***Steelers crush Patriots…streak over***
***Vijay Singh wins his 9th of the year***
San Diego Chargers Quiz (1960-2003): 1) Name the coach from
1974-78. [Don Coryell succeeded him.] 2) LaDainian
Tomlinson just surpassed who to become the all-time Chargers
rushing leader? 3) Interceptions, career? 4) TDs, career? 5)
Who was the 1st-round pick in 1969? [Of course I’ll give you a
hint. He was an Ivy League quarterback.] 6) Who was the 1st-
round pick in 1973? [One of the great offensive weapons in the
history of college football.] Answers below.
It’s Over for Bonds…we hope
Late Friday, papers were filed in U.S. District Court concerning
the BALCO steroid case. It’s all over but the shouting when it
comes to Bonds and steroid usage. Now we wait to see what
baseball does. We hope it’s a long winter for Barry.
Succumbing to flesh-eating disease or bird flu would be ideal.
From the San Francisco Chronicle here are a few passages from a
piece by Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wade.
“According to an investigator’s report filed in (District Court),
weight trainer Greg Anderson broke off an interview with federal
agents on Sept. 3, 2003, when they showed him a file that
appeared to detail steroid use by Bonds, Anderson’s client and
friend since childhood….
“ ‘Included among these files with apparent steroid distribution
details was a folder for Barry Bonds,’ wrote Internal Revenue
Service investigator Jeff Novitzky.
“ ‘When confronted with this, Anderson stated that he didn’t
think he should be talking anymore, because he didn’t want to go
to jail.’ …
“Anderson, BALCO founder Victor Conte, BALCO Vice
President James Valente and veteran track coach Remi
Korchemny are awaiting trial on steroid conspiracy and money-
laundering charges. The men have pleaded not guilty, and
Anderson, Conte and Valente have asked U.S. District Judge
Susan Illston to dismiss the charges against them, accusing
government investigators of coercing them into making
statements and other ‘outrageous’ misconduct during the
September 2003 raids….
“According to the report, the agents interviewed Anderson while
they were serving a warrant to search his condominium.
Anderson described himself as a weight trainer whose all-star
clients included Bonds and New York Yankees stars Gary
Sheffield and Jason Giambi.
“He told the agents he provided ‘a small amount of steroids to
people’ as a service, saying ‘I felt that if I didn’t earn a profit,
then I’m not a drug dealer.’ He also said that in 2003 he began
purchasing two ‘undetectable’ steroids from BALCO. The
products, known as ‘the cream’ and ‘the clear,’ were for baseball
players who wanted to evade detection by Major League
Baseball’s steroid testing program, he said….
“In the interview, Anderson specifically denied that Bonds had
ever used ‘the cream’ or ‘the clear.’ At that point, agents said
they showed him the documents that they said reflected Bonds’
steroid use. The trainer then broke off the interview…
“Anderson’s lawyer, J. Tony Serra, has insisted that Anderson
never provided banned substances to Bonds. Bonds has
repeatedly denied using steroids. Bonds’ lawyer, Michael Rains,
could not be reached for comment…
“Also made public Friday was a statement allegedly made by
BALCO Vice President Valente during the raids, identifying an
Illinois chemist named Patrick Arnold as creator of ‘the clear,’
the undetectable steroid that BALCO allegedly supplied to elite
athletes. Arnold won fame in 1998 as the marketer of ‘andro,’ a
legal steroid-like substance that St. Louis Cardinals star Mark
McGwire was using when he broke Roger Maris’ record for
home runs in one season. The substance was recently outlawed
by federal legislation….
“Valente said that BALCO sometimes sent athletes’ urine to labs
for steroid screening. Once BALCO ran tests for two Oakland
Athletics – Jason Giambi and his brother Jeremy. Both players
tested positive for steroid, Valente told the agents….
“(Victor) Conte…said he provided drugs to 27 other elite
athletes…including Olympic track stars Marion Jones and Tim
Montgomery (along with the NFL’s Bill Romanowski…one of
the great dirtballs in the history of professional sports).”
Stuff
–College Football Review
Just when you least expect it, this past Saturday provided two
spectacular upsets and a few near ones.
The ACC may be known as the most competitive conference in
college basketball (it certainly will be this coming season), but
now it has clearly turned the corner in its balance from top to
bottom in football.
Granted, Miami and Florida State are not fielding the type of
squads they have in years past, but nonetheless they were ranked
#3 and #5 before falling to North Carolina, defeating Miami
31-28, and Maryland, 20-17 over FSU. Both the Tar Heels and
Terps were 3-4 heading into the contests.
So talk about shaking up the BCS race! Utah, a 51-28 winner
over San Diego State, should now be assured a bid to a big four
bowl game as it runs the table from here, and my preseason BCS
surprise, California, would appear to be a lock as well; Cal
having defeated #21 Arizona State 27-0. Wisconsin and Auburn
are also right there.
Of course the top two remain Oklahoma and USC, the former
surviving its annual scare against Oklahoma State with freshman
running sensation Adrian Peterson galloping for 249 yards. This
kid is obviously the real deal.
Speaking of real deals, I have to admit I’ve never focused on
Michigan’s splendid wide receiver Braylon Edwards, but what an
awesome pro he is going to be. Edwards led Michigan to a
thrilling 45-37 triple overtime victory over a much-improved
Michigan State squad and Michigan still has an outside shot at a
BCS bid. There is no more exciting offense in the nation right
now.
In other games of note, Baylor upset #17 Texas A&M in OT and
on Friday night Boise State won its 19th straight, pasting Hawaii
69-3. [Sorry…Boise State is not BCS timbre.] And then you
have Purdue, losing for a 3rd straight week, this time to
Northwestern. When the Boilermakers were 5-0, I was among
those touting QB Kyle Orton for the Heisman. What a choke job
since then. Orton was just 15 of 33 for 143 yards on Saturday.
Speaking of performances from the quarterback slot, check out
Nebraska and its new West Coast offense. While the
Cornhuskers defeated Missouri 24-3, they were only 4 of 18
passing for 25…yes, 25 yards. Geezuz, that sucks. [Sorry
Ken S., but I have to call them like I see ‘em.]
Finally, Navy ran its record to 7-1 with a 34-20 win over
Delaware. Now you may be thinking, big deal, it’s Delaware,
but the Blue Hens were #3 in Division I-AA and as we say
around here, a win is a win……like Wake’s 24-22 victory over
Duke. I thus remain on the Navy bandwagon, scarfing up free
beer and pulled pork barbecue sandwiches. It’s doing a number
on my stomach but you only go around once in life, right sports
fans?! [Unless you’re Shirley MacLaine.]
–One more item on the North Carolina shocker over Miami. Tar
Heel kicker Conner Barth, a freshman, decided the contest on a
last second 42-yard field goal. To say he now has his pick of
co-eds at Chapel Hill would be an understatement. [Ladies, if
you’re offended by this comment just remember that 100% of the
guys watching the end of this game were thinking the same
thing.]
–The latest USA Today / ESPN poll.
1. USC
2. Oklahoma
3. Auburn
4. Wisconsin
5. Georgia
6. California
7. Texas
8. Utah
9. Michigan
10. Miami
15. Boise State
–NFL Review
So the Patriots streak is over at an amazing 21, courtesy of the
upstart Steelers and their super rookie QB, Ben Roethlisberger.
And when Jim Nantz showed the new Roethlis(burger)
that’s available in one eatery, I was drooling. So good luck the
rest of the way to my cousins back home in the Pittsburgh area
as they root on the Steelers. Right now I have to focus on
the Jets.
Speaking of the Giants and their manhandling of Minnesota,
34-13, Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper sure has been
receiving a ton of publicity the first few weeks of the season.
But check this out. After 7 games:
Culpepper…2,180 yards passing, 20 TD 5 INT
Peyton Manning…2,161 yards, 22 TD 4 INT
Dan Marino holds the record with 48 TD passes and 5,084 yards,
both set in the 1984 season. I’ll put my money on Manning to at
least come closest to the touchdown mark.
I know I keep bringing this up, but am I correct in recalling that
the Carolina Panthers were in last year’s Super Bowl? I thought
I was. Then what the hell are they doing at 1-6?!
With New England’s loss the only undefeated team left in the
NFL is Philadelphia…and they just happen to play Pittsburgh
this coming weekend.
The Packers beat the Redskins…bad news for President Bush, or
so legend has it.
Eddie George watch: 103 carries for 348 yards…a 3.38 average.
Reminder, the over / under is 3.5. Bet with your head, not over
it.
–David Leonhardt had a piece in the New York Times on cities
with the most sports heartbreaks. If you include the four major
sports leagues, as well as three leagues folded into a major
league (the American Football League, American Basketball
Association and World Hockey League), Cleveland has the most
combined seasons without a title…115…the last being the 1964
Cleveland Browns. San Diego and Philadelphia are second at 85
(1963 Chargers and 1983 76ers). Buffalo is at 80 (1965 Bills).
But when it comes to baseball I have my own list. These are the
teams that haven’t won, pre-1980, and excluding those who came
into the majors after that year.
Chicago Cubs…1908
Chicago White Sox…1917 last title. [I’m still amazed how little
publicity this gets, even if they always have been overshadowed
by the Cubbies.]
Cleveland Indians…1948
Houston Astros…no World Series since inception, 1962
Milwaukee Brewers…no WS since inception, 1969
Montreal Expos…no WS since inception, 1969
Pittsburgh Pirates…1979
San Diego Padres…no WS since inception, 1969
San Francisco Giants…no WS since 1954 [Another that’s hard to
believe.]
Seattle Mariners…no WS since inception, 1977
Texas Rangers (Washington Senators)…no WS since inception,
1961
–I plead ignorance on this one. I didn’t realize the New York
Mets had to deal with the Curse of Ray Knight (CORK) until I
read a piece by Mike Vaccaro in the New York Post.
It’s been 18 years now since the Mets last won so here’s the deal.
Question: who scored the winning run in Game 6 (1986) against
the Red Sox, after the ball squirted through Buckner’s legs?
Question: Who hit the tie-breaking home run off Calvin Schiraldi
two nights later, in Game 7? Question: Who was
unceremoniously dumped by the Mets about 15 minutes after
their parade down the Canyon of Heroes?
Ray Knight is the answer to all three. As Vaccaro writes, “The
Mets saw a curse up close. You would think they would have
been smarter about this.”
Crap. Here I thought we were cursed because a Mets fan hit the
Red Sox’ traveling secretary with a beer bottle and now the real
truth comes out. I don’t know what to do….I just can’t cope
anymore.
–But speaking of the Mets, you gotta love this one. Mets pitcher
Johnny Franco has never been known to be one of the brighter
guys on the planet and while he is clearly finished as far as his
effectiveness on the mound at age 43, Franco may have just
thrown away his prospects for future work in the sport with the
revelation he was consorting with the Mob in the early 1990s.
It turns out that Franco has been named as part of a murder
investigation in Montreal, one involving the “John Gotti of
Canada.” In the 90s, Franco is reported to have been hanging out
with members of the Bonanno family. Johnny bought them Mets
tickets and he would often let them in the dugout. Other Mets
players joined in the fun.
But Franco is in trouble because of one road trip to Montreal
where the Bonanno gang was to meet with the Montreal boss to
confirm a leadership change back in New York. Johnny bought
them tickets and he then went out to dinner with the organized
crime figures afterwards.
There is a chance Franco will have to testify next year in the case
up north. Of course for its part Major League Baseball forbids
its players from associating with the Mob. Franco should be
banned for life if this all proves to be true. Actually, he should
be banned simply for being such an idiot.
–Vaughn Meader, RIP
My brother called me the other night and said I have to
acknowledge this man’s passing. I was just four-years-old when
Meader rose to fame in 1962 and thus don’t have any
recollection of his work, but oh how he became an instant
sensation that year….only to flame out about twelve months
later.
As told by Dennis McLellan of the Los Angeles Times:
“During the early days of the Kennedy administration, the New
England-born Meader was a struggling young piano-playing
comedian performing in small clubs in New York City’s
Greenwich Village. His act consisted of song parodies and one-
liners, but the routine that had audiences howling was the one
that he did for a sure-fire finish: a mock presidential news
conference in which he fielded questions from the audience and
ad-libbed his answers with a pitch-perfect Kennedy
impersonation.”
A result of his act was the album “The First Family.” Released
in November 1962, when Meader was just 26, it became the
fastest selling pre-Beatles record in history, 1.2 million copies in
its first two weeks and 7.5 million in all. It won the Grammy
award for Album of the Year in 1963.
“The First Family” contained 17 skits and in retrospect it was
pretty lame material. For example, here’s one set in the
Kennedy’s White House bedroom, lampooning the extended
Kennedy clan.
Jackie: Family, family, family. Jack, there’s just too much
family. Can we ever get away alone?
Jack: Tomorrow, I, uh, promise – tomorrow, we’ll get away
together. No more family for a while. Now I promise. Now, uh,
turn off the light. [Click] Good night, Jackie…
Jackie: Good night, Jack.
Jack: Good night, Ethel. Good night, Bobby.
Voices: Good night, Teddy. Good night, Peter. Good night,
Pat…
Oh, they were simpler times.
Meader was just about the hottest name in show business.
As McLellan writes, “From earning $7.50 a night playing SoHo
coffeehouses, Meader suddenly found himself headlining at the
Sahara Hotel in Las Vegas for $22,500 a week.”
Meader later estimated he cleared about $300,000; huge money
for those days.
“I lived like I thought a star was supposed to live – wine, women
and song,” he told the St. Petersburg Times in 2000.
He didn’t want to do a sequel but he was contractually obligated
to do one so the result was “The First Family, Vol. 2,” released
in the spring of ‘63.
On November 22, 1963, Meader arrived in Milwaukee for a
show, a fundraiser for the state Democratic Party. At the airport,
a taxi driver asked if he’d heard about Kennedy in Dallas.
“Figuring it was the setup for yet another Kennedy joke, Meader
said, ‘No, how’s it go?’
“After the assassination, comedian Lenny Bruce commented
onstage that two graves had been dug in Arlington National
Cemetery – one for John Kennedy and one for Vaughn Meader.”
[Dennis McLellan]
“That was it,” Meader told the L.A. Times in 1997. “One year,
November to November. Then boom. It was all over.”
[Additional source: Margalit Fox / New York Times]
–And we note the passing a few days ago of former major
leaguer Bobby Avila, the first Latin ballplayer to win a batting
title when he hit .341 in 1954 for the pennant-winning Cleveland
Indians. [That was the team that went 111-43 and then got
smoked 4-0 by the New York Giants in the World Series.]
However, as Johnny Mac notes, “Avila was the guy most
responsible for changing the criteria for winning batting titles.
Ted Williams hit .345 that season but due to the fact Teddy
walked 136 times, and in playing in only 117 games, he fell short
under the rules of the day because he didn’t have enough official
at-bats. The rules allowed you to add the requisite at-bats (and
assume no hits) and if you would have won anyway you could
claim the title. But the math didn’t help Williams that year and
the rules committee recognized that plate appearances were more
important than official at-bats, so a few years later the rule was
changed to what it is today.” [See Barry Bonds, for example.]
–Hey, what is this? Another ESPN / USA Today college
basketball poll? I thought the definitive preseason one was
already out? Never mind………
This one has Kansas #1, followed by Wake Forest, North
Carolina, Georgia Tech, and Illinois.
Rounding out the top ten are Syracuse, UConn, Oklahoma State,
Kentucky and Michigan State.
It is the first time since this poll was created that one conference,
the ACC, has 3 of the top 4 slots.
–Bandleader Lester Lanin died at the age of 97. He may not be
too familiar with many of you, but if you travel in high circles (I
sure as heck don’t) you probably know the man.
Lanin was known as the society bandleader. He performed at
Queen Elizabeth’s 60th birthday, Bill Joel and Christie Brinkley’s
wedding, as well as Prince Charles and Lady Di’s affair. In
addition Lanin was hired by the kings of Norway, Spain,
Denmark and Sweden, among others. He played in every
presidential inauguration going back to Eisenhower except for
Carter’s and George W.’s. Hell, Lester Lanin was conducting up
until three years ago.
Lanin was born in Philadelphia and both his father and
grandfather were also bandleaders. But he was married just
once, briefly, to a former Miss Texas. Well good for him.
[Douglas Martin / New York Times]
–At Boston’s Fenway Park, the Cask ‘n Flagon, behind the
Green Monster, was going through 300 cases of beer on game
nights recently, drawing 1,500-2,000 customers. [A normal
night crowd is 100-200.] However, according to Sports
Illustrated, Paddy O’s, outside Busch Stadium in St. Louis, does
far more…but it’s only open for Cardinals home games.
And while many of us hoped they’d still be playing baseball this
past weekend, nonetheless I feel obligated to present SI’s all-
time Red Sox and Cardinals squads.
Boston
C – Carlton Fisk
1B – Jimmie Foxx
2B – Bobby Doerr
SS – Nomar Garciapparra…Rico Petrocelli was better!
3B – Wade Boggs
OF – Ted Williams
OF – Carl Yastrzemski
OF – Jim Rice
P – Roger Clemens
Mgr. Joe Cronin (1935-47)
St. Louis
C – Ted Simmons…underrated
1B – Mark McGwire
2B – Rogers Hornsby
SS – Ozzie Smith
3B – Ken Boyer…Ken also played with the Mets!
OF – Stan Musial
OF – Lou Brock
OF – Joe Medwick
P – Bob Gibson
Mgr. Bill Southworth (1929, ’40-’45)
–Johnny Mac, musing about the World Series.
“How many guys out there have benefited from one little blown
save by Mariano Rivera? Derek Lowe would never have gotten
the Game 7 start in the ALCS, nor Game 4 in the Series and
would have attracted very little interest in his free agent year.
David Ortiz, with his walk-off heroics, is deity in Boston. Keith
Foulke has been tremendous but never would have gotten the
chance. Pedro Martinez helped himself big in Game 3, Johnny
Damon would have been the goat with that horrid first four
games (of the ALCS) and of course Curt “blood and guts”
Schilling has now achieved legend status with those blood-
stained starts. All should send Rivera a little thank you.”
–The New Jersey Nets will be dreadful this season, but it is a
great human interest story to see if Alonzo Mourning can come
back from his kidney transplant just 10 months ago. He’s
looking pretty good so far. As for Jason Kidd, what an a-hole.
According to the Star-Ledger, these days he only refers to his
teammates as “they.” In other words, Jason wants out in the
worst way because the Nets don’t appear to be playoff bound.
Very professional.
–Can’t say I caught any of the Breeders’ Cup races on Saturday,
but I did take note of a story in the Los Angeles Times
concerning the fact that of 3 slaughterhouses in the United States
specifically for horses, 2 of the 3 were located close to Lone Star
Park in Grand Prairie, a Dallas suburb that held the event. Now
that’s a bit embarrassing and was evidently cause for protest.
Horse meat, incidentally, is exported largely to Europe.
–Speaking of creatures, the other day businessman Ashok
Sharma was on a Jet Airways flight from Bangalore to New
Delhi when he was served biryani….make that lizard biryani.
There was a 2-inch lizard in his dish, cooked and everything.
Luckily, Mr. Sharma didn’t bite into it and he is now suing the
airline, having saved the lizard as an exhibit. Jet Airways has
taken full responsibility. [South China Morning Post]
–Now this is, err, not very appealing either. Zoos in Chongqing,
China are marketing tiger urine. Some believe it improves
sexual performance and cures rheumatism. It can be drunk
directly or mixed with alcohol. [South China Morning Post]
–You didn’t expect me to comment further on that last item, did
you?
–By now you’ve probably seen the story of the 18,000-year-old
specimen found in Indonesia, a direct descendent of us humans.
This new species as been dubbed “the Hobbit” due to its small
size; about 3 feet tall with long arms.
Now this is great stuff, sports fans. Formally labeled LB1, the
Hobbit probably shared his island “with a golden retriever-sized
rat, giant tortoises and huge lizards – including Komodo dragons
– and a pony-sized dwarf elephant called Stegodon which the
‘hobbits’ probably hunted.” [BBC News]
The island where the little people were found is Flores and
modern day inhabitants have all sorts of tales, passed down
through the ages. Supposedly, the species they call Ebu Gogo
was prone to “murmuring.” They were also able to repeat what
the islanders said in parrot-like fashion.
Well, this is not only exciting, but you now have to wonder if
other tales of yore have some truth to them. Sam Coates
explored the topic in the London Times.
“Among the most famous are elves, creatures of Germanic
mythology that have survived in Northern European folklore and
were imported into Britain by the Anglo-Saxons. Originally a
race of minor gods of nature and fertility, they are often pictured
as small, youthful-seeming men and women of great beauty
living in forests and other natural places, underground, or in
wells and springs.”
Did I ever tell you I was picking up the paper early one morning
when I saw an elf queen resembling Liv Tyler? Or was that a
dream?
“Leprechauns – Ireland’s national fairy – have the distinction of
being the most solitary of all short people. They avoid contact
with human beings, other fairies and even other leprechauns.
Only about 2-feet tall, they are unfriendly, gruff men (there are
no female leprechauns…huh) who prefer to pass their time
making shoes for other fairies.” [Don’t trust the quality; they’re
made from potato skins.]
“Dwarves are much like human beings, but generally live
underground or in mountainous areas. Here they store countless
treasures of gold, silver and precious stones and pass their time
in fabricating costly armour….Dwarves are renowned metal-
smiths.” [It’s overpriced. Dwarves rip you off.]
Finally, you have fairies, such as the tooth fairy. She leaves a
quarter under your pillow when you lose a tooth and bears a
striking resemblance to your mother.
[I was just informed that due to an increase in the cost of living
since the time your editor was a wee tyke, the tooth fairy now
leaves shares of Google. My how times have changed.]
–According to Smithsonian magazine, since the end of the last
ice age, 35 big animals in North America went extinct including
the mammoth, mastodon, giant ground sloth, giant beavers,
horses, short-faced bears and saber-toothed cats.
So I’m thinking that a good contest would have been the giant
beaver vs. the saber-toothed feline. Granted, the cat would have
been quicker, but the beaver would have been able to build
sterling defenses, perhaps luring Mr. Saber-toothed into a trap.
–The New York Times had a piece on Saturday concerning the
coming comprehensive, international study on global warming in
the Arctic. When I get my hands on a full copy later on I may
discuss it in some detail but one passage that the Times obtained
early is quite disturbing.
“The retreat of sea ice, the report says, ‘is very likely to have
devastating consequences for polar bears, ice-living seals and
local people for whom these animals are a primary food source.’”
You know what this means, folks. Polar bears are going to be
linking up with Canada’s kodiak and grizzly bears and together
they will be flooding our porous border.
–Woodpeckers invaded my condo complex over the weekend!
Aaghh!
–Dan L. passed along this incredible story from CNN. Leana
Beasley, 45, suffers from grand mal seizures and is generally
confined to her wheelchair. So recently Leana fell out of her
chair and was incapacitated. Springing to action was her 4-year-
old Rottweiler, Faith, who had been trained to dial 911 by
pushing a speed-dial button on the phone with her nose after
taking the receiver off the hook. The dispatcher picked up and
Faith barked madly. The police were able to trace the call and
Faith even unlocked the door for the officer. Leana was in the
hospital for three weeks but is doing better now.
–Daniel Oren is a well-known conductor who performs at
venues such as the Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center in New
York. Last Thursday night, though, he was handcuffed
immediately after the curtain fell on “La Boheme.” It turns out
that Mr. Oren had supposedly failed to show for a court
appearance relating to his second wife and her claim that he
stiffed her out of $100,000 in spousal support. Oren was cuffed
backstage. [New York Daily News]
–PGA wrap-up
I won’t bore you with all the details since I imagine only a
handful cared about the final regular event on the PGA Tour like
yours truly did. Let’s just say I had a rooting interest in
Paraguay’s Carlos Franco finishing in the top 30 for the year so
he could qualify for this week’s Tour Championship.
Folks, I never followed a tournament more closely than this one,
including majors. Franco started the week #28 on the money list,
needed to make the cut, did, and then proceeded to have a
horrible time of it over the weekend. Which meant he was
giving all manner of golfers a shot at moving up the money list,
thus replacing Carlos.
So it came down to this. I had to root ‘against’ Kirk Triplett, a
good guy, and ‘for’ Tommy Armour III, a jerk. If Triplett
finished all by himself in second place to Vijay, Franco would
have finished 31st on the season list. Alas, Triplett collapsed the
final few holes and we move on.
Just do me a favor this week. Root for Franco to have a good
performance. It will be good for both of us. To be continued.
As for Vijay Singh, the man has now won 9 times in 2004.
Staggering. No one else on tour won more than 2 except for
Ernie Els (3). Singh thus ties Tiger Woods for the 5th highest
victory count in history. As I wrote in this space months ago,
he’s just getting started.
And not for nothing but Singh became the tour’s first $10
million man…….winning $10 million in one season. A-Rod gets
$20 million or so to choke.
Finally, Johnny Mac suggested that the Boston Red Sox have
now maneuvered themselves into the Sports Illustrated
“Sportsman of the Year” award, not Singh. I think he’s right.
–The PGA is having problems with seniors on the Champions
tour, specifically, the PGA is instituting a no cart rule next year.
Currently, at least 20 of 78 weekly starters use one. Golfer
Hubert Green, 57, has been employing a cart following cancer
surgery but he notes “There are a lot of guys right now taking
carts who don’t need them. They do it for one reason – because
they’re lazy.” [Sports Illustrated]
According to SI, the “poster boy cited by these critics is the hefty
Ed Fiori, who says a bad back and weak heart – he suffered a
heart attack on New Year’s Eve 2003 – force him to use a cart at
age 51. ‘I’d be more sympathetic if I didn’t see Ed downing a
steak every time I walked into the dining room,’ says one player
who prefers to remain anonymous. ‘He should get in shape.’”
Ouch!
–Harry K. passed this along from the CBC in Canada.
Dateline Halifax, N.S. – An embarrassing spelling mistake has
caused Nova Scotia’s Health Department to recall thousands of
pins meant to support the annual flu-shot campaign. The letter
“L” was omitted from the word “public” on pins given out to
health-care workers. The pins are attributed to the “Office of
Health Promotion and Pubic Health Services.” Health
Department spokesperson Melissa MacKinnon said 4,700 pins
are being recalled. She said the mistake will cost the government
$2,200.
Now Harry K. has an excellent point. “It could have been worse.
They could have spelled it PUNIC Health, which could well have
sparked a nasty diplomatic imbroglio with Greece.”
Harry and I concede that today’s youth doesn’t receive an
education grounded in the classics and thus may miss this last
reference.
Top 3 songs for the week of 11/4/72: #1 “I Can See Clearly
Now” (Johnny Nash) #2 “Nights In White Satin” (The Moody
Blues) #3 “My Ding-A-Ling” (Chuck Berry)
San Diego Chargers Quiz Answers: 1) Tommy Prothro coached
from 1974-78, going 21-39-0. 2) LaDainian Tomlinson
surpassed Paul Lowe as all-time rusher. Lowe had 4,972 yards
from 1960-67. 3) Gil Byrd is career leader in interceptions with
42, 1983-92. 4) TD, career: Lance Alworth, 83, 1962-70. 5) QB
Marty Domres of Columbia was the 1st-round pick in 1969. 6)
Johnny Rodgers, the great wide receiver / halfback / return man
from Nebraska was the 1st pick in 1973.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday……we go through Ohio, precinct by
precinct…………………………….JUST KIDDING!
Actually, Diana Ross! [This could be interesting.]
