I traveled all day (starting Sunday a.m. in Hong Kong, crossing the date line, etc.) so frantically trying to catch up on both the hard and soft news….
Nothing in college football that was earth-shattering, I see. In fact it’s the same AP Top Ten.
1. Alabama 11-0
2. Texas Tech 10-0
3. Florida 9-1
4. Texas 10-1
5. Oklahoma 9-1
6. USC 9-1
7. Penn State 10-1
8. Utah 11-0
9. Boise State 10-0
10. Ohio State 9-2
14. Ball State 10-0
1. Alabama .9787
2. Texas Tech .9698
3. Texas .8911
4. Florida .8755
5. Oklahoma .8388
6. USC .7873
*Next Saturday, 8:00 Eastern, it’s Texas Tech-Oklahoma, baby. Get out the domestic and the Chex Mix.
What an awful loss for Wake Forest against North Carolina State.
And Michigan is now 3-8. In fact, consider this. Toledo is 2-8, with one of the two wins against Michigan.
[I was 2-2 again on my bets, running my record to 17-18 with two weeks to go. But at least my advice for the children, to borrow $125,000 from their folks to bet on Nevada against San Jose State panned out as Nevada handily beat the spread. And that’s what it’s really all about, sports fans; teaching our young people how to beat the spread. I know President-Elect Obama knows this. In fact I just saw him on “60 Minutes” and you could tell he was itching to cover the topic but Steve Kroft didn’t give him the opportunity.]
–Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson for his phenomenal 3rd straight NASCAR/Sprint Cup Championship. In the 57 years of this sport, only Cale Yarborough, 1976-78, had accomplished the feat. So everyone is asking, is Jimmie Johnson the best ever? Actually, I always thought the best was Fireball Roberts, but what do I know?
Career wise, Johnson now has 40 wins in 255 starts, while Yarborough had 83 in 560. Of course Yarborough was dueling with the likes of Richard Petty, David Pearson (the most-underrated auto racer of any era), Bobby Allison and Buddy Baker for the prime of his career, and later the likes of Darrell Waltrip and Dale Earnhardt. Now let’s see if Jimmie can do it next year.
21. Wake Forest
*It’s not even going to be fair this year. The Tar Heels will roll. I’m thinking one regular season loss, max. But then imagine the pressure on them in the tourney. Separately, I’m gaining confidence Wake could be a real Elite Eight type of sleeper.
I’m also liking Siena to make some noise, while obviously Davidson is a media favorite.
And the rich get richer. In the early signing game for next year, North Carolina was ranked first with five top-100 players, four in the top 50. [Texas was No. 2 and Villanova No. 3.] Surprisingly, the top six ranked high school seniors have yet to sign.
10. Texas A&M
–Last Thursday, I went to Hong Kong Disneyland mainly just to see what kind of crowd was there amidst these troubling economic times, and I knew this version didn’t have the rides that Disneyland and Disney World have. So as I was walking around I saw Space Mountain and decided to check it out. Let’s just say I have never been on a rollercoaster in my life [I’ve been to Hizbullah territory, but you’ll never get me on a rollercoaster] and as I entered the line I saw the sign that this was a dangerous ride and it was then it hit me, ‘Hey, this is the one where someone died at Disneyland a while back.’ Needless to say with the first rush I thought I was going to die and after the first 20 seconds, or so it seemed, I decided to just close my eyes until it was over. It’s probably only 3 minutes, total, but I thought for sure I’d go flying or hit my head. The funny thing at the end is they take your picture during the ride and there I was…eyes closed…holding on for dear life.
The rest of my time at the park, I satisfied myself with having my picture taken with Minnie Mouse and reaching Ranger First Class in the Buzz Lightyear laser ride. [OK, Ranger First Class is one level above the bottom, so even here I was embarrassed.]
Friday, I went to Macau for another economy check, and a delicious lunch at the Grand Casino Lisboa. This place has changed big time since I was first there, the Lisboa that is. The hookers are gone, or they weren’t as open as they were before, and at lunch I’m staring at this beautiful painting and I asked the waiter, “Is that a Gainsborough?” “It could be,” he said. I looked at it closely later and couldn’t tell. But that just gives you a sense of the opulence of Macau, though the global bust has hit it hard, too, and just the day before Sheldon Adelson laid off 11,000 construction workers at his massive Las Vegas Sands project there.
Saturday, I had to write that other column I do and then I partied allllll night, meeting a delightful South African gentleman and a Scotsman in two different bars. I started with San Miguel and switched to Heineken. Also enjoyed the Liverpool-Bolton match at one of the establishments. Nothing better than a good Premier League game and a pint.
–This was a big story in Asia. “Man mauled to death” by three white tigers at the Singapore Zoo. Sadly, the fellow was a bit disturbed and “leapt into the moat of the white tiger exhibit and was attacked.” I’m assuming the tigers won’t be disciplined.
–In China a new law goes into effect next year against lip-synching. “Professional performers who cheat their audiences by lip-synching or pretending to play their instruments at ‘live’ shows are likely to face stiff penalties.” So much for Milli Vanilli making a comeback there.
–Gordon Cleaver was honored in Hong Kong upon his passing at the age of 75. It seems it was back on September 9, 1953, when Cleaver, a seaman in the Royal Navy, joined 10 others aboard a motor launch for a routine patrol of Hong Kong’s waters. It was a time of tense relations between Hong Kong and the mainland and Chinese vessels had been firing on British vessels prior to this day.
So Cleaver and his fellow seamen are cruising around when they suddenly come under fire from a Chinese boat. “A shell smashed into the bridge, severing (the captain’s) legs above the knees, smashing his right arm and blowing off his right hand” and within minutes six were dead, and five injured, with a fire raging on board. Somehow Cleaver, who was hurt himself, took control of the launch and got the remainder to safety. The Chinese later admitted their mistake and executed the captain. And so we toast the life of Gordon Cleaver.
–Good gawd…Fred Aun of the Star-Ledger here in New Jersey reports that between Sept. 21 and Oct. 20, the Black Bear Unit of the Division of Fish and Wildlife received 217 calls about bears behaving badly. This compares to only 61 calls for the same period in 2007. Mr. Aun is urging hunters to beware.
That’s it for now. Back to normal on Thursday. I’ll also catch up on your mail by then.
