Baseball Quiz: 1) Name the top ten all time in RBI. [One played
exclusively in the 1800s] 2) Name the top five all time in stolen
bases. Answers below.
**Kirby Puckett, RIP…more on Thursday**
Nothing But Stuff
–So I thought I’d get a lot of material out of the Oscars…alas…
nothing.
But hats off to Hillary Swank, Jennifer Aniston, and Reese
Witherspoon for best-looking. [Note to Jessica Alba: Eat a
steak!]
You see, once again I didn’t go to a movie this year. And I still
have only seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy the last six or so.
[Yup…never made it to King Kong, despite my best intentions.]
–You know, there we were, watching Shani Davis’s anger at the
Olympics and I never saw his mother, Cherie. You knew she
was there, but boy I didn’t realize what an awful person she truly
is until reading Rick Reilly’s piece in Sports Illustrated this
week.
On how everyone blamed her for Shani’s icy demeanor, Cherie
said:
“Of course they say that. Got to blame a black person.”
On Shani’s uncomfortable to watch interview with NBC’s
Melissa Stark after winning gold, Cherie said:
“Well, why should he be all warm to her? She’s got some
painted-on smile. She doesn’t care about Shani! …Why does his
first moment have to be shared with that woman?”
Rick Reilly:
“Shani did have a far warmer interview with Stark after he won
the silver medal, but by then the damage was done, and Joe
Corporate was running from the Davises like they were IRS
auditors.”
“ ‘If we want to be poor, it’s none of your business!’ Cherie says.
‘We don’t care about money anyway. Between us, we have one
’89 [Ford] Escort. That’s it…So Shani won’t be a hero, won’t be
on the Wheaties box. Shani is still going to be all right.’
Rick Reilly:
“Sometimes you wonder. There is footage in a Dutch
documentary of her calling Shani a loser to his face. She doesn’t
deny it: ‘He’s my son, I can call him a loser if I want. I thought
it was funny.’
“Ohhh-kay. And what about this quote she gave the St. Louis
Post-Dispatch’s Bryan Burwell: ‘If it weren’t for me, Shani
would be selling drugs on the street.’”
You know, I’ve never nominated a woman for “Dirtball of the
Year,” but in Cherie’s case her behavior is far worse than being
just a “jerk.” So congratulations, Cherie. Your name has just
been deposited in my growing December file with all the other
dirtballs. You must be proud. Your son, of course, remains a
jerk.
–I didn’t know that Joey Cheek donated the $25,000 he received
from the USOC for winning a gold medal in speedskating to an
organization that funds sports programs for poverty-stricken
children. So he becomes a “Bar Chat Good Guy of the Year”
candidate.
–Great week for college hoops fans with all the championship
games. Big South champ Winthrop is my first round sleeper in
the NCAAs. They’ll be a #14 seed, I imagine. Upset city!!!!
–Follow-up to last chat. St. Peter’s Keydren Clark passed the
3,000 point mark as the Peacocks won their first three games in
the MAAC tournament. [The championship game is being
played on Monday, after posting this column.] Clark now has
3,033…placing him 6th on the all-time NCAA scoring list.
–Johnny Mac reminded me that if we operated under the old
rules in college basketball when players couldn’t leave early (not
including Spencer Driftwood, err, Haywood), think about who
we’d be watching these days.
Forget J.J. Redick and Adam Morrison…how about an All-
America team that included the likes of LeBron James, Carmelo
Anthony, Chris Paul, Marvin Williams (and friends), Shaun
Livingston, Dwight Howard, Sebastian Telfair, Luol Deng,
Andrew Bogut, Andrew Bynum, Martell Webster, Gerald Green,
Josh Smith and Chris Taft.
–Speaking of Redick, I watched the end of the Carolina – Duke
game and Dick Vitale weighed in…Redick is worn out. Hell,
he’s 23 of 80 from the field the last four games (28%), including
just 8 of 36 from three. But you know who has really finished
his career with a bang? ….NOT….Justin Gray of Wake. 31 of
112 from the field his last seven games. CLANG!
–And back to J.J., Phil W. passed along a piece by Matt Rehm of
CBS Sportsline.com concerning those who think Redick is one
of the greatest shooters in the history of college basketball.
“Remember, we’re talking about pure shooting here. Not
Redick’s overall scoring ability…If he’s such a deadly
marksman, there should be a wealth of statistical data to back it
up, right?
“So let’s somewhat-arbitrarily examine Redick’s 3-point
proficiency in what is universally regarded as a stellar senior
season (at least thus far). Among Division I players with at least
100 3-point attempts this season, Redick’s shooting percentage
ranks…No. 68….
“Well, maybe he saves his best for the postseason. Let’s see how
he has fared in the ACC Tournament. From 3-point range, he
was 10 of 21 as a freshman, 3 of 17 as a sophomore and 12 of 29
as a junior, for a total of 25 of 67 (37.3 percent).
“Hmmm. Maybe the conference tourney isn’t a big deal to him,
and he turns into a cold-blooded assassin for the NCAA
Tournament.
“Oops. In three trips to the Big Dance, he hit 6 of 21 trifectas,
then 15 of 42, then 6 of 24 for a total of 27 of 87. If my math is
correct…that’s 31 percent.”
–Did you see the Sports Illustrated cover with J.J. Redick and
Adam Morrison standing next to each other? Inside it has Redick
at 6’4” and Morrison 6’8”. Don’t they look the same height?
–Sunday’s Washington Post had a story on George
Washington’s Omar Williams, a key player in the school’s
amazing run this season. But like my bit last time on bogus
prep schools, Williams failed to graduate in five years from
his original high school and received no grades at three
different prep schools the next two years, “including one that
burned down after he was there five days.” Yet the NCAA
certified his transcript, thus making him eligible for a
scholarship. Finally, though, the NCAA is preparing to take
action and is set to issue a report on more than 5,000 prep
schools in April.
–Follow-up on the outrage over Buck O’Neil not being admitted
to Baseball’s Hall of Fame. The New York Times’ George
Vecsey had the following suggestion.
“At the very least, the Hall could create a Buck O’Neil lifetime
achievement award – and give him the first one, to honor all the
others who had to wait, and wait.”
That has to be the stupidest idea I’ve ever seen. Either he
belongs in the Hall as a full-fledged member or he doesn’t.
Lifetime Achievement award? What is this, the Grammys? Are
we going to start giving players like Will Clark or Keith
Hernandez lifetime achievement awards? Or what about Ron
Hunt? Or Jerry Grote for being the best defensive catcher of all
time?
Sorry, Mr. Vecsey. My idea of polling the living Hall members
on whether O’Neil is worthy or not is far superior.
–I forgot to note last time the thoughts of Hall of Famer Mike
Schmidt, who has a book coming out soon “Clearing the Bases:
Juiced Players, Monster Salaries, Sham Records and a Hall of
Famer’s Search for the Soul of Baseball.”
Schmidt says Mark McGwire deserves to be in the Hall, despite
his use of steroids and other performance-enhancing substances.
“You have to judge him against his peers in the game. He hasn’t
been banished…like Pete Rose, and his accomplishments on the
field stand for themselves.”
Schmidt has a different take on Rafael Palmeiro.
“Palmeiro is a stronger issue because of what happened over the
past year. I have to have more facts. I might pass on him in the
first year of eligibility without all of the facts.”
I’d pass on Palmeiro forever. McGwire probably gets in first
ballot, unfortunately.
On the issue of amphetamines, which for the first time are part of
the drug test, Schmidt is enlightening.
“There were a few times in my career when I felt I needed help
to get in there. [In the batter’s box and on the field.] I’m a
victim; I admit to it. I’m not incriminating myself or players I
played with to say we were on amphetamines our entire careers.
I just wanted to see what they do. It was lack of willpower. You
had an impressionable young kid, and someone says, ‘Man you
want to feel good?’ If I had to do it over, I probably wouldn’t do
it.”
Schmidt writes the elimination of amphetamines could have a far
greater effect on the game than the crackdown on steroids,
explaining, “amphetamine use…is both far more common and
has been going on a lot longer than steroid abuse.”
“I don’t have any sense of what’s going to happen. Will there be
more days off? Will there be more lethargic games? But my
guess would be that there will be nothing we’ll be able to visibly
see. We’re not going to see a big drop in performance.”
[ESPN.com and Murray Chass / New York Times]
Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure. Look for 48 no-hitters by the All-Star
break.
–Here’s something from Business Week. Travel Guard
International offers a “Tee, Tour & Travel” policy whereby the
insurer “reimburses golfers scoring an ace for up to $250 in bar
costs at the clubhouse where the hole-in-one occurred.”
Travel Guard reserves the right to check documentation and
drinks must be consumed on premises, nor will they cover an
evening of bar-hopping. The policy also reimburses you for
$2,500 in lost, stolen, or damaged golf clubs, plus expenses if a
trip is canceled.
Now the cost is $100 for a $2,000 trip and so far they have sold
1,500 policies since November.
Talk about easy money! No one has filed a claim as yet. Why
didn’t I think of this?!
–The Tiger / Phil match-up failed to materialize at Doral and
Tiger hung on for a one-shot victory over David Toms and
Camilo Villegas…Tiger’s 48th PGA triumph, which means #50
could be at Augusta if he can win the Players Championship in
between. Incredibly, Tiger is 34 of 37 when leading going into
the final round and 20 of 20 with a two-shot lead.
–Golfer Gary Player, perhaps the biggest fitness nut in the
history of sports, said his weight hasn’t fluctuated more than two
pounds over the past 40 years.
–Here’s something I missed. At the Tucson Open the other
week (played the same weekend as the Match Play tournament),
bomber Bubba Watson became the first player to go 72 holes
without a bogey since Lee Trevino at the 1974 Greater New
Orleans Open. Don’t you find that hard to believe? It also
speaks volumes about Watson’s overall game. It’s more than
about 263-yard 3-irons. [He hit one that far at Tucson.] That’s a
263-yard…..3-iron.
–I hit my 3-irons about 180. But then I haven’t been in a fitness
trailer in a while. 🙂 _]
–Ryder Cup captain Tom Lehman recently sat down with
coaching legend John Wooden for some tips on handling his
team at the next Ryder Cup in Ireland.
“There was just an incredible sense of goodness,” Lehman said
of the 95-year-old Wooden. “I can sit and listen to him talk
forever because of his wisdom and integrity.”
“To me the coolest thing he said was he has had breakfast with
one of his players every day for 20 or 30 years. He goes to the
same restaurant every morning, and one of his former players
either picks him up meets him there. Now that’s respect.”
Wooden stressed the importance of rules being for everyone on
the team, noting how Bill Walton showed up for practice his first
day at UCLA wearing a beard; a violation of Wooden’s no-
facial-hair policy. Wooden told Walton he had to shave.
“Coach, you don’t have the right to tell me how to live my life
and wear my hair,” Walton said.
“That’s right, Bill, I don’t have the right,” the coach said. “But if
you don’t shave, we’re really going to miss you.”
[Jeff Rude / GolfWeek]
–Minor league umpires earn about $1,800 per month for a five-
month season at the lowest rungs of professional baseball. Those
in Triple AAA earn $3,400. This has become an issue because
the Association of Minor League Umpires, representing 230
members, is at loggerheads with Major League Baseball over a
new contract.
As Bruce Weber described it in the New York Times, while the
68 major league umpires have good jobs with solid pay and
perks, it is also a virtual “lifetime appointment; there were no job
openings this season, and only three new umpires have jumped to
the big leagues since 2001.”
–As told in the New York Daily News, former tennis great Bjorn
Borg is broke and auctioning off his five silver Wimbledon
trophies and two of the rackets used there. Borg’s business deals
have gone very bad over the years and one creditor in Sweden is
demanding $1.4 million next month.
–My Jets want to sign Bengals quarterback Jon Kitna. Why?!
Geezuz, draft Jay Cutler, you idiots. We’ll sacrifice a rebuilding
season to finally have an authentic future. [For you casual fans,
no way Chad Pennington will recover from all his surgeries well
enough to be a factor. Also, Johnny Mac disagrees with me and
wants Kitna. Free speech……another feature of Bar Chat.]
–Congratulations to William Paterson, which advanced to the
Sweet 16 of the Division III men’s basketball tournament by
virtue of its 70-45 and 72-48 routs in the first two rounds.
–You know who’s a quality player? The Chicago Bulls’ Kirk
Hinrich. But us Knicks fans (fans of the 1969-70 Knicks, that
is) are stuck with Steve Francis, Stephon Marbury, Jalen Rose
and Jamal Crawford. I yearn for Mike Riordan. [Man, did he
get more out of minimal talent or what?]
–“Sopranos” next Sunday!
–Sports Illustrated’s “Sign of the Apocalypse”:
A Romanian soccer player retired after he found out he had been
traded for 33 pounds of meat.
Top 3 songs for the week of 3/4/67: #1 “Ruby Tuesday” (The
Rolling Stones) #2 “Love Is Here And Now You’ve Gone” (The
Supremes) #3 “Kind Of A Drag” (The Buckinghams…
underrated tune)…and…#4 “Baby I Need Your Lovin’” (Johnny
Rivers) #5 “Georgy Girl” (The Seekers) #10 “I’m A Believer”
(The Monkees)
Baseball Quiz Answers:
1) Top ten in RBI:
1. Hank Aaron…2297
2. Babe Ruth…2213
3. Lou Gehrig…1995
4. Stan Musial…1951
5. Ty Cobb…1939
6. Jimmie Foxx…1921
7. Eddie Murray…1917
8. Willie Mays…1903
9. Cap Anson…1880 [played 1876-1897..bad guy]
10. Mel Ott…1860
11. Barry Bonds…1853…Booooooo Boooooooooooooooo!!!
2) Top five stolen bases:
1. Rickey Henderson…1406
2. Lou Brock…938
3. Ty Cobb…892
4. Tim Raines…808
5. Vince Coleman…752
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
