[Posted Sunday evening before conclusion of St. Louis-Seattle contest]
NFL Quiz: Assorted stuff. 1) OK…old-timers. Who had more receptions…Gene Washington of the Vikings or Gene Washington of the 49ers? 2) Who has the longest punt in NFL history at 98 yards? [modern-day player but not recent] 3) What full-time quarterback is one of just five in NFL history to have a 90-yard punt? [modern-day] Answers below.
College Football Review
I noted earlier that the bowl game I was most up for was the Rose Bowl. Up until the final Boise State disaster against Nevada, though, I thought it would be Boise-Wisconsin. Instead it was TCU but the now 13-0 Horned Frogs certainly didn’t disappoint and the significance of TCU’s 21-19 win cannot be understated. And what I thought was tremendous was the school’s class, particularly head coach Gary Patterson’s continuous mention of winning it for the “little guys,” teams like “Boise State.” That’s a good man…and I’ve already made a note for the December file and the 2011 yearend awards.
“Many thought tiny Texas Christian would be brought to its knees, and they were right.
“In the wondrous moments that lighted up the Pasadena darkness late Saturday afternoon, several Horned Frogs staggered behind their bench, dropped to the ground and wept.
“ ‘This was our national championship,’ said running back Waymon James. ‘This was enough.’
“Many thought outsider TCU would lose its composure, and they were right.
“Through the Arroyo Seco chill they danced, preschoolers in shoulder pads, running in circles, heaving their helmets, sticking out their tongues to catch the purple confetti as if it were an unexpected winter snow.
“ ‘Everybody said we couldn’t do it!’ shouted receiver Jeremy Kerley. ‘But look at us now, we’re the Rose Bowl champs!’
“Indeed they are, the most refreshingly joyful champs in the 20 years that I’ve covered this game, TCU finishing an unbeaten season with an unlikely 21-19 slugging of giant Wisconsin on Saturday….
“Standing on many football fields after many important victories, I’m often fearful of being trampled by a charging student body. Saturday was the first time I was worried about being trampled by the actual team….
“In the arms of a team that was truly happy to be here, the Rose Bowl was reminded of its meaning again. On the backs of a team that finished unbeaten yet unshaken about not having a shot at the national championship, college football was reminded of its strength….
“This was supposed to be a column about the great injustice dealt a TCU team that is 13-0 yet, because of the quirks of the Bowl Championship Series system, will be watching college football’s national championship game next week between Oregon and Auburn.
“But how can you call any Rose Bowl victory an injustice? How can you say that a triumph by a Mountain West Conference school of about 9,000 students over a Big Ten powerhouse is anything less than the end of the rainbow?”
I’ve always loved the Rose Bowl, even as I’ve never attended it. To me more than anything else it spells New Year’s Day. A lot of the mystique has to do with the gorgeous setting, and of course in the old days the Pac-10 and Big Ten representatives were almost always top six or seven. Let’s face it…the Rose Bowl also has the best time slot in football. At least for those of us on the East Coast it’s perfect. 4:30-8:00 p.m. You have the early games to get you in the mood, if you care to watch, but the Rose Bowl doesn’t then go on to some interminable hour. [You can tell I’m getting older. Suffice it to say I didn’t stay up for the second half of Oklahoma-UConn.]
But my bigger point is I love my own previously stated idea that if we’re going to have to put up with the BCS system (and it certainly appears we will, unless Congress wastes its time in trying to take it down), then the Rose Bowl should go to #s 3 and 4 in the BCS standings… period. Give the BCS their title game, but guarantee that the Rose Bowl always has a matchup like we had Saturday. [Technically, Wisconsin was BCS #5…Stanford is #4.]
Anyway, how about that outstanding effort by the Big Ten on New Year’s Day? Five games. Five losses.
TCU 21 Wisconsin 19
Mississippi State 52 Michigan 14
Texas Tech 45 Northwestern 38
Florida 37 Penn State 24
Alabama 49 Michigan State 7
“(TCU’s) victory capped a 13-0 season for the Horned Frogs and a train wreck of a day for the Big Ten. The league lost its five bowl games by a combined score of 204-102 and left the Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee open for mockery.
“Gee chided TCU and Boise State, who play outside college football’s six power conferences, for competing against teams like the ‘Little Sisters of the Poor.’
“ ‘I’m going to New Orleans tomorrow, and Antoine’s is a great restaurant,’ Gee said when reached on his cellphone Saturday night. ‘I think they serve crow, and I’ll be eating my portion of that. TCU played a great game and they deserve to be recognized for that. Obviously TCU is a great ball team.’”
Gary Patterson said, “I don’t have any messages for him. I make mistakes every day.” Patterson has too much class. I don’t. E. Gordon Gee is a total ass.
John Feinstein of the Washington Post had a story the other day on Gene Corrigan, who back in the early 1990s, while ACC commissioner, first came up with the idea for the BCS (with big time help from then assistant commissioner Tom Mickle), and today, Corrigan, now 82 and retired, told Feinstein:
“At the time, it was a good thing. It was certainly an improvement on what we’d had before. But the time for change has come. The best and fairest thing would be a 16-team playoff. It would be the best thing for the players and for the sport.”
“Mick (Tom Mickle) and I disagreed on what should happen next. He always favored a playoff. I was against it because I thought asking the players to play more than 12 or 13 games was wrong. But now the presidents have gone ahead and approved a 12th game and the conference championship games so they’re all playing 14 games anyway.”
–Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez will undoubtedly be canned after his team’s effort, let alone his now 15-22 record, 1-11 against ranked teams.
–Does Erin Andrews have hair extensions? Sorry, not sure how this works, girls.
–At 4:32 p.m. eastern time on Saturday, ESPN had a shot of the TCU cheerleaders and I particularly liked the one on the right. At 5:30 p.m., I received a note from “Shu” who told me the TCU girls would give USC’s a run for their money. Good point, I replied.
–Thus far I haven’t even watched the 8 or so games I told you I would. And someone tell me why I should waste my time catching a 7-5 vs. 6-6 matchup, of which there were many such contests? I wouldn’t give a damn about a regular season matchup like this, why would I care because it’s a bowl game?
–And while I have written conflicted comments on Penn State’s Joe Paterno, acknowledging the team’s record the past few years has generally been good, can someone tell me just what the guy does on the sidelines? Granted, I only caught the last eight minutes or so of the Florida-Penn State game, but all I saw was an 84-year-old man walking around mumbling to himself, no headphones on. He’s not even talking to his coaches! I mean it’s obvious he has zero to do with the game strategy. It’s a joke…but no one can force the guy out. I’m guessing next year is going to be downright embarrassing watching him since he’s announced he’s coming back. I just hope he doesn’t get lost trying to find his way to the locker room at halftime, know what I’m sayin’?
–I know it’s popular these days in the NFL not to waste a 1st-round draft pick on a running back because they are a dime a dozen, but if I didn’t already have a 1,000-yard back on the roster, I’d sure as hell take Alabama’s Mark Ingram in the first round.
[This year’s NFL rushing leader, Arian Foster, was an undrafted free agent. No. 2, Jamaal Charles, was a 3rd-round pick.]
–What a mess at Pitt, which was forced to fire football coach Mike Haywood on Saturday, a day after he was tossed in jail because of his arrest on a domestic violence charge, which was upgraded from a misdemeanor to felony battery in the presence of a minor. Within hours of Haywood’s release on bail, Pitt’s chancellor released a statement that the coach, who had held the job all of 2 ½ weeks, was dismissed “effective immediately.”
“To be clear, the university’s decision is not tied to any expectation with respect to the terms on which the legal proceeding now pending in Indiana might ultimately be concluded. Instead, it reflects a strong belief that moving forward with Mr. Haywood as our head coach is not possible under the existing circumstances.”
Pitt had forced Dave Wannstedt to resign last month after a disappointing 7-5 season, which was yet another in a disappointing run (vs. perhaps too high expectations) for the former NFL coach largely because Pitt has consistently recruited well. But Haywood, after just two years as head coach at Miami (Ohio), was quickly hired, much to the chagrin of fans, boosters and alumni. Players were upset Wannstedt was let go. Wannstedt is very pissed.
And since Haywood was hired, of Wannstedt’s strong 18-man recruiting class, half said they would consider going elsewhere. Now this.
Haywood told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “It isn’t fair. The truth will eventually come out.”
But for now the truth is he was arrested after a custody dispute with a woman with whom he has a child (you wonder if Pitt knew this part of the guy’s life before hiring him). The unidentified woman told police that Haywood grabbed her by the arm and neck and pushed her as she tried to leave the home that Haywood owns in South Bend, Ind., where he once was a Notre Dame assistant. A police official said the woman had marks on her neck, arms and back.
Haywood wasn’t planning on retaining any members of Wannstedt’s staff and was going to bring along most of his Miami assistants.
Pitt is a great school, and Wannstedt is a class guy, but perhaps not the greatest game coach, as some of us who watch such things could argue. He also, it needs to be pointed out, presided over a program that has had its share of off-field issues.
[While up above I mention how there is no reason to watch a 7-5 vs. 6-6 bowl game, an exception is Pitt’s Jan. 8 game vs. Kentucky. I will at least catch the beginning to see just who is on the sidelines and how the team responds.]
–And Sunday night this shocker…UConn’s Randy Edsall is going to Maryland! [Not former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach as rumored…the Terrapins listened to my advice that hiring Leach would have been a mistake. But what a blow to UConn. Makes no sense to me.]
NFL…on to the playoffs
New Orleans at Seattle or St. Louis…4:30 p.m. eastern
Jets at Indianapolis…8:00 p.m.
Baltimore at Kansas City…1:00 p.m.
Green Bay at Philadelphia…4:30 p.m.
I’ve already checked the weather and no big storms on the horizon it would seem for Kansas City and Philadelphia.
So we have to hope for bad weather and/or zero degrees the following weekend in Pittsburgh, New England or Chicago.
“There has never been anybody like Ryan around her. I think he has mostly been great fun. He is a great subject. But in the last month, Ryan has shown you how fast it changes for you, how quickly the character becomes the caricature. And that is exactly where he is right now, whether he’s got his spot in the tournament or not.
“The problem with running your mouth as much as Rex does is that eventually you put a foot in it. Pun intended.”
As in how many more incriminating videos are out there?
–And for the record, the Jets were fined $100,000 for the sideline tripping incident against Miami. The league was not happy with special teams coach Mike Westhoff’s comments that everyone else did it, singling out New England. And it turns out the offending coach, the since suspended Sal Alosi, had been lining the players up in the fashion they were against the Dolphins for two years.
–The Brett Favre fine of $50,000 had just been handed down when I was going to post last time so for the archives I just have to add that he is making $650,000 a game, $16 million in total (including signing bonus), for playing this year. No wonder Jen Sterger’s father said he hopes he doesn’t meet Favre in a dark alley.
–I’m really getting a kick out of all the articles suddenly coming out, post New York blizzard, on how, gee, maybe holding the Super Bowl in the Meadowlands in February 2014 isn’t such a good idea. Yes, these are the very same people who were praising the choice. But not yours truly! By the way, here’s your latest forecast for the game. Sleet developing around 8:00 a.m., turning to freezing rain by 10:00 a.m., then as the storm moves off the coast and the northwest winds wrap around the center, the rain goes to a heavy snow for about three hours, dumping 6 inches on the Meadowlands. But while fans are encouraged to get to the stadium at least six hours before the 6:20 p.m. start time due to extra security for the big game, many are caught in the initial ice storm as cars skid out all over the major thoroughfares, forcing officials to shut them down after 68 people die in the accidents. [OK, maybe one…but I have time to refine the forecast. Just remember as I point out in the other column this week, this area is getting huge storms far more frequently than in the past. Call it what you will. I just call it the facts.]
Baseball Hall of Fame
We learn the new entrant(s) to the Hall on Wednesday and one of first-year candidates making noise but who won’t get in is ‘roider Rafael Palmeiro, who continues to deny he used them.
“I was telling the truth the, and I am telling the truth now. I don’t know what else I can say. I have never taken steroids. For people who think I took steroids intentionally, I’m never going to convince them. But I hope the voters judge my career fairly and don’t look at one mistake.” [AP]
“I never played for the Hall of Fame…But, yes, now the Hall of Fame is important to me. Why wouldn’t I want to be there? It would mean more than anything to me. I hope they don’t hold me out for one mistake at the end of my career.”
But it was the finger-wagging before Congress that people will never forget.
“Three baseball milestones have traditionally guaranteed a player’s entry into the Hall of Fame. Smack more than 500 home runs, pile up more than 3,000 hits or win more than 300 games, and Cooperstown beckons.
“Of the 203 players in the Hall, 56 have accomplished at least one of those three feats. Two others players have done so but do not have plaques. [Pete Rose and Mark McGwire]….
“Now comes a third candidate who is likely to find himself shunned by baseball writers….
“Over his 20-year career, Rafael Palmeiro hit 569 home runs and compiled 3,020 hits. Only three others – Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Eddie Murray – surpassed 500 home runs and 3,000 hits, and each was elected to the Hall the first time he was on the ballot.
“But standing in Palmeiro’s way in his first year of eligibility (is the fact) his numbers speak more to longevity than to dominance as a player and, more important, that his image suffered greatly in 2005, when he was suspended for a positive steroid test five months after pointing his finger at members of Congress and insisting he never used steroids.”
McGwire at the same hearing damaged his future candidacy by declining to answer questions about his own suspected use, and then later admitted he did use them. Palmeiro, however, continues to maintain that he was just using vitamin B12 and that it was tainted and that’s how the positive test came about.
“But that denial seems unlikely to carry much weight within the world of baseball, where he remains guilty as charged. Interviews last week with a half-dozen writers and commentators – some of whom cast Hall of Fame ballots – revealed an informal consensus that Palmeiro would be a Hall of Famer, although hardly an imposing one, if not for the stain of steroids.
“ ‘It’s kind of an unusual Hall of Fame career,’ said Bob Costas…who is not a Hall voter. ‘While he was an excellent player for years, the consensus among people in baseball would never have said that he was one of the best players in the game.’
“In fact, Palmeiro made only four All-Star teams in his career and never finished higher than fifth in balloting for the Most Valuable Player award in either league. And he was never on a World Series winner.
“Still, Costas said, he would have voted for Palmeiro if he had a vote but for the positive drug test….
“Ross Newhan, a former national baseball writer for the Los Angeles Times, said he was not turned off by the fact that Palmeiro had accumulated his statistics over so many years and had few truly dominant ones.
“ ‘I’m turned off by the fact that of all of these guys who have come up, the evidence is stronger in his case that he used performance-enhancing drugs than anybody else,’ he said.”
But Tim McCarver, who doesn’t have a vote, said he would have put Palmeiro on his ballot.
“ ‘You can’t change the numbers,’ he said of Palmeiro’s compelling statistics. ‘To me, you are giving the writers too broad a power to be the judge on whether a guy took steroids. I would vote for all the guys who have the numbers.’”
McCarver argues that the writers shouldn’t be the morality police, but Newhan, who is in the Hall himself as a J.G. Taylor Spink Award winner, disagreed, saying: “I think we are (the morality police). If we aren’t, who is? Part of our job is that we are custodians of the game’s history. I do look at the larger picture, and Palmeiro had a lot of good years, but that brings it back to my feeling that otherwise he would be worthy of the Hall of Fame.”
“In a sense, Palmeiro’s career line now reads: .288 batting average, 3,020 hits, 569 home runs, 1 drug suspension. The last number may have shut Cooperstown’s door.”
Meanwhile, Robbie Alomar and Bert Blyleven are expected to get in. Blyleven, who long-time readers know I feel deserves his place in the Hall, suffered by lack of run support and still won 287 games. As Sean Forman, founder of baseballreference.com, noted in a New York Times piece, “During Blyleven’s starts, the average offense backing him ranked 6.5 in the league in runs scored (so an average of the sixth- or seventh-best offense in the league).”
By that analysis, think how many over 300 Blyleven could have been.
And, aside from Palmeiro’s vote total in his first year, it will be interesting to see how well Jeff Bagwell does in his initial one, his humongous stats being under a cloud of suspicion in some quarters as well.
Lastly, a get well card for Hall of Fame slugger Harmon Killebrew, who announced he has been diagnosed with esophageal cancer, saying in a statement through the Minnesota Twins that he expects to make a full recovery from the “very serious” condition. Everyone loves “Killer.” And what a career…8 times he hit 40 homers, and it’s not like he was playing in a bandbox.
–I caught the last 8 minutes or so of the UConn-Stanford women’s b-ball game after learning Stanford was winning. As you all know, Stanford prevailed, 71-59, ending the Lady Huskies all-time winning streak at 90. UConn did not look good at all from the little I saw.
But did you see Condi Rice in the stands for the Cardinal, she being a professor there these days? Looks like she’s still available. [Unless she is with the woman sitting next to her…which would be interesting, but I better stop there. I’m in enough trouble as it is.]
—St. John’s has gotten off to a 2-0 start in Big East basketball play. Some of us would love the Johnnies to do real well, not just because it’s good for the New York sports scene, but because the better they play, the more we get to see Mrs. Lavin.
—Wake Forest lost to Gonzaga on Sunday, 73-63, continuing the Demon Deacons’ woeful season. Phil W. told me to check out the Sagarin computer rankings. As of Jan. 1, Wake was No. 244 out of 345 Division I teams, sandwiched between Tennessee State and Stetson, the latter having defeated Wake in the first game of the season.
So I was looking at the entire Sagarin list and saw that Colgate was No. 343 of 345…but then on Sunday they won their first game in defeating No. 306 Longwood. [The staff knows a few who hail from this fine institution of higher learning.]
But did you see Sunday’s Virginia Tech-Mount St. Mary’s contest? [Hopefully you didn’t…as in you had better things to do than look this one up.] Because I was following the Wake game on the computer while watching the Jets (and sneaking looks at Wake on MSG), I noticed that at the same time, VT was up 50-11 at half! Good lord. Towards the end of the game it was 91-21 before ending up 99-34. Va. Tech was 36 of 52 from the field, 69.2%. Heck, they were only 21 of 33 from the foul line (63.6%). Mount St. Mary’s (out of the NEC) was 9 of 53 from the field (17%). I mean this is a Division I program. Pathetic…a disgrace to their school. Strip away their scholarships.
Speaking of shooting, and back to Wake, while this has already been a disastrous season and only threatens to get worse as ACC play is about to begin, guard Gary Clark is nonetheless 27 of 40 from the 3-point line, 67%. As Ronald Reagan would have said, “Not bad, not bad at all.”
–Pretty awesome to see 68,111 in Pittsburgh for the Winter Classic. After the game time was changed due to the weather, I totally forgot to check it out. Doh!
–I’ve already written more about the New Jersey Devils this year than I did in all my years writing this bit combined, and I’m not a Devils fan, but their story is just intriguing. They are currently headed for the biggest fall of all time by a NHL team in terms of point differential and future Hall of Fame goalie Martin Brodeur epitomized the team’s futility when on Saturday he was pulled after just 8 minutes! having already given up three goals in what would be a 6-3 loss to Carolina.
–Trader George was telling me how he watched a film of Jim Brown with his father the other day and we’re all in agreement that Brown remains the greatest football player of all time. USA TODAY Sports Weekly had an interview with John Wooten in a recent issue, Wooten having played nine seasons with Brown and currently chairman of an affirmative action group that promotes diversity in hiring within the NFL.
Q: Many folks still believe that is the best NFL player ever.
Wooten: I would say that very strongly, too. When NFL Network did its Top 100 players, Jerry Rice beat out Jim for the top player. If you are sitting at the draft table and you have a choice between Jim Brown and Jerry Rice, who do you take? Jim Brown. What you want to do in any football game is to control the football. This is a guy who averaged 5.2 yards per carry. That means you are making a first down every two plays. That is what I call controlling the football.
[It’s still hard to believe that Brown retired at 29, in perfect shape, having rushed for 1544 yards and a 5.3 average that final year, 1965. For you junkies out there, go to pro-football-reference.com and check out his stats. I forgot he averaged 104 yards a game…for his career!]
“Wildlife officials are trying to determine what caused more than 1,000 black birds to die and fall from the sky over an Arkansas town.
“The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said Saturday that it began receiving reports about the dead birds about 11:30 p.m. the previous night. The birds fell over a 1-mile area of Beebe, and an aerial survey indicated that no other dead birds were found outside of that area.
“Commission ornithologist Karen Rowe said the birds showed physical trauma, and she speculated that ‘the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail.’
“The commission said that New Year’s Eve revelers shooting off fireworks in the area could have startled the birds from their roost and caused them to die from stress.”
I’m going with the last one. Picture the birds celebrating New Year’s with a group flight (a tradition among black birds).
Black Bird #1: “Great evening, huh?”
Black Bird #2: “Yeah, those tornadoes earlier in the day were pretty hairy, but glad things cleared.”
–Wildlife officials estimate that 75 grizzly bears died in the region around Yellowstone National Park in 2010, but biologists maintain the population topped 600 for the first time since recovery efforts started in the 1970s. An estimated 1,500 roam the northwest U.S. and adjacent Canada. A spokesbear for the griz was unavailable.
“New Jersey Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov has been living it up over the holidays in the French Alps surrounded by beautiful women. Spies said the Russian playboy billionaire’s entourage in Courchevel included a group of ’12 gorgeous, tall brunettes and one blonde. They were drinking champagne at lunch, watched over by his personal assistant.’”
–Update: New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson has opted not to pardon Billy the Kid “because of a lack of conclusiveness and the historical ambiguity as to why Gov. (Lew) Wallace reneged on his promise,” Wallace supposedly having promised Kid a chance at freedom if he testified in a murder case against three men. Richardson, incidentally, left office New Year’s Day with an approval rating in the 30s. The one-time presidential contender/diplomat did not have a good final few years in office.
–I continue to get emails from you on how many received “Life” for Christmas, unlike any other personal endorsement of mine in almost 12 years of this site.
However, I see on the Jan. 2 New York Times Best Seller list that “Life” is still just No. 4, though this is for sales thru Dec. 18. I mean George W. Bush’s “Decision Points” remains at No. 1. C’mon, people.
–Special thank you to Jill M. for all the Champs Sports / Capital Onewear; Ms. Jill being on the committee for both games which went extremely well from an operational standpoint, even if Michigan State didn’t show. [Jill was appropriately fired up she nailed the flyover, though.]
The great jazz musician and educator Billy Taylor died. He was 89. Those of us who watched his frequent appearances on CBS’ “Sunday Morning” program appreciated his class. Will Friedwald wrote in the Wall Street Journal:
“Over the course of a career that lasted 70 years, Taylor was one of the major figures who helped the world learn how to take jazz seriously. He was perhaps the first and greatest spokesman for the whole of jazz, as a teacher, broadcaster, producer, impresario and all-around advocate….His very visible dignity and decorum helped give jazz a degree of respect – particularly in the education and political circles – that it had never known before.”
Bernie Wilson died. He was 64. Don’t know him? I have to admit I was stumped when I saw the name, until I then read that he was the baritone member of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. What a great group they were… “If You Don’t Know Me by Now,” “I Miss You,” “Bad Luck,” “Wake Up Everybody,” and “The Love I Lost.”
But this is sad. Only one of the original four is still alive, that being Lloyd Parks. Teddy Pendergrass and Lawrence Brown predeceased Wilson.
I love this line from Wilson’s cousin, Faith Peace-Mazzccua.
“He left home at 16 as a pauper and came back home a millionaire.”
And Agathe von Trapp passed away at the age of 97. Yes, a member of the singing von Trapp Family of “The Sound of Music” fame. As noted in the Los Angeles Times:
“Von Trapp was the oldest daughter of Austrian naval Capt. Georg Ritter von Trapp. His seven children by his first wife, Agathe Whitehead von Trapp, were the basis for the singing family in the 1959 play and 1965 film, which won the Oscar for best picture.
“The widowed captain had three more children with his second wife, Maria Augusta Kutschera. They performed as the Trapp Family Singers.
“Agathe, a guitarist, was represented in the film by 16-going-on-17 Liesl, played by Charmian Carr. But Agathe was far more reserved than the outgoing Liesl, (according to Agathe von Trapp’s friend Mary Louise Kane).
“Although Agathe admired the movie, she felt it misrepresented her father as too strict and not as the loving, caring parent he was, Kane said.” Four members of the Trapp Family Singers are still alive, ranging in age from 71 to 96.
Long, long ago I went to the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vt., and have fond memories of the place. I really have to get back there…maybe this summer to get in shape. [It was so long ago, one day I ran up the Mt. Mansfield toll road. I’d kind of like to see if I could do that one more time….no walking. You could then leave my body up there. Just cover it with stones so I’m not picked apart by vultures.]
Top 3 songs for the week 1/1/66: *Because of last time being yearend I’m skipping a year, otherwise I’d just be repeating most of the same tunes. We’ll go back to ’65 in a few. #1 “The Sounds Of Silence” (Simon & Garfunkel…The Graduate) #2 “We Can Work It Out” (The Beatles) #3 “I Got You (I Feel Good)” (James Brown)…and…#4 “Turn! Turn! Turn!” (The Byrds) #5 “Over And Over” (The Dave Clark Five…remain underrated even after induction into Hall of Fame) #6 “Let’s Hang On!” (The 4 Seasons…one of my favorites of theirs) #7 “Fever” (The McCoys) #8 “Ebb Tide” (The Righteous Brothers) #9 “England Swings” (Roger Miller) #10 “Make The World Go Away” (Eddy Arnold…I mean, again, yet another awesome, awesome week!!!)
NFL Quiz Answers: 1) Gene Washington / 49ers (1969-79, last year with Detroit) had 385 receptions for a 17.8 average and was a 4-time Pro Bowler. Gene Washington / Minn. (1967-73) had 182 receptions for the same 17.8 average and was a 2-time Pro Bowler. In ’69, he had 39 receptions for a 21.1 average with nine going for a score. Both were fun to watch. I also remember Ray Scott seemingly doing all of their games. Now that was a classic announcer, a great one. 2) The Jets’ Steve O’Neal kicked a 98-yarder in Denver from his one-yard line in 1969. It went about 75 yards in the air and rolled to a stop at the opposing one. I vividly remember listening to this on the radio (I was 11 years of age at the time…7 years before the advent of ‘domestic’ that would change my life forever). 3) Philadelphia’s Randall Cunningham is one of five to have a 90-yard punt…exactly 90…in 1989. Cunningham also had an 80-yarder! Overall, he punted the ball 20 times in his career for a 44.7 average….40.2 taking out the big two…give this to your kids as a word problem for their dinner.
