Pittsburgh Steelers Quiz (1933-2001): 1) Receptions, career? 2)
Interceptions, career? 3) Touchdowns, career? 4) Rushing,
season? 5) Rushing, game? 6) Passing yards, game? Answers
below.
Sputnik, Part II
So we pick up our story from October 1957, with this little
Soviet beach ball-sized spheroid chirping away in space.
Launched on October 4, the signal died on October 26, though
the craft orbited silently another 70 days. Sputnik did nothing
more than go ‘beep-beep,’ but this was the Cold War, after all,
and few in the West had any confidence that this was all Sputnik
was designed for.
Of course the big concern was how the Russians got Sputnik in
the air in the first place. Information on the booster rocket
wasn’t known for years, but one ‘good’ that came out of this
scare was the fact it strengthened NATO, which now recognized
the threat assessment from the Soviet Union had gone up
considerably.
Sputnik also undercut the stock market (something I covered
back in 1999 on my “Wall Street History” link), and the U.S.
economy was in full recession. As author Paul Dickson
(“Sputnik: The Shock of the Century”) noted, “Speculation on
Wall Street was that the president deliberately had not reacted
strongly to Sputnik to minimize its economic impact. It had been
argued that if Eisenhower had expressed fear and pain, there
would have been a run on the bank.” [Parallels to today?]
You have to picture that with Sputnik orbiting the earth 4-6 times
a day, most Americans suddenly felt vulnerable for the first time
in their lives. After all, not one single enemy aircraft penetrated
the skies of the continental U.S. during World War II.
But while the signal from the craft died on October 26, 1957, just
one week later, November 3rd, the Soviets launched Sputnik
II…only this time instead of a 184-pound beach ball, Sputnik II
was 1,118-lbs. What kind of rocket was able to propel this far
bigger craft into space? Further, there was actual cargo on
board…in the form of a 14-lb. female mongrel, part Samoyed
terrier, named “Laika.”
The Soviets had rigged a life-support system for the dog,
designed to last at least 100 hours, though there was one
problem. As of this time, there was no way to bring a craft
safely back to Earth, so many were a bit disconcerted that this
animal was doomed. And, as it turns out, Laika died on the 4th
day due to the fact that a heat shield had broken off on launch
and the capsule overheated…but this wasn’t known until long
after the fact. Sputnik II was up in the air for five months before
it crash landed.
With their apparent rocket capability, the new fear in the U.S.
and the West was that the Russians would be in a position to
blackmail their enemies with these new missiles that they had to
be building. Famed reporter Edward R. Murrow went so far as
to say that the U.S. could no longer negotiate from a position of
strength.
Finally, on December 6, 1957, America launched its own
satellite, Vanguard, except there was one problem. It rose a few
feet off the ground and collapsed in a heap of flames. Pravda
proclaimed, “Oh, what a Flopnik!” Some Western papers read,
“Ike’s Sputnik Is Dudnik.” It didn’t help matters any that two
weeks after this disaster, a top-secret report (Gaither) was leaked
to the public and Americans learned that our military was unable
to defend itself against a Soviet attack, with the congressional
report calling for a missile defense to defend the country.
So, boys and girls, the more things change, the more they stay
the same. Missile defense is far from a new concept, that’s for
sure. And for those who long wistfully for those fabulous days
of the 1950s, do you really want to go back to this era? Doesn’t
sound much better than today, at least in terms of the fears that
the average American had.
But there is more to this story, so we’ll pick it up on Tuesday.
We’re talking an invasion from space! Hide the children in the
shelters!
ACC Basketball
Yeah, it’s early, but about two weeks ago, the Atlantic Coast
Conference released its all-time team as part of the 50th
anniversary celebrations for the conference. The following 50
members were selected by a committee of 120.
Kenny Anderson / Georgia Tech
Shane Battier / Duke
Len Bias / Maryland
Elton Brand / Duke
Tom Burleson / NC State
Len Chappell / Wake Forest
Randolph Childress / Wake Forest
Billy Cunningham / UNC
Brad Daugherty / UNC
Charlie Davis / Wake Forest
Walter Davis / UNC
Johnny Dawkins / Duke
Juan Dixon / Maryland
Tim Duncan / Wake Forest
Len Elmore / Maryland
Danny Ferry / Duke
Phil Ford / UNC
Mike Gminski / Duke
Horace Grant / Clemson
Matt Harpring / Georgia Tech
Dickie Hemric / Wake Forest
Art Heyman / Duke
Grant Hill / Duke
Bobby Hurley / Duke
Antawn Jamison / UNC
Bobby Jones / UNC
Michael Jordan / UNC
Albert King / Maryland
Christian Laettner / Duke
Jeff Lamp / Virginia
John Lucas / Maryland
Tom McMillen / Maryland
Larry Miller / UNC
Rodney Monroe / NC State
Jeff Mullins / Duke
Barry Parkhill / Virginia
Sam Perkins / UNC
Mark Price / Georgia Tech
John Roche / South Carolina
Wayne “Tree” Rollins / Clemson
Lennie Rosenbluth / UNC
Ralph Sampson / Virginia
Charlie Scott / UNC
Dennis Scott / Georgia Tech
Ron Shavlik / NC State
Joe Smith / Maryland
David Thompson / NC State
Buck Williams / Maryland
Jason Williams / Duke
James Worthy / UNC
I may resurrect this list at the height of the coming hoops
campaign, but for now my problem is the omission of Wake’s
Rod Griffin and seeing Dennis Scott’s name on the list. Scott
was the most one-dimensional player in the history of the league
(slight exaggeration, I guess), while Griffin was a two-time
player of the year…oops, correction. Griffin won it his junior
year, but per an urgent call to my friend Phil W., he reminded me
of the controversy concerning Griffin and Phil Ford, when both
were seniors. Griffin had the better year, but Ford took the
award. Regardless, Griffin got hosed, as did Wake’s Skip
Brown. That’s just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Stuff
–Update: The New York Knicks fined Latrell Sprewell
$250,000 and told him to stay away from the team for a spell,
kind of like Cool Hand Luke being sent to the box to get his
“mind right.” Around these parts, the whole Knicks-Sprewell
relationship is a joke. His best days are far behind him, he’s
making something like $12 million, he’s the same jerk he always
was, and now they’re stuck with him. Just another reason to be a
Nets fan!!!
–Hakeem Olajuwon is going to retire. The New York Post’s
Peter Vecsey labels the Dream the 4th best center in NBA history,
behind Bill Russell, Kareem, and Wilt. No arguments here,
though I was always a Nate Thurmond fan.
–Augusta update: USOC head Lloyd Ward, an Augusta
member, said he was “committed to breaking down barriers
which exclude women from membership at Augusta.”
–In a related story, golfing great Gary Player is putting his
collection of memorabilia, some 300 items, up for auction
through Christie’s, with the hope of raising $millions for his
various foundations, including one to help underprivileged
children. A noble gesture, I think you’d agree. But Augusta
officials are none too pleased, because one of the items is to be
Player’s green jacket from winning the 1961 Masters.
Normally, the jacket is worn only for the ceremony following
victory, as well as the champions dinner that is held each year,
with the jacket remaining at the club all other times. But back in
’61, Player took his jacket and Augusta officials allowed him to
keep it, as long as he didn’t wear it. Now they’re bitching he is
going to sell it. Chill out, guys. [Paid for by the Gary Player Fan
Club…one of the most underrated athletes of the 20th century.]
–If you’re thinking of getting into the bug business, I read a
story on the Bassetts of Visalia, CA, who are the kings of the
cricket trade. Bassett Cricket Farm employs 21 people and
supplies 120 million crickets a year to pet stores for the nation’s
reptiles. Sales for these kinds of products are about $381 million
nationwide. [AP]
Top 3 songs for the week of 10/12/74: #1 “I Honestly Love
You” (Olivia Newton-John) #2 “Nothing From Nothing” (Billy
Preston) #3 “Then Came You” (Dionne Warwick & The
Spinners)
Pittsburgh Steelers Quiz Answers: 1) Receptions, career: John
Stallworth…537 (1974-87). 2) Interceptions, career: Mel Blount
…57 (1970-83)…Blount had one punt return in his entire career
for 52 yards! Nice average. 3) Touchdowns, career: Franco
Harris… 100 (1972-83). 4) Rushing, season: Barry
Foster…1,690 in 1992. Out of football at age 26. 5) Rushing,
game: John “Frenchy” Fuqua…218 on 12/20/70. That season,
Fuqua rushed for 691 yards, averaging 5.0 a carry. Ah yes, he
had a great Strat-O-Matic card for that year, as your editor ran
him into the ground. 6) Passing yards, game: Bobby Layne…
409 on 12/3/58.
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday. Flying saucers!
