The Bar Chat Awards

NFL Quiz: 1) Who are the top 3 franchises in league championships? 2) Who has the record for sacks in a game [the sack began to be officially counted in 1982]? 3) Who has the record for most seasons with 10 or more sacks? 4) For Jets fans, who was the last Jet to lead the AFC in scoring? 5) Who am I? I led the AFL in rushing as a rookie, 1968, and this was easily my best season. Answers below.

2009…and the Decade…various thoughts 

“All the old familiar faces returned to all their old familiar thrones in 2009. All but one. 

“The Yankees won the World Series, the Steelers the Super Bowl, the Lakers the NBA title, the Penguins the Stanley Cup. 

“North Carolina’s men and Connecticut’s women ruled college basketball, Florida was college football’s king for the second time in the past three seasons. 

“Roger Federer won a record 15th tennis major, Usain Bolt sprinted to world records in the 100 and 200 meters, Michael Phelps splashed to two world records, and Jimmie Johnson drove to his fourth consecutive season title in NASCAR’s top series. 

“Even the old familiar face that crashed, Tiger Woods, returned from knee surgery to retain the No. 1 world ranking before he took an ‘indefinite break’ from golf after an early-morning one-car accident outside his Florida mansion that provoked reports of his infidelity…. 

“As 2010 approached, the public awaited Woods’ first public appearance – on or off a golf course. Seldom, if ever, had a sports figure’s image self-destructed so quickly. 

“Like it or not, the scandal, not his comeback, was the sports story of the year.” 

[Lance Armstrong, in finishing third in his Tour de France comeback, was the one who didn’t return to his familiar throne.] 

“(For all the problems…Marion Jones to Tiger Woods), the 2000s were also about excellence. An argument can be made that the decade featured the greatest men’s tennis player ever (Roger Federer), the greatest racecar driver ever (Michael Schumacher), the greatest cyclist ever (Lance Armstrong), the greatest motorcycle racer ever (Valentino Rossi), the greatest swimmer ever (Phelps), the greatest sprinter ever (Bolt), the greatest distance runner ever (Bekele) and the greatest golfer ever (Woods).” 

Worst Free-Agent Signings in Baseball: 

1. Mike Hampton, Rockies; Dec. 2000…$120 million over eight years.

2. Carl Pavano, Yankees; Dec. 2004…$40 million over four years.

3. Chan Ho Park, Rangers; Jan. 2002…$65 million over five years [despite reinventing himself as an effective reliever, he was a disaster for Texas]

4. Jason Schmidt, Dodgers; Dec. 2006…$47 million over three years. 

Biggest MLB Draft Bust 

1. Matt Bush, Padres, 1st pick 2004: “One of the all-time worst picks, the Padres passed on Justin Verlander and other obvious choices to go local (he’s from San Diego) and cheap ($3 million). The first indication something was amiss came when Bush and his buddies trashed a private box at Petco Park on the first visit. Behavioral problems and a lack of hitting tanked his short-lived shortstop career. Eventually, he was converted to a pitcher. But he never made it out of the low minors.” 

2. Bryan Bullington, Pirates, 1st pick 2002: “Pittsburgh, which is notorious for its bad drafts, took this Ball State righthander over such notables as B.J. Upton, Prince Fielder, Scott Kazmir and Cole Hamels.” 0-5 lifetime thus far in the big leagues. 

1. Jason Bay, Expos, 22nd round, 2000: Plucked out of Gonzaga. 

2. Ryan Howard, Phillies, 5th round, 2001: “Superstars just aren’t found in the fifth round anymore [ed. thanks to advances in scouting].” 

“Michael Phelps paddled his size 14 feet in the water and towed all of America in his wake. In the summer of 2008, gas prices were soaring, the stock market was stalling and the nation was cleaving along political lines. And yet, for a few days everything seemed more than O.K. because Phelps was stirring patriot pride with his perfection. 

“Phelps entered eight races at the Beijing Games and won them all, surpassing Mark Spitz’s seven gold medals in a single Olympics, a 36-year-old record many believed was beyond any mortal’s grasp. What Phelps did may have been tantamount to surpassing Joe DiMaggio’s hitting streak or winning golf’s Grand Slam…. 

“On his way to immortality, Phelps debunked many impressions, among them that network television had gone the way of amateurs in the Olympics. Phelps became the glue that bonded a United States audience that had splintered into a hundred niches. NBC’s ratings were resplendent, with a record number of viewers tuning in nightly.” 

Daily News’ Worst New York Sports Teams of the Decade 

1. 2007 Mets…The Mets implode down the stretch, blowing a seven-game lead with 17 games to play and lose the division title – and a playoff spot – on the season’s final day. 

2. 2008 Mets…The Mets are at it again in September, holding a 3 ½-game lead with 17 to play this time. But despite going 55-28 under Jerry Manuel after the Mets jettison Willie Randolph earlier in the season, the Not-So-Amazin’s score just five runs in their final three games, losing the season finale, 4-2, to the Marlins and again missing the playoffs. 

[Others say last year’s Mets team was the worst because they were totally unwatchable the last 2 months on their way to a 70-92 record. Then again, we wait to see where the Nets finish up this season.] 

[Warning: Some of the following is for mature audiences only. Children under 13 must exit the site immediately. Put your snowsuits on and go play outside like us grownups had to do in the days before the Net and cable.] 

Yes, your EXCLUSIVE 2009 Bar Chat picks to follow, but first a reminder of some of the stories of the year (in totally random, haphazard order)…as well as a note on the terms… 

According to Webster’s, an idiot is “an ignorant person; foolish or stupid.” A jerk, on the other hand, is “annoyingly stupid or foolish.” 

To me a jerk is fully aware of what they are doing, while an idiot lacks some of the basics. As for “dirtball,” there has to be some malicious intent in the behavior. I don’t need to define “a-hole.” 

And now…your host…George Hamilton!!! 

*ESPN’s Steve Phillips loses his job after having a fling with assistant Brooke Hundley, who is, let’s be nice, not Tiger worthy. Phillips, though, has a great looking wife and kids. What was he thinking? He’s an Idiot, and, for dissing wife Marni, a Dirtball. 

*The Boston Celtics’ Glen “Baby Doc” Davis is out five weeks with a broken thumb suffered in a fight with a childhood friend. It occurs late at night, compelling the Celts’ head of basketball operations, Danny Ainge, to say, “Nothing good happens after midnight.” Baby Doc is an Idiot. 

*Joe Jackson was omitted from Michael’s will, so through his attorney he then filed a blizzard of documents in court saying his old friends had defrauded him and shouldn’t be administering it. Jackson is an A-hole…but he’s not finished. 

*Chris Brown is a “Dirtball of the Year” candidate for brutally beating Rihanna. At first he said he had no recollection of the incident. 

*A story that broke this week… “Finnish ski jump legend Matti Nykanen, a four-time Olympic champion, has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to murder his wife on Christmas Day.” 

Nykanen spent the weekend in police custody following the incident which left his wife with injuries to her forehead and hand. While a triple gold medal winner from the Calgary Games in 1988, he has already spent time in prison for “conjugal violence.” Good lord, that’s a Dirtball. 

*Here’s a Jerk, and A-hole. Mark McGwire’s brother Jay shopped a book proposal to major publishing houses claiming he introduced Mark to steroids and that he also used human growth hormone. 

He’s your brother! I don’t care if you’ve had a falling out. You never turn on your brother…unless you suspect he’s a terrorist, but I digress. 

*Browns coach Eric Mangini is a Jerk for asking Cleveland rookies to help out at a football camp in Hartford, Conn. The problem was they took a 10-hour bus trip, and while attendance wasn’t mandatory, what choice did they have when they were trying to make the team? One league official said, “It’s a sophisticated form of hazing.” 

*Fairleigh Dickinson University AD David Langford gets an A-Hole of the Year nod for firing long-term coach Tom Green after 26 years (fifth on the list of seniority among Division I coaches) in freakin’ June! Green, 59, had a 407-351 record at a school where it’s not real easy to be a winner. His teams also made four NCAA tournament appearances. Green, who also had one year left on his contract, rightly said, hey, if you’re going to fire me, do it in March! Not June. He didn’t have a chance to get another D-I job then. Langford is a true tool. 

*Talk about a Dirtball, how about former Net and current San Antonio Spurs player Richard Jefferson, who told his bride-to-be that their wedding was off in an e-mail, just days before the nuptials. 

Picture the two had planned a $500,000 wedding, capped with a honeymoon in London, but instead, Jefferson took off for Paris with a bunch of his buddies. 

*Back to Joe Jackson, who called rumors he wanted Michael’s three children to form a new supergroup “a bunch of jive.” Of course the rumors were true. We’re talking Joe Jackson. What a Jerk. 

*As friend and reader Dan L., and cohort Jeff B., said, until Kiss and Link Wray are in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Jan Wenner deserves a lifetime Bar Chat Dirtball award. Of course this is the same guy who screwed the Dave Clark Five one year, when Fox News proved the final tally had been rigged and with Wenner denying the DC Five even though they had the votes.  

*Serena Williams, both Jerk and Dirtball, for spewing profanity and threatening a line judge at the U.S. Open over a disputed call in her semifinal match with Kim Clijsters. Serena’s behavior was abominable.  

*Lenny Dykstra is a first-class Idiot for his financial wrongdoing, “Nails” having filed for bankruptcy in July citing $31 million in debt. 

*Douglas Jones is an A-Hole, the 57-year-old having tossed 3,000 golf balls into the Joshua Tree National Park, claiming he wanted to honor all the golfers who had died. He also collected permits from backcountry permit boxes and threw them all over the park as well. You can’t help but despise this guy. 

*Kanye West’s girlfriend, Amber Rose, is an Idiot, for her “body-conscious” fall fashions, including a thong bodysuit. [Guys, please don’t be jerks and go along with this. Have you seen her? Personally, I’m into women with hair.] 

*Talk about a Dirtball, what about the president of Athletics South Africa, Leonard Chuene, who consistently lied about his knowledge of tests carried out on the gender of Caster Semenya, who demolished the 800 meters record at the World Championships in Berlin, but Chuene only admitted after that he knew the details of Semenya not really being a woman. Turns out she had “internal testes” and abnormal amounts of testosterone to be a true female. 

*What’s this? More Joe Jackson, who raised eyebrows “by bringing a curvy new recording artist he manages as his date to the VMAs on the night honoring his son, Michael.” Jennifer Lopez shot hubby Marc Anthony a look as if to say: ‘What is he doing?’ So like where was wife Catherine? For this Joe is both a Dirtball and Jerk. 

*Oakland Raiders coach Tom Cable is a Dirtball for getting into a fight with assistant Randy Hanson and breaking a bone in his face. 

*As recently detailed in a Bar Chat column, Redskins owner Dan Snyder is a Jerk for his total body of work, sometimes verging on Dirtballdom. It goes without saying he is also an A-hole. 

*The coach of a Texas girls high school basketball team, Micah Grimes, is a Jerk for letting his team beat an opponent by 100-0. Grimes was duly fired after telling the Dallas Morning News that he would not apologize “for a wide-margin victory when my girls played with honor and integrity.” Grimes was coach of Covenant, a private Christian school. Said the headmaster in a statement, “This clearly does not reflect a Christlike and honorable approach to competition.” Oh, and Covenant was up 59-0 at half. The opponent, Dallas Academy, has eight girls on the varsity b-ball team and just 20 girls in the school overall. 

*Singer Etta James is a Jerk for saying that she would “whip” Beyonce for singing “her song” At Last at an inaugural ball for President Obama. “I can’t stand Beyonce,” said James.  

*Idiots all is the label for the 135 Lake Erie fishermen who last February became stranded on an ice flow, necessitating a helicopter rescue. One of the group died…ask me if I care. You see, sports fans, “The day began with fishermen setting down wooden pallets to create a bridge over a crack in the ice so they could roam farther out on the lake. But the plank fell into the water when the ice shifted, stranding the fishermen about 1,000 yards offshore.” 

*Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin is a Jerk…just because. Anyone following the sport has to agree. 

*Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer is a supreme Idiot after being photographed revealing a secret document when he arrived for a Downing Street briefing last April. The details that could be seen in photos potentially tipped off suspects of plans to arrest them just hours later, and hundreds of officers were forced to carry out raids early and put the public’s lives at risk because the revelation of the document caused the operation to be advanced during daylight, rather than late at night. Commissioner Bob Quick resigned. 

*Perez Hilton is a class one Jerk for calling Miss California, Carrie Prejean, a “dumb bitch” while Perez was a judge at the Miss USA pageant. Carrie did indeed prove to be a bit of a jerk (lower case) herself but Perez Hilton is one of the more detestable people on the planet. 

*J. Ezra Merkin is a total Dirtball and A-hole. Merkin was one of Bernie Madoff’s biggest sources of funds but we didn’t know the extent until last April when it was revealed in a lawsuit that Merkin collected $470 million in fees over some 15 years for funneling $2.4 billion to Madoff’s scheme. 

*Actor Charlie Sheen is both Jerk and Dirtball for, it would appear, threatening his wife on Christmas Day, though details are still emerging. 

*And talk about a Jerk, and A-hole, how about the Detroit Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera, who was still drunk when he participated in some critical season-ending contests between the Tigers and Chicago White Sox, going hitless over the weekend as the Tigers lost 2 of 3 and failed to clinch the playoffs; this after the Venezuelan got into a fight at 5 a.m. with his wife and blew about a .24 when police hauled him away. Cabrera should have been banned for a year for so disgracing the sport, this as he earned $14.8 million for the season. Baseball fans, both at home and on the road, should let Cabrera have it each time he comes to the plate this coming year. 

*A few days after appearing on Faith Hill’s Christmas special, Mary J. Blige punched husband Kendu Isaacs in the face at her record release party Tuesday night, drawing blood. A witness told the New York Post that Blige thought her hubby was flirting with a waitress. “She turned to him and was screaming, ‘You’re not going to ruin my night.’ They got into each other’s face and Mary smacked Kendu in the face. I always thought she was someone I wouldn’t want to come across in a dark alley. We give Mary J. a Jerk commendation. 

*Ah, but then there is Kanye West, who at the MTV Video Music Awards stole Taylor Swift’s moment in the sun by going onstage to interrupt her acceptance speech for best female video. 

“Taylor, I’m really happy for you, and I’m gonna let you finish, but, (Beyonce) had one of the best videos of all time.” Swift was hurried off the stage and for this Kanye West would have wrapped up Jerk of the Year…were it not for… 

TIGER WOODS! Yes, Tiger becomes, I believe (no time to go through the full archives), the first winner of all four awards… “Dirtball, Jerk, Idiot and A-hole of the Year”! The superfecta! There are some who’ve said it would never be done, but then it’s come to light that not one of us really knew Tiger Woods. I’m just wondering where he’s going to put all the hardware we’ll be sending him? 

Meanwhile, the “Animal of the Year” goes not to Man’s Best Friend, a k a the dog, but rather the spectacular fillies Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta. Rachel beat the boys in the Preakness and Zenyatta won the Breeders Cup Classic against same. You know, I just watched the videos of both their big triumphs again, for like the 20th time, and it still brings a smile to my face. 

And a “Classiest Act of the Year” to golfer Tom Watson, who almost got our “Bar Chat Person of the Year Award” for his effort at the British Open at age 59, only to fall short on the 72nd hole and then in the subsequent playoff. Watson, though, handled the incredible disappointment with grace. 

But the “Bar Chat Person of the Year” goes to Bahia Bakari, and a fisherman, Libouna Matrafi. Who? Bakari is the “miracle girl,” the sole survivor of a plane crash last June 30 off the Comoros islands, near Madagascar, that killed 152, including Bahia’s mother. Matrafi was her rescuer. 

Matthew Campbell / London Times 

“She clung to a piece of metal, gasping for breath in the waves. Somewhere in the darkness she heard cries for help, but the voices soon faded. Hours later, when the sun came up, Bahia Bakari, a 13-year-old schoolgirl, was adrift alone in the Indian Ocean. 

“In the middle of her makeshift raft, a piece of aircraft fuselage, she noticed a porthole and peered through it into the inky depths. The sight of dark shapes moving below filled her with terror.” 

The Yemenia flight from Yemen to Moroni, the capital of the Comoros, was doomed from the start, with the aircraft having been banned from operating in France, where Bahia and her mother boarded, only to change planes in Yemen. 

“As they were descending into Moroni, the plane began to tremble and the hostesses seemed ‘nervous.’ The cabin lights went on and off and the aircraft began to buck about in the air.” 

There was a great noise, like a gigantic explosion, Bahia would say later, and the next thing she knew she was in the water, gasping for breath.  

She ended up lying across a piece of debris. In the morning she heard an aircraft overhead, but no rescuers. Bahia was on the verge of giving up when headed in her direction was a boat. 

“Word of the crash had spread fast and dozens of boats had taken to the seas in a hunt for survivors. Libouna Matrafi, a fisherman, stood at the bow of a small boat, staring in amazement at the girl hanging onto a piece of aircraft fuselage. 

“In the swell it was difficult to reach her and the rescue effort could have ended in tragedy, had it not been for Matrafi’s bravery. 

“Bahia had let go of her raft. She was trying to swim towards her rescuers when she was swamped by a wave and disappeared underwater. 

“Matrafi jumped into the sea and swam towards the girl. He pushed her up into the arms of his companions before being swept off by the waves. He was more than 100 yards away by the time the boat turned back to fetch him.” 

It took hours for the boat to get back to port and Bahia had a fractured pelvis and collarbone. She learned her mother had perished with the others. It would later be one of 84 bodies recovered from the sea. 

Bahia spent three weeks in a Paris hospital after the French government flew her there to be sure she got the best care. She has yet to meet Matrafi, who is applying for French citizenship after being decorated for bravery. 

“The only time (Bahia) had seen his face was when he fixed her with his gaze as he approached through the waves with a life buoy in his hand. 

“ ‘I try, at night, to remember his face,’ she says, ‘so as never to forget it. He is a hero.’” 

Indianapolis coach Jim Caldwell took quite a bit of heat, especially among Indy fans, for pulling Peyton Manning after just 2 ½ quarters against the Jets, Indy up 15-10 and seemingly on the way to a 15-0 record. Alas, Manning came out and backup Curtis Painter was hideous; the result being a Jets win that kept New York amazingly in the playoff hunt, with a win against Cincy this week putting them in the postseason.  

The Colts starters were not happy afterward, with receiver Reggie Wayne saying, “Doesn’t everybody want to be a part of history? Not a season goes by that you don’t hear about the ’72 Dolphins. I guess there’s a bigger picture.” 

“You have to take that emotional side out of it before the game even starts. You have to make those decisions: either we’re going all the way or we’re sticking to our formula. I’ve had instances like that in the past where you set your formula and guys say, ‘Hey, leave me in.’ Once that happens to you as a coach, you never allow that to happen again. You have to stick to your guns.” 

“Honestly, 16-0 is somebody else’s issue; it’s never been ours.” He plays down the idea of momentum or rust or mojo. But it’s worked both ways for the Colts over the years. 

As Judy Battista of the New York Times pointed out, it was in 1999, with the Colts having a first-round bye in hand, that they lost linebacker Cornelius Bennett to injury in the final regular-season game; which proved to be a killer when Tennessee’s Eddie George ran 68 yards for a touchdown in the Colts’ 19-16 loss in the divisional round. 

On the other hand, “Dungy rested players in the final game of the 2007 season, lost that game, then lost in the divisional round – the Colts first playoff game that year – to the Chargers. They also rested in the final two games of the 2005 season (one win and one loss) and then lost to the Steelers in the divisional round. But in 2006, Manning played fully in the final games of the regular season, and then played in the wild-card round. That might have been the fourth-best Colts team of the last few years. It was also the one that won the Super Bowl.” 

It’s a great topic for debate, no doubt. Perfect Bar Chat. But as for yours truly, to those arguing the Colts’ decision hurt the integrity of the game, give me a freakin’ break. Football is unique because of the injury factor, more so than any other sport. 

Meanwhile, New York football fans not only have the Jets to talk about for at least another week, but Giants fans are fuming over their team’s disastrous 41-9 performance in a loss to Carolina that would have kept them in the playoff picture. Both quarterback Eli Manning and coach Tom Coughlin apologized after “coming up incredibly small in one of the biggest games in franchise history,” as the New York Post’s George Willis put it. The apologies were pitiful. The talent isn’t there, nor is the coaching. The team has no leadership, no pride, though I can’t blame Eli. He had a decent season. 

But check this out…from an article by Jenny Vrentas of the Star-Ledger. Under coach Coughlin, the Giants have gotten off to solid first half records, 35-13 in his six seasons, but are only 20-27 in the second half. 

Back to the Jets, in a column by the New York Post’s Mike Vaccaro, he quotes a local fan who grew up in Kew Gardens, Queens. Back in the day, if you grew up in that neighborhood it was Mets in the summer, Jets in the fall, just as it is for a lion’s share of fans in this area. My brother and I grew up Mets/Jets. Everyone else is Yankees/Giants.  

“Nobody should be allowed to root for both the Mets and the Jets in the same lifetime,” said this fellow. “Parents who allow that, they should be reported to authorities.” The guy has a point. 

And here’s one for you…I clipped out Danny Sheridan’s picks to win the Super Bowl as the season got underway. 

Selected others…Colts 15:1, Saints 20:1, Washington 30:1 (nice miss), Jets 75:1. 

But get this…Cincinnati 7,500:1 !!!! 

At least Sheridan had the bottom three… 

Cleveland 100,000:1
St. Louis 250,000:1
Detroit 1,000,000:1 

—College Football Bits 

It says a lot about today’s college game that in both football and basketball, often it’s more about the coach than the players…which isn’t exactly the way it should be. But then the coaches now make $millions, while the players continue to get some coins to use in their laundry rooms. 

First off, before we look at Urban Meyer, you have the case of Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, who was suspended by the school on Monday as officials investigate complaints involving receiver Adam James, as filed by his family, including the father, a rather familiar figure on ESPN, Craig James, on how the player was treated after a concussion. Leach will not be on the sidelines when Texas Tech plays Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl on Jan. 2. 

It seems that James, while unable to practice with a concussion, twice was forced to stand in a small, dark place for hours while the team was on the field. James said Leach told him that if he came out he would be kicked off the team. 

The James family’s statement focused on their son’s concussion and “common sense rules for safety and health.” 

But the issue is Leach himself. Last year he led the Red Raiders to their best season in program history, 11-2. But he was at odds with the university over his contract status and won a new five-year, $12.7 million deal keeping him at the school through 2013. 

Then this season (they finished 8-4) he blasted players following a loss to Texas A&M, saying they listened to “their fat little girlfriends,” and thinking the Aggies were a pushover. 

Craig James was scheduled to work the Alamo Bowl, but won’t now. 

Then there’s Florida’s Urban Meyer, who, out of nowhere, resigned Saturday night as coach of a team that had won two national titles in five years. 

“I have given my heart and soul to coaching college football and mentoring young men… and I have dedicated most of my waking moments the last five years to the Gator football program. I have ignored my health for years, but recent developments have forced me to re-evaluate my priorities of faith and family.” 

Meyer, just 45, and with a 56-10 mark at Florida, then said in a news conference the following day…uh, never mind. It seems all he really needed was an “indefinite leave of absence.” 

When the Meyer news first hit on Saturday night, I caught Lou Holtz from his ESPN perch and regardless of how you feel about Lou, he’s honest, and he was brutally candid about Meyer. Paraphrasing, ‘I always say never make an emotional decision and this (move by Meyer) smacks of one.’ Holtz proved to be right on. 

“Pardon us if some of us are confused, mystified and a little bit irate. Strip away the speculation and news conferences and it’s clear football won this battle. It won over physical ailments that, as of Saturday night, had forced Meyer to the sidelines. It won over a recruiting class that teetered in the balance had Meyer stayed away. It won over a career that looked all but finished. At least at Florida. 

“Now? There is something that Meyer is not telling us. That is certainly his right, considering his health is his business. But football is Gator Nation’s business and Meyer has to understand that inquiring minds will want to know about the future of their franchise with or without him.” 

But Meyer did say “I do, in my gut, believe (I will be coaching in 2010).” 

So then as Dodd asks, “What was Saturday night all about? The decision to step down was as baffling as it was sudden. There was the revelation of chest pains and multiple hospital visits (during the season).” 

According to Meyer, he changed his mind when he saw his players at practice on Sunday (as they prepare to face Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl). I need to ask the editorial board here if it’s not too late to include Meyer in the “Jerk of the Year” category. 

—AP Men’s College Basketball Poll 

–Remember how I said last week that undefeated New Mexico was way overrated? They lost to Oral Roberts, 75-66. Wake Forest beat ORU by 20. 

–I watched the West Virginia-Seton Hall contest on Dec. 26, with the Bar Chat Pick to Click to go all the way, WVU, prevailing in OT, 90-84, as Seton Hall hit just 16 of 33 from the foul line, including an unbelievably bad 1 of 10 from forward Herb Pope. Yes, the Hall could have taken it. 

But I am more convinced than ever that the Mountaineers have what it takes to get to the promised land, and, while I live 15 minutes from Seton Hall but have never been a fan, I think they have a team that can make a lot of noise this year. They are Sweet Sixteen bound in the humble estimation of your editor. Jeremy Hazell is the real deal…just a pure scorer. A player like that can lead a team a long way if he’s hot. 

In five tours of duty in Vietnam, Howard was awarded the Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star and eight Purple Hearts. 

“In December 1968, Sergeant First Class Howard, his rank at the time, was in a platoon of American and South Vietnamese troops who came under fire while trying to land in their helicopters on a mission to find a missing Green Beret. As the men set out after a prolonged firefight to clear the landing zone, they were attacked by some 250 North Vietnamese troops. 

“As related in ‘Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty,’ by Peter Collier, Sergeant Howard was knocked unconscious by an exploding mine. When he came to, his eyes were bloodied and his hands injured by shrapnel that had also destroyed his rifle. He heard his lieutenant groaning in pain a few yards away. He then saw an enemy soldier with a flamethrower burning the bodies of American and South Vietnamese soldiers who had just been killed. 

“Sergeant Howard was unable to walk, but he threw a grenade toward the soldier with the flamethrower and managed to grab the lieutenant. As he was crawling with him toward shelter, a bullet struck his ammunition pouch, blowing him several feet down a hill. Clutching a pistol given to him by a fellow soldier, Sergeant Howard shot several North Vietnamese soldiers and got the lieutenant down to a ravine. 

“Taking command of the surviving and encircled Green Berets, Sergeant Howard administered first aid, encouraged them to return fire and called in air strikes. The Green Berets held off the North Vietnamese until they were evacuated by helicopters.” 

Col. Howard made five trips to Iraq to share his combat experiences. During a visit in April, together with Gary Littrell, another Medal of Honor recipient from Vietnam, one soldier asked the men how they had remained motivated during the war and, in turn, how they had motivated their men. 

“We had no choice but to stay motivated as leaders,” Col. Howard said. “As for our soldiers, we reminded them that God and country came before our needs.” 

–The Wall Street Journal’s Darren Everson points out that Texas has a legitimate shot at being the first school in the modern tournament era to win three of the five marquee titles (football, men’s and women’s basketball, ice hockey and baseball) in the same school year. The football team is playing in the BCS title game, the men’s b-ball team is No. 2, and the baseball team is a preseason No. 1. 

Florida, 2006-07; football, basketball (M), and UConn, 2003-04; basketball (M&W), are the last to win two. 

Trivia: Michigan, 1997-98, and Michigan State, 1965-66, are the only two to win football and hockey in the same school year. 

–The Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather Jr. is still a possibility if the two camps can agree on drug testing. Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, wants the Nevada Athletic Commission to have the final say in how much testing there would be and when it would take place. The chairman of the commission then said the tests should be ordered immediately and be completed by Wednesday. To be continued…. 

–U.S. ski champion Lindsey Vonn apparently escaped serious injury in a World Cup giant slalom race. Initially she thought she had broken her arm but X-rays only showed a bone bruise. 

Vonn’s crash, though, at Lienz, Austria, was the latest on the World Cup circuit that can be blamed on the FIS (International Ski Federation) and its policy of water-injecting courses, even for the women, that make conditions icier. 

–The latest on Tiger…Golfer Helen Alfredsson became the first of Tiger’s peers to truly breach the wall of silence the other day when she told Swedish television: 

“I heard it last summer during the British Open,” that Tiger was cheating on Elin. “In the quietest water swims the ugliest fish.” 

Alfredsson describes Woods as “cold” and said there is “something odd about him.” 

“If he just paid for the escorts, I [would] understand it a bit more. Then no one needed to know.” 

“The first thing Tiger Woods needs to do if he wants to remake himself is dump all the enablers. By that, I don’t just mean the jerk caddie. I mean the so-called mentors who taught him how to play rent-a-hostess in Vegas. I mean the fawners who laughed at his crude jokes, and looked the other way when he was rude, or penurious. I mean all of the apologists, even the well-meaning ones, who conspired to create such a towering phony. 

“There are a lot of questions surrounding Woods at the moment, from how many women to how long his indefinite leave from golf will last, but most of them are just side issues. The question that really matters, the pressing one, is this: When will Woods become a man? ‘Let’s please give the kid a break,’ said Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent, recently. Now, Steinberg is a nice guy who obviously cares about Woods. But his client is about to turn 34 years old. 

“There is a pattern to the comments coming from Woods’ friends. It’s a pattern of excuse-making and denial, a continual reinforcing of the idea that he has a princely exemption from ordinary obligations, such as, say, growing up. Or honoring his vows while his wife is pregnant. Or answering questions about car accidents, and about why he sought treatment from a doctor who uses HGH. Last week, Charles Barkley bemoaned the fact that Woods hasn’t returned his phone calls, because: ‘You should reach out to your celebrity friends when things go bad. They’re the only people who understand what it’s like.’ 

“The implicit understanding in these statements is that Woods is a victim of public life, persecuted by celebrity. The scandal that has engulfed him is less his fault than that of the tabloid and Internet press, who have violated his privacy. No one seems willing to speak this fundamental age-old truth to, or about, Woods: There are no victims, only volunteers. 

“Woods himself has invoked ‘privacy’ time and again in his carefully crafted statements …He had a right to privacy, but what he did was lead a secret life, and that’s what the tabloids are preying on so relentlessly. A violation of privacy is mere embarrassing. It’s the violation of his secrecy that’s destroyed his public persona….The reason the story has been so engulfing is because of the sheer size of the gap between Woods’ public image and his secret conduct.” 

–The Indianapolis Colts cheerleaders are underrated. Big fan…big fan… 

–The great George Michael died, 70. Michael was a sports broadcasting legend who called Washington home. He was also responsible for a program that launched them all, “The George Michael Sports Machine.”  

Michael Wilbon / Washington Post 

“Before cable TV was in millions of homes George Michael brought us the world weekly, with a tiny little band of men and women who worked on Nebraska Avenue and produced an unthinkable volume of award-winning work. Every other sportscaster worked in a confined space; George worked wherever he wanted and did it all: football, basketball, baseball, hockey, golf, tennis, ‘rasslin’, rodeo, racin’, here, there, everywhere. You think there was anybody else who could comfortably engage Wayne Gretzky, Dale Earnhardt Sr. and Cal Ripken, and tell them on-camera they were full of it? There wasn’t.” 

But in spite of his outsized personality, Michael earned everyone’s respect. 

“Some nights he was the gumshoe reporter, some nights a carnival barker, some nights outraged at the local team, many nights a sympathetic ear, some would say a homer for the local team who could get the coach or star player to tell him something the others working the beat would hear and think, ‘Damn, I wish he’d told me that.’” 

–Christmas night, 20 years ago, Billy Martin died. Moss Klein of the Star-Ledger reflected on his passing. 

“He died at the age of 61…about one hour after the pickup truck he was in with longtime pal Bill Reedy skidded on an icy road and crashed near Martin’s farm in Fenton, N.Y., near Binghamton. They had been drinking, and neither was wearing a seat belt. Reedy, who passed away earlier this year, initially claimed to be the driver, but later said Martin had been the driver and that he had lied at the scene to protect him…. 

“I’ll remember the Billy Martin who would go to extreme lengths to find baseball jobs for ex-players who were down on their luck. And the Billy Martin who couldn’t bring himself to tell fading veterans they were being cut. The tough guy was really a softie at heart…. 

“I’ll remember how he had to be prodded into talking about his World Series heroics with the Yankees in the 1950s. He was a star, offensively and defensively at second base in four Series, a .333 hitter with five homers in 28 games, a game-saving catch in the 1952 finale, but never brought it up. ‘If you have to brag on yourself, you probably weren’t that good,’ he said when I asked him about his reluctance to do just that…. 

“(I’ll remember) sitting with him in his office hours before a game and listening to him expound on the Civil War, one of his little-known passions, explaining the strategy of various generals as if he were managing against them. I learned more about the Civil War from Martin than I ever did in school. 

“Most of all; I’ll remember the sincere pride he took in being a Yankee, in wearing the pinstripes. There were certainly many far greater Yankee players, and several managers who achieved greater success, but there was never a prouder Yankee than Billy Martin.” 

–The New York Post had a list of local celebrities with pistol permits, men such as Howard Stern and Don Imus, which has been long known, but also the Mets’ David Wright. ‘Sup with dat, David? 

–I just found the following item in Walter Scott’s Personality Parade interesting. 

Q: Whatever happened to Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s son and wife? 

A: Jean MacArthur was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Reagan in 1988 and died in 2000, at age 101. Arthur MacArthur IV (born in 1938), for whom his father predicted a great military career, instead chose an arts education and obscurity. He changed his name as a young man and vanished from the public eye altogether.” 

Isn’t that bizarre? There’s a guy out there, assuming he’s still alive, who is the great MacArthur’s son, and none of his friends or neighbors know, we are led to believe. 

“Sarah Palin’s best seller, Going Rogue, cites the following quote from UCLA coach John Wooden: ‘Our land is everything to us…I will tell you one of the things we remember on our land. We remember our grandfathers paid for it – with their lives.’ The originator of the quote was actually John Wooden Legs, a native American activist who was referring to the victory of the Cheyenne and the Sioux at the Battle of Little Big Horn.” Doh!! 

–Oh brother. Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley is attempting to get his life together after being on the verge just a little while ago of ending it all. But he’s still only 20 and maybe he can make it. 

“The Miami Heat forward says he decided to try escaping his destructive patterns because of his children – Mikaiya, his 7-month-old daughter, and Pierce, his 4-month-old son.” 

“Beasley’s kids are in South Florida, living with their respective mothers in separate residences, but he can see them daily when the Heat are home.” 

–Johnny Mac said he had recent Mets signee R.A. Dickey over for Christmas Eve and J. Mac asked the knuckleballer to throw him a roll. Dickey, who is missing an arm ligament, didn’t reach Johnny. Not a good sign for us Mets fans. 

[FYI…this column was posted before knowledge of the Mets signing Jason Bay.  Just needed to assure my fellow Mets fans I wasn\’t clueless.]

–And on the NBA beat… “Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas stored unloaded firearms in a container in his locker, according to the team, and the NBA is looking into the situation.” 

Arenas said he didn’t know the rules and handed them over to team security to give to police. Should Arenas be given an Idiot nod? Probably. 

–The Daily News’ Filip Bondy took a look at 2010. With the New Jersey Nets currently 2-29 thru Monday’s play, Bondy sees: 

Feb. 2010…Nets fall to 4-51 before 186 fans at Izod Center. Russian owner backs out of deal, citing “they’re-just-too-terrible clause” in contract.

April 2010…Nets finish season at 6-76. Brooklyn moves to Miami to avoid getting franchise. [Not for nothing, but your editor predicted 9-73 at the start of the year.]

Nov. 2010…Nets start season 0-10, announce that Tim Donaghy will referee against Lakers on “Bet Your House Night” promotion. Kobe Bryant fouls out after eight minutes. 

*Also, March 2010. “Woman comes forward to say she had liaison with Tiger on 15th green at Torrey Pines, during 2008 U.S. Open. Elin demands $400 million divorce settlement.” 

Top 3 songs for the week 12/26/70: #1 “My Sweet Lord” (George Harrison) #2 “One Less Bell To Answer” (The 5th Dimension) #3 “The Tears Of A Clown” (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)…and…#4 “Knock Three Times” (Dawn) #5 “Black Magic Woman” (Santana) #6 “I Think I Love You” (The Partridge Family) #7 “Stoned Love” (The Supremes) #8 “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” (Chicago) #9 “Gypsy Woman” (Brian Hyland)  #10 “No Matter What” (Badfinger) 

NFL Quiz Answers: 1) Remember, since the merger of the AFL and NFL, there is only one league champion, so the top 3 in league championships are…Green Bay, 12; Chicago, 9; and the Giants, 7. [Pittsburgh has 6…its 6 Super Bowls.] 2) Derrick Thomas, Kansas City, had a record 7 sacks in a game, 11/90. 3) Bruce Smith has the record for most seasons with 10 or more sacks, 13 (Buffalo/Washington, 1986-98). Reggie White had 12 such seasons. 4) New York’s Pat Leahy led the AFC in scoring in 1978. 5) Cincinnati’s Paul Robinson, a rookie, led the league in rushing in 1968 with 1,023 yards. He only had 2,947 for his career (1968-73). 

*Happy 77th Birthday to Stu W., who reminded me that Johnny Unitas picked up $4500 for winning “The Game” in 1958, which Unitas then used to buy a house. And a Happy 60th to Shu, who remembers watching The Game as a 9-year-old. Shu, a special thanks for the CD. Good luck with the Tar Heels the rest of the way.