Soupy Sales

College Football Quiz, passing: 1) Who holds the record for TD passes in a game with 11? 2) Who holds the record for TD passes in a season with 58? [Not the same as No. 1] 3) Who holds both the freshman and sophomore records for TD passes? Answers below. [All three are name players for their period.] Bonus question: Who holds the record for receptions over three years, initials H.T.? [Again, not an obscure player, but think \’60s.] 

College Football Review [following written before BCS poll, which I do have below…it\’s about time constraints on Sundays.]

One thing is clear…this has not been a good year thus far for the sport. Very few great games in terms of two stellar teams matching up and then performing well, that kind of thing, and as the Daily News’ Mike Lupica notes, if you believe as he does that the SEC is vastly overrated, yet still has the best team in the country (in his mind, Alabama) with USC really being second best, then that kind of says it all. 

I feel like I’ve watched a lot of Florida this year and I’ve been underwhelmed, though, like Alabama, they find a way to win. And look at ‘Bama’s win on Saturday against Tennessee…special teams, baby…special teams. 

Meanwhile, undefeated Iowa did have a stirring last drive to edge Michigan State, 15-13, but Michigan State sucks so what does that really say about Iowa? 

One of the teams that does deserve attention, however, is TCU, which demolished a solid BYU squad, 38-7. 

And then you have Cincinnati. They defeated a lousy Louisville team, 24-10, but didn’t have their starting quarterback, Tony Pike. What’s interesting is that on Oct. 4, Cincinnati passed Ohio State in the AP poll for the first time since 1951! As the Wall Street Journal pointed out, there is indeed a real changing of the guard in Ohio, but can Cincy hold on to coach Brian Kelly? 

As for Boise State, which thrashed Hawaii 54-9, they don’t stand a chance moving up further in the BCS poll and Idaho didn’t help them. The “Vandals” (win a beer with that one) were having a great year, 6-1, with the only loss being to Washington (which in turn had defeated USC), so the upcoming Boise State-Idaho contest at least was going to give BS some points on the competition scale, but then Idaho lost to Nevada, 70-45! Good lord. Nevada had 484 yards rushing, 9 yards per carry! Anyway, Boise State will be undefeated and playing in a BCS bowl game (maybe, because it’s between TCU and BS for a slot), but no thought of a national championship. 

Other games…Clemson is tough, the best 4-3 team in the land, and it defeated No. 10 Miami in OT, 40-37, as future NFL star running back C.J. Spiller had a spectacular game with over 300 yards of total offense (310 to exact). And Pitt continued its winning ways, with freshman Dion Lewis now up to 1,029 yards rushing in 8 games, Lewis having 111 in Pitt’s 41-14 dismantling of South Florida, the latter with the outstanding cheerleaders. 

And in Div. I-AA, look at mighty Elon, 6-1, with its only loss to Wake Forest. Elon and Appalachian State are both 4-0 in the Southern Conference and face each other on Nov. 14 in what should be a super contest. Buddy Phil W. was back in Boone for App State’s game on Saturday vs. Georgia Southern and texted me at half that superstar QB Armanti Edwards was 25-32 for 315 yards and 3 TDs, plus 60 yards rushing….all in the first 30 minutes! [He played sparingly in the second half due to a blowout.] 

As for the aforementioned Wake Forest Demon Deacons, we lost to Navy 13-10. Chris K. was on the sidelines, standing in the worst weather he had ever experienced for a football game, and said the Deacs\’ offensive line was truly pitiful, manhandled again by Navy, now 6-2. What a great program the Midshipmen have. Competitive every year. 

Which is all us Wake alums wanted with our own squad. Yes, as fellow classmate Phil W. said, we’ve been spoiled…11-3, 9-4, 8-5 last three seasons when all any of us really hope for is to go 5-7 every year, with a 7-5 and a bowl game thrown in every four seasons, while being competitive in most contests. That’s all you should expect from a little school like Wake. So we overachieved for three years, but now we’re coming down to earth, and the Riley Skinner Era is ending with a whimper. Oh well, there’s always Wake soccer. 

But Phil W. also couldn’t help but say, hey, while we’ve had a good run, look at Carolina. The biggest mystery in the state is why North Carolina can’t put together a good football program. They’re terrific in every other sport…basketball, baseball, soccer. [UNC, now 4-3, lost to Florida State at home.] 

A few other notes. One team that could deserve a solid bowl game is Central Michigan, now 7-1 with the only loss being 19-6 to a ranked Arizona squad. Quarterback Dan LeFevour has had a helluva career and the senior is NFL bound. At 6’3” 238, LeFevour can not only pass, but on Saturday he rushed for 128 yards in the Chippewas’ 24-10 win over Bowling Green. 

Colgate gets its final mention in Bar Chat after suffering its first loss to Holy Cross, 42-28. Sorry, Pete M. Can’t imagine your Red Raiders are still ranked after this one. This gives you more time to work on your Connecticut home, though, and train for the Kiawah race.

And finally, with Oregon’s 43-19 win at Washington State and USC hanging on to defeat Oregon State 42-36, that sets up a great game for the Pac-10 title next Saturday in Eugene with your editor among the pumped up Ducks fans. Got my Oregon gear already…and should be a fun time, regardless of the result, afterwards, it being Halloween! [Then again, I may be way too old for the crowd I could be running into that evening. Do you think I should dress up as a Mets fan? Chicks dig the long ball, after all, but then I can’t be a Mets fan because we didn’t hit any home runs this year!] 

But the all-important new BCS Poll…. 

1. Florida
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Iowa
5. USC…up two
6. TCU…up two
7. Boise State…down three…it\’s over
8. Cincinnati
9. LSU
10. Oregon

If USC wins out, they\’re in the national title game.  Guaranteed.  Texas will stumble, Iowa will fall due to its remaining competition, as will Alabama-Florida SEC title game loser.  Then again, there\’s Alabama-LSU coming up, 11/7.

Sporting News’ midseason All-American team had Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen as the quarterback, with Alabama’s Mark Ingram and Stanford’s Toby Gerhart in the backfield. 

But what a weak Heisman watch when all of us thought it would be a super race between QBs Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford and Colt McCoy. As of today it appears Tebow will get it again simply because no one else really stands out. 

[Sam Bradford, who reinjured his throwing shoulder, has now opted to have surgery and go for the April NFL draft.  I actually thought he\’d have the surgery and return for his senior year because what team will take a shot at him now?  For you casual fans, this is a guy who could easily have been the overall No. 1 pick had he gone out early last spring.]

“Saturday, veteran ESPN/ABC college football analyst Bob Griese did what any rookie sports announcer should know is absolutely forbidden in sports television: Refer to race or ethnicity. 

“During ABC’s Ohio State-Minnesota football game, there was an on-air promotion for the network’s NASCAR coverage Sunday. That led to a reference to Colombian driver Juan Pablo Montoya not being among the top five in the NASCAR standings. Which led to Griese saying Montoya isn’t in that top five because ‘he’s out having a taco.’” 

Editorial / New York Post 

“Long before ‘Saturday Night Live,’ ‘The Daily Show,’ and David Letterman, there was Soupy Sales – the hippest show on television. 

“For those of the Baby Boomer generation, and especially New Yorkers, Soupy Sales – who died Thursday at 83 – was the original must-see TV during the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. 

“Ostensibly, ‘The Soupy Sales Show’ was a children’s program, what with its animal characters (Pookie the Lion, White Fang, Black Tooth), bad puns, pratfall sketches (Philo Kvetch) and the inevitable pie-in-the-face routine. 

“But his audience quickly outgrew the adolescent set, and he attracted a large older following drawn to his freewheeling, largely improvised program and everyone’s-in-on-the-joke style. 

“Before long, some of the biggest names in show business – including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Shirley MacLaine – were lining up to appear on the show, hoping to take one in the face from Soupy. 

“On New Year’s Day 1965, needing to fill a minute before the end of his live program, Sales improvised a bit in which he told his young viewers to reach into their sleeping parents’ wallets and send him ‘those little green pieces of paper.’ 

“When an outraged parent complained, Channel 5 suspended him for a week. But his viewers had gotten the joke from the start – and, far from hurting him, the incident only enhanced his reputation. 

He was born Milton Supman on Jan. 28, 1926, in the North Carolina hamlet of Franklinton. The Supmans were the only Jews in town. Sales’ father ran a dry goods store that sold sheets to the Ku Klux Klan, among other things. 

The family name was often mispronounced as “Soupman” and eventually Milton became “Soupy.” 

His father died when he was five and the family moved to Huntington, W. Va., with Soupy attending Marshall College following World War II, where Soupy participated in the invasion of Okinawa and also managed to entertain his crew mates with routines on the ship’s PA system. [Oh, to have a tape of those.] 

By 1953, Soupy, whose last name had been changed to Hines, but then a Cleveland station manager thought it would be confused with the sponsor Heinz, and, well, it became Sales…but I digress…Soupy launched a daily live children’s show on Detroit’s WXYZ-TV. 

In 1955, ABC picked it up and Soupy became Detroit’s top-rated daytime television personality. Then Soupy moved to L.A., and finally New York. A survey at the time revealed that a full third of Sales’ fans consisted of adults. His signature pie throwing led to some hosting pie-lobbing parties. 

As the L.A. Times’ Elaine Woo notes, one day Frank Sinatra called. “Hey, Soupy, it’s Frank. I want to come on your show on one condition: I get hit with a pie.” Sales was happy to oblige. Aside from Sammy and Shirley, Tony Curtis, Mickey Rooney, Dick Martin, and Burt Lancaster were among the others who lined up to be abused. [Soupy said shaving cream was the best implement.] 

As for the New Year’s Day 1965 story, there’s a little more to it. Soupy was pissed he had to work that day and thus the reason for his ornery behavior at the end when he was told he had a minute to fill. In return for the kids taking money from their parents, Soupy said he would send them “a postcard from Puerto Rico.” 

It seems Soupy, though, had used the same joke in Detroit and Los Angeles, but this time the prank brought in $80,000 ‘in Monopoly money’ as well as the complaint from a viewer that was filed with the FCC. So Soupy was suspended, but then the station’s switchboard was flooded, mostly with high school and college kids demanding their favorite show be put back on. Within a week, it was. 

In the mid-1980s, Soupy hosted a radio program on WNBC in New York, sandwiched between Don Imus and Howard Stern. Alas, this didn’t go that well. What was hip for Soupy in the ‘60s wasn’t the same with the likes of Imus and Stern and the two used to savage him, as Jeff B. reminded me. I recall this period and I listened to Soupy as much as the other two. It was basically the end of the road for him, aside from a movie role or two, but for those of us of a certain age he’ll always be remembered fondly. There are few real originals in the entertainment business and Soupy Sales was indeed in that category. 

–Mike Vaccaro / New York Post…on umpires 

“So I wanted to find out where the term ‘kill the umpire!’ came from, and I checked out various on-line data bases, and I Googled the term, and I checked out what they might have on Wikipedia, and I asked my bartender, and here’s what I came up with: 

“Much like the story of creation, in which God invents the heavens and the earth, stands back, studies his work, and instantly declares everything ‘good,’ the time lapse between the invention of the position of umpire and the first fan to scream ‘KILL THE UMPIRE!’ was anywhere between three and seven seconds, depending on the acoustics of whatever ballpark they were in. 

“Further research shows that the first time the phrase was altered to its more familiar and advanced phase – I  #$%@ing hope you #$#@ing die a slow, painful death you #$@#ing blind-as-a-bat #$#@#$#@!!!’ – occurred during the very first game, as soon as everyone discovered they were playing in Hoboken, N.J., and thus employed a somewhat more colorful version of the King’s English.” 

–So you know how some are calling the Mets new ballpark “S—ty Field” because there are already structural issues? Now we’ve learned that the new $1.5 billion Yankee Stadium has cracks in the concrete ramps and an investigation is underway to determine if the owners of a company involved in designing the concrete mix messed with the stadium; said firm currently under indictment on charges that they either faked or failed to perform some required tests on other projects. 

–And now…your NBA Predictions for 2009-2010! 

Sporting News goes with the Lakers over the Cavaliers in the Finals.
Sports Illustrated has the Celtics over the Lakers.

–Boy, that is some looker disgraced ESPN broadcaster Steve Phillips was messing around with, eh? Well, not quite, but I really don’t want to say much else because even I’m scared of the girl, know what I’m sayin’? 

As for Phillips, he truly is one of the great dirtballs of our time. A serial adulterer who doesn’t even have good tastes, from looking at the others he’s been around. 

“I am deeply sorry that I have put my family and colleagues through this,” Phillips said in a statement as he sought a large hole to crawl into. 

Bob Raissman / New York Daily News 

“Back in July of 1997, when Joe McIlvaine was given the boot as Mets GM, Fred Wilpon would praise his successor, Steve Phillips, as a man with a variety of valuable ‘skill sets.’…. 

“Sixteen months later, Wilpon would discover Phillips also had ‘skill sets’ matching those of a man inclined to cheat on his wife. At the time, Phillips released a bizarre statement admitting to ‘consensual sexual relationships,’ including one with a former receptionist in the Mets’ Port S. Lucie office who was threatening a sexual harassment lawsuit. 

“Phillips entered therapy for a couple of weeks and was back at his desk shortly thereafter – a remarkable ‘recovery’ for this man with an amazing set of skills.” 

–Have you seen the soap opera that is playing out in Los Angeles involving Dodgers owner Frank McCourt and his wife, Jamie, who is the team’s chief executive? Make that was the chief executive because Frank just fired her, the two having announced their separation last week. Both McCourts have claimed ownership of the club, setting up a rather wild court battle. It would seem, though, that Frank can prove he is the sole owner through documents, but…as reported by the L.A. Times’ Bill Shaikin, an attorney for Jamie McCourt says “he is unaware of any document that would override California’s community property law, in which all assets accumulated during marriage are split 50-50 in the absence of a settlement.” Yikes. I’m doubting the two agree just to take this to Judge Judy. 

–So the other day I said I had a little tidbit on Gil Hodges as part of my ’69 Mets novella and then I forgot to post it. I was writing about the team, post-World Series, and how things began to go downhill, with the Amos Otis for Joe Foy trade, the death of GM Johnny Murphy and the hiring of Bob Scheffing to replace Murphy. It was then Gil Hodges began to take control.  

I found the following interesting, from “The New York Mets: Twenty-Five Years of Baseball Magic” by Jack Lang and Peter Simon because I frankly had forgotten that Hodges sometimes went overboard in needing to have control of the operation. 

“In hiring Scheffing [a former player, manager, broadcaster and scout], [President M. Donald] Grant gained a more powerful voice on matters affecting the players, because Scheffing rarely opposed Grant. Hodges became the single strong voice to oppose Grant in the higher echelons of the Mets organization. Grant made this clear to me [Ed. Jack Lang] when he expressed his fear of Gil one night after an incident involving Seaver. 

“Seaver was sitting on the bench when a bat flew out of the hands of the hitter and struck Seaver directly. Television cameras captured the incident, so fans at home as well as in the stadium watched in horror as Tom left the dugout in pain, accompanied by trainer Tom McKenna. The obvious question: How badly was Seaver hurt? 

“Harold Weissman, the public relations director, would not call the dugout or clubhouse to ascertain the extent of Seaver’s injury – would not because he could not. 

“Hodges had no conception of press deadlines or the news value of such stories and was in no hurry to call the press box. On radio and television, meanwhile, Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy, and Ralph Kiner could only tell their vast audience that there was no news yet on how seriously Seaver might have been injured by the flying bat. They were as much in the dark as we all were. 

“Finally, after the game, it was explained that Seaver was okay. Miraculously, he was only shaken up by the flying bat, which had narrowly missed his head. [It caught him in the chest.] 

“The next night as I parked in the special lot in front of Shea Stadium reserved for newspapermen, I encountered Grant, who had just arrived in his chauffeured limousine. I tried to explain to him the needless anxiety caused by the informational time lag we had encountered the night before. I explained Gil’s rule, as detailed by Weissman. 

“ ‘It seems everyone is afraid of Gil,’ I said to Grant. ‘Can’t you do something about it?’ 

“Grant then got very upset when I reminded him we were not talking about just another player, but about Seaver. 

“ ‘Don’t you call Seaver the franchise,’ he bellowed. ‘Mrs. Payson [the owner] and I are the franchise.’ 

“With that, he turned and strode into the stadium. I followed, trying to explain that we were dealing in semantics, that the writers referred to Seaver as the Franchise, only because his coming had turned things around for the team. After all, he was the best pitcher in the National League. 

“Grant kept shouting back at me, ‘Mrs. Payson and I are the franchise!’ 

“Hodges’ Law remained in force, and whenever a player was hurt or removed from a game for some unusual reason, the press, radio, and TV corps had to wait until the manager or one of his aides decided it was time to tell us what had happened.” 

Well, us Mets fan remember what a total a-hole M. Donald Grant was, and in the above story you get a preview of what was to come…the trading of the Franchise, which is on the site somewhere. Sportswriter Dick Young contributed to that fiasco as he was determined to run Seaver out of town as well. 

But for you baseball junkies, I just have to note an unrelated statistical oddity I stumbled across in doing the above. In 1970, outfielder Tommie Agee had a 20-game hitting streak, but after hitting in the first nine games was benched for three days by Hodges. Anyway, you’d think over the 20 games Agee hit something like .330 or better, right? Try .268. [I told you this was for junkies.] 

OK, folks. I promise the above is the last you’ll ever read of the ’69 Mets.   That is until next year when we celebrate the 41st anniversary, 41 being Tom Seaver’s number! [Just kidding…really…] 

–You can’t make this stuff up. I received a letter from the Danbury Mint, which starts out as follows. [I have added my own comments.]

“The New York Mets are one of the most storied sports franchises in history. [You’ve got to be kidding me.] On April 13, the Mets proudly introduced the world to their long-awaited new ballpark, Citi Field. [Uh oh…where is this going?] There’s no question that in this spectacular new home yet another fabled Mets era will begin. [What freakin’ rock have you been living under, Mr. Mint?] Now, you can own a magnificent tribute to the opening of this stunning new ballpark [a huge slab of concrete fell off, thankfully during a road trip], where heroic feats of today will become powerful memories of tomorrow. [Can there be anyone in the world receiving this missive who is actually buying it?] 

“Presenting…Opening Day at Citi Field, a lighted re-creation of the new home of the New York Mets….” 

Well, the letter goes on and on, with the writer totally oblivious to the situation us Mets fans faced in 2009, let alone the historic collapses of ’07 and ’08. 

Danbury Mint is charging $139 plus $9.80 shipping and service. 

“With the historic Mets tradition [of failure], Opening Day at Citi Field will become a treasure to enjoy forever. It also makes a great gift for any Mets fan. Don’t delay. Reserve yours today!” 

Note to Phil W. and Johnny Mac. I hope you’re not offended when I opt not to buy this for you. 

–Here’s the reason why I didn’t talk about Bernie Madoff and Mets owner Fred Wilpon last time. I didn’t have all the facts…and I still don’t. No one does! What ticked me off is that there were some incredibly stupid pieces written about the discovery that the Wilpons actually owe the Madoff bankruptcy trustee over $50 million in phony profits as if they actually made money on the entire deal, not the losses of up to $700 million that friend Larry King claimed. 

According to court filings, Fred Wilpon’s company withdrew $570.5 million after investing $522.7 million in two separate Madoff accounts. So trustee Irving Picard is right to go after the difference in a clawback. 

But the confusion really starts with a story that says the Wilpons, as represented by the Mets Limited Partnership, had just $829,000 in an account with Madoff shortly before his December collapse. Is that it? 

The Wilpons have steadfastly said that the figures being bandied about, such as the $700 million, were way off base, but if the loss was less than $1 million, why didn’t they say so? [Just thinking out loud here, you understand.] 

Well, maybe they didn’t say anything because at the time they were trying to hide that they had withdrawn a net $50 million that they knew if uncovered would be clawed back. I mean with their high-profile and stories like Larry King’s out there, you’d think they would have come forward, otherwise, right? 

But here’s the bottom line. The Wilpons had dozens, “dozens,” of accounts with Madoff and a source told the New York Times that one particular account was used to pay for players’ deferred salaries, with the team then investing the money with Madoff, hoping to earn a higher return than the few percentage points interest the Mets were paying the players as compensation for not taking all the money upfront.  

No one has been able to come up with an accurate damage assessment, but perhaps the last word should go to Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau, chairman of the P.A.L. board that Fred Wilpon had donated some $500,000 to in 2006 with the recommendation that most of the money be invested with Madoff. Said Morgenthau, “Fred’s a victim. He was totally taken in. He completely trusted Madoff.” 

So when you read the stories the Wilpons “made” money with Bernie, file it in your mental garbage bin. We might never learn the truth but I have a strong suspicion the Wilpons were major league losers. 

—Bill Chadwick, “The Big Whistle,” died. He was 94. Chadwick is in the Hockey Hall of Fame for being one of the great referees in the history of the NHL, which says a lot, but he will forever be remembered by New York Rangers fans from the ‘60s and ‘70s for his work as their color commentator. The guy was great…and these were great times to grow up in the New York area. The Knicks were on every Friday night, and they were winning, and the always competitive Rangers were on Saturdays (as were the highly entertaining New Jersey/New York Nets of the ABA). And of course in the summer we had Mets baseball and the Rheingold Chug-a-mug, but I digress…. 

Phil W. has a favorite Bill Chadwick line, referring to a player, Gene Carr, who was a glamour boy (long blond hair), with great skills, but a huge underachiever. 

“Carr couldn’t put the puck in the ocean if he was standing on the end of the dock!” 

–From Army Times’ Hall of Valor 

PFC. Milton Lee Olive III 

Olive, 18, posthumously received the Medal of Honor after sacrificing himself in order to save the lives of his fellow soldiers during the Vietnam War. 

On Oct. 22, 1965, the Chicago-born soldier was serving with 3rd Platoon, Company B, 2nd Battalion (Airborne), 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, in Phu Cuong, Republic of Vietnam. While moving through the jungle, Olive’s platoon came under heavy enemy fire. Olive and his fellow soldiers returned fire, forcing the enemy to flee. 

Olive and three other soldiers were in pursuit of the insurgents when a grenade was thrown into their midst. 

Seeing the grenade, Olive selflessly grabbed it and fell on it to smother the blast. Through this action, Olive protected the other members of his platoon from injury or possible death. 

[Next time I’m at the Vietnam Memorial, I’ll have to remember to look him up and say a prayer.] 

–Interesting piece by Juliet Macur of the New York Times on running a marathon and how some are increasingly ticked off that those who run it in, say, six hours, are far from true marathoners, while it’s also the burgeoning number of slower runners that have funded the tremendous growth in the sport. Macur writes: 

“From 1980 to 2008, the number of marathon finishers in the United States increased to 425,000 from 143,000. 

“In 1980, the median finishing time for male runners in United States marathons was 3 hours 32 minutes 17 seconds, a pace of about eight minutes per mile. In 2008, the median finishing time was 4:16, a pace of 9:46. For women, that time in 1980 was 4:03:39. Last year, it was 4:43:32.” 

But where would you cut it off? The other day I mentioned that I’ve run at least six half marathons, with 1:51:00 being my best, twice, and of course I ran the whole way in all of them. 

I’ve also run two full marathons, though, Dublin, 1996, and Kiawah, S.C., 1999, and I think I did Dublin in 4:20:00 something, while, sadly, it’s on the Web for all to see that I did Kiawah in 4:40+, though I have a very good excuse for the second one (which, again, I’ll retell later). In the first the weather was dreadful in Dublin the second half of the race and more than a few participants that day quit before the finish line. 

Regardless, though, yes, I did walk some in both marathons [after the 14-mile mark in both cases] and purists argue when you do you haven’t really run one. Boy, I couldn’t disagree more, but, I see the point if you’re doing the race in, say, 5 ½ or 6 hours which means you’ve walked a great deal of it. 

I had a simple reason for doing the few races I’ve done in my life…having a target that forced me to get in shape. I can tell you that if I wasn’t doing the Kiawah half marathon this December, I wouldn’t have run nearly as much as I have the past few months and, frankly, I look OK, weight-wise, because of it. The rest of me is a mess, I readily agree. 

[You see, whereas bears add weight before they hibernate to better get through the winter, beer drinkers try to lose weight before winter when they invariably add a few pounds. Then in the spring we think about exercising again and the cycle starts all over.] 

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah…Juliet Macur notes that to deal with the issue of the fake marathoners: 

“At the Marine Corps Marathon, runners must keep a pace of 14 minutes per mile or risk being booted from the event near the 20-mile mark. A bus looms there, waiting to pick up those who fail the cross the 14th Street Bridge before it reopens to traffic…. 

“At the Berlin Marathon, where the cut-off time is 6:15, the ‘slow police’ are notorious for lurking at the back of the pack…. 

“The New York City Marathon, Nov. 1, will have a field of about 40,000. Last year, about 21 percent of the field finished in more than five hours. The race officially ends after 6:30, though runners are scored through 8:40, when the timing system is finally carted off.” 

One longtime marathoner, 46-year-old Julia Given of Charlottesville, Va., told Juliet Macur that she always asks runners, “‘What was your time?’ If it’s six hours or more, I say, ‘Oh great, that’s fine, but you didn’t really run it.’” 

Pheww. At least I would have passed Julia’s smell test in my two efforts. 

—College Basketball Tidbit 

Hey Wake Forest fans…check this out… 

Sporting News rates its Top 10 recruiting classes for 2010, yes, next year: 

1. Ohio State
2. Memphis
3. Syracuse
4. WAKE FOREST!!!! Ding Ding Ding!!! “Guard J.T. Terrell can put up a lot of points. ‘He sure looked like an ACC-caliber player,’ says Concord (N.C.) coach Scott Brewer, who saw Terrell score 52 against his team last season.”
5. Texas
6. UNC
7. Illinois
8. Maryland
9. Florida
10. Baylor 

[As for this season, Duke and North Carolina were picked one-two by the media over the weekend.  I\’m shocked!  Wake was 6th.]

–But then there’s men’s golf, and for a school with a rich tradition…Arnie, Curtis Strange, Lanny Wadkins, Jay Haas, Scott Hoch…and a few NCAA championships, boy has Wake Forest’s program tumbled and this is embarrassing. In fact it’s gotten so bad that the Deacs aren’t in the Golf World Top 25 and, worse still, there are seven ACC teams ahead of them when you go into the category of “Also receiving votes.” 

SN: It’s going on 10 years since the night you were part of a violent scene in which two men were killed outside an Atlanta nightclub. All this time later, how do you reflect on that experience, and how did it affect your life? 

Lewis: You don’t reflect on it. You move on. You do the same thing God did: Pray what you’re going to pray and keep on rolling. You can’t stay stuck in yesterday or you never see tomorrow. You can’t let people keep you stuck in yesterday. The only perfect man who ever walked this earth was Jesus Christ. Don’t let people keep recapping that….It’s mind-boggling that people so loosely write about an old story. Somebody’s family is going to go across that and say, ‘Damn.’ It’s sad that people take people through that. As their families have tried to move on, as my family has moved on…let it be so. 

OK, Ray, whatever you say. And I really learned something about God…then again, I’ve reread it sixteen times and I still don’t get it. 

–I missed noting the other day that Washington Nationals phenom Stephen Strasburg threw 99mph in his professional debut in the Arizona Fall League, a very good sign after a long layoff from his college season. Any good baseball fan wants this kid to be the real deal. 

“Mark Sanchez is quickly turning into a legend, but not for his football skills. The Jets quarterback was seen swapping numbers with a blond bartender at Johnny Utah’s on Monday night….The barkeep was model-actress Ariana Madix, who played for the New York Majesty team in the notorious Lingerie Bowl.” 

–Congratulations to Peter, the 70-year-old, 11-lb. lobster, that, as Darren Tobia and Christina Boyle of the Daily News reported, “clawed his way out of a whole lot of hot water Friday.” 

Peter got a pardon from Oceana, a restaurant in Manhattan, thanks to the place being bombarded with calls when word leaked out Peter was headed for some plates. 

“We have had calls from people saying they will pay the $275 for the lobster. People have had emotional reactions. What’s the big deal, why are we being persecuted for this lobster?” 

–Brad K. first alerted me to a story that has since whipped its way around the globe. 

“Ice-Skating bear kills Russian circus director” 

“An ice-skating bear with a visiting Russian circus turned on its trainers on Wednesday, killing the circus director and seriously wounding another man during a rehearsal in Kyrgyzstan.” 

Police shot the bear dead after workers with the troupe managed to drag the two victims away from the bear and closed off the exits. 

Well, you know what they say, as the Winter Games approach, beware Russian bears on skates. But I think Brad has a point that clearly the clowns had something to do with it. 

Incidentally, the handler who was hurt trying to stop the attack “suffered bruising to the brain and lacerations to his scalp.” Good gawd. Sounds like the bear would have given Mike Tyson a run for his money when Tyson was in his prime. 

–So I made a note to check out Garth Brooks tickets at Wynn Encore in Vegas when they went on sale Saturday, but I didn’t remember until Saturday evening. Too late. All 19 or 20 shows for December, January and February were sold out. If you look at the schedule, remember he plays two shows on Saturdays. 

Anyway, I was really just curious how much they were and they’re $125, plus various handling fees. Not outrageous, by Vegas standards, but I wonder what kind of scalper action there was for these. 

Actually, just checked a Vegas paper and Brooks didn’t want such a high ticket price but Steve Wynn overruled him. Brooks prevailed on the issue of just one price for all seats in what will be a 1,500-seat setup. And the tickets are distributed in such a way that scalpers had little if anything to do with the sale. 

But I didn’t know Garth is putting on a strictly acoustical show! Now that allows the intimacy of a Vegas act that folks like (think Sinatra in his heyday), but I’m not too sure about this one. 

Top 3 songs for the week 10/23/71: #1 “Maggie May” (Rod Stewart) #2 “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves” (Cher) #3 “Yo-Yo” (The Osmonds)…and…#4 “Superstar” (Carpenters) #5 “Theme From Shaft” (Isaac Hayes) #6 “Imagine” (John Lennon Plastic Ono Band) #7 “Do You Know What I Mean” (Lee Michaels) #8 “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” (Joan Baez) #9 “Peace Train” (Cat Stevens) #10 “I’ve Found Someone Of My Own” (The Free Movement) 

College Football Quiz Answers: 1) David Klingler, Houston, 1990, had 11 TD passes in a game. 2) Hawaii’s Colt Brennan holds the mark for TD passes in a season, 58, set in 2006 (though over 14 games) 3) Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford holds both the freshman, 36, and sophomore, 50, marks for TD passes, 2007-2008. Bonus Question, and for a premium lager: From 1963-65, Tulsa’s Howard Twilley caught 261 passes, still the record over three years. Taylor Stubblefield, Purdue, 2001-2004, holds the record over four years with 316 receptions. Back to Twilley, he caught 134 in just 10 games in 1965, the record for catches per game. [He later played with the Dolphins.] 

Next Bar Chat, Thursday. [Not sure on timing as I’m traveling out to Oregon on Wednesday and have a bit of a drive the first day.]