The Calgary Stampede

*Next BC…Monday, July 20

[Posted Sunday evening from Calgary, Canada]

Baseball Quiz: Name the four active players, both leagues, who came into the season with .320 career batting averages, minimum 3,000 at bats. Answer below.

 

So I arrived in Calgary on Tuesday night, much later than I should have, like by eight hours due to missing a flight connection and a pit stop in Shreveport, La., because my first plane was running low on fuel, always comforting…not! Plus if Sully isn’t your captain these days, flying just isn’t the sure thing it seemed to be before this recent stretch of godawful incidents, going back to the Buffalo crash with a bunch of pilots fresh out of a B-movie. But I digress.

 

I’m in town for the Calgary Stampede, which bills itself as “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth!” So how to describe it to those of you who haven’t been…assuming that’s most of you?

 

Well, for starters it’s ten days, in this case July 3-12, and picture your favorite state fair (I went to Iowa’s two summers ago) and tack on one of the world’s biggest rodeos. Plus add a big music hall called Nashville North that I’m not aware too many state fairs have, where you have solid acts like Joe Diffie, and then next door is the Saddledome for the really big concerts, plus a separate grandstand (with individual seats!) for 20,000 that is packed the entire time. Everything else, then, is the same, with the giant midway, food stands, Budweiser beer area, livestock halls, convention area filled with guys selling nick-knacks, a la Billy Mays, and on and on and on. The Stampede is big, and what made it great for me was that it was an easy 15-minute walk from my hotel, which in turn was next to the big party area in town, Stephen Ave. Yes, if you want to get in trouble, you can…but you don’t have to worry about driving.

 

Speaking of trouble…as in beer…I was well-behaved these past five+ days and I won’t be making any local papers, let alone society pages, but I do have to note, you know how the biggest problem at your local watering holes is whether they serve Miller Lite or Coors Light, because seldom do they have both?

 

Here in Calgary, I was sitting at a bar on Saturday when it hit me. I had drunk nine different beers here. I mean normally I go to a place and stick with the local brew, like Efes in Turkey, all the way through, but every single establishment I went to seemed to have different beers…and this can cause quite a problem for the ol’ system, if you catch my drift. I mean we’re all friends here, and adults (seemingly), but there were times my stomach was going, “What the heck are you doing to me?” “Hey, it’s not like you’re paying for all this, so keep quiet.”

 

Let’s see…Bud, Bud Light, Coors Light, Kokanee, Alexander Keith’s, Pacifico, Stella Artois, Molson, McNally’s, and Miller Lite.

 

Good lord, that’s ten! Thankfully, most of the time it was Kokanee (a terrific brew from Creston, British Columbia), and Alexander Keith’s, which is what the hotel bar serves, and, err, that’s kind of where I finished each day.

 

But that’s it for the beer…for at least one paragraph. Now where was I? Oh yeah, The Stampede.

 

So on Wednesday afternoon I caught the rodeo. The rodeo runs each day until you get to the finals the last one, so in between you’re watching heats that lead up to the climax. Say eight heats, best 8 of 24, or 36, then advancing, but with money won at each stage, like $1,500 to $4,500…with $100,000 to the winner of the final showdown. It’s big stuff, in other words, for these cowboys.

 

And as I ramble on, let me digress and say part of the show is the announcers. I can listen to these guys all day…as long as Kokanee is available. I mean to tell ya, they have those rich, deep voices any radio guy would die for and they know their stuff. They really do help make it fun…and the sessions go quickly. [Not real keen on the rodeo clown, however. But everyone else seemed to like him so I guess that’s a Calgary thing.]

 

Now I had never been to a rodeo before but now I’m tempted to go to Houston some time, which I’m told is No. 1 and Calgary No. 2, probably because of the prize money. But then Houston doesn’t have all the other stuff going on around it, in one place, like Calgary does.

 

Anyway, I saw my first tie-down roping, steer wrestling, bareback riding, barrel racing, and bull riding, for starters. Geezuz, these guys and gals are fantastic and put on one helluva show.

 

Like I saw a guy whose name I had heard of before, Trevor Brazile of Decatur, TX, tie a record for catching and roping a calf in 6.5 seconds. They are so incredibly fast and it turns out Trevor gives a lot of credit to his wife. Why? Well, she knows the sport, being the daughter of Roy Cooper, Super Looper, who won the world calf roping championship eight times, and Calgary four. [Girls, wow your guy with that one.]

 

Then you had the steer wrestling, where Dean Gorsuch of Gering, Nebraska (I bring this up because my brother and I drank a few beers there last fall…it being near Scottsbluff National Monument) wrestled his steer down in 3.8 seconds!

 

I also was astounded by the bareback and bull riding and the pounding these guys take. This is dangerous stuff, sports fans.

 

But back to the tie down competition, this is where the calf is released from one gate and the guy and his horse are released from another, whereupon he leaps onto the calf and ropes it (in about 7 seconds), so obviously the horse has to be real good, too…as in it has terrific acceleration. But one poor fellow caught a leg when leaping off his horse, onto the calf, and ripped his knee to shreds, it seemed. At least that’s what the booming announcer told us all. “He done ripped his knee to shreds. Watch the replay.” Ouch!

 

So get this. The next day, Thursday, during the steer wrestling (I wasn’t there), Joey Bell Jr., “wrestled his steer to the ground with fatal results.”

 

“Bell did not want to comment further…after talking about the incident Thursday.

 

“The animal was carried off the infield and euthanized later when it was discovered it had suffered a severe spinal injury as Bell took it to the turf.”

 

Why Joey done gone and killed the thing! Good god! As reporter Steve Macfarlane of the Calgary Sun wrote, “Those who already dislike rodeo look at the third death this week as an example of animal cruelty. Two chuckwagon horses have died [make that three, I later found out] and the steer was the first rodeo fatality.”

 

But as one pro “bulldogger” Greg LeDoux insisted, he had never seen a steer killed like that. I know one thing…if you see Joey Bell Jr. in a bar and he wants the empty seat, I’d give it to him, know what I’m sayin’? [Brock Lesnar didn’t kill a steer, for example.]

 

As for the aforementioned horses in the chuckwagon races, this is an event I attended Thursday night. The chuckwagons have their own evening, each night of The Stampede, until it gets whittled down from 36 drivers to 8, for the semis, and then the final four for the big prize.

 

It’s great stuff. Nine races of four… “The half-mile of hell,” as they call it. Each driver has a team of four horses, and then four outriders. Each of the four teams then starts out by doing a figure eight around two barrels before hitting the track for the one lap around the oval and points are deducted for hitting a barrel, including if the four outriders hit one as well. In the old days, incidentally, the race didn’t end until the chuckwagon driver and team started a fire! That must’ve been funny.

 

Of course the key is to keep the four horses under control, waiting for the klaxon, or horn, to sound…then its bedlam, especially with the four outriders (16 in all) running around, having to do the same figure eight or they cost their driver, who is employing them, precious seconds in penalties. A good time for a lap is 1:16.

 

The outrider horses are all thoroughbreds as well and there are rules, such as they all much finish within about 100 feet of their wagon, but not ahead. It’s just very cool. But, alas, three of these same horses were later put down because of heart attacks. They only run one race a night (the same 16 outriders generally run as many as nine), but for some of the horses, a hard half-mile on consecutive days is too much.

 

So chuckwagon races were my big deal on Thursday. I also did some museum hopping, and checked out the scene on the strip, which leads me to Friday.

 

On Friday night, following my normal slate of work, I headed to the Saddledome, where the Calgary Flames play their games, for Kenny Chesney. The Stampede had drawn other artists such as Taylor Swift, Reba McEntire and George Strait, but as one reviewer put it the next night, “Chesney is probably the one who best captures the Wild West spirit of the city’s annual 10-day event.” Personally, I thought the guy was terrific.

 

And as Lisa Wilton wrote in the Calgary Sun:

 

“Chesney’s just a good ol’ boy, never meanin’ no harm.

 

“You get the impression that as much he revels in the spotlight, he would just as soon be cracking a cold one at a backyard barbecue.

 

“This laid-back demeanor is a big part of Chesney’s appeal to country music fans….

 

“He plays what he wants and you’re welcome to join the party, and if you don’t like it, well, there’s the exit.”

 

No complaints from where I was sitting as we were on our feet with the first beat and stayed there the whole time. And it helps that Chesney’s songs are mostly about boozy excess, seeing as how by the time he came onstage Friday night, most had achieved that level…having partied at The Stampede the whole day.

 

“Chesney’s been described more than once as the country music version of Jimmy Buffett, mostly because both artists have a penchant for uncomplicated, fun music and good-natured live shows.

 

“Chesney’s music is about as deep as a puddle, but it offers escapism.”

 

By the way, Jake Owen opened and he was good.

 

But here’s the real story. Notice how your editor has conveniently omitted any discussion of the women at The Stampede…until now. Recognizing I’m about to offend a few of my female readers (which make up about 50%, guys), all I can ask, girls, is for your forgiveness. As in, if Obama and French President Sarkozy thought that 17-year-old Brazilian girl was worth giving the once over, they haven’t been to Calgary.

 

Goodness gracious! Let me attempt to describe the scene, by way of the Kenny Chesney concert. I purchased my seat back in November when I made plans to come here, and it was a good one. Picture the hockey arena…I was in the first row for a hockey game, across from the goal crease, with the floor seating in front of me. As it turned out, everyone had to walk by me to get to their floor seat and I was reminded, time and time again, of a line from the great announcer Jack Buck. “I don’t believe what I have just seen!” 

 

[Though I behaved myself far better than Sarkozy. Don’t worry, girls. I knew I was representing both my country and New Jersey.]

 

Now picture I was sitting on the aisle and there was a nice local couple next to me, and the three of us stood up at one point to let a woman in who was sitting next to the couple. Let’s just say she left nothing to the imagination and leave it at that…shall we? I turned to the guy and asked, “Is it like this every year?” “You betcha.”

 

Now I swear to you I haven’t checked this out yet myself, but there is a Website from one of the papers where you can “Check out our Girls of Stampede photo gallery.” Calgarysun.com.

 

[OK…just thought I better check it out to make sure it’s legit. You have to do some scouting around but it’s there.]

 

Understand the weather isn’t particularly warm, like around 70 in the afternoons, but that doesn’t stop the girls from donning their outfits. For his sake, Barack better hope there isn’t a G-8 in Calgary anytime soon, because Michelle is liable to clock him (if she hasn’t already).

 

OK, enough on that topic. Let’s talk cost…as in The Stampede is a gigantic money maker.

 

The crowds have been averaging about 120,000 a day, and it costs $14C (basically one-to-one with the dollar…let’s not be too picky about it…like at the hotel I receive $105 Canadian for $100 U.S., after commission, a slight rip-off). Kenny Chesney was $150!   I talked to some folks that night in the hotel bar who were there and they complained. “The show was great…but $150?!” Well, he sold the place out…he sells out everywhere …so he can get away with it.

 

For the rodeo, most like myself buy two-day packages. You get an afternoon session and an evening one…the rodeo one day and the chuckwagon races the other. Cost? $250! It begins to add up, and I’m staying at a nice hotel which of course jacks rates way up for this week. Tisn’t cheap, and I had a much higher net worth when I made these plans than I do today, that’s for sure. Plus beer is generally $7 regardless of where you get it. Seriously, being able to walk was a big money saver as I’ve gone down there four days, including today, Sunday.

 

Some final notes. On Saturday I went up the Calgary Tower, which is right outside my hotel. Some of you will remember it from the Olympics here in ’88. Very cool. But they have the glass walk-out section, like you’ve seen they introduced at the Sears Tower in Chicago. No freakin’ way for me. I’ll walk through slums in Istanbul before you get me doing that stuff.

 

And I also went to a very impressive military museum, honoring Canada’s participation in various conflicts. I met the coolest people, all Vets, and as I was the first one in was treated like a king. You know how sometimes you just connect with a stranger? That’s the way I felt with Keith and Ernie.

 

Canada’s military has been much-maligned over the years and it pisses me off. I bring the topic up from time to time in that other column I write because Americans have zero appreciation for the tremendous sacrifices Canada has borne over the past century.

 

One thing this museum did was remind even me of Canada’s role in the Battle of Britain, for example. Heck, the Royal Canadian Air Force was alongside the Royal Air Force in that one. 1733 German planes shot down, 915 RAF and RCAF. Victory to the Good Guys, whereupon Churchill famously said…all together now:

 

 

And did you know that in World War II, over 10,000 Canadian bomber crew members gave their lives? 14,500 in the Canadian Air Force over all. I came upon this little theater in the Air Force section, saw there was a film, was tired (I spent three hours at the museum, it was that good) and I thought, ‘Might as well rest the feet and catch the flick.’

 

Holy cow…talk about moving. It was another moment where I was glad I was alone…and had a Kleenex.

 

I’ll have far more to say about this particular experience, but I’m saving it for my next “Week in Review.” You might want to check it out. I’ll tell you about Ernie Bagstad…my new best friend, and hero.

 

Lastly, in the museum’s World War II sections, they played Vera Lynn music in the background. Nothing better than that, period.

 

This morning, Sunday, I hit the Calgary Zoo. I’ve been to as many in the world as anyone and I give this one an A. I even learned something. I didn’t realize there is a difference between a wood bison and a plains bison. A wood bison is bigger, as in it can get to 8-feet tall. Now these are rare these days, but picture walking through the woods and coming across one of these monsters. I had also never seen a tree kangaroo before, not even in Australia. [Or I forgot.] Very cool animal. Plus the zoo had a monster grizzly that was moving around for us folks, as opposed to the lazy ones you see at most such places, if you can find them at all.

 

After the zoo it was back to The Stampede, where I chatted up some Canadian military personnel at their exhibit. Great looking guys and girls; just like ours. Americans and Canadians have a lot to be proud of these days.

 

Finally, for dinner I hit the Metropolitan Grill (8th Ave. location).  Now I can’t exactly talk about why I went here, but let’s just say I heard the scenery was good. Granted, it was Sunday night and it was slow, but thanks to Brendan and Trang for treating me so well. [Trang has some beauty secrets she should share with the world.]

 

 

–I’ve been reading three Canadian newspapers every day and all the sports talk up here is what Toronto will do with superstar pitcher Roy Halladay, who becomes a free agent following the 2010 season, and it’s felt the club will trade him now for maximum value. Halladay is owed $15.75 million next year and Toronto’s management can’t afford him. As Jays catcher Michael Barrett (now in AAA) put it, while last year’s Cy Young Award winner Jake Peavy, who Barrett caught, “thinks seven innings and lots of strikeouts, Roy’s thinking complete game.” So where does Roy end up as the July 31 trade deadline draws closer?

 

[Meanwhile, the Blue Jays were forced to release underperforming reliever B.J. Ryan, even though they still owe him the remainder of his $12-million 2009 salary and another $10-million next year. Talk about getting hosed, mused your editor.]

 

–With all the talk about whether the U.S. should put the polar bear on the endangered species list, it’s interesting to note that the Canadian government did not, ruling this week that it’s not as big a crisis as some make it out to be. There are said to be 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears in the world, of which 2/3s live in Canada.

 

–The other day some Canadian fishermen hauled in a 328-pound halibut, which wasn’t close to a record but you should have seen a picture of the crew with the catch. It towered over them. Anyway, unfortunately they didn’t earn a financial windfall, either, because bigger fish are deemed to be poorer quality.  I just found it interesting that a 50-pounder goes for $3 a pound, while anything above 126 pounds goes for $1.50. So let that be a lesson to you, boys and girls.

 

—1969 Mets, continued…we pick up our story with the team at 47-35, 4 ½ back of the Cubs.

 

July 11…home against Montreal, lose 11-4, as Mack Jones (No. 15) and Bobby Wine (No. 1) homer for the Expos, while starter Jim McAndrew (2-3) gets shelled, along with Danny Frisella and Jack DiLauro. Art Shamsky hits No. 6 for the Metsies.

 

July 13…first of two vs. Montreal, Mets win 4-3, as Jerry Koosman (7-5) goes all the way and Ed Kranepool drives in two. 

 

July 13…Mets take the nightcap, 9-7, with Cal Koonce (3-3) picking up the win and Ron Taylor save No. 7. Tommie Agee has 3 hits and 4 RBI, including two homers, No. 14 and 15. Dan McGinn (4-9) takes the loss while Rusty Staub hits homer No. 11 and drives in 4 for Montreal. The expansion Expos are now 27-61.

 

July 14…Mets resume rivalry with Chicago, this time at Wrigley, and lose, 1-0, as Bill Hands (11-7) and Phil Regan (save No. 9) outduel Tom Seaver (14-4).

 

July 15…Mets beat the Cubs, 5-4, with Gary Gentry (9-7) getting the win and Ron Taylor another save, No. 8. Dick Selma (9-4) takes the loss for Chicago. One again, the hitting star for the Mets is Al Weis, who hits his first homer of the year, a 3-run shot, while Ken Boswell hits home run No. 3. For the Cubs, Ron Santo clubs No. 19 and Billy Williams hits his 10th, but Santo now has 80 RBI in 93 games.

 

July 16…as a kid I vividly remember listening to these games on the radio and New York makes it two of three as they defeat the Cubs, 9-5. Cal Koonce (4-3) gets the win with five innings of scoreless relief, and Ron Taylor pitches the last two for save No. 9; this after starter Don Cardwell was shelled. The Mets jumped off to a 6-0 lead in the second off Fergie Jenkins (12-7), but the Cubs had cut it to 6-5 after three. Art Shamsky had 3 hits and 2 RBI, while J.C. Martin drove in 2, with Shamsky (No. 7), Tommie Agee (No. 16), and, once again, Al Weis (No. 2) homering. 

 

The reason why Weis is playing these two weeks against the Cubs is because Bud Harrelson was off on a 2-week summer reserve hitch. Remember when some of the younger players had to do this during Vietnam? Tug McGraw was also taking a hitch, as did Nolan Ryan, among others that year. Weis had 9 RBI in the six games vs. the Cubs over this two-week period, and only had 23 RBI for the entire season.

 

So the Mets are now 51-37, and 4 games behind the Cubs who are 58-36. But New York is about to stumble. I can feel it. I know these guys.

 

–Shu, I forgot to tell you that I did eat at Pappadeaux’s in the Houston Airport, thanks to my lengthy delay. Truly delicious. As was the Shiner Bock. And in the Sunday Calgary Herald, there is an article titled “In Search of the Perfect Burger,” Alberta, Canada style. Oh baby. Between the perfect burger and the perfect pulled pork barbecue, it doesn’t get any better than that. [OK…maybe the Metropolitan Grill and The Stampede, but I said I’d behave.]

 

–In a fan survey of all 122 professional sports franchises – NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL – the top five best arenas or stadiums to watch a game were:

 

1. Minnesota Wild

2. San Francisco Giants

3. Green Bay Packers

4. Pittsburgh Pirates

5. Seattle Seahawks

 

“Players love St. Paul’s Xcel Center because it has the best sheet in the NHL. Fans love it too: It’s a shrine to the State of Hockey (the sweater of every high school team in the state is displayed); former immortals drop by (“I once used the urinal next to Phil Housely”); and after the anthem a celeb announces to the crowd “Let’s…Play…Hockey!!!” Xcellent.”

 

Worst…

 

118. Minnesota Vikings

119. New Jersey Nets…I concur

120. Florida Marlins

121. Oakland Athletics

122. New York Islanders…incredible they survive. Ownership treats the fans like crap

 

Cheapest (and most expensive) beers in sports [per ounce]

 

1. Pittsburgh Pirates…$4.75 (21 oz.)

2. Pittsburgh Penguins…$5.25 (21)

3. New Orleans Saints…$6.00 (24)

4. Denver Nuggets…$6.25 (24)

5. Miami Heat…$5.50 (21)

 

117. New Jersey Nets…$7.75 (16)

118. New York Jets…$7.75 (16)

119. New York Giants…$7.75 (16)

120. New York Yankees…$6.00 (12)

121. Nashville Predators…$6.75 (12)

122. Boston Red Sox…$7.25 (12)

 

Back to the Pirates…$4.75 for 21 ounces? Are you kidding me?!

 

–I commented the other day in another column I write that here in Calgary, on Wednesday we had some storms roll in in the afternoon and I didn’t realize until the next day that some tornadoes had touched down in the area. So how about the two American tourists who bit the dust the other day in Ontario after “a tornado uprooted two cabins and dropped the buildings into a northwestern Ontario lake.” Boy that would be a crummy way to go. One local said he had been living near Ear Falls, where the twister hit, for 50 years and “never, ever in my life, seen a tornado near here.”

 

–For the archives, I have to get down some events that occurred since the last chat.

 

Like former U.S. figure skating champion Nicole Bobek being charged with participating in a drug ring centered in New Jersey. She was cute, but didn’t realize she was such a bad girl. Just another life lesson learned…not that I would know from personal experience, not having dated any women who later ended up in a federal penitentiary.

 

–And I have to make note of the bull, Capuchino, who was thought to be undersized and harmless, but nonetheless found himself in the Bull Hall of Fame for goring a man to death during the running of the bulls at Pamplona. 

 

–Yes! Entourage is back. I’ll have to catch episode one On Demand, however.

 

–And we note the passing of former Paul Revere and The Raiders lead guitarist Drake Levin.

 

Top 3 songs for the week 7/16/77: #1 “Da Doo Ron Ron” (Shaun Cassidy) #2 “Looks Like We Made It” (Barry Manilow) #3 “Undercover Angel” (Alan O’Day)…and…#4 “I Just Want To Be Your Everything” (Andy Gibb) #5 “I’m In You” (Peter Frampton) #6 “Angel In Your Arms” (Hot) #7 “My Heart Belongs To Me” (Barbra Streisand…whatever you say, Babs) #8 “Jet Airliner” (The Steve Miller Band) #9 “Margaritaville” (Jimmy Buffett) #10 “Do You Wanna Make Love” (Peter McCann)

 

Baseball Quiz Answer: Four active players batting .320, career, entering 2009. Albert Pujols, .334; Ichiro, .331; Todd Helton, .328; Vladimir Guerrero, .323

 

Next Bar Chat, Monday, July 20….then back on regular schedule.