butt as the investigation moved along, and more leads presented themselves, we then arrived at:

• James V of Scotland (10 April 1512 – 14 December 1542) nominal King of Scots from 1513 and reigned 1528–1542

• James II of Aragon (10 April 1267 – 2 or 5 November 1327) called The Just, was the second son of Peter III of Aragon and Constance of Sicily

James Mutscheller died on the birthdays of King James V and King James II, hence generating an “April 10(x3)” pattern cluster.  Note the following info on 2 other king James:

• James III of Scotland  (10 July 1451/May 1452 – 11 June 1488) King of Scots 1460–1488

• James Francis Edward Stuart (10 June 1688 – 1 January 1766) Jacobite pretender

And so we now have a “April 10(x3), __, June 10, July 10/ 10th Day, Month Sequence” pattern cluster.  Cutting to the chase:

• 1841 – James Gordon Bennett, Jr.,  (May 10, 1841 – May 14, 1918)American publisher and broadcaster, co-founded Commercial Cable Company 
• 1942 – Jim Calhoun, American basketball player and coach

• 1942 – Carl Douglas, Jamaican singer-songwriter

• 1944 – Jim Abrahams, American director, producer, and screenwriter

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mutt (n.)

1901, "stupid or foolish person," probably a shortening of muttonhead (1803) in the same sense; see mutton and compare meathead, etc. Mutt was used by 1898 of a dog, especially a stupid one