[Posted early due to events in Iraq. These days it’s
uncomfortable for some of us to gloat because you don’t know
what the next day will bring. We just pray for the safety of the
men and women serving not just America but all who wish to
defeat tyranny and evil.]
NHL Quiz: 1) Name the 3 goaltenders who played 20 or more
seasons in the NHL? 2) Who are the only two players with 9,
50-goal seasons? 3) Name the only five players to score 150 or
more points in a single season? Answers below.
President George W. Bush 12/14/2003
Yesterday, December the 13th, at around 8:30 PM Baghdad time,
United States military forces captured Saddam Hussein alive. He
was found near a farmhouse outside the city of Tikrit, in a swift
raid conducted without casualties. And now the former dictator
of Iraq will face the justice he denied to millions.
The capture of this man was crucial to the rise of a free Iraq. It
marks the end of the road for him and for all who bullied and
killed in his name. For the Ba’athist holdouts largely responsible
for the current violence, there will be no return to the corrupt
power and privilege they once held. For the vast majority of
Iraqi citizens, who wish to live as free men and women, this
event brings further assurance that the torture chambers and the
secret police are gone forever.
And this afternoon, I have a message for the Iraqi people: You
will not have to fear the rule of Saddam Hussein ever again. All
Iraqis who take the side of freedom have taken the winning side.
The goals of our coalition are the same as your goals –
sovereignty for your country, dignity for your great culture, and
for every Iraqi citizen, the opportunity for a better life.
In the history of Iraq, a dark and painful era is over. A hopeful
day has arrived. All Iraqis can now come together and reject
violence and build a new Iraq.
The success of yesterday’s mission is a tribute to our men and
women now serving in Iraq. The operation was based on the
superb work of intelligence analysts who found the dictator’s
footprints in a vast country. The operation was carried out with
skill and precision by a brave fighting force. Our servicemen
and women and our coalition allies have faced many dangers in
the hunt for members of the fallen regime and in their effort to
bring hope and freedom to the Iraqi people. Their work
continues, and so do the risks. Today, on behalf of the nation, I
thank the members of our armed forces, and I congratulate them.
I also have a message for all Americans. The capture of Saddam
Hussein does not mean the end of violence in Iraq. We still face
terrorists who would rather go on killing the innocent than accept
the rise of liberty in the heart of the Middle East. Such men are a
direct threat to the American people, and they will be defeated.
We’ve come to this moment through patience and resolve and
focused action. And that is our strategy moving forward. The
war on terror is a different kind of war, waged capture by
capture, cell by cell, and victory by victory. Our security is
assured by our perseverance and by our sure belief in the success
of liberty. And the United States of America will not relent until
this war is won.
May God bless the people of Iraq, and may God bless America.
—
Pope Gregory and the Calendar
My good friend Father Scanlon passed along some information
that makes for a little different tale than our usual Bar Chat fare.
Gregory XIII (1502-85) was born Ugo Buoncompagni in
Bologna, Italy, according to my “Who’s Who in Christianity” by
Lavinia Cohn-Sherbok. [You didn’t think I had this book, did
you?] After legal training, he was appointed to a judgeship in
Rome and later became a jurist at the Council of Trent. Ordained
at forty, he was appointed a Cardinal in 1565 and elected pope in
1572. Gregory was one of the great Popes of the Counter-
Reformation and he was most supportive of the Jesuits in their
educational enterprises. [Father Scanlon, who introduced me to
Micronesia, is a Jesuit.] Pope Gregory was also a tremendous
builder and more than a bit extravagant, so the Vatican was soon
in big time financial trouble, but he did institute the Gregorian
Calendar, which brings me to the following from a letter Father
Scanlon sent me.
A former Jesuit, Chris Lowney, has written a book about the
society called “Heroic Leadership.” Father Scanlon comments
on one event addressed by Lowney.
“Have you ever heard of Clavius? If not, don’t feel bad. I hadn’t
heard of him either before I read Chris’ book. His full name was
Fr. Christopher Clavius, S.J., a professor of Mathematics at the
Gregorian University during the reign of Pope Gregory the
Great. Though not well known, he’s affected our lives.
“Pope Gregory was not happy. According to the Julian calendar,
the then official calendar for the world, Easter was creeping
closer to Christmas. The Pope went to the Jesuits with his
problem. Fr. Clavius took up the challenge. Clavius reasoned
that Easter, like Passover, was established each year by the lunar
calendar, whereas Christmas was always the same date.
“Armed with a new telescope, he looked to the stars to check the
accuracy of the calendar. He discovered that the Julian version
was inaccurate each year by exactly 674 seconds. Over the
centuries, that adds up.
“Fr. Clavius reported to Gregory that the world was now 10 days
behind schedule, so Gregory decreed that the day after October
4th in 1582 would be October 15th. The calendar would
henceforth be called the Gregorian calendar.
“Clavius’ remedy to keep the calendar in sync with the stars was
to eliminate February 29th in the years that end in two zeros – but
that would be just a tad too much, so he reinstated Feb. 29th
whenever the year was divisible by 400. That’s why there was
February 29th in the year 2000 but there was none in the year
1900.” [Or 1700 or 1800, for that matter.]
And now you know the rest of the story.
Stuff
–New York is still talking about the failure of the Yankees to re-
sign pitcher Andy Pettite. The New York Post’s Kevin Kernan
had the following thoughts.
“Think of (Pettite) as Jimmy Stewart in the holiday classic ‘It’s a
Wonderful Life.’
“Think of George Steinbrenner as Mr. Potter. He is old, he is
angry, he is mean-spirited. He must be sitting in a dark room in
Tampa concocting all this craziness. The Yankees used to stand
for pride and taking care of their own. They used to be Bedford
Falls, the perfect baseball place. Overnight, they’ve become
Pottersville. Only you can call it Steinbrennerville. Better yet,
call it Bossville.”
–Golf Digest had an interesting first-person interview with
former LPGA member Laura Baugh. I was struck by her
thoughts on Charles Schulz, “(the) most impressive person I ever
met. He was an extension of his Peanuts cartoons. He was
carefree, smart, funny, athletic and a great family man. I’ve
never met another person who was so happy being in his own
skin. For all his talent, he seemed to admire everyone he met.”
–Sports Illustrated’s Alan Shipnuck was not as enamored with
the PGA’s Q school as I have been the past few weeks, saying
“it’s not the all-or-nothing affair it once was” due to the
emergence of the minor league Nationwide Tour. Shipnuck’s
point is that there is good money these days on the Nationwide,
with the #20 man on the money list earning about $175,000 last
year (along with a promotion to the big tour the top 20 all
getting cards).
First off, the $175,000 is before all the expenses the guys have,
which are considerable, and not a lot of money in the grand
scheme of things, and second, the pressure to make it to the big
time is still incredibly intense for most of the guys at Q school,
as Shipnuck must have seen if he saw the expressions of those on
the bubble that last round.
But he does have a good point that playing the minors is perhaps
a better way to get to the big time (finishing in the top 20, that is)
and that the bigger pressure is in the two qualifying rounds
before the Q school finals. Case in point, former tour player
Gary Hallberg flamed out in the second round this year.
And Shipnuck brought up a fact I didn’t know. The Nationwide
guys may be better prepared than those going through the
qualifying process. “Over the last seven years 43% of the
Nationwide grads remained exempt on the PGA Tour after their
rookie seasons compared with only 23% of the Q schoolers.
–Here are some new rules for you golfers out there who go by
the book, as amended by the USGA and Royal and Ancient Golf
Club of St. Andrews.
The ball does not have to be at rest for the flagstick to be
removed by an opponent or his caddie as long as the removal
doesn’t influence the ball. [Paul Azinger was hit with a two-shot
penalty at last September’s Bell Canadian Open when his caddie,
Ted Scott, removed the flagstick as a ball struck by Fred Funk
was still rolling.]
When playing “winter rules,” the correct procedure for getting
relief is to mark the position of the ball and then move it. Once
the ball is moved, it cannot be moved again.
[Golf Digest]
–Congratulations once again to Colgate for another victory in the
Division I-AA football playoffs. They now go up against
Delaware for the championship on Friday night in what promises
to be a most entertaining game.
–But then there is the Division III juggernaut, Mount Union
(Ohio). The Purple Raiders under coach Larry Kehres have now
won 109 of 110 you’re reading that right, and this weekend
passed their old, all-division record of 54 wins in a row by
winning their 55th in this second streak. And just for emphasis,
Mount Union whipped up on its semi-final opponent,
Bridgewater of Virginia, 66-0. MU has an offensive line, by the
way, that averages over 6’4” and weighs in at 309 bigger than
Ohio State’s. Now they play St. John’s (Minnesota) and their
legendary coach John Gagliardi for the D-III title.
–Alright how many of you are going to come clean and admit
you watched Bob Barker’s 80th birthday celebration on Saturday
night? Yeah, I did. Hell, I often catch the daytime version back
in my office as a pleasant diversion from having CNBC on all
day.
What a life Barker has had. An easy job, gets paid a fortune and
he’s been surrounded by absolutely drop-dead gorgeous Playboy
Bunnies. Yeah, there’s no doubt about it. Bob Barker is my
idol.
And you also have to admire his activism on the animal rights
front; without the extremist, violent rhetoric. He’s merely been a
voice of reason for all. So in honor of his sincere efforts,
regardless of whether you agree or disagree with them,
remember to have your pets spayed or neutered!!!
[But now I can’t get the freakin’ theme song out of my head.]
–Hey Wake Forest fans, while Rodney Rogers suffers through
an 8 of 33 streak from the field with the New Jersey Nets, did
you see the breakout game Josh Howard had for Dallas in their
win over the Lakers the other night? 17 points, 13 rebounds.
–As your editor told you, Jason White was named the winner of
the Heisman Trophy. Frankly, I was surprised it was as close as
it ended up being.
–For those of you who missed it, HBO is replaying the show on
the A’s and Raiders of the 70s on Thursday at 9:00 PM (I’m
assuming 8:00 PM Central). It’s definitely worth catching.
–Mets fans get fired up. Mike Cameron is a quality ballplayer.
We could be going all the way!
–The above irrational exuberance is something most market
watchers always pay attention to when picking a top.
–Check this story out from Reuters Cairns, Australia:
“Australian scientists said Thursday that a new potentially deadly
species of jelly fish had been found in waters off the continent’s
tropical northeast coast.
“Researchers had previously thought the thumbnail-sized
jellyfish was responsible for the deaths of two tourists, an
American and a Briton, in 2001, when 160 other swimmers were
also hospitalized by jellyfish stings.
“But an expert at James Cook University, Jamie Seymour, said
that another, so far unnamed, jellyfish had been linked to what
scientists are calling irukandji syndrome and that up to a dozen
species were being investigated.
“The syndrome causes severe pain, a potentially fatal rise in
blood pressure and cerebral hemorrhaging.”
Yikes! This is just another reason why we like to drink beer and
observe the beach scene from water’s edge not while in it.
–Speaking of beer, here’s a great story from Doug Rich of High
Plains Journal. It seems a group of 153 Missouri farmers formed
a cooperative, TransCon AG, to explore the beer business. They
acquired the trademark of the former Pony Express Brewing
Company located in Olathe, Kansas (I once sold books door-to-
door in this community didn’t do real well, either) and are now
operating under the name Great Plains Brewing Co.
Supposedly they are the first to produce a beer containing soy,
with the objective of making a 100% gluten free brew. Now you
may blanch at the thought, but a healthy beer is just what the
doctor ordered in of all places China.
“Their introduction into the world’s largest market happened
almost by accident,” writes Rich. “A group from China was in
Missouri to visit soybean farms and to talk with TransCon about
buying food grade soybeans. One of the gifts they presented to
this group was Pony Express beer containing soy. ‘They got
more excited about the beer than they did the food grade
soybeans,’ said a company official. ‘Sometimes it is all about
connections and this group of men had connections to a big
brewery in China.’”
So this led to an invitation to the International Beer Festival that
was being held in China last August, Great Plains Brewery
shipped four pallets of beer, and the next thing you know the
company is marketing it big-time over there.
One of the things different is that the Chinese don’t buy six-
packs, instead purchasing 3 or 4 bottles at a time.
So we salute these brilliant farmers / brewers. Pony up to the bar
and quaff a few.
–I was reading a piece in the Los Angeles Times on the
depressing impact the firing of Nebraska football coach Frank
Solich has had on the state. After all, Solich was 58-19 in his
tenure and 9-3 this season, but that’s not good enough in these
parts. Right Ken S.? Solich followed the legend, Tom Osborne,
after all.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Nebraska is the only I-A
program in the state and the nearest pro action is over in Kansas
City. This is it, in other words. But what has some fans (though
far from all) upset is the way Solich was dismissed the day after
the Cornhuskers defeated arch rival Colorado and despite
qualifying for a record 35th consecutive bowl. It’s the pressure of
competing with Oklahoma that’s getting to school officials,
that’s for sure. It’s also about recruiting, recruiting, recruiting.
—
Top 3 songs for the week of 12/16/72: #1 “Me And Mrs. Jones”
(Billy Paul) #2 “I Am Woman” (Helen Reddy) #3 “If You
Don’t Know Me By Now” (Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes)
NHL Quiz Answers: 1) Goalies / 20 seasons: Terry Sawchuk,
21; Gump Worsley, 21; John Vanbiesbrouck, 20. [Glenn Hall
was only at 18, in case you were wondering, with Tom Barrasso
and Patrick Roy at 19.] 2) Mike Bossy and Wayne Gretzky are
the only two to score 50 goals in a single season 9 different
times. No one else has 7, incidentally. 3) Aside from Gretzky
and Mario Lemieux (9 for Gretzky and 4 for Lemieux), the only
other three to hit this level (once apiece) are Steve Yzerman, 155,
Detroit (1988-89), Phil Esposito, 152, Boston (1970-71), and
Bernie Nicholls, 150, Los Angeles (1988-89).
*Here’s an interesting tidbit. No one has scored 5 goals in a
game since 1996.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday. Toy stories.
And a final toast to our heroes in Iraq.
