NFL Quiz: Name the following overall first picks in the draft.
For example, Q: 1990 – QB from Illinois. A: Jeff George.
1) 1993…QB from Washington State. 2) 1994…DT from Ohio
State. 3) 1995…RB from Penn State. 4) 1996…WR from USC.
5) 1997…T from Ohio State. Answers below.
WAKE FOREST….ORANGE BOWL BOUND!!!!!!!
So when Wake Forest tied the ACC title game at 6 on Saturday, I
immediately went online to book my flight for Miami and the
Orange Bowl. I just thought no way am I jinxing the team on
this one. When the game was over I then booked my hotel room.
I’ll worry about a ticket later.
Never, ever in any Wake Forest fan’s wildest dreams could we
expect to get to a big-time bowl game. Never. There is just no
way we can compete on a consistent basis with recruiting giants
like Miami, Florida State, Virginia Tech and Clemson, let alone
others like Georgia Tech, Boston College and Maryland; all of
whom are in our conference.
Yet somehow this year Coach Jim Grobe pulled it off and it’s
Grobe who deserves 95% of the credit, especially after that
Clemson debacle at mid-season. Wake ended up 5-0 in games
decided by 8 points or less this year, vs. 2-6 in similar contests in
2004.
I imagine the Orange Bowl folks are scared to death that Wake
Forest, with an enrollment of just 4,000, will have trouble
carrying it’s share of the load in terms of attendance. Don’t
worry. We’ll be coming out of the woodwork on this one.
Yes…..IT’S TIME TO PARTY!!!
—
Animal Chat
We note the passing of snake charmer Ali Khan Samsudin, 48.
Known as Malaysia’s Snake King, Samsudin died after being
bitten by a king cobra. Now understand, Samsudin had been
bitten a reported 99 times before, but the 100th proved to be fatal.
He was known for locking himself in small spaces with hundreds
of snakes and scorpions for days at a time. In 1997, he set a
record for shutting himself in a box with 6,000 scorpions for
three weeks.
Separately, archaeologists have unearthed evidence in a cave in
Botswana that pythons were the first idols to be worshipped by
man some 70,000 years ago. [London Times] The giant python
that was disturbed by the researchers then emerged to swallow
them whole. Or did I see that in a straight-to-video movie on the
Sci-Fi channel?
Regarding last week’s story on fishing for the great muskie,
Harry K. writes:
“Up here in the Great White North, catching muskies is popular
among anglers. In my younger days, I preferred trying for
muskies and big northern pike over most other game fish. While
they aren’t the best eating fish, they are lots of fun to catch. I
used to have a baby duck lure with big treble hooks and spinners
where the feet would be on a real duck and had good success
with it – just sort of float it over a weed bed and wait for one of
the big lunkers to hoover it down. I also used a foot-long sucker
with minnows and a bobber, which is great for muskies.
“As for whether or not muskies will eat dogs, where I come from
people routinely refer to small dogs – the Lhasa Apsos and
Pomeranians – as muskie bait. If you do go muskie fishing,
make sure you bring a big gaff or a Louisville Slugger along:
you’ll need it if you want to bring one of these monsters on
board. There’s few things scarier than a 50-pound muskie
flopping around loose in the bottom of your boat. Smack it in
the head a few times with the bat before you pull it in.”
Harry notes that if I ever make it up to go fishing with him, I
need to bring a six-pack of Shih Tzus, as the bait shops up there
have a hard time keeping them in stock.
So here’s the deal with the black bear problem in New Jersey.
Gov. Jon Corzine called off the scheduled December hunt and
now the state Supreme Court will be deciding on whether there
can be one in March.
But as the Star-Ledger’s Fred Aun writes, “That will be shortly
after New Jersey’s pregnant female bears give birth to 600 or
more cubs.”
“By the time the case goes to court, we’re going to have close to
4,000 bears in a region that should have 1,000 to 1,200,” New
Jersey State Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs president Ed
Markowski said. “The probability of having more, and more
severe, bear/human interactions is going to increase.”
Yesss!!!!……………….oops, sorry.
By the way, “To be happy, a male black bear needs about 27
square miles as his ‘territory.’ They’ve been known to roam
areas almost 10 times that size.” [Fred Aun]
I’m happy with about 60 square feet, as long as I have easy
access to Chex Mix, beer and cable.
Bottom line, when the first human is mauled to death by a bear
here in the Garden State, the blood of that victim will be on Gov.
Corzine’s hands.
[This last comment is perhaps a bit melodramatic…but it’s Web
Sweeps Week and I’m hoping it will get picked up by the wire
services.]
Stuff
–Tiger Woods should be Sports Illustrated’s “Sportsman of the
Year.” And if he’s worthy of it five of the next 10, I hope SI will
have the guts to keep giving it to him.
[With the timing of the NFL season, it’s kind of tough for good
candidates…but LaDainian Tomlinson is certainly worthy of an
award one of these days. Now if he were to take the Chargers to
the Super Bowl, he’d become a lock for 2007.]
–College Football
AP
1. Ohio State…12-0
2. Florida…12-1
3. Michigan…11-1
4. LSU…10-2
5. Louisville…11-1
6. Wisconsin…11-1
7. Oklahoma…11-2
8. USC…10-2
9. Boise State…12-0
10. Auburn…10-2
15. Wake Forest…11-2
16. Rutgers…10-2
BCS…the one that matters
1. Ohio State – 0.999
2. Florida – 0.9445
3. Michigan – 0.9344
4. LSU – 0.8326
5. USC – 0.7953
6. Louisville – 0.7944
7. Wisconsin – 0.7480
8. Boise State – 0.7099
14. Wake Forest
16. Rutgers
I’m one of those who did not want to see an Ohio State-Michigan
rematch. USC-Ohio State would have been entertaining, but the
Trojans’ choke job against a decidedly mediocre UCLA squad
ranks right up there among the very worst of all time. USC is
loaded with talent….this was all about coaching. But to those
whining about the BCS system, get over it. There will NOT be a
playoff system. I just don’t see the biggest bowl games giving
up their New Year’s dates and the college football season goes
on long enough as it is. Plus we need something to talk about.
But when it comes to Florida, I hope Ohio State kicks the crap
out of them. Coach Urban Meyer is a big-time jerk and I want to
be able to tune the game out at halftime so I can get some sleep
that day. [These championship games are always interminable
and Jan. 8 is a school night.]
Ah, Michigan fans? You beat Ball State by only 34-26.
As for Rutgers, the bottom line is if Greg Schiano stays they’ll
only continue to get better. They obviously had their chances to
beat West Virginia in regulation. But now they play 7-5 Kansas
State?! What a comedown. [And Schiano is interviewing with
Miami.]
Two last notes. Yes, Wisconsin finished 11-1, but they lost to
Michigan and the rest of their schedule was hideous, while
aside from Wake Forest, the real feel-good story of the year is
Boise State. I’ll catch the Fiesta Bowl. Otherwise, as usual
most of the games are unwatchable, though Navy-Boston
College is a neat matchup.
Sorry guys. I finished the betting season 15-18-1. I’ll get you
back your $750,000 next season…and then some. It’s the Bar
Chat Guarantee!
[I won on Wake and Florida this weekend; lost on California and
Nebraska.]
Wake was on national television five straight weeks. Can you
say recruiting?!
Lastly, even I didn’t know Wake leads all BCS conference
schools with a 96% graduation rate for its football players. As
Ronald Reagan said, that’s not bad…not bad at all.
–College Basketball
We have to take note of three huge upsets, 3-4 DePaul besting #5
Kansas, 64-57, North Dakota State! taking out #9 Marquette, 64-
60, and Florida State besting #4 Florida, 70-66.
And the team Johnny Mac and I are going to ride this year, until
they lose, Butler, is now 9-0.
But the big story of the weekend is the debut of Ohio State’s
freshman sensation Greg Oden. The 7-footer had 14 points, 10
rebounds and five blocks against Valparaiso. I’m already ready
for an Ohio State – Florida NCAA title game.
Then there’s Division III Lincoln University, a nationally ranked
squad, which defeated Ohio State Marion 201-78. Yup, 201-78.
They easily smashed the D-III record for largest margin of
victory, shots made (78) and shots taken (141). And the previous
records for points scored was 172. The margin of victory was
also an overall NCAA mark. Guard Sam Wylie hit a D-III
record 21 3-pointers in only 24 minutes. Lincoln coach Garfield
Yuille did play all 16 players, in case you were wondering.
–Men’s soccer…wow, it was almost an even better weekend for
Wake Forest than it turned out to be. Wake lost in the semis of
the NCAAs to UC-Santa Barbara on penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie.
[UCSB, which started the year 7-6, then beat UCLA 2-1 for the
title. The North Carolina women won their 18th crown in 25
years of the Women’s College Cup, defeating Notre Dame.]
–The Giants
Here in the New York area, we get to see two ‘home’ teams
every week and as opposed to the relationship between the Mets
and Yankees, where fans hate each other, most football fans here
would probably say that even if they’re a Jets fan, like myself,
you kind of like the Giants and want them to do well. I picked
them this year to win the Super Bowl because I honestly thought
they could get there, while in all sincerity I thought the Jets
would be miserable.
So what’s happened? The Jets are 7-5 and very much in the
playoff hunt while the Giants are 6-6 and just about the most
unlikable team to come along in these parts in decades. [The
Knicks are in a league of their own in this regard and not part of
this conversation.]
Yesterday the Giants lost to the Cowboys and Tony Romo and
while the contest was an entertaining one, the Giants once again
played like idiots with four personal foul calls.
Steve Serby / New York Post
“The Giants have cheated their fans, and most of all, they have
cheated themselves.
“If the Giants look at themselves in the mirror for a change, here
is what they will see:
“A blowhard team that cannot win the big game.”
Yes, Coach Tom Coughlin has to go and management really
should can him today because the Giants still have a shot at the
playoffs and once in, who knows. They have the talent.
In terms of this column, the Giants have been making as much
news off the field, mid-week, than they are on the field on
Sundays, so the timing for Bar Chat isn’t always the best. But
for the archives, it’s necessary to review just what happened
between female ESPN reporter Kelly Naqi and Michael
Strahan, another of the Giants’ jerks.
Paul Schwartz / New York Post:
“Kelly Naqi was hit with a verbal salvo after she simply
attempted to question Strahan about his radio rip-job of
teammate Plaxico Burress, who Strahan said ‘quit’ on a play in
last Sunday’s monumental collapse and ensuing 24-21 loss to the
Titans in Nashville.
“So it goes in a Giants world growing increasingly dysfunctional.
This team insists it’s not a fractured, self-indulgent bunch of
malcontents who hate the head coach. And then, another day
goes by and another controversy sprouts like weeds in the Giants
garden….
“Strahan, the Pro Bowl defensive end out since Nov. 5 with a
mid-foot sprain, is no stranger to creating firestorms but this was
outrageous even by his standards. He went out of his way to
embarrass Naqi in front of a larger-than-normal media horde
huddled in front of his locker.
“ ‘Come here, I want to see your face when you ask this
question,’ a confrontational Strahan bellowed. ‘You’re a
responsible journalist, look me in the eye and ask this question
the way you want to ask it. Look a man in the eye before you try
to kill him or make up something.’….
“In full scolding mode, Strahan demanded that Naqi ‘Ask me a
question in the appropriate manner. If you are going to ask
Plaxico about something, you ask him in an appropriate way, not
the negative way like I am attacking my teammates because I
don’t do that.’”
Steve Serby / New York Post
“The Giants should now be called Ringling Bros. Barnum & Big
Blue Circus….
“Another episode of Giants Behaving Badly, of Romper Room,
erupted yesterday. Last week they gave us Tom versus Tiki.
Now Michael versus Plaxico, such as it was. Then Michael
killing the messenger from ESPN, then most every media
messenger he believes is part of a conspiracy intent on dividing a
reeling, desperate team that is buckling under the weight of great
expectations and seemingly trying to challenge the James Dolan
Knicks for the title of Most Dysfunctional New York Sports
Franchise.”
And so we hereby add Michael Strahan’s name to our “Jerk of
the Year” candidate file, joining teammate Tiki Barber. Boy, it’s
going to be a tough decision this year, sports fans. Lots and lots
of jerks out there.
–Ticket prices for the Yankees are going up again. I haven’t
been to Yankee Stadium since 1982 to see Willie Wilson play. [I
haven’t been to Shea in about five years….it’s just too easy to
watch games on TV instead. Actually, I just realized I’ve been
to four times more Tigers and (then) Montreal Expos games than
I have Mets over that period. But I digress.]
The top seat, first four rows nearest home plate, will sell for $150
next season. $150! But get this, box seats sold in advance will
be $40 to $83 (and $42 to $88 on days of games). Granted, the
Yankees sell out most of their better seats for the entire season,
but as a local tavern owner told the New York Daily News,
working-class families just aren’t seen anymore at the House that
Ruth Built. “Those people are gone,” he said. “They can’t even
afford the concessions now.”
–I love it….it appears the San Francisco Giants are cutting ties
with Barry Bonds. They declined to offer him arbitration and
now Bonds can do what he pleases. So who will take him?
Gosh I hope major league owners and GMs collude and say
“Barry who? Not interested.”
–Drat….I was hoping to make fun of Bode Miller all season but
then he went out and captured his first World Cup downhill in
two years at Beaver Creek, Co., on Friday.
But when it comes to snow, Europe’s ski season is off to a
horrible start following the warmest autumn on record. A
researcher in Austria says that within 15 years, it will be
impossible to find a continuous snow blanket below 1,500m.
Races are being cancelled all over; in France, Austria,
Switzerland, Norway and Italy. Downhills and Super-Gs at Val
d’Isere were recently scrapped. The other day at Cortina in the
Italian Alps, the temperature was the same as it normally is in
May. The U.S. and Canadian Rockies, however, have had record
early snowfalls.
–If you get lost in an avalanche and are waiting for a Saint
Bernard to come along with its cask of liquid refreshment,
consider this. “A half-sized bottle of Scotch whisky that’s about
150 years old sold for $28,200 at auction in London, beating the
top presale estimate by almost 50%.” [Bloomberg News] “The
Glenavon Special Liqueur Whisky, bottled on Speyside, in
northeast Scotland, some time between 1851 and 1858…contains
14 fluid ounces and the whisky may be the world’s oldest.”
Back in September 2005, an anonymous Asian buyer paid
$75,200 for the last bottle of 1926 Macallan malt whisky, a
record for a public auction.
–What’s this? Another “Jerk of the Year” candidate? Why if it
isn’t slugger Albert Pujols, who is upset he lost out to
Philadelphia’s Ryan Howard for National League MVP.
“I see it this way: Someone who doesn’t take his team to the
playoffs doesn’t deserve to win the MVP.”
Now personally I would have handed Pujols the award over
Howard, partially for this reason and the fact Howard choked in
the power department down the stretch for the Phils. But Pujols
shows an amazing lack of class. As Ken P. wrote in, “The guy
needs to change his attitude. St. Louis won a whopping 83
games, two less than the Phillies, and was damn lucky to avoid
the most monumental collapse in baseball history.”
–Champions Tour golfer Loren Roberts three-putted only 19 of
1,206 holes this year. That’s 67 rounds, by my back of the beer
coaster calculation, so he three-putted once every 3.5 rounds.
But one of the 19 was critical; the last hole of the season-ending
tournament and it cost him $1 million.
–I was very close to going to the PGA’s Q School last week to
see Carlos Franco’s struggle to retain his card, plus Jerry
Smith’s. Alas I didn’t and thank god for that. Franco went 78-
71-78 and withdrew (it’s a six-round event) and Smith withdrew
after four…75-76-74-75. Chris Riley, who hasn’t been the same
since the 2004 Ryder Cup and his quitting on the team, withdrew
after shooting 83-72-78. The pressure at Q School is
unbelievable.
–We congratulate Eva Longoria for snagging Tony Parker, or
vice versa. They are due to get married next summer and there’s
no reason why it can’t last 18-24 months.
Top 3 songs for the week of 12/6/86: #1 “The Next Time I Fall”
(Peter Cetera with Amy Grant) #2 “You Give Love A Bad
Name” (Bon Jovi) #3 “Hip To Be Square” (Huey Lewis and the
News)…and…#4 “The Way It Is” (Bruce Hornsby and The
Range) #7 “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” (Wang Chung)
NFL Draft Quiz Answers…overall first picks. 1) 1993: QB
Drew Bledsoe, New England. 2) 1994: DT Dan Wilkinson,
Cincinnati. 3) 1995: RB Ki-Jana Carter, Cincinnati. 4) 1996:
WR Keyshawn Johnson, Jets. 5) 1997: T Orlando Pace, St.
Louis.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
