Detroit Lions (1930-2003) Quiz: 1) Who coached from 1978-84
and had a record of 43-63-1? 2) Passing yards, career? [Pitifully
low.] 3) Receptions, career? 4) Interceptions, career? [Had 62]
5) Passing TDs, season? [32 and different from #2] 6) Who is
the only QB to throw for 5 TD passes in a game? [Different
from #2 and #5 and did it in 1978.] 7) Who was the 1st-round
pick, 1970; a running back from a big school? Answers below.
Pale Male
At first I didn’t think the eviction of a red-tailed hawk from its
Fifth Avenue, Manhattan address was worthy of much notice on
my part; that is until I started reading some of the pieces in the
New York Daily News and New York Post.
Now to set the stage, the co-op board at 927 Fifth Ave. evicted
the hawk after engineers told it Pale Male (made famous through
a TV documentary and a book) represented a hazard, mainly
through its droppings. Here are some of the comments in the
aftermath of what became a national story.
“The red-tailed raptor bounced from his nest by rich birdbrains
was seen roosting yesterday on the roof of the swank Carlyle
hotel, which was happy to have him .
“The building’s filthy-rich co-op board had the aerie dismantled
on Tuesday, claiming it was a safety hazard and violated city
regulations
“Co-op board chairman Richard Cohen – a real estate developer
married to CNN newswoman Paula Zahn – was emerging as a
villain in the avian eviction.
“Actress Mary Tyler Moore, who lives in the building and is a
champion of the hawks, suggested that Cohen led the charge
against Pale Male (and its companion) Lola.” [Austin Fenner and
Tracy Connor / New York Daily News]
“A bird lover, who will go nameless to protect the wealthy, told
me of a weird encounter with his neighbor, CNN newsblonde
and committed fowl-foe Paula Zahn.
“ ‘My friend was telling her, ‘You’re so lucky to live in the same
building where those hawks live,’’ the bird fancier said. Her
reaction was not what he expected.
“ ‘She said, ‘Hawks? I don’t know about hawks,’’ the man said.
‘I was aware there was a bird problem here.’ And she walked
off
“But there it was yesterday in that clannish village with the
massive net worth called Manhattan’s Upper East Side .
“Actually, residents of the building, toting Tiffany shopping bags
and sporting well-pickled faces, scampered like rodents behind
the blacked-out windows of chauffeur-driven cars – then left it to
maids, drivers, nannies and assorted servants to do their
talking .
“ ‘It was the telescopes,’ explained a meek, dark-skinned
employee of the lily-white building – where a nine-room, eighth
floor apartment recently listed for $18.5 million, plus $10,460 in
monthly maintenance fees.” [Andrea Peyser / New York Post]
“ ‘We did not fully appreciate the importance of these birds to
the people in the city,’ said co-op board president Richard
Cohen .
“ ‘There have been death threats,’ Cohen complained. ‘I have a
7-year-old son, and people were running up to him and
threatening him and yelling at him, ‘Bring back the nest!’’”
Baby, you gotta love it. By the way, I’m president of my condo
association and we only charge maintenance fees of $285 a
month. So come join us .I throw a good Christmas party.
The Death of George Washington, 12/14/1799
On December 12, 1799, George Washington went out for a ride
in a fierce storm and that evening came down with a severe sore
throat. From the book “Founding Father,” Richard Brookhiser
writes:
“Washington died the death of civility. During the two days he
lingered, he was bled and purged and blistered. His secretary,
Tobias Lear, tried to make him comfortable, about as effectually
as his doctors tried to make him well. Washington tried to
relieve the frustration and fear of his attendants. Before the
doctors arrived, he asked one of his overseers to bleed him, but
the man blanched. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ Washington told him.
When he took to his bed and Lear rolled him over to help his
breathing, he apologized for giving trouble and added, ‘Well, it is
a debt we must pay to each other, and I hope when you want aid
of this kind you will find it.’ On his last night, he assured his
doctors that he had known ‘from my first attack that I should not
survive,’ and later: ‘I thank you for your attentions, but I pray
you to take no more trouble about me,’ Several times he
motioned for Christopher, the servant who stood by the bed, to
sit. But Christopher, who had been at his post since morning,
remained on his feet. It was as if master and slave were engaged
in a contest of civilities, which the slave was determined not to
lose.
“He died toward midnight on the 14th. Four days later he was
buried, without any funeral oration as he had requested. The
orations came elsewhere. In honoring his reputation, the Senate
understood it the way he himself had – a precious cargo, steered
through the trials of public life. ‘The scene is closed – and we
are no longer anxious lest misfortune should sully his glory; he
has traveled on to the end of his journey, and carried with him an
increasing weight of honor: he has deposited it safely where
misfortune can not tarnish it; where malice can not blast it.’ But
Representative Marshall spoke more truly: ‘Our WASHINGTON
is no more! the hero lives now only in his own great actions,
and in the hearts of an affectionate and afflicted people.’ The
actions, as the Senate said, were complete and untouchable; the
affections of the people depend on the people. After Marshall
finished, he moved, and the House passed, the resolutions written
by Henry Lee, one of Washington’s cavalry officers, which end:
‘ to the memory of the MAN, first in war, first in peace, and
first in the hearts of his countrymen.’”
Stuff
–T.J. Quinn of the Daily News checked out an event the other
night that brought him in contact with Barry Bonds. For $7,500
a pop, fans could schmooze and mingle with both Bonds and
Alex Rodriguez. About 70 of them took advantage of this
tremendous opportunity and Bonds didn’t know Quinn was a
reporter.
“Rodriguez, who donated his share to charity, was the personable
chum he always appear to be. The usually surly Bonds, who is
pocketing his proceeds, was something they had never seen
before. He was pointed and open and funny and endearing and
gave the folks the access they wanted, plus an open bar, shrimp,
crab, pasta, pastries, a bag of goodies to die for and a photo with
the two best players in the game. All for less than you would pay
for a Hyundai.”
One fan, a Russian who had emigrated to the U.S. in 1996, said
he would have paid $50,000 for the experience. Oh brother.
And what was in the goodie bag? “An autographed ball, A-Rod /
Bonds blue jeans (I swear), a watch, a cigar, cranberry cognac, a
T-shirt, a coupon to get a custom-made dress shirt, cuff links,
two video games, picture flip books, commemorative coins and
plenty else.”
–Speaking of BALCO Barry, sprinter Michelle Collins, the 2003
world indoor champion at 200 meters, was suspended for 8 years
by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.
"Collins, 33, never failed a drug test during her career, rather,
she was punished on the basis of what is called a nonanalytical
positive. In Collins’s case, the evidence against her was built on
materials seized by federal authorities in a raid in Sept. 2003 (of
BALCO)." [Jere Longman / New York Times]
The ruling has everything to do with the case of Marion Jones
since the evidence in hers is similar to that of Collins’s, including
blood and urine samples and the now infamous calendars with
the coded letters. It’s also the same type of evidence that
officials have on Bonds, but the only thing that can happen to
him, due to baseball’s lax rules, is the possibility of a perjury
charge since it is assumed from what we’ve learned that he lied
to a grand jury. 13 athletes have now been punished in the
BALCO case.
–But wait, there’s more! Richard Hoffer offered up the
following in the current Sports Illustrated.
“Were you shocked (shocked!) to learn that today’s athletes use
performance-enhancing drugs? Because – why? – you’re from
another country? Planet? Galaxy? In America we believe in the
principle of self-improvement, the more exaggerated the better.
Whether it’s government, vocabulary or erectile function, there’s
nothing that can’t be enhanced.
“Look around. Our best-sellers are nearly all self-help, usually
diet, but also financial, grooming, general peace of mind and
who you’ll meet in heaven if you read and follow these books.
Our TV shows as well depend mightily on the makeover fantasy:
the sudden and unbidden reconstruction of general appearance,
house, family, wheels. There’s even a show that features the
manipulation of breast tissue in a setting other than the Super
Bowl.
“There might have been a time when you were born with a
crooked nose and you died with it. But frankly, nobody
remembers when. There might also have been a time when 300-
pound men roamed the earth giving early-morning weather
reports, but that was before the gastric bypass. There is virtually
no hand dealt that can’t simply be reshuffled.”
Well, I’m sure Al Roker wasn’t too pleased to see his name
linked to a story that ended up being about Barry Bonds, but I do
have to correct Hoffer on one thing. Brian Williams will die
with his crooked nose, it would appear.
–And regarding Bonds, again, there’s this! The New York
Times’ Alan Schwarz asked the Baseball Prospectus, a think
tank, to project what Barry Bonds would have done had he not
been on steroids and instead had a normal career from age 35 on.
The result? From 2000-2004, age 35-39, Bonds would have hit
116 home runs, not the 258 he ended up clouting. Of course this
is based on past history and athletes of his kind and any fan, even
us cynics, has to admit that today’s players are in far better shape
than yesteryears, but even if you gave Bonds 150 homers instead
of 116, he’d still be short of 600.
–Boy, here’s a bizarre tale. Fisherman Bruce Barlett of New
Jersey, who is part of a regular group of fishermen on eight boats
that travel together from Florida to Maine chasing bluefin and
yellowfin tuna (personally, I’d chase swordfish my favorite),
normally doesn’t fish alone but the other day off the coast of
Beaufort, N.C., he did just that.
Bartlett hooked a bluefin about 13 miles offshore in the Atlantic,
but the harpoon line he was using wrapped around his ankle and
pulled him overboard. Fellow fishermen found him floating in
the water, the line still around the ankle. Plus there was
something else.
“The fish was still there,” said Spurge Krasowski, captain of the
vessel that found the body, and it dropped off the line as the crew
pulled the body to the boat. [Star-Ledger]
Must have been quite a traumatic experience for the fish, don’t
you think?
–USC quarterback Matt Leinart won the Heisman Trophy. He
was as deserving as anyone else in what was as balanced a field
of candidates as there has been in years, including teammate
Reggie Bush, Oklahoma’s Jason White and Adrian Peterson, and
Utah signal-caller Alex Smith.
–The fallout over the firing of Notre Dame coach Tryone
Willingham continues as it was a topic of conversation on the
Sunday morning political talk shows. Notre Dame’s outgoing
president Rev. Edward Malloy voiced his displeasure a few days
after Willingham was given his walking papers.
“I’m a good soldier, and in times of transition, people can
disagree. I don’t think there is a lack of goodwill or that
anybody else is to be blamed for a racist decision or anything
else. (But) I thought we were going to abide by our precedent,
which was a five-year window for a coach to display a capacity
to be successful within our system and to fit,” Malloy told a
sports conference audience. [ESPN.com]
So you may be thinking, why didn’t Malloy speak up earlier? He
claims he didn’t because of his pending retirement on June 30. It
really is pitiful when a few boosters call the shots.
Meanwhile, Notre Dame chose Charlie Weis, the New
England Patriots’ offensive coordinator, and signed him to a six-
year contract. [Hope he gets more than three years to prove
himself.] Weis started out as an assistant high school coach in
New Jersey.
As for Willingham, he quickly landed on his feet in getting the
Washington University job, a good situation for him.
But one school that blew it is Pitt as it is losing head coach Walt
Harris to Stanford. All year Pitt could have given Harris an
extension but the school refused to fork over more than the
$600,000 he was already earning.
–NFL notes:
Wildcard chase in the NFC two get to go.
Minnesota 7-6
St. Louis 6-7
Carolina 6-7
No doubt, Carolina’s 5-game winning streak to get back in the
hunt is a great story.
Wildcard chase in the AFC
Jets 9-4
Buffalo 7-6
Baltimore 8-5
Jacksonville 7-6
Denver 8-5
So even after their tough loss to Pittsburgh, 17-6, you’d think the
Jets would still be in the driver’s seat, right? Wrong. They have
Seattle at home next week, then New England (home) and St.
Louis (away). If the Jets don’t win next week, it’s over.
Buffalo, like Carolina, is another great story and they have a real
shot at pulling it off.
Back to the Jets – Steelers game, you’ve got to love Jerome
Bettis.
Brett Favre tied Dan Marino’s record of 13 seasons with 3,000
yards passing.
Geezuz, Eli Manning sucks. His passing line yesterday was
4-18-2-27 ..27 yards. I mean for crying out loud, just
dumping it off to Tiki Barber four times should generate 40.
Finally, Allen St. John of the Wall Street Journal attempted to
come up with a barometer for measuring Peyton Manning’s
performance this year. As St. John wrote, there is no statistical
Holy Grail for quarterbacks, though at least 50 TD passes is
compelling. [After game 13 for the Colts, Manning sits with 46
TD passes to Dan Marino’s record 48.]
St. John came up with 10 yards per attempt, an effort no modern
quarterback has ever achieved. Manning now stands at 9.38, the
highest to date if it holds up. Only four others have been over
9 Lynn Dickey with the 1983 Packers (9.21); Boomer Esiason,
Cincy 1988 (9.21); Joe Montana, San Francisco 1989 (9.12); and
Dan Marino in his 1984 record year for the Dolphins (9.01 the
same season in which Marino not only had the 48 TD passes but
also a record 5,084 yards).
–More on the Kobe Bryant / Karl Malone tiff, courtesy of Peter
Vecsey of the New York Post. You’ll recall that Kobe made
some remarks on an L.A. radio show dissing Malone’s proposed
return to the Lakers following rehab from an injury.
“This was Kobe at his calculating crest, deviously disrespecting
and disowning Malone publicly before Lakers owner Jerry Buss
had a chance to formalize two separate contracts (management
and playing) that have been in the making for months
“Referring to his teammates, Kobe declared: ‘They are here
giving me 110 percent. It’s really not fair for us to sit around and
speculate how long this is going to go on. I mean, you can’t sit
up here and speculate for the remainder of the season whether or
not he is going to come back. I mean, that’s not fair to the guys
that are working here.’
“Giving him 110 percent? How’s that for an unparalleled
narcissistic statement? The Lakers are giving him 110 percent!
“Is Kobe really so self-absorbed that he thinks his teammates are
playing for him?”
[Kobe granted an interview on Sunday saying the reason he was
upset at Malone is because the Mailman made a pass at his wife
at a recent Lakers game. I’ll take Malone’s side on this one.]
–Vecsey also had this account of the end of a Memphis Grizzlies
/ Atlanta Hawks game last week.
“Think Mike Fratello (ed. who took over for Hubie Brown) has
been away from the action too long?
“Wednesday night, the short-order coach was back in Atlanta,
where he started his pro career, and his Grizzlies were up six, in
possession, with three seconds left on the game clock against a 3-
15 Hawks team.
“So, what does Fratello do? Calls a timeout to set up a play for
future reference, no doubt. (Hawks coach) Mike Woodson
ordered his players to foul hard on the in-bounds pass and
Memphis added two free throws.
“It doesn’t get any more unprofessional; let’s hope that’s all it
was. Want to know what the spread was? Six, Grizzlies favored.
“Woodson shot Fratello a withering stare before turning his back
on him and heading to the locker room.”
Folks, you won’t be able to prove what Vecsey was alluding to, a
potential ‘fix,’ but nonetheless what an explosive story by my
way of thinking.
–The most popular NBA player jerseys are Shaq, Tracy
McGrady, Stephon Marbury, LeBron James, and Carmelo
Anthony. The #1 team is the New York Knicks.
–One guy who is undoubtedly happy he didn’t take the Lakers
coaching job is Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, who on Sunday
became the 6th active coach in Division I to reach 700 career
wins.
Bob Knight, Texas Tech 837-323
Eddie Sutton, Oklahoma State 762-292
Lou Henson, New Mexico State 778-404
Lute Olson, Arizona 716-251
John Chaney, Temple 711-287
Coach K, Duke 700-240
–Jim Thorpe’s Canton Bulldogs football jersey sold for
$284,350 at auction, the highest price for a non-baseball jersey.
[AP] It’s a black football sweater from about 1916-17 and had
been preserved by Thorpe’s third wife, Patricia. Now that’s
pretty cool.
–Michele Wie will be appearing in the PGA’s Sony Open in
January as she received a sponsor’s exemption.
–Bode Miller is kicking butt on the World Cup skiing circuit this
season. He leads in the overall standings by a huge amount over
second-place Hermann Maier.
–Just a day after I posted my piece on Rolling Stone’s Top 500
songs of all time, and my mention of Deep Purple and how they
should have been placed far higher than they were for “Smoke on
the Water,” the Wall Street Journal had a front page story on how
popular the group is in Russia. “Deep Purple is a higher form of
life for us, it is genius, it is inspiration,” said one 43-year-old fan
who took a week off to follow the band along the Volga River.
Aging rockers Whitesnake and Nazareth are also evidently big in
Russia.
–In keeping with the above, Mark R. was more than a bit upset
about the Rolling Stone list. Specifically, he questioned how
“What’s Going On” could be #4 while “I Heard It Through The
Grapevine” wasn’t even in the top 50. Well, Mark, your favorite
Marvin Gaye tune is actually #80. And as to your question,
‘Where are the Temps and the Four Tops?’ I can give you the
following.
#88 The Temptations “My Girl” yes, should be much higher
#168 Temps “Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone”
#206 Four Tops “Reach Out, I’ll Be There”
#389 Temps “Just My Imagination”
#390 Four Tops “Baby I Need Your Loving”
#415 Four Tops “I Can’t Help Myself”
#464 Four Tops “Standing In The Shadow Of Love”
On the one hand, seven tunes in the top 500 for these two isn’t
awful, but the actual rankings are way off.
And for those of you who wrote in, yes, it’s true “American
Pie” did not make the cut. Amazing.
–I’m not a big fan of “Dominick the Christmas Donkey,” know
what I’m sayin’?
Top 3 songs for the week of 12/14/74: #1 “Kung Fu Fighting”
(Carl Douglas) #2 “When Will I See You Again” (The Three
Degrees) #3 “I Can Help” (Billy Swan)
Detroit Lions Quiz Answers: 1) Monte Clark was the coach
from 1978-84. 2) Passing yards, career: Bobby Layne 15,710
1950-58 ridiculously low for a 75-year franchise. 3)
Receptions, career: Herman Moore, 670 (1991-2001). 4)
Interceptions, career: Dick LeBeau, 62 (1959-72). 5) Passing
TDs, season: Scott Mitchell, 32 (1995). 6) Gary Danielson is the
only QB in franchise history to throw 5 TD passes in a single
game, 12/9/78 another reminder of just how pitiful the
quarterback play has been in Detroit over the years. 7) Steve
Owens (Oklahoma) was the 1st-round pick in 1970.
Lions Tidbits:
Don Doll had 4 interceptions in a game back in 1949, tying him
with about 17 other players in NFL history. But that year Doll
had 11 picks in 12 games and the following season he had 12
INTs in 11 games. For his career Doll had 41 interceptions in
71 contests.
In the last 50 years, the Lions have won 10 or more games just 5
times.
1961 11-3
1970 10-4
1991 12-4
1993 10-6
1995 10-6
Their last championship was 1953.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday. **Important I will be attempting to
post from Santiago, Chile, and probably won’t get around to it
until noon, ET, on Thursday. That’s if I make all my flight
connections as I journey to Paraguay this week.
