NBA Quiz: Name the top six regular season scorers on the
following championship squads: 1) 1995-96 Chicago Bulls that
beat Seattle. 2) 1984-85 Los Angeles Lakers team that defeated
Boston. 3) 1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers team that beat
Philadelphia for the crown. Answers below.
World Cup
Here in Turkey, having qualified you can imagine the locals are
rather fired up for the World Cup, while one of the highlights of
my current trip to the region should be my time in Slovenia,
designed to correspond with this country’s own first game
against Spain. I’m looking forward to viewing this with the
locals. I also hope to remember the experience, if you catch my
drift.
So while I have posted the groupings before, allow me to do so
again, as I drag you all kicking and screaming to what should be
a great event. I only hope the Japanese and South Koreans are
prepared to handle the security.
The first two in each group of four move on to the second round.
Those teams marked with an asterisk (*) are picked by Sports
Illustrated to advance. SI then has Italy defeating Argentina for
the Cup.
Group A – France *, Denmark *, Senegal, Uruguay
Group B – Spain *, Slovenia *, Paraguay, South Africa
Group C – Brazil *, Turkey *, China, Costa Rica
Group D – Portugal *, U.S. *, Poland, South Korea
Group E – Ireland *, Cameroon *, Germany, Saudi Arabia
Group F – Argentina *, Sweden *, England, Nigeria
Group G – Italy *, Mexico *, Croatia, Ecuador
Group H – Japan *, Russia *, Belgium, Tunisia
–Brazil and Turkey square off in the first match for both and one
of Brazil’s stars said they only need to play at “40%” to beat
them. Remember, Brazil, Turkey has a far bigger army.
–Slovenia is the smallest nation in the tourney, with just 1.9 mm
inhabitants.
–Ireland will be playing without star Roy Keane (at last word),
sent home for insubordination.
–I wouldn’t bet on Tunisia, they’ve had 5 coaches in 15 months.
–No country probably deserves it more than Argentina, with all
the problems that nation has had the past year.
–Pubs in Britain (and I’m assuming elsewhere) will be open
special hours since a few of the matches will be on at 7:30 AM
London time, for example. This took a High Court ruling to get
it done, given the country’s highly regulated industry.
Employers are also offering flex time, as you can imagine some
of the folks staggering in at 10:00 AM wouldn’t exactly be
productive.
So, the official StocksandNews pick for the World Cup is…
Argentina. A sleeper for the Final”s is Poland. [I have no freakin’
clue.]
Stuff
–I’m in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, and the weather has been
fantastic, great for sitting outside, tossing a few back, and
contemplating the world. [Now that I’m here, there are also
absolutely no security concerns on my part. I’ll have more
details in “Week in Review.”] Anyway, did you know that the
‘screwdriver’ was invented during World War II in Ankara? At
least that is what a book at the hotel bar says. The New York
Times’ Cyrus Salzberger (the book says “New Times”, but I’m
assuming it meant NY Times) is responsible.
Back during the war, Turkey was neutral, until the last week of
the conflict when they sided with the winner. Actually, a rather
smart choice looking back, but they didn’t really take advantage
of it (no destruction and all…but now I’m rambling). So Ankara
was a hotbed for many of the world’s journalists and diplomats
and a grand time was had by all.
–I never drink liqueur, but the other night I sampled raki, the
national drink. Geezuz, it was powerful (its also drunk before,
during and after meals around these parts). It didn’t help,
either, when the restaurant manager gave me a complimentary
second glass. [Tip for travelers. Always carry a little notebook.
I’m sure more than a few restaurateurs think I’m a food critic.]
–I wish I could see this. In Eastern Turkey they have a sport
called javelin throwing, which is played on horseback, with the
object being to catch it in the air. The Simpsons could do a good
show here.
–Taxi drivers in Ankara are absolutely nuts. The road may have
lane markings for 3 across, but I can just see NASCAR’s Darrell
Waltrip describing the real action… “They’re taking it 5 wide!!!”
–Ataturk is buried in Ankara and at the museum next to his
mausoleum, there are some pictures of clouds in his image. Now
you know you’ve finally made it when someone frames your
image in this fashion. [To be honest, they didn’t look like him at
all.]
–Did you see that train crash in Mozambique that took 200
lives? The train was a combination of freight and passenger.
This is what happened, according to Reuters.
“The train developed a mechanical fault as it tried to climb a hill,
so the driver disconnected the passenger section of the train,
which was already partially up the hill, from the freight train…
“The driver then wedged four large stones under the wheels of
the passenger train to keep it from sliding backward and then
drove the freight train back to a nearby station. However, the
stones gave way and the passenger train barreled down the tracks
into the freight train.”
When your luck runs out, it runs out.
–I see I’ve missed Shawn Green’s spectacular hitting display
back home. 6 for 6 in one game with 4 home runs and a record
19 total bases. [Green was the 14th player in major league
history to hit 4 in a game, joining Seattle’s Mike Cameron who
performed the feat just a few weeks ago.] But I also see where
Green set a record for 9 dingers in a calendar week, as well as
becoming the first to hit 7 in 3 games.
–So before I left I was reading my farm journal from Oklahoma
and Kansas and in case you were wondering what a farmer gets
for ‘hosting’ a wind turbine on his property, it averages about
$2,000 per tower. One individual wind farm in Kansas now has
170 turbines cranking out power the clean way. So it’s time to
meet with my condo board to see if I can put one in my
driveway.
–Golf: How about Jack Nicklaus making the cut at age 62 in the
Memorial this past weekend? Awesome stuff. Which brings me
to Sam Snead.
I haven’t had a chance to comment in this space, but to me 3
things stand out about the man’s career, aside from his record 81
tour titles and 7 majors.
*Winning the Greater Greensboro Open in 1965 at age 52, the
oldest player to win a PGA event. [Tom Watson had a legitimate
shot of matching this at Colonial a few weeks back.]
*Shooting his age, 67, in the 1979 Quad Cities Open, the
youngest to do so in a PGA event…and then in the last round of
the same tournament Snead shot 66.
*At age 62, Snead finished 3rd at the 1974 PGA, just 3 shots
behind winner Lee Trevino. That was at Tanglewood, Demon
Deacon fans. [Most of us Wake Forest types remember
Tanglewood for the great parties we held there, more so than the
golf.]
–Speaking of Wake Forest, this is the year we win the College
World Series.
Top 3 songs for the week of 5/31/69: #1 “Get Back” (The
Beatles) #2 “Love (Can Make You Happy) (Mercy) #3
“Aquarius / Let The Sunshine In” (The 5th Dimension)
First Top Ten Quiz
Something a little different. For the following groups, all of
which had at least five Billboard Top Ten singles, name their
first to attain this level. And to give you some time, I’m not
releasing the answers until next Bar Chat.
Abba, Aerosmith, America, The Association, The Beach Boys,
The Beatles, Bee Gees, Bread, Carpenters, Chicago, Dave Clark
Five, Petula Clark, Commodores, John Denver, Neil Diamond,
Dion, The Drifters, Eagles, Earth Wind & Fire.
NBA Quiz Answers:
1995-96 Chicago Bulls – Michael Jordan (30.4), Scottie Pippen
(19.4), Toni Kukoc (13.1) Luc Longley (9.1), Steve Kerr (8.4),
Ron Harper (7.4)
1984-85 L.A. Lakers – Kareem (22.0), Magic (18.3), James
Worthy (17.6), Byron Scott (16.0), Bob McAdoo (10.5), Mike
McGee (10.2)…Michael Cooper was at 8.6, in case you’re
wondering.
1976-77 Portland Trail Blazers – Maurice Lucas (20.2), Bill
Walton (18.6), Lionel Hollins (14.7), Bob Gross (11.4), Larry
Steele (10.3), Dave Twardzik (10.3)
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
