Sports Illustrated “Sportsman of the Year” Quiz: 1) Who was
the first one (1954)? 2) 1961…initials J.L. 3) 1964…initials
K.V. 4) 1966…initials J.R. 5) 1971…initials L.T. 6) 1973…
initials J.S. Answers below.
Golf Quiz: Tiger Woods just won his 8th PGA Tour Player of the
Year award in ten years. Name the other two recipients over that
stretch. Answer below.
LT
The Star-Ledger has a story on LaDainian Tomlinson in its
Wednesday issue which asks the question is LT the best ever?
Through 92 games, Tomlinson has 8,788 yards rushing for a 4.4
average. [95.5 yards per game.] In addition he has 109 TDs,
rushing and receiving.
Emmitt Smith had 18,355 yards rushing, 4.2 avg., in 226 games
(81.2 per game)
Walter Payton had 16,726 yards, 4.4 avg., in 190 games (88.0 per
game)
Barry Sanders had 15,269 yards, 5.0 avg. in 153 games (99.7 per
game)
Jim Brown had 12,312 yards, 5.2 avg. in 118 games (104.3)
Only Brown matches LT in averaging more than a TD per game,
running and receiving.
I have to admit I have seen little of Tomlinson; his San Diego
Chargers not being a popular pick in the New York television
market and one of the reasons why I’m really looking forward
to the upcoming playoffs. But in assessing his career one cannot
overlook the fact (though the Star-Ledger does) that he has two
seasons where he averaged under 4.0 per carry (3.6 and 3.9),
while both Sanders’ and Brown’s worst year was 4.3.
[Incredibly, Brown once averaged 6.4 and Sanders 6.1. LT’s
best is 5.0.]
Frankly, I have more vivid memories of Jim Brown in “100
Rifles” with Raquel Welch than I do of his playing career, seeing
as I was 7 when he last strapped on his helmet (1965). But in
watching the old game films there is no doubt who is the greatest
football player, all positions, ever. I’m also partial to Sanders,
and admire him more and more for just walking away at the top
of his game.
[I do have to add that as far as truly “spectacular” ability, Gale
Sayers is obviously up there.]
But the reason why the Ledger article happened to strike a chord
with me is it was about two weeks ago when I heard football
analyst and Hall of Fame lineman Dan Dierdorf on the radio with
Mike Francesa and Chris Russo, here in New York, and he made
a point I have never really thought of before.
Dierdorf believes LT is the best ever because you have to look at
the defenses he’s going up against today and the size of the
athlete, versus when Brown was playing.
Now this is an intriguing argument…and damn good bar chat as
you sit with your buddies at your favorite watering hole this
holiday season and during the playoffs, as I’m prone to do.
Jim Brown played at 6’2” 232 lbs. In other words he was not
only bigger than the linebackers he was facing, he measured up
against many of the defensive linemen, too. Compare that to
today when a 200 lb. running back is facing linemen weighing
290-310 and linebackers that are 250 and, when you really
analyze things, perhaps the best athletes pound for pound in all
of sports. [Just musing on this last point as I write….not exactly
giving it too much thought.]
So Dierdorf’s point is Brown was a man playing against boys,
while Tomlinson is racking up his record against superior
players.
Is this fair? No. Brown couldn’t pick his competition and his
record is what it is. Consider this, though. With today’s
conditioning techniques, Jim Brown would be playing at 260, not
230, and with the same if not greater speed. In other words, Jim
Brown would still be the best in the game.
Now discuss amongst yourselves. I’ll take a Rolling Rock while
you’re up.
Stuff
–Baseball Salaries
Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse in terms of the
sums being paid marginal players, Johnny Mac alerted me to two
distressing items. First, Miguel Batista, who will be 36 in Feb.
and has a 68-79 lifetime record as a hurler, just signed with
Seattle for three years and $24 million. Batista, another of those
guys who is a #4 starter, at best, was 11-8 last season with a 4.58
ERA in giving up 231 hits in 206 innings for Arizona.
Then there’s Jason Marquis. Now back in 2004, Marquis had a
nice year…15-7 with a 3.71 ERA for St. Louis. Yet in 2006 he
was not only 14-16 for the Cards, but his ERA was a staggering
6.02. This is so bad that he became just the third pitcher since
1900 to win at least 14 but have a 6.00 ERA; the others being
Wes Ferrell (15-10, 6.28 ERA in 1938) and Guy Bush (15-10,
6.20 ERA in 1930). Marquis’ new deal with the Cubs is three
years and $21 million.
Now J. Mac likes Marquis since the kid grew up on Staten
Island, pitched in the Little League World Series in 1991 and led
Tottenville High to two PSAL titles. Local boy makes good.
But the guy was obviously one of the worst full-time starters in
the history of the game. I mean for crying out loud, the league
hit .289 against him.
“This is the kind of guy who in the past would be going hat in
hand looking for any kind of work he could find; now he gets a
$21 million deal. You can’t tell me that the Cubs, or any other
team, can’t dig up somebody in their system to at least be the
equal of the ‘worst starter in the league’! How hard could it be
to match the stats of the worst guy?”
Johnny then sent me outside to perfect my knuckleball.
And on the topic of Andy Pettitte and his $16 million, one-year
contract to come back to the Yankees after three years in
Houston, the New York Times’ Murray Chass had this to say.
“Rich Gossage signed with the Yankees as a free agent 29 years
ago, and his answer to a question at a news conference remains
one of the more honest, more candid responses any player has
ever uttered.
“Why did you sign with the Yankees? Gossage was asked.
“ ‘Because my agent told me to,’ he said.
“If only players could be so forthright today. When Mike
Hampton left the Mets six years ago and signed a long-term,
lucrative contract with the Colorado Rockies, he said he chose
the Rockies in part because of the schools in the Denver suburbs.
The $121 million? He didn’t mention it….
“Three years ago, Andy Pettitte left the Yankees as a free agent
after nine playoff-filled seasons and went to Houston, where he
lives. The Yankees had blundered, treating Pettitte cavalierly
before deciding too late that maybe they did want him to stay.
“Spotting a possible fissure, the Astros leapt at the chance to
snare Pettitte and signed him to a three-year, $31.5 million
contract.”
Even though the Yankees ended up offering more, Pettitte
decided it was important to play in Houston, where, again, he
resides.
“Three years later, home apparently doesn’t mean quite as much.
The Yankees offered $16 million with a player option for a
second year at $16 million. [Houston offered $12 million.]
“What happened to home? It seemed to get lost among the dollar
signs, although Randy Hendricks, Pettitte’s agent, rejected that
suggestion… ‘It is not family versus money,’ he said.”
Meanwhile, Pettitte is taking his three children out of school in
Texas to move them to New York during the season. What a
jerk. Pettitte told his agent on Saturday, “I love Houston and a
lot of my teammates, and I will always cheer for my friends here
and the Astros. But it is time to go help the Yankees win another
championship.”
–NFL Tidbits
With his two kickoff returns for TDs on Monday night,
Chicago’s Devin Hester set the mark for most kick returns in a
season with five; Hester having also returned three punts thus far
for scores. Plus, he returned that field goal 108 yards against the
Giants on Nov. 12, so that means he has bested Hall of Fame
defensive back Ken Houston, who in 1971 returned four
interceptions and one fumble for scores. In fact Houston
returned nine of his 49 career INTs for touchdowns.
New Orleans QB Drew Brees has thrown for 4,033 yards this
season; so with three games to go Brees is within striking
distance of Dan Marino’s all-time best of 5,084 set in ‘84.
Wildcard Races
AFC
Jacksonville…8-5…plays hot Tennessee
Cincinnati…8-5…plays Indy
Kansas City…7-6…plays San Diego
Denver…7-6…at Arizona; Leinart improving
Jets…7-6…play Minnesota
NFC
Giants…7-6…play Philly
Philadelphia…7-6
Atlanta…7-6…Dallas visits
Carolina…6-7…plays Pittsburgh
Minnesota…6-7
–What’s this? No Wake Foresters on any of the three AP All-
American teams? This is a travesty. It is kind of interesting,
though, that three of the top four running backs on the first two
teams are sophomores….Darren McFadden (Arkansas), Steve
Slaton (West Virginia) and Ray Rice (Rutgers). Michael Hart
(Michigan) is the fourth and a junior.
–Phil W. told me I have to jump on the Appalachian State
bandwagon. But it’s moving so fast….I could get hurt! The
Apps are bidding for back-to-back Division I-AA football titles
as they take on Massachusetts on Friday in Chattanooga. We
only played them once while Phil and I were at Wake Forest but
after we left there was a regular series between the two and
Wake didn’t look forward to these contests. [Appalachian State
also gives us fits in basketball.]
But get this. You could win some coin on something Phil
pointed out to me. With last year’s I-AA title, App State became
the first North Carolina school to win an NCAA football
championship.
–I should have known this would happen. Talk about stepping
in it; I failed to recognize that Colorado College was in Colorado
Springs and I was just there about six weeks ago. I was getting it
confused with Colorado School of Mines, which is in Golden, as
Steve G. pointed out to me.
But to make matters worse, I didn’t recognize Colorado College
is a Division I hockey power and is currently #8 in the country.
[Minnesota, New Hampshire and Maine comprise the top three,
incidentally.]
So I apologize to all my Colorado College readers. [Look….
there goes one!]
Goodness gracious. Quinnipiac College is #20 in hockey! And
I see both Colgate and St. Lawrence don’t even get a single vote
in the latest poll. Wassup with dat, guys?
Back to Colorado College which was down 50-6 to Air Force in
basketball last Saturday, a seminal event that precipitated all this
chat. Johnny Mac pointed out that they do indeed play a full
basketball schedule and as of Dec. 9 were 1-9, the lone victory
being over Life Pacific College.
So I had to look up LPC and it’s in San Dimas, California;
founded in 1923 by evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson. Bet
you also didn’t know they are the Warriors.
And that’s all the Life Pacific and Colorado College news you’re
likely to get the rest of 2006.
–Elizabeth Manning of the Anchorage Daily News had a story
on one of my favorite topics….ravens. I’ve often marveled how
smart they seem, especially the ones I’ve observed in Ireland
(though they can also do a number on a golf course).
A few hundred ravens live in Anchorage year round, but in the
winter their population increases to about 2,000. It’s been like
this for decades and when the ravens arrive in late October it’s a
sign of winter to the locals.
One thing that researchers have found, however, is that while
ravens eat just about anything, they particularly like Chinese,
especially the noodles, and they’ve begun congregating around
restaurant dumpsters. Ravens are also known for their
vocalizations and behavior.
“During one behavior called the ‘fuzzy-headed or thick-headed’
display, ravens fluff out their head feathers to signal their
submission to a dominant bird. Dominant birds, on the other
hand, erect the head feathers above their ears for a ‘Batman’
effect.
“During courtship, ravens fluff out their lower flank feathers,
making them appear bigger. (One researcher) calls this ‘the
saggy-pants display’ because it almost looks as though the birds
have lowered their feathers or ‘pants.’”
[I’d call this the badass rapper look.]
–According to Binoo Joshi of the BBC, the wildlife population
in Kashmir, at least the Indian portion, has undergone a
“manifold” increase as a result of the fighting in this disputed
territory.
How is that so, ‘you might ask yourself?’ [David Byrne / Talking
Heads]
Well, the Chief Wildlife Warden for Jammu and Kashmir tells
the BBC, “The government asked the locals to deposit their arms
with their respective police station when militancy started. This
was done to prevent the misuse of weapons and identify illegal
ones. It meant that local hunters thus had no weapons.”
But there is another reason. “No one dares to venture deep into
the forests these days for fear of being caught in exchanges
between militants and the security forces.”
Ergo, no poaching; which also happens to be strictly controlled
by both the army and paramilitary forces. So it’s nothing but
good news for the snow leopard and bears.
But there is a downside…as well as an upside for Bar Chat.
“There have been a number of cases where bears and leopards
are maiming villagers.” [Our sympathies to the families of the
victims, of course.]
Get this. The population of Himalayan black bears has risen
from 700 in 1990 to between 2,500 and 3,000 today! I mean
before you know it, the Himalayan black bear will be another
party at the peace talks.
“What do you guys want?”
“We want 25 square miles per bear.”
“You got it.”
–Bob S. passed along a great white shark tale from just a few
days ago. Ripped out of the pages of the Bay City News Service:
“A 43-year-old surfer survived a great white shark attack today
with only minimal wounds after the predator bit through his
surfboard and dragged its prey undersea momentarily.”
The Marin County fire captain Rick Wonneberger [wonder if
he’s related to the “Whataburger” family] said “He is very lucky
to be alive.” No kidding.
Evidently the surfer dude was “paddling facedown when he felt a
surge of water and then a bite in his right hip and thigh, the fire
captain said. The shark dragged him underneath the waves to a
depth of 15 feet before releasing him.” A friend surfing nearby
said the shark was 12 to 15 feet in length.
Alas, the victim was treated on the beach for superficial wounds.
The board was in worse shape.
But I’m thinking, why doesn’t every one of these shark bite
victims just die of a heart attack?! I mean everyone’s worst
nightmare is to be thrashed about in the jaws of a leopard seal or
shark… isn’t it? [Or am I the only one who’s had this dream?]
–Phil W. attended a Charlotte Bobcats – Houston Rockets game
the other day and had these observations.
1. Yao Ming is really, really tall
2. Tracy McGrady is really, really good and can score and dish
whenever he wants.
3. The NBA is terrible entertainment and I remember why I
haven’t been to a game in over 20 years.
–AP Men’s College Basketball
1. UCLA
2. Pittsburgh
3. North Carolina
4. Ohio State
5. Florida…the Bar Chat guarantee for national champion
6. Duke
7. Wisconsin
8. Wichita State
9. Alabama
10. Arizona
18. Butler
Now Johnny Mac and I jumped off the Butler bandwagon,
perhaps prematurely, but we reserve the right to hop back on
come, say, mid-February as we prep for March Madness.
Would it be fair, however, to be a Wichita Lineman for the
County? No. I could have clambered up on this one but only
when they were ranked around #20 earlier in the year. For me to
do so now would be frankly unseemly.
–In Wednesday’s strip of “For Better or For Worse” there are
some important developments. As Jeff B. pointed out, Grandpa
Jim is clearly a junkie, which is obviously contributing to his
mood swings. So I’m now thinking it’s Jim, not Cop Paul, who
could take out the family on Christmas Day. Jeff is still betting
on the cop, however, because of Paul’s access to automatic
weapons. My brother, on the other hand, is sticking to his
prediction of merely old-fashioned fisticuffs between Paul and
Anthony…………….developing………..
–So this is embarrassing, but I feel like I’m discovering Ray
Charles for the first time. I mean I’ve always enjoyed his stuff
but I just picked up his album “Ray Charles: Modern Sounds in
Country and Western Music” from 1962 and I can’t believe I
didn’t get this like 30 or so years earlier.
Speaking of country…and Christmastime…I finally heard
Montgomery Gentry’s “Merry Christmas from the Family.” It’s
a novelty tune, but already at the top of many play lists. Great
lyrics.
Mom got drunk and Dad got drunk
At our Christmas party
We were drinkin’ champagne punch
And homemade eggnog
Little sister brought her new boyfriend
He was a Mexican
We didn’t know what to think
Til he sang Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Brother Ken brought his kids with him
The three from his first wife Lynn
And the two identical twins
From his second wife Mary Nell
Of course he brought his new wife Kaye
Who talks all about AA
Chain smokin’ while the stereo plays
Noel, Noel, The first Noel
Carve the turkey turn the ball game on
Mix Margaritas when the eggnog’s gone
Send somebody to the Quik-Pak store
We need some ice and an extension cord
A can of bean dip and some Diet Rite
A box of pampers, some Marlboro Lights
Hallelujah everybody say cheese
Merry Christmas from the family
Fran and Rita drove from Harlingen
I can’t remember how I’m kin to them
But when they tried to plug their motor home in
They blew our Christmas lights
Cousin David knew just what went wrong
So we all waited on our front lawn
He threw the breaker and the lights came on
And we sang Silent Night
Oh Silent Night o’ holy night
Carve the turkey turn the ballgame on
Mix Bloody Marys cause we all want one
Send somebody to the Stop ‘n Go
We need some celery and a can of fake snow
A bag of lemons and some Diet Sprite
A box of Midol, some Salem Lights
Hallelujah everybody say cheese
Merry Christmas from the family
*Here’s another Ronettes outrage. Their 1964 tune “Do I Love
You?” peaked at just #34! Now compare this to my favorite
Shirelles song, “Foolish Little Girl” which topped out at #4 in
1963. Both terrific…but the Ronettes got, err, you know.
Top 3 songs for the week of 12/10/83: #1 “Say Say Say” (Paul
McCartney and Michael Jackson) #2 “All Night Long” (Lionel
Richie…applies to Nicole) #3 “Uptown Girl” (Billy Joel)…
and…#4 “Say It Isn’t So” (Daryl Hall / John Oates) #5 “Love Is
A Battlefield” (Pat Benatar) #6 “Islands In The Stream” (Kenny
Rogers with Dolly Parton….Kenny about 20 years from his face
job at this point)
*Meat Loaf is getting rave reviews for his “Bat Out Of Hell III –
Seize The Night Tour”.
Sports Illustrated “Sportsman of the Year” Quiz Answers: 1)
1954: Roger Bannister 2) 1961: Jerry Lucas 3) 1964: Ken
Venturi 4) 1966: Jim Ryun 5) 1971: Lee Trevino 6) 1973:
Jackie Stewart (the only auto racer, incidentally)
Golf Quiz Answer: The other two golfers to win Player of the
Year outside of Tiger the last ten are Vijay Singh (2004) and
Mark O’Meara (1998).
*After first posting, I saw that actor Peter Boyle died. More
perhaps next time.
Next Bar Chat, Monday p.m.
