NBA Quiz: Only ten players in NBA history have averaged 25 a
game for their career (minimum 10,000 points). How many can
you name? Answer below.
December 19, 1776
Ah, the Christmas season was quite different in 1776. Sure, I
imagine families in the colonies were running around similar to
today, picking up gifts and such, but there was a revolution and a
war to concern themselves with as well. After suffering some
devastating initial defeats in the New York area during the
summer and fall of that year, General George Washington
managed to escape with most of his forces and traveled down
through New Jersey and across the Delaware River to
Pennsylvania. In the group was Thomas Paine, an Englishman
who had immigrated to Pennsylvania in 1774 at the age of 37.
Earlier in the year he had published the spellbinding “Common
Sense” pamphlet, which demanded independence for the
colonies. He now sat down to write a new dramatic appeal to the
Revolutionaries, “American Crisis,” that was released on
December 19.
General Washington ordered the pamphlet to be read by his
soldiers and the men, battered and beaten by the struggles of the
past year, were bolstered by the words.
On Christmas night 1776, Washington slipped across the icy
Delaware with 2,400 of his men, surprising a drunken force of
1,500 Hessians (German mercenaries). Victory was so complete
that only 500 escaped capture or death, while just six of
Washington’s men were wounded, including a future president,
Lieutenant James Monroe.
A few days later on January 3rd, Washington’s men fought back a
force of British redcoats at Princeton and then they took refuge in
Morristown, New Jersey for the winter. While the Patriots didn’t
have one full-scale conventional victory that first year, the
British now knew they had a real fight on their hands.
Americans also had a general whose best days were yet to come.
So during this Christmas season, maybe some of you can remind
your children of a time long ago that helped shape this great
nation. Picture the soldiers, freezing their butts off, not knowing
what the future held, suddenly inspired to greatness by the words
of Thomas Paine and the leadership of George Washington.
Thomas Paine
These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier
and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the
service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the
love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not
easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the
harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we
obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that
gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper
price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so
celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.
Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that
she has a right not only to TAX but TO BIND us in ALL CASES
WHATSOEVER, and if being bound in that manner is not
slavery, then is here not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even
the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong
only to God.
Whether the independence of the continent was declared too
soon, or delayed too long, I will not now enter into as an
argument; my one simple opinion is that had it been eight
months earlier, it would have been much better. We did not
make a proper use of last winter, neither could we, while we
were in a dependent state. However, the fault, if it were one, was
all our own; we have none to blame but ourselves. But no great
deal is lost yet. All that (British commander in chief Sir
William) Howe has been doing for this month past, is rather a
ravage than a conquest, which the spirit of the Jerseys, a year
ago, would have quickly repulsed, and which time and a little
resolution will soon recover.
I have as little superstition in me as any man living, but my
secret opinion has ever been, and still is, that God Almighty will
not give up a people to military destruction, or leave them
unsupportedly to perish, who have so earnestly and so repeatedly
sought to avoid the calamities of war, by every decent method
which wisdom could invent. Neither have I so much of the
infidel in me, as to suppose that He has relinquished the
government of the world, and given us up to the care of devils;
and as I do not, I cannot see on what grounds the king of Britain
can look up to heaven for help against us; a common murderer, a
highwayman, or a house-breaker, has as good a pretence as he.
‘Tis surprising to see how rapidly a panic will sometimes run
through a country. All nations and ages have been subject to
them. Britain has trembled like an ague (ed. ‘fever’) at the report
of a French fleet of flat-bottomed boats; and in the fourteenth
(fifteenth) century the whole English army, after ravaging the
kingdom of France, was driven back like men petrified with fear;
and this brave exploit was performed by a few broken forces
collected and headed by a woman, Joan of Arc. Would that
heaven might inspire some Jersey maid to spirit up her
countrymen, and save her fair fellow sufferers from ravage and
ravishment! Yet panics, in some cases, have their uses; they
produce as much good as hurt. Their duration is always short;
the mind soon grows through them, and acquires a firmer habit
than before. But their peculiar advantage is, that they are the
touchstones of sincerity and hypocrisy, and bring things and men
to light, which might otherwise have lain forever undiscovered.
In fact, they have the same effect on secret traitors, which an
imaginary apparition would have upon a private murderer. They
sift out the hidden thoughts of man, and hold them up in public
to the world. Many a disguised Tory has lately shown his head,
that shall penitentially solemnize with curses the day on which
Howe arrived upon the Delaware…
I shall not now attempt to give all the particulars of our retreat to
the Delaware; suffice it for the present to say, that both officers
and men, though greatly harassed and fatigued, frequently
without rest, covering, or provision, the inevitable consequences
of a long retreat, bore it with a manly and martial spirit. All their
wishes centred (sic) in one, which was, that the country would
turn out and help them to drive the enemy back. Voltaire has
remarked that King William never appeared to full advantage but
in difficulties and in action; the same remark may be made on
General Washington, for the character fits him. There is a
natural firmness in some minds which cannot be unlocked by
trifles, but which, when unlocked, discovers a cabinet of
fortitude; and I reckon it among those kind of public blessings,
which we do not immediately see, that God hath blessed him
with uninterrupted health, and given him a mind that can even
flourish upon care.
I shall conclude this paper with some miscellaneous remarks on
the state of our affairs; and shall begin with asking the following
question, Why is it that the enemy have left the New England
provinces, and made these middle ones the seat of war? The
answer is easy: New England is not infested with Tories, and we
are. I have been tender in raising the cry against these men, and
used numberless arguments to show them their danger, but it will
not do to sacrifice a world either to their folly or their baseness.
The period is now arrived, in which either they or we must
change our sentiments, or one or both must fall. And what is a
Tory? Good God! What is he? I should not be afraid to go with
a hundred Whigs against a thousand Tories, were they to attempt
to get into arms. Every Tory is a coward; for servile, slavish,
self-interested fear is the foundation of Toryism; and a man
under such influence, though he may be cruel, never can be
brave.
But, before the line or irrecoverable separation be drawn between
us, let us reason the matter together: Your conduct is an
invitation to the enemy, yet not one in a thousand of you has
heart enough to join him. Howe is as much deceived by you as
the American cause is injured by you. He expects you will all
take up arms, and flock to his standard, with muskets on your
shoulders. Your opinions are of no use to him, unless you
support him personally, for ‘tis soldiers, and not Tories, that he
wants.
I once felt all that kind of anger, which a man ought to feel,
against the mean principles that are held by the Tories: a noted
one, who kept a tavern at Amboy, was standing at his door, with
as pretty a child in his hand, about eight or nine years old, as I
ever saw, and after speaking his mind as freely as he thought was
prudent, finished with this unfatherly expression, “Well! Give
me peace in my day.” Not a man lives on the continent but fully
believes that a separation must some time or other finally take
place, and a generous parent should have said, “If there must be
trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace,” and
this single reflection, well applied, is sufficient to awaken every
man to duty. Not a place upon earth might be so happy as
America. Her situation is remote from all the wrangling world,
and she has nothing to do but to trade with them. A man can
distinguish himself between temper and principle, and I am as
confident, as I am that God governs the world, that America will
never be happy till she gets clear of foreign dominion. Wars,
without ceasing, will break out till that period arrives, and the
continent must in the end be conqueror; for though the flame of
liberty may sometimes cease to shine, the coal can never expire.
[Sources: “Muckraking!” edited by Judith and William Serrin;
“America: A Narrative History” George Brown Tindall and
David E. Shi]
Phil Spector’s Christmas Album
The great music producer Phil Spector loved Christmas, which
was hard for some to understand since he is Jewish, and as
Ronnie Spector wrote in her book “By My Baby,” “Every
year he would spend weeks designing his own special Christmas
card which he would send to everyone in the business.”
In 1963 Spector took it one step further and decided to record a
full Christmas album with contributions from all of the singers
on his Philles (sic) label. Beginning in the summer, he didn’t
leave the studio for about two months.
Phil wanted this album to be the masterpiece of his career and
the “Wall of Sound” that he was famous for shines through on it.
[The WOS was created by overdubbing five or six guitars, three
or four pianos, and an army of percussion, including multiple
drum kits, tambourines and bells to create a massive roar.
Spector called it “a Wagnerian approach to rock and roll: little
symphonies for the kids.”] Darlene Love sang “Christmas (Baby
Please Come Home), The Crystals did “Santa Claus Is Coming
To Town,” and the Ronnettes contributed “I saw Mommy
Kissing Santa Claus,” “Sleigh Ride,” and “Frosty The
Snowman.”
Phil decided to add a vocal himself as the final song on the
album. It’s a spoken message where he thanks all the kids for
buying his records and wishes everyone a Merry Christmas.
Ronnie said she had a soft spot for his voice (this was before they
got married…a truly disastrous episode). Actually, Ronnie wrote
in her autobiography that “He was the only guy I ever met who
could talk me into an orgasm.” [Sorry, kids. I only report what I
read.]
Anyway, the final product, “A Christmas Gift For You,” came
out in November 1963. Nobody bought it then because it was
issued a few days after the assassination of JFK. As Ronnie
Spector notes, people were too depressed to even look at a rock
and roll record. In the ‘70s the album was reissued and today it’s
still considered one of the greatest in rock history.
Zal Yanovsky, RIP
The former lead guitar player for the Lovin’ Spoonful (he was
the goofy one) died in Ontario the other day at age 57.
Yanovsky started out with Denny Doherty and Cass Elliot in the
early 1960s as part of an electric folk group called the
Mugwumps. They were hideous, but one day in February 1964,
Cass Elliot had Yanovsky and John Sebastian over to watch the
Beatles’ debut on “The Ed Sullivan Show.” Yanovsky and
Sebastian, duly inspired, would go on to form Lovin’ Spoonful,
while Elliot and Doherty helped found the Mamas and the Papas.
It’s easy to forget just how successful the Lovin’ Spoonful were.
From September 1965 through January 1967 they had seven Top
Ten hits:
Do You Believe In Magic…#9
You Didn’t Have To Be So Nice…#10 (the editor’s favorite)
Daydream…#2
Did You Ever Have To Make Up Your Mind?…#2
Summer In The City…#1
Rain On The Roof…#10
Nashville Cats…#8.
But the group broke up in ’68, Yanovsky having left the year
before after which he became a restaurateur in Canada.
Stuff
–I haven’t heard the latest on the injuries to the rookie zookeeper
in Miami, who on Monday was kicked around by a 6,000-lb.
elephant as the man was trying to feed it within an enclosed area,
but they were severe. I think it was the great Waylon Jennings
who once sang, “Mama, don’t let your babies grow up to be
zookeepers.”
Also on the pachyderm front, Johnny Mac passed along a
Reuters report that “A herd of wild elephants driven berserk by
country liquor trampled to death six people…in India’s
northeastern state of Assam.”
The animals evidently raided granaries and liquor stored by
villagers. Said one expert, Dinesh Choudhury, “It has been
noticed that elephants have developed a taste for rice beer and
local liquor.”
Well, upon reading this I had to pull out my copy of Brian
Glover’s “The Complete Guide to Beer” and I found a potential
brew for our friends from the animal kingdom…Sapporo Black
Beer.
“This classic, full-flavoured black beer…uses crystal, chocolate
and Munich malts as well as rice.”
I guess my only hope now, though, is that my elephant
readers behave in a civilized manner as they seek out this adult
beverage in Assam state. Otherwise, I fear the worst.
–Maybe Florida State QB Chris Rix was drinking too much
Sapporo Black, because he was just suspended for the Sugar
Bowl after sleeping through a final exam. You’ll recall that FSU
had recently suspended the previous starter, Adrian McPherson,
for stealing a blank check and receiving $3,500 when it was
cashed. In other words, the school has a quarterback problem.
–Alright, alright…so I got on Michael Jordan’s case the other
day for scoring just two points in 40 minutes, implying that it
was time to put the ball in the locker and concentrate on his
gambling activities. Alas, his Airness had 30 points the next
outing. *And then 33 Wednesday. Doh!
–Former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent weighed in on the
Pete Rose controversy in an op-ed piece in Monday’s New York
Times. In part:
“The Rose case is not about what is best or fair for Peter Edward
Rose. The vital issue is what is best for baseball. The
commissioner must act in the best interests of the game.
Gambling on baseball by baseball personnel undermines the
sport. The deterrent, the risk of lifetime banishment, works.
Everyone in baseball knows with certainty that betting on a game
in which you have an interest will lead to a lifetime ban…
“I accept the ancient dictum to temper justice with mercy. But to
readmit Mr. Rose now, with only a press-release apology, would
exhibit too much mercy to a single man and not enough respect
for the game he played and the fans who pay to watch it. It is
Mr. Rose who has yet to accept the justice of his situation. He
had 4,256 hits – and one colossal whiff.”
This is not a Lawrence Taylor type deal, where a player got
in trouble with the law because of his personal conduct outside of
the game. Rose was acting up in the midst of it, even in the face
of the admonition against gambling plastered on the locker room
wall. You don’t do it. Ever. Keep Rose out.
–Speaking of baseball, actor Alec Baldwin, who in more normal
times would be eligible for StocksandNews’s “Dirtball of the
Year” award, has come up with the incredibly stupid idea of
placing Yankee Stadium on top of Ground Zero as a memorial to
all 9/11 victims. The start of each game would have a moment
of silence, etc. Thankfully, not only does the Yankee
organization hate this, but anyone else of sound body and mind
does as well.
–In 1970 the average baseball salary was $29,000. In 2002 it
was $2.3 million. The average for a player with six years in the
big leagues is $3.46 million.
Note to parents: Why are some of you letting your boys play
video games all day? Throw ‘em outside with a bat and ball.
Top 3 songs for the week of 12/20/69: #1 “Leaving On A Jet
Plane” (Peter, Paul & Mary) #2 “Someday We’ll Be Together”
(Diana Ross & The Supremes) #3 “Down On The Corner”
(Creedence Clearwater Revival)
NBA Quiz Answers: The ten with career scoring averages of at
least 25 points a game (entering 2002-3).
Michael Jordan…31.0
Wilt Chamberlain…30.1
Shaquille O’Neal…27.6
Elgin Baylor…27.4
Jerry West…27.0
Allen Iverson…26.9
Bob Pettit…26.4
George Gervin…26.2
Oscar Robertson…25.7
Karl Malone…25.7
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
