[Posted early 10/20]
San Francisco 49ers Quiz (1950-2002): 1) Rushing, career? 2)
Interceptions, career? 3) Field goals, career? 4) Rushing,
season? 5) Rushing, game? [Hint: Think 2000.] 6) Touchdowns,
game? 7) Where did Y.A. Tittle go to school? Answers below.
Doping Scandal!!!!
Some of you may have seen the first reports concerning the
growing drug scandal that is about to envelop U.S. track and
field. But I’ll tell you what is going to be the bigger story here,
steroids and baseball players like Barry Bonds. This is just my
guess, but it threatens to spoil the goodwill and excitement
created by the sport’s greatest post-season in years, that’s for
sure. Read on.
Track and Field hasn’t been hit by anything like this since Ben
Johnson was stripped of his gold medal for the 100 meters at the
1988 Olympic Games.
The controversy is over tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG. In
essence, it’s a designer steroid, but THG heretofore was not
detectable in urine samples. Now a new test has been developed
to detect it and up to one dozen, as yet not formally named, U.S.
track and field athletes have tested positive for it. For starters, it
will impact their eligibility for the 2004 Olympics, but it goes far
beyond that.
THG is manufactured by a Bay Area company, BALCO. The
president of this outfit is Victor Conte, who is suspected of
supplying the drug, and possibly other designer steroids, to the
athletes. Conte insists, however, that THG is “not an anabolic
steroid.”
But Terry Madden, chief executive of the U.S. Anti-Doping
Agency, an independent group that tests for Olympic-related
sports, says there is a vast “conspiracy involving chemists,
coaches and certain athletes” and that THG is, indeed, a
performance enhancing drug.
Sprinter Marion Jones is one track athlete who can be tied to
Victor Conte, as can sprinter Kelli White, who you’ll recall won
the 100 and 200 meters at the World Championships in August
but then tested positive for a different drug in a post-race test.
And Bonds? His personal trainer is part of the investigation and
there are reports Bonds himself has now been subpoenaed. You all
know how I feel about Barry, and anyone looking at how the shape
of his head has changed over the years can’t help but wonder just
what the guy is on.
This story is about to explode.
[Sources: New York Times, Los Angeles Times, ESPN.com]
Casey at the Bat
[I couldn’t help but pick this up while at the Baseball Hall of
Fame last week. This is exactly as first printed, June 3, 1888,
San Francisco Examiner. Written by Ernest Lawrence Thayer.]
The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;
The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play.
And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,
A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.
A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest
Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;
They thought if only Casey could but get a whack at that –
We’d put up even money now with Casey at the bat.
But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,
And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;
So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,
For there seemed but little chance of Casey’s getting to the bat.
But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,
And Blake, the much despis-ed, tore the cover off the ball;
And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had
occurred,
There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.
Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,
For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.
There was ease in Casey’s manner as he stepped into his place;
There was pride in Casey’s bearing and a smile on Casey’s face.
And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,
No stranger in the crowd could doubt ‘twas Casey at the bat.
Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;
Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his
shirt.
Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,
Defiance gleamed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip.
And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the
air,
And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.
Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped –
“That ain’t my style,” said Casey. “Strike one,” the umpire said.
From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled
roar,
Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.
“Kill him! Kill the umpire!” shouted someone on the stand;
And it’s likely they’d have killed him had not Casey raised his
hand.
With a smile of Christian charity great Casey’s visage shone;
He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;
He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;
But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, “Strike two.”
“Fraud!” cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered
fraud;
But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.
They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles
strain,
And they knew that Casey wouldn’t let that ball go by again.
The sneer is gone from Casey’s lip, his teeth are clenched in
hate;
He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.
And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,
And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow.
Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children
shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville – mighty Casey has struck out.
—
Random Baseball Musings
–Harvey Araton of the New York Times had a great piece on the
day after New York’s Game 7 triumph over Boston and the
pilgrimage Friday to Babe Ruth’s grave at the Gate of Heaven
Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York. The Westchester County
Fife and Drum Corps came to play “God Bless America,” pies
were left, ticket stubs from Game 7, pizzas, flowers, you name it,
each fan left his own special tribute.
Harry Frazee, who sold the Babe to the Yankees, is actually
buried in a nearby cemetery, which means as Araton put it, “(The
two) are spiritually coexisting in the same county.”
But regarding the whole idea of the curse, Araton correctly
points out that “Frazee did Ruth a huge favor when he sold him
and sent him from provincial Boston to a grander and more
ambitious stage.” And it’s important to remember that it wasn’t
the Red Sox at the end of Babe’s career who cast him off. But to
think otherwise makes for a better story.
–In case you were wondering who comes up for the first time
with the next few ‘classes’ at the Hall of Fame:
2004 – Dennis Eckersley, Paul Molitor
2005 – Wade Boggs
2006 – No one that deserves to get in, which means someone like
Bruce Sutter may finally receive enough votes.
2007 – Tony Gwynn, Mark McGwire, Cal Ripken Jr.
–Jack Norworth wrote “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” in 1908,
even though he never attended one. Johnny Mac and I were
staring at this fact last week and he quipped, “Kind of like
Brian Wilson never surfing.”
–I noted in my “Week in Review” that the Hall of Fame was
undergoing renovations, but I don’t want to leave the wrong
impression. There’s still plenty to see, but only about half of the
exhibits are open. When the remodeling is complete in 2005,
however, it should be spectacular. Anyway, they still have the
baseball card collection to look at and among the more
interesting sets is one from 1888-89, put out by Old Judge
Cabinets Cigarettes. And right there is one of Cap Anson. Just
imagine stumbling upon this in your grandparent’s attic.
–I saw an ad from 1962 for “Bobbie (sic) Head” dolls…$1.00 a
piece. Oh, to have kept 20 or so of those in their original
package.
–I was going through the Sporting News for ’62 and you can’t
help but notice some of the language used then. Such as the
following concerning Red Sox pitcher Earl Wilson and his no-
hitter that year.
“This meant a new contract for the right-handed Negro and a
raise of $1,000” given to him by owner Tom Yawkey.
On one hand you muse when seeing this, ‘My, we live in
different times.’ But on the other you think about how today’s
black youth freely use an even more offensive “N-word.” Sad.
–Branch Rickey made a comment in ’62 that Roger Maris,
having just hit 61 home runs the prior year, would have to “hit
180 home runs to rank with the Babe because homers are 3 1/3
times more common than when Ruth played.”
[Remember, when Ruth hit his 60 in 1927, it exceeded that of
every team in the American League and all but 3 in the N.L.]
–Back to today, and tying up some loose ends from last week,
for fans across New England it’s now Aaron Bleepin’ Boone, to
go along with Bucky Bleepin’ Dent. Of course us New York
Rangers hockey fans were never much better. “Pot-vin sucks!”
–Hours before Game 7, fans were standing outside Yankee
Stadium when an unmarked chartered bus pulled up at the
players’ entrance. The crowd immediately started booing,
thinking it was the Red Sox…turns out it was the Harlem Boys
Choir.
–Columnist Mike Lupica said after the Grady Little – Pedro
Martinez decision, “Little would have let (Martinez) fly the team
plane, too.”
–According to Bill Madden of the Daily News, early in the
season George Steinbrenner sent an aide down to talk to the
players and told the guy to avoid the coaches room, calling the
coaches a bunch of “a-holes.” So after the coaches caught wind
of this, for the rest of the season they developed even more of a
hatred for the Boss than they otherwise would have had.
And so it wasn’t a surprise that following Game 7 it all spilled
out in a comment from coach Don Zimmer. “This is one a-hole
they don’t have to worry about being fired. He don’t have to
worry about that ‘cause I won’t be back. I’m a human being and
I ain’t been treated like one in 11 months!”
Oh well, Zim will always find work as a neighborhood watch
guy. ‘Hey, you, what are you doing with that car!’
Stuff
–College Football Review
I think you’d agree, this was the dullest week of the season thus
far, after a string of great ones. The match-ups were generally
less than compelling and few games were even entertaining. But
under rule 72:1.a of the Bar Chat Code, it is required that a
StocksandNews “College Game Ball” be awarded each week so
the winner is…………Florida, for its win over #11 Arkansas, 33-
28. The Gators’ offense is now under the controls of true
freshman Chris Leak, a player Wake Forest could have had (it’s
a long story, involving his older brother and a crippling knee
injury he suffered a few years back as he was about to become
the savior of the Demon Deacon football program).
“Frosties,” coveted more highly than the game ball because they
consist of 16 ounces of the recipients’ favorite brew, go to:
Auburn and running back Carnell Williams, the latter with a
school record 6 touchdowns in his team’s dismantling of
Mississippi State 45-13. [Should Williams or any other recipient
of a “Frosty” not be of drinking age, an appropriate non-
alcoholic beverage will be substituted.]
Other Frosties go to Purdue’s wide receivers Taylor Stubblefield
and John Standeford. Now get this, in Purdue’s exciting 26-23
win over Wisconsin, the two caught 30 (!) passes between them
for a combined 314 yards. [QB Kyle Orton was 38 of 55 for 411
yards, overall.]
Another Frosty to Texas Tech’s B.J. Symons, who threw for 550
yards in a 51-49 loss to Oklahoma State and has now thrown for
400 or more six straight games. [Of course he also choked at the
very end, but who’s counting?]
And a Frosty to Northern Illinois for staying undefeated in
beating W. Michigan, 37-10. BCS…BCS!!! But this week they
face #23 Bowling Green.
Mark R. told me before the weekend, “Hey, lay off the Irish.”
But, following Notre Dame’s loss to USC, coach Tyrone
Willingham, once thought to be a genius, has seen his record fall
to 4-7 after his initial 8-0 start in 2002. Meanwhile, USC coach
Pete Carroll (who was made for college football), has gone 21-4
after his rough 2-5 start with the Trojans and their super hot
cheerleaders.
Oh, what the heck. I think we have an extra Frosty lying around.
Let’s give one to Vanderbilt, out of sympathy, for clinching its
21st straight losing season in falling to Georgia.
Finally, it’s great to have Duke in your football conference.
They might be able to play a mean game of hoops, but football?
Try 29 straight conference losses, with my Demon Deacons
handing them their latest defeat, 42-13. Interestingly, Wake ran
the ball 56 of 60 plays (and was 4 of 4 when they did throw).
[This just in…Duke”s coach, Carl Franks, was fired after going
7-45 in 4 1/2 seasons. Great job. Good luck finding another
one.]
–In case you missed it, ACC fans, with the admittance of Boston
College into the league, here are the two six-team divisions for
football.
Division A: Boston College, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland,
N.C. State, Wake Forest.
Division B: Duke, Georgia Tech, Miami, North Carolina,
Virginia, Virginia Tech.
Each team will play its division opponents, a primary rival in the
opposite division and two cross-divisional games against rotating
opponents.
The primary cross-divisional rivalries:
Maryland – Virginia, Clemson – Georgia Tech, N.C. State –
North Carolina, Wake Forest – Duke (praise the Lord!), Florida
State – Miami, Boston College – Virginia Tech.
–Back to a-holes, there is no bigger one in all of sports than
Raiders linebacker Bill Romanowski. Back on August 24,
during practice, Romanowski ripped off teammate Marcus
Williams’ helmet and punched him in the face, breaking a bone
around his left eye. Williams was out for the season before it
even began. Romanowski then waited several days before
apologizing. We’re talking a teammate, folks! Now Williams
has sued him. Good. Take him to the cleaners, Marcus.
[Romanowski is also rumored to be part of the steroid inquiry.]
–I saw Cubs pitcher Mark Prior at halftime of the Notre Dame –
USC game. What a classy guy.
–So I’m flipping channels and come across Jack La Lanne doing
an infomercial for his Power Juicer. La Lanne must be 105, but
he still looks like he’s in great shape. Young people today have
no idea what an amazing trailblazer this guy was, doing physical
fitness shows about 20 years before they became popular. But
remember the dogs? Kind of weird, looking back.
–I’m still hearing geese flying around at night here in New
Jersey, unlike past autumns. Haven’t had a chance to truly track
their movements yet, but I remain optimistic the patterns are
shifting and they’re heading to the Carolinas instead of staying
here, piling up the crap. [Not that my Carolina friends would
like this possible development, mind you.]
–The Washington Post had a story on Saturday concerning the
farm-raised minks that are wreaking havoc in the foothills of the
Cascade Mountains. The Animal Liberation Front, “which the
FBI has said is responsible for more than 600 animal-related
crimes in the past seven years,” has claimed responsibility for
releasing minks at some seven farms in the state of Washington
since 1995.
But recently they released 10,000 from a farm owned by Roesler
Brothers near Seattle, the state’s largest fur farm. While 1,500
were rounded up within 48 hours, and more thereafter, about
1,000 remain on the loose or unaccounted for. [A ton were
squished by cars in the initial breakout.]
The minks are the size of small squirrels, but they are incredibly
vicious. One local resident, Jeffrey Weaver, complained that the
minks have “slaughtered dozens of his ducks and chickens,
feasted on fingerling salmon in his creek and had the temerity to
bite his dog in the throat. One of them leapt out of the shadows
and scratched his arm.” [Blaine Harden / Washington Post]
“For the size of the animal, I have never seen such a killer,” said
Weaver. “They are brutal little guys.”
The minks, small as they are, are also easy to find. “They caw
like large crows, and they smell really bad, owing to a foul
substance they secrete from under their tail to mark turf.”
[Harden]
But the roundup triggered something else – cannibalism. Farmed
mink get along fine with their cagemates, the ones they have
grown up with, but when you mix them with others from
different litters they kill and eat each other.
So we still have these 1,000 in the wild and most are expected to
survive the winter. I know what I’d do…………….pack the car
and get the hell out of there!
–Former baseball star Keith Hernandez is having his apartment
renovated in New York and now he’s claiming his two World
Series rings are missing, each valued at around $10,000.
Hernandez thus receives our exclusive StocksandNews “Dope of
the Week.”
–Seriously, now. Did any of you give one thought to what
David Blaine was doing the last 44 days while hanging over the
Thames River? I didn’t think so. Geezuz, he must have smelled
like a freakin’ mink at the end there.
–Yes, Bill Parcells is a genius.
–Did I pick the Giants to win the Super Bowl? Never mind.
–Unbelievable story of forgiveness between the parents of the
late hockey player Dan Snyder and his Atlanta Thrashers
teammate Dany Heatley, the latter still facing possible charges
for vehicular homicide in the death of their son. They won’t sue
and would prefer that the Atlanta D.A. not press charges.
Someday they’ll be rewarded for this amazing compassion.
Top 3 songs for the week of 10/23/76: #1 “If You Leave Me
Now” (Chicago) #2 “Disco Duck (Part 2)” (Rick Dees & His
Cast of Idiots) #3 “A Fifth Of Beethoven” (Walter Murphy &
The Big Apple Band…rock ‘n’ roll sinks to a new low with these
last two)
San Francisco 49ers Quiz Answers: 1) Rushing, career: Joe
Perry…7,344 (1950-60, 63…one of the more underrated players
in the history of the game). 2) Interceptions, career: Ronnie Lott,
51 (1981-90). 3) Field goals, career: Ray Wershing, 190 (1977-
87…I was always partial to Bruce Gossett). 4) Rushing, season:
Garrison Hearst…1,570 (1998). 5) Rushing, game: Charlie
Garner, 201 (9/24/00). 6) TDs, game: Jerry Rice, 5 (10/14/90).
7) Y.A. Tittle went to school at LSU and was a 1st round pick of
the 49ers in 1951.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
