**Next Chat…Tuesday AM…final round Q-School, Monday**
Arizona Cardinals Quiz (Including St. Louis 1960-87, but not the
Chicago Cardinals’ years): 1) Rushing, career? 2) Passing
yards, career? 3) Receiving yards, career? 4) Interceptions,
career? 5) Passing yards, season? 6) Receptions, game? [Hint:
1962. Yeah, this is only for supreme Cardinals junkies.] 7) Who
was the last QB taken with the 1st-round pick? Answers below.
Illinois Destroys Wake Forest
So I’m sitting in my hotel room in La Quinta, CA (Palm Springs
area), having just witnessed an amazing blowout as my Wake
Forest Demon Deacons got wiped all over the floor by #3
Illinois, 91-73; and trust me, if you didn’t see the pitiful effort it
wasn’t even that close.
Jay Bilas, doing color on the game, was 100% correct. This loss
could have a huge impact on Wake’s psyche the rest of the year.
But as I look at the schedule, if they can beat Texas at home on
Dec. 18 and somehow win at New Mexico on Dec. 22, they’ll be
alright. Then again, the first ACC game, at Virginia on Jan. 2,
has me worried big time.
It’s a long season, though, Deacon fans, but what has to concern
you most is not the backcourt’s shoddy play the past few contests
but rather the frontcourt’s inability to handle the ball.
Thus are the rantings of a fan who is suddenly questioning
whether or not his team is truly a national championship
contender. Give me an 11-5 ACC conference mark today and
I’ll take it in a heartbeat.
You know who’s really going to be #1 in the ACC this year?
Georgia Tech. Their backcourt is tougher. And speaking of
which…maybe Chris Paul’s recent well-below par efforts will
squelch any thoughts of him turning pro next year.
Q-School
Granted, only a handful of you may appreciate the following but
I’ve got to tell you; after only one day at Q-School I can see
doing this again some day.
By the end of a season on the PGA Tour, if a golfer doesn’t
finish in the top 125 on the money list, or doesn’t qualify by
virtue of an exemption (winning a tournament, for example,
gives you a two-year pass on tour), you have to go to Q-School,
or Qualifying School. Only 30 then emerge from the process to
gain their playing privileges for 2005. More specifically, a total
of 1,239 players have participated in this year’s event. Of those
players, 1,019 played in the first stage, 185 were exempt into the
second stage and 36 were exempt into the final stage.
There are now 169 players vying for the final 30 slots. Many
followers of the sport will recognize some of the names, such as
former U.S. Open champion Scott Simpson, Jim Gallagher, Jr.,
Ken Green, Per-Ulrik Johansson, Phillip Price, Bill Glasson, Dan
Forsman and Matt Kuchar. 17 countries are represented.
But what sets Q-School apart from other tournaments is the
format. Six rounds over six days. It’s grueling, a death march
for some, and the pressure can be unreal by the last round as
inevitably about ten golfers end up playing for the final 2 or 3
spots that 6th round. You have to keep reminding yourself this is
their life, their source of income. Unlike other sports, there are
no guaranteed contracts.
So I arrived Wednesday morning for the first round at beautiful
PGA West. The event is played on two courses, the Stadium and
the Nicklaus venue. Given the time of year and lack of sunlight
everyone has to tee off within about a two-hour window.
Unfortunately, it has been abnormally chilly in the Palm Springs
area so Wednesday’s round was delayed an hour. [It could be
that way the whole week.]
Well, that kind of screwed my schedule up since I still have a lot
of work to do when I travel, but I decided to follow 2004 Wake
grad Bill Haas (son of tour star Jay). I always have my Wake
cap on at sporting events and he spotted it on the practice tee.
“Big game tonight,” said Bill. “Yeah,” said I…and look at the
result.
Actually, Bill is a budding star and he’s a delightful young man
but get this…I was his only supporter the first round! That’s part
of the charm of Q-School…….no one is here! And there is no
charge for parking or to watch the event. Talk about a deal.
Backing up a bit, when I arrived I hit the practice tee; a teeming
mass of humanity including the caddies, swing coaches and
hangers on. But because there are few actual spectators, imagine
that for 90% of these guys their only fans might be a parent,
sibling, girlfriend, spouse or college buddy. I was shocked
Haas had no one on Wednesday. I’m biased, but the kid is the
prime attraction here in my book.
While waiting for Bill to tee off, I talked to a couple from
Fayetteville, Arkansas, Mr. and Mrs. Pinneo; great people who
are here to see their son Todd. And then I spotted this older
gentleman with a New Providence football jacket. Understand I
live in New Providence, NJ and so I go “Hey, sir!” [That gets
‘em all the time.] It turned out to be Dr. A., now retired and
living in these parts. What a great chat we had. And talk about a
small world, he used to live about two blocks from me.
Then, as Bill Haas and his two playing partners, Paul Curry and
Bill Harvey, prepared to hit, I struck up a conversation with
another fellow from the area, Scott F. Scott had played PGA
West / Stadium a number of times and he was a huge help as we
walked the course. [The only other person following the group
was Paul Curry’s son, a kid of about 9 or 10, it seemed.]
You have to appreciate that you can feel the pressure from the
very first tee. Poor Curry went 4-over the first five holes, yet
finished his round at that level. After the 5th I walked over to
him and said “Hang in there, Paul.” He seemed appreciative and
played much better afterwards. [You’re afraid to talk to these
guys, even though including the caddies and a scorer there are
only ten of you. Most of the time it’s too intense.]
As for Haas, he was cruising along, 1-under after 6, when
disaster struck. He hit his tee shot on a short par 4 into the water.
Dropping where the ball entered the hazard he hit his 3rd (one
penalty stroke for those not familiar) into the fairway, leaving
him a short approach to the green in his attempt to salvage
bogey. Haas then hit his next into the water again, only this time
the ball hit the green and spun into the water. Poor Bill ended up
with a quadruple 8! Scott and I turned away as he walked to the
8th tee but then on the 8th we had to cross paths at one point and
he asked how I was doing. Man, I’m a Bill Haas fan for life.
The problem is Bill finished with a 3-over 75, already five back
from what would be the cut-off for the top 30. But, again, this
tournament is six rounds. Bill just has to chip away at it; one or
two strokes a round. He’s going to do it and whereas I thought I
would follow a number of different golfers this week, I may hang
with Bill another round or two…and also see when father Jay
shows up. [Incidentally, Todd Pinneo had a 77, Curry a 76 and
Harvey shot 71.]
Meanwhile, back to Scott F., my new best friend (we later
hooked up with his lovely wife Sherrie), Scott pointed out Alan
Alda’s house on the course and it turns out Scott himself lives
next to Glen Frey of the Eagles. Every Thanksgiving I’m told that
Tiger Woods goes to Frey’s house for apple pie when the Skins
are being played in the area. Scott said he’s tried to get Tiger to
come over to his place for some of their pie but the ploy has yet
to work.
Well that’s about it for today. It’s just begun and next Tuesday
I’ll have far more as I cover the final five rounds, including how
I hired out a car to take me to “Beer Hunter.” The forecast has a
bit of rain in it but Scott told me it never makes it over the
mountains from the coast. In fact La Quinta gets a whopping ¾
inches of rain a year….that’s it. Palm Springs, only about 12
miles as the crow flies, gets 8 inches, which is kind of weird.
Oh, by the way, there is no beer or refreshments on the course.
This is a bare bones operation, but when everything else is free
who’s complaining. Actually, they serve Sierra Nevada on tap in
the clubhouse but I didn’t have time to imbibe today. I had to get
back to my hotel for the Wake – Illinois game, after all. Oh
brother.
Stuff
–Scott F. was telling me about Bandon Dunes, for you golf
aficionados. It’s one place I’ve always wanted to go, a
spectacular temple to golf on the Oregon coast. He said it’s
everything you read about…and then some. Just stay out of the
“love grass,” as he put it. “Love grass?” I naively asked. “Yeah,
you go in that and you’re [ba dum dum.]”
–Notre Dame’s Tyrone Willingham was fired after going 21-15
in his three seasons. That leaves only two black head coaches in
Division I-A football out of 117 schools.
–U.S. News & World Report had a piece on phobias.
“Gamophobia” is the fear of marriage. “Arachibutyrophobia” is
the fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of your mouth.
“Onomatophobia” is the fear of hearing certain words. For Mets
fans that would be something like “Hey, I hear Mo Vaughan is
coming out of retirement.” And by the way, Napoleon suffered
from “ailurophobia,” the fear of cats.
–Speaking of cats, how about the headline in Wednesday’s USA
Today, “Mountain lions on the prowl once again.” Goodness
gracious. It’s enough to give any editor of Bar Chat
goosebumps. We die for this.
Yes, it’s true. Mountain lions (cougars, pumas, etc.) are back
and heading east. For example, in Iowa three have been killed
since 2000, the first cougars there since 1867. Another was
found just four miles from Kansas City and there have been 15
confirmed sightings in Nebraska over the past 14 years. In Iowa,
“Mountain lion mania is out of control,” said one game official.
“People are afraid to take their morning walk.” That’s what I’m
talkin’ about.
By the way, a typical male mountain lion controls 50 to 300
square miles, depending on how plentiful food and beer are. “He
will allow a few females on his turf but will not accept male
intruders.” Huh. Then again, “Except when mating, the
mountain lion is a solitary animal.” [Aren’t we all, mused the
editor.]
–Note to Lynn Johnston, creator of “For Better or For Worse”.
Get rid of that damn cat! For crying out loud, no one gives a
damn about it.
–Real estate is booming here in the desert. Scott was telling me
about his friends from around the country who are settling in the
area. But if you want to buy a place at PGA West, and the homes
look beautiful, it will set you a back a fair amount. I picked up
some brochures so I could daydream.
What appears to be a rather simple 3-bedroom on the Nicklaus
course would cost you a mere $1,299,000. And on the Norman
Course, a 4 BR / 4.5 BA abode is $1,895,000. The golf
membership would be another $150,000.
But if you want to just lease, you could pick up a 3 BD / 1.75 BA
for $3,500 a month. [Now I’ve never seen an advertisement for
1.75 baths. Guess you don’t get a seat on one of the toilets. Or
maybe a bidet is thrown in instead of a shower.]
–Remember the Vibe Awards? Who could forget them?
According to Wednesday’s L.A. Times, Marion “Suge” Knight
was involved directly in the assault on Dr. Dre, at least that is the
current feeling among law enforcement. From the story by
Chuck Philips:
“Knight had entered the event without an invitation and ended up
sitting just a few feet behind Dre.”
Now some of you know that Knight and Dre co-founded Death
Row Records in the early 90s but they had a falling out. Knight
later served time for assault and weapons possession and the
conditions of his parole banned him from having any contact
with Dre.
So like Suge never should have been allowed in the place and he
clearly violated parole. Well, he’ll forever be a dirtball so we
present our own Bar Chat Lifetime Achievement award,
“Dirtball” category, to Suge Knight.
–Golfer Ken Venturi, in a story for Golf Digest.
“The hardest thing in golf is trying to two-putt when you have to,
because your brain isn’t wired that way. You’re accustomed to
trying to make putts, and when you change that mindset, your
brain short-circuits, especially under pressure.”
–BCS
Somehow Georgia has snuck into the #7 slot ahead of Boise
State. I mean Georgia is the most overrated 9-2 team in the
history of college football.
1. USC
2. Oklahoma
3. Auburn
4. California
5. Texas
6. Utah
7. Georgia
8. Boise State
–For the archives, Ken Jennings of “Jeopardy!” fame finally lost
after 75 shows and $2.5 million in winnings. I can’t say I saw
any of his appearances but from the clips I caught on the news
tonight he’s overrated. Yup, put him right up there with
Gauguin.
–So here in the Palm Springs area they like to name streets after
celebrities. And who can blame ‘em. Thus far I’ve seen…
Sonny Bono Memorial Highway, Frank Sinatra Drive, Bob Hope
Drive, Fred Waring Drive (you have to be over 60 to know who
he was), Dinah Shore Drive, Gen Autry Trail, Ron Artest Way,
Jermaine O’Neal Lane, Latrell Spreewell Freeway….
–A 1914 set of Cracker Jack baseball cards, found in a shoebox
in New York City, sold for $800,000. The set included Shoeless
Joe Jackson and Ty Cobb. Quick………..check your shoeboxes,
and while you’re at it…..check your coins.
Top 3 songs for the week of 12/5/64: #1 “Ringo” (Lorne Greene
…yeah, the one and only) #2 “ Mr. Lonely” (Bobby Vinton) #3
“Leader Of The Pack” (The Shangri-Las)
Arizona Cardinals Quiz Answers: 1) Rushing, career: Ottis
Anderson…7,999 (1979-86). 2) Passing yards, career: Jim Hart
…34,639 (1966-83). 3) Receiving yards, career: Roy Green…
8,497 (1979-90). 4) Interceptions, career: Larry Wilson, 52
(1960-72). 5) Passing yards, season: Neil Lomax…4,614
(1984). [Lomax had four seasons with 3,000 or more yards but
injuries forced him out of the game at age 29.] 6) Receptions,
game: Sonny Randle, 16 (11/4/62). [Randle also had a team
record 256 yards in that contest. And the University of Virginia
alum had a damn good career (1959-68), hauling in 365
receptions. In 1960 he led the league with 15 TD catches.] 7)
Tony Sacca (Penn State) was the last QB taken with the 1st-round
pick, 1997. He appeared in only 2 games…that was his entire
career. In fact the previous two 1st-round QB selections weren’t
any better. 1977 – Steve Pisarkiewicz (Missouri) played just 10
games in 3 seasons. 1987 – Kelly Stouffer (Colorado State)
appeared in only 22 games in 4 seasons, having been moved to
Seattle. So, following this pattern, in 2007 the Cardinals will
select a real loser.
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
