AFL Rushing Quiz: Name the rushing champion for each year,
1960-69. [Hint, two won it twice during this time. 7 different
teams.] Of course this is hard ..but you’re supposed to
take this down to the local tavern and get your friends involved.
Answer below.
Stuff
–Warren Zevon, RIP. I realize many of you are upset today, your
hero is gone. Even my brother called in, shaken. No one in rock
history has ever gone out this way. Unfortunately, due to time
constraints I\’\’m not able to do much more in way of tribute than
I already have………….it\’\’s been kind of drawn out, after all,
but here a few little tidbits from his life.
The son of Russian immigrants, Zevon met Igor Stravinsky while
in junior high school. How cool would that have been?
And in his early days he wrote jingles for Ernest and Julio Gallo,
the wine guys, and Chevy Camaro, plus he was the pianist and
band-leader for the Everly Brothers.
But Zevon better be careful up in paradise. It got kind of
depressing at the end and God has enough other stuff to worry
about these days. "Hey, man, don\’\’t bum me out," said the Lord
to the new entrant to Rock and Roll Heaven.
–You can\’\’t make this up. Norwegian Cruise Lines was set to
journey from New York to Bermuda, Sunday, but the hurricane
damage there precluded this. So, without any notice, the cruise
was rerouted to……Halifax, Nova Scotia instead! You think
everyone was prepared, dress wise? These were some ticked off
passengers, I tell you. And the company said no refund.
–College Football baby, you gotta love it, especially when
your team wins.
Go DEACS! Saturday’s win over North Carolina State was one
of the biggest wins for the program in the past 25 years, and we
were rewarded with a #21 ranking in the USA Today / ESPN poll
(#20 AP). As my friend Phil W. had been telling me all week,
“Editor (remember, I have to hide my name on this link), these
State folks are the cockiest SOBs and obnoxious.” Like we
used to say in school, “If you can’t go to college, go to State.”
Here’s what NC State QB Philip Rivers said after the game.
“I thought we were ready for Wake. There was a lot of hype that
we wouldn’t be, but we were. We can make a ton of excuses, but
the bottom line is we are a good enough football team that we
should have won this game.”
You lost, jerk. Next up for the Deacs, Purdue. We’re taking this
one game at a time .heh heh.
But to digress a bit, the New York Daily News’ Mike Lupica was
commenting over the weekend concerning the Jets sorry effort
last Thursday against the Redskins. Specifically, Lupica, as were
the rest of us Jets fans, was pissed that the coaching staff, read
offensive coordinator Paul Hackett, didn’t let QB Vinny
Testaverde play his game, which is to throw it downfield.
Lupica said, “Hackett better find a way to coach to his talent.”
Well you know what? That’s what Wake’s Jim Grobe has done
and his reputation, nationally, is soaring.
–We just may have a new candidate for the “Dave Bliss – Bar
Chat Dirtball of the Year” award. I mean I guess we do have to
give the first one to Bliss, himself, since we’re naming the trophy
after the loser, but I’ve uncovered a fellow in Virginia who is
almost equally deserving. A farmer / landowner by the name of
John Mullins.
I’m reading my Civil War Preservation Trust magazine and the
organization (perhaps the best in America) is attempting to
purchase the 273-acre Mullins Farm, which was the site of the
first day of fighting in the Battle of Chancellorsville. Along with
members of the Coalition to Save Chancellorsville Battlefield,
the trust is willing to pay Mullins fair value, probably in the
neighborhood of $10 million. Mullins, though, is insisting on
$40 million, an asking price 6 to 7 times the assessed value of the
property. According to the report:
“One frustrated local resident recently remarked that, if Mullins
thinks his land is worth that much, perhaps he should be paying
taxes on $40 million (the current assessed value – the amount
Mullins is paying taxes on – is $5.6 million).”
Is J.E.B. Stuart still alive? Time for a little cavalry charge.
–And now for your exclusive StocksandNews “College Game
Ball of the Week” award .Miami, for its unbelievable 38-33
comeback over Florida. Hell, I turned it off at 33-16, like a real
dumb ass.
Other awards, call them “frosties,” go to the University of
Connecticut for winning its second game (sorry, Army); Boston
College, for recovering after its “heinous” loss to Wake Forest
the previous week to beat Penn State; Nebraska, also 2-0, just
because we have to root somewhat for Nebraska at S&N; and the
Southern Cal cheerleaders for another stupendous effort in
whipping BYU 35-18.
Unfortunately, it now appears that Auburn, 0-2, was the biggest
fraud in the history of preseason polls, while Rutgers, 1-1,
probably isn’t national championship caliber after losing to
Michigan State 44-28.
–Nice streak, New York Yankee Jason Giambi. Giambi is 3 for
his last 58 and Steinbrenner is close to exploding.
–A hearty welcome to the latest addition to the Monday Night
Football team, Lisa Guerrero, who in last week’s NY –
Washington game displayed a classy touch of cleavage.
[I’ll get in trouble for that one.]
–Toronto’s Roy Halladay tossed a 10-inning, 1-0 shutout against
Detroit on Saturday, thus becoming the first major league pitcher
to hurl an extra-inning shutout since Jack Morris did it in Game
Seven of the 1991 World Series. Now that’s incredible.
Of course starters don’t complete games anymore as managers
rely on 7 or 8 relief pitchers each contest, it seems, but the other
night I was watching one of those classic sports shows and they
had the deciding Game Five of the 1969 World Series, the Mets
vs. the Orioles.
There was Mets pitcher Jerry Koosman, taking the mound for the
9th inning, Mets up 5-3. Koosman walked Frank Robinson to
lead off the inning. Of course Mets manager Gil Hodges was
going to come to the mound, right? Hodges didn’t budge. Boog
Powell grounded out, forcing Robinson at second, Brooks
Robinson flied to right and Davey Johnson flied to left to end the
game.
In the end I was still struck by the confidence Hodges had in
Koosman. Folks, that just wouldn’t happen today. A closer
would have started the ninth.
I also have to add for you Mets fans out there that it’s great to
look at the post-game celebration every now and then. There is
Donn (sic) Clendenon, who has just been named Series MVP
going “Baltimore was overconfident.” No PC talk out of Colonel
Clink! And what did Clendenon win as his prize? A new
Dodge!!!!!
And just to look at 24-year-old Tom Seaver is a reminder of what
an incredible, mature team leader he was at such an early age.
And then there was catcher Jerry Grote, the most underrated
backstop of his time.
Are you bored yet? How ‘bout a shoe shine?
–Phil W., the same friend mentioned above, has urged me
recently to write a book on great shoe shines and the many
interesting people I’ve met in bars during my world travels.
Back in the late 70s / early 80s, Phil and I would attend events at
Madison Square Garden and before the game we’d get a shoe
shine in the old Statler Hilton Hotel from “John,” down in
the bowels of the place actually, next to the men’s room.
John gave the best shine in the world and I loved tipping him $20
or so, accompanied by my question, “John, does Walt Frazier or
Joe Namath tip that much?” “No sir.”
Well, in the Sept. 1 / Sept. 8 edition of the Weekly Standard,
Joseph Epstein has beaten me to the punch, writing of a recent
experience in San Francisco, on Geary Street; a shine applied by
a man with a face resembling “welterweight Carmen Basilio.”
Epstein reports:
“The shine began with his tucking the bows of my shoelaces into
the tops of my shoes, so that he would not get polish on them that
would rub off on my trouser cuffs. He next lit a Zippo lighter
that he touched briefly to the outer sides of my shoes; this, I’ve
subsequently learned, is to burn off any loose threads from the
leather. With a toothbrush he painted the outer edges of my
soles. Five or six rounds of creams and polish were applied,
each followed by buffings with either soft clothes or brushes.”
Kind of makes you want to get one right now, doesn’t it?
I do have to note that the best shine I ever received was probably
in Richmond Airport, where a blow dryer was strategically
employed. Of course now I don’t dress up anymore, so I’m
missing out on one of life’s true pleasures.
–On September 6, 1943, the Philadelphia A’s sent 16-year-old
Carl Scheib to the mound, the youngest player to appear in an
AL game. Scheib would go on to post a 45-65 W-L mark in his
career, leaving the game at the tender age of 27.
–Back to Roy Halladay, his shutout Saturday was against your
37-105 Detroit Tigers. Detroit’s Mike Maroth is now 6-20,
shattering the dreams of Brian Kingman, who can no longer
claim he was the last 20-game loser in the major leagues.
–Seriously, unless you are Belgian, did you care for a second
about the Ladies Final at the U.S. Open between Kim Clijsters
and Justine Henin-Hardenne? Oh no, I forgot who won!
[I also missed the Capriati match.]
–And I gotta tell you, I have trouble getting excited about the
men. I mean I’m happy and all for Andy Roddick, but
..who am I kidding? I just don’t care.
–Boy, did you see the ending to the NASCAR race at Richmond
on Saturday night? [I can just hear some of you going, hey,
editor, you mean to tell me that you don’t care who wins the U.S.
Open, but you watch a freakin’ NASCAR race on a Saturday
night?] Well, the race ended and two fights broke out because of
careless driving. We’re talking real close to fisticuffs. I can’t
wait until I get to Daytona in February.
–My brother, Harry, had one of his photographs used for
Sunday’s New York Times. Way to go, Bro. Let’s split a case
of Pilsner Urquel to celebrate!
–Our own Dr. Bortrum and your editor went golfing on Sunday.
It was a close match, my 50 to his 52 for the front nine, until I
pulled away with a sterling 45 on the back to take all the
marbles. As for Bortrum’s final 9 holes, let’s just say that the
75-year-old scientist has a ways to go before shooting his age.
But the main point of the story is how we had to dodge geese
droppings all over the place. Truly disgusting. However, word
has reached the headquarters of StocksandNews that new federal
guidelines have been established whereby the individual states
will have more control over what they do with their native geese
in the future, i.e., it’s time to renew the gassing!
–Sorry, another Wake Forest tidbit. Alumnus Ricky Proehl
caught the winning pass for the Carolina Panthers in their win
over Jacksonville. What an underrated career he has had, and
what a classy guy.
–Speaking of classy guys, how about John Adams? No, not that
John Adams, but the John Adams of Cleveland Indians fame.
You know, the guy who for the last 30 years has been banging
his 26-inch bass drum at all the games. On Aug. 24, the club
honored him by allowing him to throw out the first pitch.
[Actually, talk about irritating, this guy is #1 in that category.]
–Want to know the real reason why us Wake Forest alum get
fired up over a win every now and then. Check this out. In 1974
(two years before I went to the school), we had the following
results, 3 consecutive weeks.
Oct. 5 – at Oklahoma, L, 0-63
Oct. 12 – at Penn State, L, 0-55
Oct. 19 – at Maryland, L, 0-47
We scored all of 74 points in 11 games that season, beating
Furman 16-10 in the last effort to avoid a 0-11 campaign.
–Changing the subject, I noticed the obituary for General
Raymond Davis, 88, the other day. All this hero did was
command a machine-gun battery at Guadalcanal, serve as
battalion commander for the invasion of Peleliu (I wrote of this
bloody battle a few months ago), and then, advancing to Korea,
win a Medal of Honor for his efforts in December 1950 at the
Chosin Reservoir, rescuing 80 Americans trapped there in 30
degree below zero weather and withering enemy fire. We salute
General Davis and all serving today.
–Did you know, in this 100th anniversary of the New York
Yankees, that the original owners were Frank Farrell and “Big
Bill” Devery? Yup, they bought the Baltimore Orioles for
$18,000 in February 1903 and moved the team to New York.
The club then became the Yankees in 1908 and in 1915, Colonel
Jacob Ruppert and Col. Tillinghast L’Hommedieu Huston
acquired the Yankees for $460,000. Ruppert then bought out
Huston in 1923.
James Brady writes the following in Crain’s New York Business:
“Col. Ruppert was a bachelor who lived with his mother on Fifth
Avenue, and he collected jade, porcelains, Indian relics, first
editions, racehorses, yachts, dogs – monkeys!
“The colonel lived until 1939 and left $40 million to each of two
relatives, and another 40 to a showgirl named Helen, whom he
placed in a West 55th Street townhouse. She was said to be a
cousin, but wasn’t.”
And now you know the rest of the story.
–So this guy Dale Webster out in California (Bodega Bay) has
surfed over 10,230 consecutive days (since 9/3/75). He goes out
for 2-3 hours at a time and his ears and eyes are so screwed up he
needs major surgery. Amazingly, he’s been married 18 years.
Only one Great White, however, has taken a run at him. [Sports
Illustrated]
–This is unbelievable in the local paper is a piece concerning a
group that wants to put a wind farm up on a hill about 5 minutes
from where I live. A spokesman said, “Great Britain has a lot,
many located in the ocean.” Ah, sir? Great Britain also has a lot
of wind. We don’t have any wind around here!!! [It’s an
interesting topic, though, and I’ll be commenting further in my
coming “Week in Review.”]
–It’s a well-known fact that CBS golf commentator Jim Nantz
was largely responsible for setting Annika Sorenstam up at
Colonial last May. Nantz chose the course and, surprise, it just
so happened to be a CBS event. Then he pretended the whole
week that he had nothing to do with it.
Of course his comments were that of a lovebird, if you’ll recall,
and Stina Sternberg of Golf Digest reports:
“After watching Annika hit her first tee shot at Colonial in May,
Nantz turned to a Sports Illustrated reporter and said, ‘You have
your Sports Person of the Year now. It’s over.’”
Oh, spare me. I won’t reopen the whole situation, except that we
should all be in agreement by now, male and female, that little
was accomplished. [I thought Suzy Whaley’s performance at
Hartford last month was actually better.] Annika went on to
choke at the Women’s U.S. Open.
But speaking of Sports Person of the Year, I conferred with
Johnny Mac and we agreed that the pickings are real slim thus
far unless someone rises up to do something spectacular in the
NFL this fall. True, if Barry Bonds had a stupendous post-
season, you could give it to him, much as we’d hate this, but our
early choice is Tim Duncan!!! You
heard it here first.
[Actually, Johnny correctly said that Funny Cide would have
been the winner if the gelding had won the Belmont.]
–You have to feel sorry for Bermuda. What a beautiful spot.
But with the 30-foot swells, obviously there are some strange
fish now wreaking havoc in the lagoons. StocksandNews is
sending a diver down to check for giant squids.
–Folks, I owe you all an apology. It seems that after a flurry of
activity earlier this year, the bears in New Jersey have decided
not to cause any real problems. We can’t even find the one in
my hometown that was rummaging through our garbage just 3
months ago. Then again, it could be merely the quiet before the
storm. Perhaps they are massing west of here.
–Boy, according to a Golf Digest piece, there’s a real catfight
going on between the ladies of the LPGA. The older babes are
jealous of the young chicks. For example, Kelli Kuehne, 26, had
this rather astute observation.
“Women, I think, are even more ferociously competitive than
men. Society lets men air out the competitiveness. But with
women, who are supposed to keep it inside more, when they
finally say something, it starts a war.”
Now discuss amongst yourselves. I’m already in enough trouble.
–Did you see the ruling on Friday with golfer Paul Azinger at
the Canadian Open? He was penalized two shots because his
caddie removed the flagstick from the hole while playing partner
Fred Funk’s ball was in motion on the green.
Rule 17-2b states: “In stroke play, if a fellow competitor or his
caddie attends, removes or holds up the flagstick without the
competitor’s authority or prior knowledge while the competitor
is making a stroke or his ball is in motion, the fellow competitor
shall incur the penalty for breach of this rule.”
–The New York Daily News reports that hotel heiress Paris
Hilton could be moving in on Ashton Kutcher. What will Demi
Moore do? Earlier, Paris was reportedly sucking face with
Madonna’s best pal, Ingrid Casares. I’m tellin’ ya, it’s like the
fall of the Roman Empire. It’s Caligula. It’s ..
The following description is priceless.
“Still, some wondered if there wasn’t something between Paris
and Ingrid that was upsetting Hilton’s boyfriend-of-record,
rocker Deryck Whibley, when the threesome made the South
Beach party rounds
“ ‘Paris and Deryck looked all lovey-dovey at the party ,’ says
a source. ‘But when Ingrid showed up, he started acting very
jealous and steered them away from each other. Paris kept
saying, ‘No, I want to speak with Ingrid.’”
I’ve never been part of the jet set, but I would like to be a fly on
the wall just once. I’ve been keeping a list of the hot spots
in Manhattan and someday I have to get up the guts to see if any
place would actually let me in. You know a Bar Chat exclusive!
–And a little tidbit from beer maven Michael Jackson, courtesy
of Ale Street News.
“Pleased as I am at the popularity of the pint in the U.S., I am not
crazy about the omnipresent Boston Shaker. The walls of the
vessel are so heavy that I feel I am tasting the glass rather than
the beer.”
[And thank you, L.D., for passing this along.]
Top 3 songs for the week of 9/6/69: #1 “Honky Tonk Women”
(The Rolling Stones) #2 “A Boy Named Sue” (Johnny Cash) #3
“Sugar, Sugar” (The Archies .interesting grouping)
AFL Rushing Quiz: League leaders –
1960: Abner Haynes, Dallas, 875 yards
1961: Billy Cannon, Houston, 948
1962: Cookie Gilchrist, Buffalo, 1096
1963: Clem Daniels, Oakland, 1099
1964: Cookie Gilchrist, Buffalo, 981
1965: Paul Lowe, San Diego, 1121
1966: Jim Nance, Boston, 1458
1967: Jim Nance, Boston, 1216
1968: Paul Robinson, Cincinnati, 1023
1969: Dick Post, San Diego, 873
*If you got Dick Post, pour yourself a frosty. I’ll take a Shiner
Bock.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
