U.S. Open Golf Quiz: [Covering all skill levels] 1) What golfer
with the initials L.G. won in 1975? 2) What golfer with the
initials D.G. won in 1981? 3) Initials S.S. in 1987? 4) In what
year did Curtis Strange win his second Open? 5) How many
strokes did Tiger Woods win the 2000 Open by? 6) Who are the
only four to win 4 Opens? 7) What two have the longest
consecutive appearance streaks? Answers below.
Ray Charles
[I wrote the following about a year ago. While I’m a
traditionalist, I agree with my friend Johnny Mac’s idea that
Charles’s version of “America the Beautiful” should be our
national anthem. And as Johnny adds, “If you don’t like Ray
Charles, you don’t like music.” Actually, I would say, “If you
don’t appreciate the greatness of Ray Charles, you’re an
idiot”…with plaque recognizing same in the mail.]
He was born Ray Charles Robinson, September 23, 1930, in
Albany, GA. Ray had his eyesight when he was young, but while
there are varying versions of the following, it seems that Ray had
watched his younger brother drown in a backyard washtub and,
coincidentally, around this same time Ray was losing his
eyesight. He was suffering from glaucoma, that went
untreated, and he lost his sight at either age 6 or 7. Ray’s father, a
handyman, then died at 10 and at 15, Ray was orphaned.
Musically, Ray had learned to play the piano when he still had
his sight, and then he took up the alto sax, clarinet, trumpet and
organ while at a school for the blind.
Having actually grown up in Greenville, FL, at age 18 Ray took
$600 in savings he had made playing local clubs and moved to
Seattle, WA. [You keep reminding yourself, he’s blind, and he’s
doing this.] His very first day in Seattle, he entered a talent
contest and got a job playing at a local Elks club.
Billed as R.C. Robinson, Ray played light jazz and blues,
forming a trio that went by the name of McSon, while emulating
the style of the Nat ‘King’ Cole Trio. Shortly thereafter, he
changed his name to Ray Charles to avoid confusion with the
boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.
What we find out later is that Ray was already a heroin addict,
but in 1949 he received his first recording contract and by 1951
had an R&B hit with “Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand.” In just a
few years, Charles was a smash, scoring #1 R&B tunes “I’ve Got
A Woman” (1/55), “A Fool For You” (7/55), and “Drown In My
Own Tears” (2/56).
By 1958, he was appearing at the “Newport Jazz Festival” and
in 1960 he had the #1 Billboard Pop sensation “Georgia On My
Mind,” capturing a few Grammys for this one. Other monster
hits followed, “One Mint Julep” (#8, 3/61…instrumental), “Hit
The Road Jack” (#1, 9/61) and “Unchain My Heart” (#9, 12/61).
But on December 5, 1961, Ray was charged with narcotics
possession, after being arrested at a hotel in Indianapolis, and it
seems like it was then that everyone realized he had been
fighting his heroin addiction since his early years.
Nonetheless, 1962 saw three other Billboard Top Tens – the
monster smash “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (#1 for four weeks,
5/62), “You Don’t Know Me” (#2, 8/62…and a personal fave of
your editor’s), and “You Are My Sunshine” (#7, 12/62). Charles
was also fined in July ’62 by an Atlanta court for refusing to
perform at a segregated dance where blacks were only spectators.
Then in ’64, Ray was busted again, seized by customs agents at
Boston’s Logan Airport for heroin and marijuana possession, but
he only received a 5-year suspended prison sentence due to the
fact that tests later showed he had gone cold turkey. Supposedly,
he was clean ever since.
Other Billboard Top Tens
“Take These Chains From My Heart” (#8, 4/63)
“Busted” (#4, 9/63…appropriate)
“Love Me With All Your Heart” (#3, 5/64…with the Ray
Charles Singers)
“Crying Time” (#6, 1/66…a Buck Owens tune…awesome)
A few tidbits:
2/77 – While performing for disadvantaged youth someone
rushes on stage and tries to strangle Charles.
11/77 – Musical guest on “Saturday Night Live.”
1986 – Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
1988 – Received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the
Grammys, called the “father of soul.”
Also in the 80s, Charles did a lot of country music, gaining a #1
in ’84 with “Seven Spanish Angels,” a duet with Willie Nelson.
Charles once said, “Soul is a way of life, but it is always the hard
way.” But historian Irwin Stambler adds that Charles “remained
singularly free from the bitterness and self-pity that might have
accrued under the circumstances.”
Charles largely avoided social commentary about racial matters,
though he did take part in the civil rights movement. Yet for the
most part his attitude, even during the tough times, was “My
audiences have spent their hard-earned money to get a few
minutes’ entertainment. Everyone can see I’m black, so I
guess I don’t have to tell anyone about it.”
[Note: Last year I saw this same attitude when I got to witness
Charley Pride perform in Branson, Missouri.]
So quaff an ale to a great entertainer and American, a man who
a hundred years from now will always be remembered for his
rendition of “America the Beautiful.” Not a bad legacy, I think
you’d agree…and as Reagan would add, “Not bad at all.”
John Winthrop
So here’s today’s history tidbit. With all the talk of Ronald
Reagan using Winthrop’s ‘shining city on a hill’ analogy, it
needs to be noted this comes from a sermon, not a poem of
Winthrop’s, that he wrote in 1630.
I have a terrific library, I must say – better than 99% of Third
World country libraries, for example – and I was perusing this
book “American Sermons” that I have barely cracked since
purchasing it years ago. Winthrop’s is in there and here’s the
official title.
A Modell of Christian Charity
Written
On Boarde the Arrabella,
On the Attlantick Ocean.
By the Honorable John Winthrop Esquire.
In His passage, (with the great Company of Religious people, of
which Christian Tribes he was the Brave Leader and famous
Governor;) from the Island of Great Brittaine, to New-England in
the North America.
Anno 1630.
—
Well, I gotta tell ya, this lengthy piece isn’t easy to read, folks.
In fact I couldn’t. But I’ll give you a sense, starting at the top.
Christian Charitie.
A Modell Hereof.
God Almightie in his most holy and wise providence hath soe
disposed of the Condicion of mankinde, as in all times some
must be rich some poore, some highe and eminent in power and
dignitie; others meane and in subjeccion.
[Guess I should have told you earlier that all spelling is correct.]
Anyway, I searched long and hard for the city on a hill reference
and here it is, at the end.
“…the Lord will be our God and delight to dwell among us, as
his owne people and will command a blessing upon us in all our
wayes, so that wee shall see much more of his wisdome power
goodness and truthe then formerly wee have beene acquainted
with, wee shall finde that the God of Israell is among us, when
tenn of us shall be able to resist a thousand of our enemies, when
hee shall make us a prayse and glory, that men shall say of
succeeding plantacions: the lord make it like that of New
England: for wee must consider that wee shall be as a Citty upon
a Hill, the eies of all people are upon us; soe that if wee shall
deale falsely with our god in this worke wee have undertaken and
soe cause him to withdrawe his present help from us, wee shall
be made a story and a by-word through the world, wee shall open
the mouthes of enemies to speake evill of the wayes of god and
all professours for Gods sake; wee shall shame the faces of many
of gods worthy servants, and cause theire prayers to be turned
into Cursses upon us till wee be consumed out of the good land
whether wee are goeing: And to shutt upp this discourse with that
exhortacion of Moses that faithfull servant of the Lord in his last
farewell to Israell Deut. 30. Beloved there is now sett before us
life, and good, deathe and evill in that wee are Commaunded this
day to love the Lord our God, and to love one another to walke in
his wayes and to keepe his Commaundements and his Ordinance,
and his lawes, and the Articles of our Covenant with him that
wee may live and be multiplied, and that the Lord our God may
blesse us in the land whether wee goe to possesse it: But if our
heartes shall turne away soe that wee will not obey, but shall be
seduced and worship other gods our pleasures, and proffitts, and
serve them; it is propounded unto us this day, wee shall surely
perishe out of the good Land whether wee passe over this vast
Sea to possess it;
Therefore lett us choose life,
that wee, and our Seede,
may live; by obeyeing his
voyce, and cleaveing to him,
for hee is our life, and
our prosperity.
[Again, I swear this is the right spelling, punctuation and such. I
was struck by how ‘God’ was capitalized in some places, but not
in others…for starters. Then again, poor Winthrop was tossing
about on a ship, drinking foul water and obviously having
hallucinations. Not to disparage him, you understand. On the
other hand, no wonder we called Reagan “The Great
Communicator.” He certainly simplified this effort!]
Stuff
–Bill Cosby, commencement speech at Wilkes University.
“Many of you have not thought about paying bills. You have
thought about making bills and you’ve thought about
contributing to some bills you want to make: $200 on a $23,000
car. That’s your contribution. Your parents will pick up the tab
and your parents are confused, really. All they thought was they
would get married, have you, help you to get through high school
and then into college and then you would graduate, get married,
have grandchildren and they could die. They’re still alive and
you’re still going to school. And what’s even worse, they can’t
die, because they have to stay around another 30 years and co-
sign for you. I know you sound pitiful, but that’s the way you
look to me.” [New York Times]
Cosby was serious. The students probably thought he was
joking.
–During Ronald Reagan’s first term in office, Yankee pitcher
Tommy John’s 2-year-old son Travis fell from a third-floor
window and sustained serious injuries. Travis was in a coma.
As related in the New York Times:
“ ‘President Reagan wrote Travis a letter and then called us at
Yankee Stadium two or three times,’ Sally John recalled. ‘He
knew we were at the hospital, but he called and said he wanted to
check on the progress of Travis. I was shocked that the president
of the United States would make a phone call himself.’”
The Johns had met Reagan when he was governor of California.
After Travis recovered, they wrote Reagan thanking him for his
concern. He wrote a handwritten note back.
“Glad to hear Travis is doing better. Nancy and I will keep him
in our prayers.”
That was Ronald Reagan.
–Even if you aren’t a real soccer fan, over the coming weeks just
check the scores from time to time in the European
championships. On Saturday, in what was described as the
biggest opening-game upset in the history of the tournament,
Greece defeated host Portugal, 2-1. The Portuguese people are
pissed, big time, and there is little chance the team can recover to
advance to the next round in its remaining matches.
And on Sunday, France beat England, 2-1, as David Beckham
missed a penalty kick.
–Sorry, sports fans. I have watched little of the NBA Finals.
But congratulations to the city of Detroit, which has exposed the
fact the Lakers are a two-man team in a five-man game.
–Bizarre deal at the Buick Classic PGA tournament this
weekend. Jeff Sluman was disqualified for using a mislabeled
ball. Playing the first hole of the third round, Sluman looked
down and noticed it wasn’t properly labeled. Only the
manufacturer, Titleist, was on the ball, but it didn’t say Pro V1 or
Pro V1x, for example, so you didn’t know exactly what kind of
ball it was.
So Sluman had no choice but to disqualify himself after showing
the ball to a rules official. [The final decision was made a few
holes later.]
“My caddie threw me the golf ball, I hit it, but when I looked
down, I noticed it,” said Sluman. It was the only one in his bag
not properly labeled. [New York Times]
–I had the opportunity to play Baltusrol’s Lower Course on
Sunday, thanks to my good friend Trader George. I fired a
blistering 100, 49-51, needing a bogey on the par-5 finishing
hole for my 99, but alas it wasn’t to be.
I only bring this up, however, because the 2005 PGA is at
Baltusrol and I’m here to tell you it’s going to be a different
course than what you’ve seen for all the Opens that have been
held here. 10 new tee boxes have been added to lengthen it and
one hole, #17, is going from 630 yards to 650+. If anyone
reaches this in two (John Daly and one other did it in 1993, if I
recall correctly), that will be quite a story. [The second shot is
steeply uphill…so factor that in.]
–It was from Baltusrol’s clubhouse that we watched the end of
the Buick Classic at Westchester. At least we thought we were
watching the end until “America’s Funniest Home Videos” came
on in the midst of the playoff between Sergio Garcia, Padraig
Harrington and Rory Sabbatini. What a disaster for ABC. They
deserve all the s— hitting them after this one. Nice
commitment to golf, you a-holes. And it’s not like there was
something more important on.
–Stephen Leatherman, a Florida environmental scientist known
as “Dr. Beach” puts out an annual list of the top 10 beaches in
the U.S. Hanauma Bay, on Oahu’s eastern shore, is #1. Others
are…four in Florida – Fort De Soto Park, Caladesi Island State
Park and Crescent Beach along the central Gulf coast, and Cape
Florida State Park near Miami – Ocracoke Island in North
Carolina; main Beach in East Hampton, N.Y.; Coast Guard
Beach in Cape Cod, Mass.; Coronado Beach in California; and
Hanalei Bay in Kauai, Hawaii. [Source: Star-Ledger]
I guess snorkeling and species of fish in the area play into the
rankings of some of these, but I have my own favorites; the
beaches at Marco Island in Florida and Kiawah, South Carolina,
the two best to walk on that I’ve found. [Hilton Head, S.C. is
also awesome, but I haven’t been there in over 15 years. Those
of you who call this home are welcome to invite me, however.
I’ll do my own dishes and take out the trash.] I don’t like going
in the ocean, by the way. I mean I’m not getting eaten by a shark
or attacked by a giant squid, know what I’m sayin’?
–Two Medal of Honor winners died in recent days. The New
York Times’ Richard Goldstein wrote of both.
Richard E. Bush, 79
Bush served in World War II’s Pacific campaign, including on
Okinawa. There, “in the face of Japanese artillery fire, Corporal
Bush led his squad up rocky terrain in the battle to capture the
1,200-foot Mount Yaetake…an outpost overlooking two
important roads. While participating in the breakthrough to the
deeply entrenched inner defenses of the mountain, Corporal Bush
was seriously wounded and evacuated with other marines…
“While Corporal Bush ‘was prostrate under medical treatment,’
as his Medal of Honor citation put it, a hand grenade hurled by a
Japanese defender landed amid the marines. Corporal Bush
‘unhesitatingly pulled the deadly missile to himself and absorbed
the shattering violence of the exploding charge in his body,’ the
citation said.
“The grenade explosion tore several fingers off one hand and
cost Corporal Bush sight in one eye.”
Raymond Clausen, 56
Private Clausen was in Vietnam, assigned to a marine helicopter
wing. On January 31, 1970, Clausen was part of a mission to
rescue marines who had accidentally stumbled onto a mine field
laid by Americans as they were pursuing the enemy near Da
Nang.
“Private Clausen guided the pilot to a landing in a patch of tall
grasses cleared by one of several mine explosions. Twenty
marines were nearby, 11 wounded, one already dead, and the
other 8 in place, fearful of setting off additional mines if they
moved.
“Private Clausen disobeyed an order by the helicopter pilot to
remain on the craft. ‘I told him, ‘No, sir, I’m going off the
plane,’ (he recalled later).
“He leaped from the helicopter, ignored the presence of hidden
mines, picked up a wounded marine and carried him back to the
craft. Several other marines followed his path to the helicopter,
knowing it would be clear of the mines.
“Private Clausen then directed the helicopter to another spot and
resumed his rescue efforts. His citation said that despite the
threat of further mine explosions, he made six trips out of the
helicopter. On one of them, a mine detonated while he was
carrying a wounded marine, killing another member of the
stranded platoon and wounding three other men.
“ ‘Only when he was certain that all marines were safely aboard
did he signal the pilot to lift the helicopter,’ his citation read.”
–Dennis Rodman is leaving the Newport Beach home that he
first purchased in 1996 for $825,000 and just sold for $3.8
million, another example of the real estate bubble. Police were
called to the home 80 times in 8 years due to his loud parties.
For the record, I was never invited and am quite displeased I
didn’t get to meet Carmen Electra.
–Cincinnati men’s basketball coach Bob Huggins was suspended
by the university, indefinitely but with pay, after being charged
with drunk driving. This guy’s life has been a mess recently.
–For those of you familiar with New York City, it was great to
see Governors Island made available to the public as of Saturday.
[You can take a ferry from the Staten Island Ferry terminal.]
Back in the 1980s, I had an office that overlooked this fantastic
piece of land in New York Harbor (more like the East River, I
guess) but it was mostly used as a military base and unreachable
for us schleps. I bring this up because if you are visiting
New York, put this in your plans. The views from Governors
Island are spectacular and eventually they will probably build a
luxury hotel there.
–Great piece in USA Today on Atlanta’s Julio Franco, 45, who
according to the best research is the oldest player since 1900 to
play the field regularly. Franco is also the oldest to hit a grand
slam and a pinch-homer.
–A 5th bowl game has been added for the bowl championship
series, to take effect with the 2006 college football season,
meaning there will be a championship game held about a week
after the other 4, say around Jan. 9 or 10. But, this is not a
playoff system. What it does do, however, is open up the B.C.S.
to two more teams, thus providing a better chance for a lesser
conference team to crack the elite list.
And here’s another rub. The same four bowl sites – Rose, Sugar,
Orange and Fiesta – will be used for the fifth game on a rotating
basis. [So one gets 2 games in 8 days.] Officials of other bowls,
like the Citrus, are none too pleased. Personally, the college
football season is long enough as it is and I’m not for a playoff,
knowing how long it would extend the season. There’s nothing
wrong with a little controversy, after all. What the hell would we
talk about without it?
–Speaking of controversy, Sherpa Pemba Dorjee is under fire for
allegedly making up the details on his record assault on Mount
Everest a few weeks ago. You’ll recall that Dorjee said he made
the climb from the 17,000-foot base camp in a time 2 ½ hours
less than the previous mark. But his detractors say there were no
witnesses and the weather was so bad that day there isn’t any
way he could’ve made it. Dorjee says the weather had cleared as
he approached the top.
–The New York Mets are 6 for 60 with the bases loaded.
–Houston’s 41-year-old Roger Clemens is 9-0 with a 2.08 ERA
and 88 Ks in 78 innings. Johnny Mac and I are among the
legions who can’t stand the guy, but at the same time J. Mac has
reached the conclusion Clemens needs to be considered the best
right-hander in the history of the game. For starters, think of
this. Clemens obviously has a legitimate shot at 20 wins this
season. Should he accomplish this, he would be the first pitcher
in history to do it for 4 different clubs. And as Johnny points
out, on straight stats, the righties ahead of Clemens pitched in the
dead ball era. So you’re left with fellow 300-game winners like
Nolan Ryan, Phil Niekro, Gaylord Perry, Don Sutton and Early
Wynn…plus Tom Seaver. So it’s then Clemens vs. Seaver.
Hell, both J. Mac and I worshipped at Seaver’s altar but we have
to go with Clemens. I don’t think it’s really close.
–The other day, Rusty Wallace was given permission to run a
few laps at Talladega in Alabama without the usual restrictor
plates that cut down on speed at the superspeedways. Wallace
hit 228 mph on the straight. The argument against allowing such
speed is that an accident at that level could propel the car into the
stands.
Top 3 songs for the week of 6/12/65: #1 “Back In My Arms
Again” (The Supremes) #2 “Wooly Bully” (Sam The Sham &
The Pharaohs…great act) #3 “Crying In The Chapel” (Elvis
Presley)
U.S. Open Golf Quiz Answers: 1) Lou Graham won in 1975. 2)
David Graham won in ’81. 3) Scott Simpson won in ’87. 4)
Curtis Strange won his second Open title in 1989. 5) Tiger
Woods won by 15…15…strokes in 2000 at Pebble Beach. 6)
Only four to win 4 titles: Jack Nicklaus, Bobby Jones, Ben
Hogan, and Willie Anderson. 7) Jack Nicklaus, at 44, and Hale
Irwin, 33, have the longest consecutive appearance streaks.
*Last week, Tom Kite qualified for his 31st straight at age 54,
quite an accomplishment and thus tying Arnold Palmer and Gene
Sarazen for third in this category.
**If you ever need something good to say about a dearly
departed friend, make note of former Canadian Prime Minister
Brian Mulroney’s eulogy for Ronald Reagan the other day.
Mulroney quoted Yeats.
Think where man’s glory most begins and ends, and say – ‘My
glory was that I had such friends.’
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
