Golf Quiz: 1) Name the six with 8 or more major titles. 2)
Name the three whose first name begins with ‘G’ to win a
Masters in the 1960s. 3) Since 1960, name the four to win a
Masters whose last name begins with ‘C’. Answers below.
NCAA Tournament
Well, I had Ohio State and Florida in my Final Four, not that this
was earth-shattering, and I said from the first day of the season
that Florida would win it all.
But just a comment on Saturday’s games. Boy, they sucked, as
did Georgetown’s Jeff Green. All I heard leading up to the Ohio
State-Georgetown game was how America was going to be
amazed by just how good Jeff Green is. You should have heard
all the New York sports talk radio know-it-alls…Jeff Green this,
Jeff Green that.
Well Jeff Green was a total no show. He took five shots, for
crying out loud.
And speaking of Georgetown, the Washington Post couldn’t help
but take a shot at the school for its academic prowess, or rather
lack thereof, when it comes to the hoops squad. Of course it’s
almost always been this way going back to John Thompson Sr.
“Using NCAA data on players who entered college between
1996 and 1999, the researchers from the New America
Foundation and Education Sector (showed) that schools did a
particularly poor job of graduating minority students.
Georgetown University, which happily made the Final Four,
posted poorly with a graduation rate for its basketball players of
47%. Contrast that with its overall graduation rate of 93.2% and
one wonders about the university’s priorities. Georgetown also
showed some of the worst disparities between white and black
men….
“Georgetown, for instance, graduated all of its white basketball
players in 1996-99 but only 38% of its African American
players….As bad as the graduation rate is for African American
basketball players, at schools across the country it’s better than
that of African American men who aren’t on athletic teams.
Now that’s madness.”
And just a comment on Ohio State’s Greg Oden. Billy Packer
disparaged both Oden and Georgetown center Roy Hibbert when
asked whether they have the potential to be another Bill Walton
or Bill Russell in the NBA. “No, I don’t think so,” said Packer.
Actually, while neither distinguished themselves on Saturday, I
think Oden can be phenomenal in the NBA. And from
everything I’ve read and seen, he is a genuinely good kid who
loves school and the whole university scene. Here’s hoping he
stays at OSU one more year, though this is unlikely. Oden
would certainly benefit if he did.
—
Michael Phelps won an incredible seven golf medals at the world
championships of swimming in Melbourne, Australia, but a real
jerk, Ian Crocker (if you follow the sport you know this), cost
Phelps a record 8th because Crocker left the starting blocks too
soon in a medley relay heat.
But in capturing 7 golds, Phelps equaled Mark Spitz’s Olympic
mark; the only two to win that many in a major international
meet. So now it’s on to Beijing.
[Meanwhile, Australia’s national hero, Ian Thorpe, may be
charged with doping by swimming’s governing body, FINA. A
doping test administered last May supposedly implicates
Thorpedo.]
Golf and the Masters
–Gary Player will be playing in his 50th Masters this week and
the Wall Street Journal’s John Paul Newport profiled the 71-
year-old South African who remains in incredible shape. For
example, when the two sat down for breakfast last Tuesday,
Player consumed:
“A juice drink squeezed from five fruits, goat-milk yogurt, a
bowl of berries, melon and other fresh fruits, African red-bush
tea and Irish oatmeal laced with an original milk-like concoction
of pureed almonds, bananas and agave nectar.”
Player does 1,000 crunches a day and usually works for an hour
and a half at the gym.
–Hotels near Augusta National
Courtyard by Marriott charges $149 a night Feb. 5-9. $480
during Masters Week.
Hampton Inn, $98 in Feb. $424 Masters Week.
–Conversely, among other things, the Masters is known for its
reasonable food prices on the course. For example, a 14-oz. beer
costs only $2.00 and a tuna sandwich just $1.50.
–Dave Loggins wrote the piano tune used by CBS since 1980 to
open the telecast as well as before and after commercial breaks.
He is also known for the hit “Please Come to Boston.” Loggins is
now looking into making it available on the Internet for
downloading.
–The last European to win a major was Paul Lawrie at the 1999
British Open after Jose Maria Olazabal took the Masters earlier
that year.
–Augusta National closes between end of May and mid-October,
which may surprise the casual fan. As a former superintendent
told Golf Digest, it’s a “winter club, always has been.” The
course just wouldn’t hold up in the Georgia heat and humidity.
But as an anonymous caddie told the publication, the best day of
the year for them is Caddie Day, which is held before Augusta
shuts down for the season. To qualify, you have to have looped
at least 12 rounds and more than 100 show up. The club then
provides the caddies with a nice buffet and everyone is assigned
a tee time.
“But the real treat is that you get all the beer you can drink until
the kegs run out. They’re stationed at various spots, and you can
walk down the fairway swilling the stuff. It gets crazy once the
beer gets flowing. You can imagine how many guys are peeing
in the woods just to keep on playing without delay.”
Thousands of dollars are also bet over the course of the day,
including on the par-3 12th where there is a closet to the pin
contest.
–Average World Golf Ranking of each major’s champions from
1986 (when the World Ranking began) to 2006:
Masters…11.05
U.S. Open…26.67
PGA Championship…38.48
British Open…41.76
–And now…your EXCLUSIVE Masters Pick to Click.
Adam Scott!….winner of this week’s Houston Open. Scott will
also win the PGA later in the year, while Tiger wins the U.S.
Open and Henrik Stenson the British. It’s the Bar Chat
Guarantee!
—
“Reds” Arrington, plumber
Howard Bernard “Reds” Arrington died the other day at the age
of 79. Who was he? Why “Reds” was the White House
plumber, literally, through seven presidential administrations
from Harry S. Truman to Jimmy Carter.
From Frederick N. Rasmussen’s obituary in the Los Angeles
Times:
“I did all kinds of things. I got a call once that Mrs. Truman’s
toilet wasn’t flushing right. So I went over there and all of a
sudden up comes these false teeth. They weren’t Mrs. Truman’s,
they were her maid’s,” Arrington told Life magazine in 1992.
“Ike used to drive golf balls down the South Lane right into the
fountain. The water was so deep, he would give me his waders
and a ball retriever.”
Arrington once used a small boat in the fountain.
“Looking out of a White House window, President Kennedy,
said: ‘My God, there’s a man out there in a boat and he’s
fishing,’” Arrington’s wife retold.
But Lyndon Johnson was a real ballbuster.
“President Johnson started right in about his shower when he
moved into the White House. He said, ‘I don’t have any pressure,
for one thing,’ and that he wanted it just like the shower at his
Georgetown home,’ Arrington told Life.
“So my assistant and I worked on his shower….Then he wanted
body sprays all around, not just overhead. He wanted one on the
floor, too. This wasn’t for his feet – he wanted it to hit up his
rear,” Arrington said.
Once, Johnson called Arrington and ripped into him for three
minutes.
“We have flunkies in Johnson City that can fix (the shower), why
can’t you? I don’t want any change in pressure when I go from
the overhead to both. Bring in the engineers, anybody, but have
that thing fixed by the time I get back from Texas,” he screamed.
Then Johnson added, “If I can move 10,000 troops in a day, you
certainly can fix the shower.”
But who were Arrington’s favorite presidents? Eisenhower and
Nixon.
More Baseball Bits
–According to a New York Times/CBS News poll, when asked
“Are you rooting for Barry Bonds to break Hank Aaron’s record,
or do you hope he will fall short?” 35% said they hoped he
surpassed Aaron’s mark, while 30% said they wanted him to get
bird flu, err, wanted him to fall short. 19% said they did not care
and 16% said they did not know or had no answer; which means
16% of the people in America are total losers and will never
accomplish anything in life.
–The New York Daily News’ Anthony McCarron wrote of two-
time N.L. MVP Dale Murphy (1982-83) and his disgust with the
steroid era he was unwittingly part of.
“The former Braves All-Star is particularly disgusted with the
game that he played for 18 years, which opens its season
tonight….Doping will be a baseball story all season and Murphy
has been making noise about it in radio and print interviews
recently, applauding the vote that kept Mark McGwire out of the
Hall of Fame and calling Bonds’ quest ‘disappointing.’
“ ‘He’s gone about his career the wrong way,’ Murphy says of
Bonds. ‘I’m very indifferent to what he’s accomplishing. He
would’ve accomplished great things in baseball without getting
involved with this stuff. I don’t think we should acknowledge
performances that are not legitimate. I don’t know why more
people don’t feel that way. I guess the technical answer is that he
hasn’t failed a drug test. I say, ‘Come on.’ Not failing a test
doesn’t mean anything to me. People have told us that you have
to be an idiot to not pass a steroid test. I hate to say those things
publicly, but this is the stuff our kids know.’”
Murphy is mad with himself for not speaking up while he was
playing. As McCarron writes: “He fears that (the next generation
of players) believe they can get away with cheating because they
have seen their role models do it.”
–I was reading a book review of John Heidenry’s “The
Gashouse Gang” about the 1934 Cardinals and back then the
general manager was Branch Rickey, who was known for his
tight-fisted ways. In 1933 he imposed a $10,000 ceiling on
player salaries, which meant that in 1934, when Dizzy Dean
went 30-7, he made the equivalent of $156,000 in 2007 dollars.
–Former baseball commissioner Fay Vincent gave the Wall
Street Journal his list of five favorite baseball books.
“Men at Work,” George Will
“Eight Men Out,” Eliot Asinof [The Black Sox Scandal]
“Highpockets,” John R. Tunis [1948 novel]
“The Glory of Their Times,” Lawrence Ritter
“Veeck as in Wreck,” Bill Veeck [1962 memoir]
–So Steve Swindal, George Steinbrenner’s son-in-law, was set to
take over the Yankees upon King George’s death or whenever
the Boss said so, but George’s daughter, Jennifer, filed for
divorce from Steve so ixnay on that. “I’m the boss,”
Steinbrenner said through a spokesman. “I continue to be the
boss, I have no intention of retiring, and my family runs the
Yankees with me.”
Steinbrenner has two sons, Hank and Hal, who are listed as
general partners, along with another son-in-law, Felix Lopez.
Swindal is out. Steinbrenner, 76, has been in failing health for
years and no longer speaks in public amidst rumors of
Alzheimer’s. Say what you will about him, but if you’re a
Yankees fan you have to love the guy. Without him and his
commitment to winning, this franchise would have sucked.
–But this year, incredibly, the Mets and Yankees, combined,
may draw 8 million fans. The Yankees drew 4.2 million last
year and will at least match that, while the Mets as of March 28
had already sold 2.4 million and will handily exceed their record
of 3.38 million set last season. It’s just a great time to be a New
York baseball fan. Aside from the high quality of play, there is
no shortage of story lines.
–And, in fact, Las Vegas oddsmakers have listed the Yankees at
4-1 favorites to win the Series, while the Mets are the second
choice at 11-2.
Others: The White Sox, Dodgers and Tigers are all 10-1, the Red
Sox, 12-1, and the defending champion Cardinals are 14-1. [One
Vegas hotel, though, dropped the Red Sox to 6-1 with the
addition of Daisuke Matsuzaka.]
If you want a longshot, try the Washington Nationals at 300-1.
–Interesting piece in the Los Angeles Times by Bill Shaikin
comparing the first six years of Hall of Famer Lou Brock’s
career with that of current Los Angeles Dodger Juan Pierre.
Essentially, they have the same statistics for their first six full
seasons, yet Pierre isn’t thought of in the same light as Brock.
[Shaikin doesn’t include 1962 for Brock which I would label a
‘full season’.]
As Shaikin notes, “The criticism of Pierre [and his signing with
L.A.] reflects the rise of a new wave of statistical analysis and its
widespread dissemination via the Internet. In Brock’s era,
batting average ruled. Today, the Dodgers are condemned for
paying attention to the wrong statistics.”
Heck, Pierre has four 200-hit seasons in his first six years, but
ranks far down the list of regulars in major league baseball when
it comes to on-base percentage (.350 lifetime), a stat that I myself
focus on. [I’m not into some of the more esoteric ones.]
“The waiver wire buzzes regularly, and players can be yours for
a token fee,” writes Shaikin. “Kevin Towers, general manager of
the San Diego Padres, looked up one day to find his young
assistant begging him to claim a minor league infielder with a
mediocre batting average, no power and a weak arm.
“ ‘He’s an on-base machine,’ the assistant said.
“ ‘Look at his size,’ Towers said. ‘Look at the scouting reports.’
“The Padres passed. The Angels claimed David Eckstein, who
developed into the shortstop on their (2002) World Series
championship team.”
The young assistant? Theo Epstein, hired two years later by the
Boston Red Sox at the age of 28.
Oakland’s Billy Beane says “The two statistics that are the
greatest determining factors in whether you win games are team
ERA and on-base percentage.”
Reminder, check out baseball-reference.com for all your stat
needs.
–Some Opening Day Lineups
April 11, 1961…Los Angeles Angels
Eddie Yost, 3B
Ken Aspromonte, 2B
Albie Pearson, RF
Ted Kluszewski, 1B
Bob Cerv, LF
Ken Hunt, CF
Fritzie Brickell, SS
Del Rice, C
Eli Grba, P
April 8, 1969…Kansas City Royals
Lou Piniella, CF
Jerry Adair, 2B
Ed Kirkpatrick, LF
Joe Foy, 3B
Chuck Harrison, 1B
Bob Oliver, RF
Ellie Rodriguez, C
Jackie Hernandez, SS
Wally Bunker, P
April 8, 1969…Seattle Pilots
Tommy Harper, 2B
Steve Whitaker, RF
Tommy Davis, LF
Don Mincher, 1B
Rich Rollins, 3B
Jim Gosger, CF
Jerry McNertney, C
Ray Oyler, SS
Marty Pattin, P
April 10, 1962…Houston Colt 45s
Bob Aspromonte, 3B
Al Spangler, CF
Roman Mejias, RF
Norm Larker, 1B
Jim Pendleton, LF
Hal Smith, C
Joe Amalfitano, 2B
Don Buddin, SS
Bobby Shantz, P
April 11, 1962…New York Mets
Richie Ashburn, CF
Felix Mantilla, SS
Charlie Neal, 2B
Frank Thomas, LF
Gus Bell, RF
Gil Hodges, 1B
Don Zimmer, 3B
Hobie Landrith, C
Roger Craig, P
April 8, 1969…San Diego Padres
Rafael Robles, SS
Roberto Pena, 2B
Tony Gonzalez, CF
Ollie Brown, RF
Bill Davis, 1B
Larry Stahl, LF
Ed Spiezio, 3B
Chris Cannizzaro, C
Dick Selma, P
April 8, 1969…Montreal Expos
Maury Wills, SS
Gary Sutherland, 2B
Rusty Staub, RF
Mack Jones, LF
Bob Bailey, 1B
John Bateman, C
Coco Laboy, 3B
Don Hahn, CF
Mudcat Grant, P
Stuff
–“Coyotes on the prowl in Summit”
So read a headline in the local paper; Summit, N.J., being where
my office is. Coyotes have been spotted all over and I’m
thinking of getting an Uzi as I walk through a dark alley from the
parking lot very early each morning. I know I’m being watched
by them as they study my habits; briefcase and chocolate covered
donut in one hand, large black coffee in the other. One morning,
when I least expect it or am distracted with thoughts of the
upcoming Wake Forest football season, a pack of coyotes will
spring their trap and I’ll become the first victim in New Jersey of
a coyote mauling.
–The NFL rules committee is instituting a new one that will
assess a five-yard penalty if a player slams the ball to the turf
without scoring a touchdown. Good.
–Here’s a story that is still developing…Federal authorities have
charged a University of Toledo football player, Harvey (Scooter)
McDougle Jr., with recruiting Toledo football and basketball
players to participate in a scheme orchestrated by a man
identified only as “Gary,” according to a criminal complaint filed
in U.S. District Court on Friday. McDougle told FBI
investigators he received a car, telephone and other items, but
insisted he never changed the way he played to affect the
outcome of games. One player was allegedly offered $10,000 to
sit out a football game.
–Phil W. passed along the story that when West Virginia won
the NIT basketball championship in New York the other night,
the players were handed shirts reading “West Virgina.” [Fox
Sports]
–Peter Hyman has a piece in the Sunday New York Times on
David Barrett, the fellow who wrote “One Shining Moment,” the
tune used at the end of the NCAA Basketball Championship to
go along with a video montage.
Barrett was a struggling folk singer in March 1986 when he was
at a hotel bar in East Lansing, Mich., watching a Boston Celtics
game. An attractive woman sat beside him after her shift as a
waitress there.
“She was the most beautiful waitress on the planet,” Barrett told
Hyman. “The kind of woman who is so good looking that you
don’t even bother talking to her.”
But Barrett was about to break the ice when she left without
saying a word. So he decided to write a song with the working
title “One Shining Moment.” The next morning he wrote the
lyrics on a paper napkin.
Of course it wouldn’t have become a big deal had he not had a
friend, Armen Keteyian, then a big writer with Sports Illustrated,
who passed his demo tape to the television networks. CBS
acquired the rights to accompany the Super Bowl highlights in
January 1987, but the package was never broadcast.
So David was all upset, but a few months later CBS used it for
the Final Four and it made its debut in March ‘87, after Keith
Smart hit a baseline jumper to give Indiana a 74-73 victory over
Syracuse.
Barrett was in a bar thinking “What a game,” but had no idea if
CBS was going to use his song. Evidently, he makes a pretty
penny off the tune each year.
As for the waitress, Barrett had an accidental reunion a few years
ago after a show in East Lansing. She brought along her two
children and looked “just as beautiful as she was the night I tried
to explain Larry Bird to her.” The woman had heard she was the
inspiration for “One Shining Moment” and got a kick out of it.
–Huh. In the Times’ Sunday Styles section, there is a story on
Dinah Shore Weekend, now better known as the Kraft Nabisco
Championship, the first golf major for the LPGA. It turns out
it’s better known in Palm Springs, Calif., as “lesbian spring
break….An annual pilgrimage for more than three decades, it has
attracted thousands of adult women to this mountain-ringed
Southern California desert town, which becomes a destination for
lesbians looking to party, socialize and hook up.” You’re
reading Bar Chat.
[In the tournament, 18-year-old Morgan Pressel became the
youngest to win a LPGA major as Norway’s Suzann Pettersen
totally choked down the stretch, blowing a four-shot lead with
four holes to play. So it’s Pressel, not Michelle Wie, who scores
a major.]
–Rutgers’ women’s basketball team will play for the national
title against Tennessee. If Rutgers can win, it would be the
school’s first NCAA championship of any kind since 1949.
–Lightning killed a high school athlete as he left a pole-vault pit
in Carbondale, Ill., on Thursday.
–Jimmie Johnson won his third Nextel Cup race of the year out
of the first six.
–Your “For Better of For Worse” update…and boy it’s all for
worse these days.
Incredibly, the “Party of the Century” is already over! What
kind of B.S. is this?! Jeff B. and I can’t believe Pitiful Wimp
Anthony never showed. Hell, he is one of Michael’s long-time
friends. Nor did Rebecca arrive to embarrass Michael in front of
his wife. We never even saw Weed do drugs, though it’s
possible he may have off panel.
Then you have the Patterson parents. Dr. and Mrs. P. actually
think April had an innocent night at home and are totally clueless
when it comes to the fact April and Gerald were drinking wine
and one step from having sex when the parents came home early.
As Jeff told me, Dr. and Mrs. P. have to be the biggest idiots on
earth. For starters, they couldn’t tell their daughter was
drinking? Hell, she had to be reeking of cheap wine. Plus, as Jeff
also points out, just look at Dr. P.’s eyes on Friday. He is
nothing but a heroin user. In fact Jeff brings up a critical point.
Dr. P. is clearly stashing his drugs in his model trains, a fact that
I frankly missed all these years.
Finally, even on Sunday we have the stupendous spectacle of
April’s 16th birthday party and the Pattersons letting her go off
with Gerald and their friends until “one a.m.”!
One a.m.?! The girl just turned 16! Many of us are totally
disgusted at this point. The family is out of control and setting
an awful role model for both children and parents the world over.
Is this really the way Lynn Johnston wants to go out?
Top 3 songs for the week of 4/3/71: #1 “Just My Imagination
(Running Away With Me)” (The Temptations) #2 “Me And
Bobby McGee” (Janis Joplin) #3 “For All We Know”
(Carpenters)…and…#4 “She’s A Lady” (Tom Jones…woh who
wohhh!) #5 “What’s Going On” (Marvin Gaye…his best) #6
“Proud Mary” (Ike & Tina Turner…..Aaaghhhhhhhh! Just shoot
me) #7 “Doesn’t Somebody Want To Be Wanted” (The
Partridge Family…yeah, right about now every American male
from age 12 to 78 was in love with Susan Dey) #8 “Help Me
Make It Through The Night” (Sammi Smith) #9 “(Where Do I
Begin) Love Story” (Andy Williams……..re #7, or Ali McGraw)
#10 “Another Day” (Paul McCartney)
Golf Quiz Answers: 1) Six to win 8 majors: Jack Nicklaus, 18;
Tiger Woods, 12; Walter Hagen, 11; Ben Hogan, 9; Gary Player,
9; Tom Watson, 8. [Arnie won 7] 2) Winners of Masters in 60s
whose first name begins with ‘G.’ Gary Player, 1961; Gay
Brewer Jr., 1967; George Archer, 1969. 3) Winners of Masters
since 1960 whose last name begins with ‘C’. Billy Casper, 1970;
Charles Coody, 1971; Ben Crenshaw, 1984, 1995; Fred Couples,
1992.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday. Tiger Woods. I swear, some new
stuff….really. And April 9…Jackie Robinson…if you keep it
where it is.
