Wimbledon Quiz: 1) When Bjorn Borg won his five in a row from 1976-80, he defeated four different opponents. Name ‘em. 2) Who am I? I won the men’s championship in 1991 and my initials are M.S. 3) Who am I? I won the women’s title in 1994 and my initials are C.M. Answers below.
Massacre at Congressional
Rory McIlroy -16
Jason Day -8
I wish there was something enlightening I could give you but we all watched the same historic performance as McIlroy destroyed the U.S. Open record book. For the archives, I do have to note the 22-year-old from Northern Ireland now has the low 36-, 54-, and 72-hole Open scoring records, though he didn’t exceed Tiger Woods’ performance at Pebble Beach in 2000 when Woods won by 15. What made Tiger’s play that year so spectacular, aside from the obvious, is that he finished -12 and the second-place finisher was +3…a normal Open being the latter score.
Much was made, and should be, about the conditions this past week at Congressional. I know every one of you had the same thoughts…gee, that approach shot in a normal year is sliding off the back of the green, or funneling all the way back to the front. Heck, those greens were squeezably soft, as that scratch handicapper Mr. Wipple used to say.
But that takes nothing away from Rory’s incredible performance. Just picture in a normal year, like at Pinehurst No. 2, he finishes at -8 and the rest are no better than ‘even.’
And when it comes to the win, I can’t beat NBC’s Dan Hicks in summing it up. “Potential has turned into reality.”
But with four straight majors won by 20-somethings, it’s not also enough to say there is a New Breed. Obviously, for the good of the game and capturing the interest of the casual fan on weekends, one of these guys has to grab the sport by the balls and begin to dominate. Preferably two of them to build a rivalry….or have Rory win another major in the next 12 months and then have Tiger come back strong, though this last thought doesn’t seem too realistic at this point.
Lastly on McIlroy, aside from the fact it truly is amazing that two lads from Northern Ireland have won the U.S. Open back-to-back (the other being Graeme McDowell), how incredible is it that Rory took his fourth-round Masters experience, when he shot 80 after having a four-shot, 54-hole lead, and immediately came back and did this?!
And just one thought on Phil Mickelson, who turned 41 last week and played awful. One of the many articles I read on Sunday said he was a total a-hole the entire tourney, such as in refusing to do post-round network interviews that have been his staple. Plus, when he did the formal Tour pressers he couldn’t avoid, his answers were flat-out weird. So there is something wrong with Team Mickelson, aside from his highly mediocre play the last few months.
One more on Tiger
Golf World contemplated Tiger Woods’ future schedule, looking at his serious knee and Achilles issues, and used Ben Hogan as a potential example of what we could see from Tiger in the future.
Following his near-fatal car accident in Feb. 1949, Hogan returned to competition in 1950 and, after averaging 25 tournaments a year from 1946 thru 1948, played a very limited schedule the rest of his career. But he still managed to win six of his nine majors after the accident.
So Golf World looked at his record in official tournaments from 1950 to 1960.
In ’50, for example, Hogan played in six events, winning the U.S. Open, as well as having a 2nd, 3rd and 4th (Masters).
In ’51, he played just four tournaments but won three of them, including the Masters and U.S. Open.
In ’52, he competed in just three events, winning at Colonial.
Then in ’53, he played in five events and won all five! Three of ‘em were rather important; The Masters, U.S. Open and British Open…a remarkable feat.
After ’53, he played in 3 to 6 tournaments thru 1960 and wasn’t as effective, winning just one event, 1959’s Colonial Invitation.
So it would be interesting to see if Tiger would do something like this. You’d think it would be manageable.
Clarence Clemons, RIP
The Big Man, the original E Street Band’s oldest member, died of complications from the stroke he suffered a week ago. Bruce Springsteen issued the following statement.
“Clarence lived a wonderful life. He carried within him a love of people that made them love him. He created a wondrous and extended family. He loved the saxophone, loved our fans and gave everything he had every night he stepped on stage. His loss is immeasurable and we are honored and thankful to have known him and had the opportunity to stand beside him for nearly 40 years. He was my great friend, my partner and with Clarence at my side, my band and I were able to tell a story far deeper than those simply contained in our music. His life, his memory, and his love will live on in that story and in our band.”
Clemens’ solos on songs like “Thunder Road,” “Rosalita,” “Jungleland” and “Born to Run” were quintessential rock ‘n’ roll sax rides – “things of beauty and drama unmatched by efforts of thousands of imitators,” as noted by the Star-Ledger’s Tris McCall.
The story of Clemons’ first meeting with Springsteen is the stuff of rock legend.
“As Springsteen and Clemons told it, a fierce lightning storm was raging when a gust of wind ripped the door off an Asbury Park club in 1971 just as the Big Man entered, giving the impression he had torn it off.
“Clemons invited himself onstage and the pair of future rock icons clicked instantly.” [Rich Schapiro / New York Daily News]
Clemons would later tell the New York Times, “I feel like I was supposed to be there. It was a magical moment. He looked at me, and I looked at him, and we fell in love. And that’s still there.”
Clarence Clemons was born Jan. 11, 1942, in Norfolk Va., the son of a fish merchant. One year, Clarence asked for an electric train for Christmas and instead his father bought him an alto saxophone.
“I’d never even seen a saxophone before, and didn’t really know why my father gave it to me,” Clemons once said. But soon it was clear he could play.
A music and football scholarship took Clemons to what is now the Univ. of Maryland Eastern Shore, where he majored in sociology. He harbored dreams of playing in the NFL but after graduation, he moved to Newark, N.J., took a job as a counselor for troubled youth, and played his sax in bars and nightclubs. And then he met Bruce.
But now the Big Man is gone. I would just like to thank my friends Steve D. and Phil W. for insisting I join them at Springsteen concerts the last five years or so. I have to admit, I was always a Springsteen fan but never a fanatic, but then I finally went to the shows that for decades my friends had always talked of. Future shows won’t be the same without Big Man.
College World Series
It’s underway, a double elimination format, and in Saturday’s first two games, Florida beat Texas, 8-4, while Vanderbilt defeated North Carolina, 7-3. Then on Sunday, Virginia bested California, 4-1, and I’m posting this before the conclusion of Texas A&M-South Carolina.
The CWS runs through next weekend and the ACC is still looking for its first title since 1955.
Ball Bits
“Of the 50 fastest pitches measured by PITCH/fx, a system that has been in place at every ballpark in the majors since 2007, only four were put in play, one for a hit. But while the correlation between velocity and pitching effectiveness has long been strong, there also seems to be a troubling link to injuries.
“Six of last season’s eight hardest throwers are on the DL or have spent time there this season. They are Aroldis Chapman, Stephen Strasburg, Joel Zumaya, Henry Rodriguez, Santiago Casilla and Bobby Parnell.”
USA TODAY asked Tim Wendel, author of “High Heat: The Secret History of the Fastball,” to compile a list of the 12 greatest fireballers in baseball history.
1. Nolan Ryan
2. Steve Dalkowski…mythic pitcher I’ve written of before. Even Ted Williams called him the fastest pitcher who ever lived. Legend has it he could throw up to 110mph!
3. Bob Feller
4. Aroldis Chapman
5. Sandy Koufax
6. Walter Johnson
7. Billy Wagner…nice pick
8. Satchel Paige
9. Amos Rusie…19th century…also walked 289 in 548 innings in 1890.
10. Goose Gossage
11. Bob Gibson
12. J.R. Richard…oh, if he had only not suffered a stroke in 1980. Sad story.
–The Wall Street Journal’s Joshua Robinson had a piece this weekend about the making of the Wiffle Ball. Did you know that every single ball that will be used this summer is made in a single, two-story cinderblock building in Shelton, Conn.? Every Wiffle Ball since the factory opened in 1959, to be exact. The Mullany brothers run the company their grandfather actually started in 1953.
Playboy magazine once dubbed Wiffle Ball one of the classic American brands alongside Monopoly and Zippo lighters. As for the economics of the business, the article has no details but obviously the brothers survive.
–One day off appears to have done the trick for my man Ichiro. Having slumped to a career worst .248, the Mariners insisted the outfielder take a day off and all he’s done since then is go 16 for 34 and hike his average back to .277. He now has 82 hits in 72 games (71 in which he has played), so there is still a shot he could get another 200-hit season, which is all I care about….keepin’ that baseball card clean as he goes for an 11th consecutive year with 200.
–It is unfathomable that the Florida Marlins can start the season 30-20 and then suddenly find themselves 32-40. You’re reading that right. They are on a 2-20 skid and Sunday, manager Edwin Rodriguez submitted his resignation.
—Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak, 1941… continued
Game 34…June 21…Detroit…1 for 4…1 RBI
Game 35…June 22…Detroit…2 for 5…1 HR 2 RBI
Dave Cameron of the Wall Street Journal had a piece on DiMaggio’s feat and whether it is the hardest record to break in sports, as no one has gotten within shouting distance of 56 since Pete Rose got it up to 44 in 1978. Cameron argues, however, the hardest record is Nolan Ryan’s 7 no-hitters and uses this past week’s example of Justin Verlander.
Verlander came within five outs of his third career no-hitter before it was broken up, but had he been able to complete it, he would have only been 43% of the way to matching Ryan’s mark. “In contrast, 43% of DiMaggio’s hitting streak is just 24 games, and that’s a relatively common accomplishment. There have been 55 hitting streaks that long in just the last 20 years, including earlier this season when the Dodgers’ Andre Ethier reached 30 games. When Rose extended his hitting streak to 44 games, he was 79% of the way to tying DiMaggio’s mark. It would take 5.5 no-hitters to be an equal distance from Ryan’s record, and no other pitcher has ever thrown more than four.”
–So last time I posted before Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Finals. That story has already been written, but as I told my Boston sports fan friends, I’m jealous as hell. Since 2000:
Patriots…2001, 2003, 2004
Red Sox…2004, 2007
Celtics…2008
Bruins…2011
Jets….errr
Mets…errr
Rangers…errr
Knicks…errr
But of course Bruins fans have waited a long time, since 1972, to be exact, so they deserved it. Plus they did it on the road. As for Vancouver, city of anarchists, nice display after the game. Really makes me want to go there.
–As part of Sporting News’ 125th anniversary, they have been coming up with greatest this and that. This week, the “NBA’s Greatest Teams.”
1. 1995-96 Bulls…72-10, the best of all time, three games better than the 1996-97 Bulls and 1971-72 Lakers. They were also a record 33-8 on the road. This was Jordan’s first full season back after his brief retirement to play baseball. He averaged 30.4 points while Scottie Pippen averaged 19. The Bulls outscored opponents by an average 12.2 points. And they had the Rodman factor. Dennis Rodman averaged only 5.5 points per game, but he also hauled in 14.9 rebounds.
2. 1971-72 Lakers
3. 1986-87 Lakers
4. 1985-86 Celtics
5. 1964-65 Celtics
6. 1966-67 76ers
7. 1982-83 76ers
8. 1970-71 Bucks
9. 1991-92 Bulls
10. 1988-89 Pistons
I’m disappointed one of the two Knicks teams isn’t on the list but I guess it makes sense.
–PGA Tour fans take note. The Heritage Classic will survive after all. In danger of losing the event on Hilton Head Island due to lack of a sponsor for 2012, RBC stepped up and signed a five-year agreement to become the new title sponsor through 2016. Boeing, which has a significant presence in Charleston, S.C., will also help with the tournament. And the Heritage will return to its traditional week in April immediately following the Masters.
–OK…last high school boys track story…I promise. But you know those Rosa twins from New Jersey I’ve been writing of? All they did was finish 2-3 in the 2-mile race at the New Balance Nationals in Greensboro, N.C. A kid from California, Ammar Moussa, finished 1st.
–Uh oh…we have a beaver issue in Argentina. The Washington Post’s Juan Forero had a piece titled, “Argentina’s voracious invaders: Cute, destructive beavers.”
Get this. In 1946, 25 pairs of Canadian beavers were introduced by officials in Argentina to generate a commercial fur trade but “may now number 200,000, a virtual army that is chomping, cutting and flooding forests across this frosty, remote archipelago known as Tierra del Fuego, or Land of Fire. And the beavers are moving north, having swum across the turbulent, freezing waters of the Strait of Magellan.”
“We think they could occupy all of Patagonia,” said Laura Malmierca, a biologist with Argentina’s parks service.
Well, as Juan Forero points out, “none of this is the fault of the beaver…nature’s engineer…instinctually obsessed with building dams, canals and lodges as protection against predators and to easily move and store food.”
Of course readers of StocksandNews also know that beavers were the only homebuilders to emerge from the U.S. housing bubble unscathed. They built only what was needed and thus had little inventory to concern themselves with. Beaver Corp. (symbol BEEV…BEAV was taken by BE Aerospace) has an uninterrupted history of increasing earnings and dividends.
But back to the issue at hand, the locals in Argentina have a love-hate relationship with the creatures. Pablo Kunzle, an expert beaver trapper, talks about them with a mix of admiration and dread.
“They’re hydraulic engineers!” he said, showing off a perfectly built dam.
Yes, it’s why beavers could crack the top three in the next All-Species List, while Man struggles to get back in the top 100.
But, alas, Beaver Nation has trouble down south. It’s time to take some hides, though as beaver pups are taught as kids by mom and dad, “When you hear men in a bar say, ‘It’s time to get some hides,’ skedaddle out of there, pack up, and build a new home, out of danger.”
“An Ocean County (N.J.) man learned today that a rattlesnake on the road best be left in peace.
“The 24-year-old man was reported in stable condition last night after being bitten by a timber rattlesnake he had tried to grab by its head, said Larry Ragonese, a spokesman for the state Department of Environmental Protection….
“The man told authorities he used a stick to pin the snake’s body, and then tried to grab its head and move it off the road.
“But the snake, described as an adult, squirmed free, wrapped itself around the man’s arm, and bit his hand.”
The Pinelands is known for having a “healthy” population of rattlesnakes.
“Being bitten by an adult may have helped the man’s condition, Ragonese said. Young rattlesnakes use their venom to kill, while adults ‘temper their venom to immobilize.’”
“An African black mamba snake kept illegally as a pet in Putnam County was the main suspect in a 56-year-old woman’s death Tuesday.” The woman was living in a house “that was a virtual snake pit.”
“Aleta Stacey was found dead Tuesday by her boyfriend who kept 75 snakes – 56 poisonous – in their Putnam Lake home.
“Boyfriend Vito Caputo, 46, called 911 when he found Stacey lying on their bed cold, unresponsive and with fang marks on one of her forearms, cops said.
“Caputo told investigators he suspects Stacey was bitten by his poisonous, 5-foot-long African black mamba.”
No word on where the black mamba is now, so be careful when going out for the morning paper.
“Tensions are bubbling backstage on NBC’s hit ‘The Voice’ between Christina Aguilera and rival judge Maroon 5 frontman Adam Levine.
“Sources tell Page Six fellow judges Levine and Blake Shelton have formed an alliance against Aguilera, whose much bigger paycheck, attention-stealing diva stunts and doting makeup team have rubbed the guys the wrong way.”
So get this. Christina gets $225,000 per episode while the others earn $75,000 per. Plus, X-tina has two hair and makeup people, a producer and an assistant.
A source said, “They are all so annoyed by her. Every time she walks away with her entourage, they talk about her behind her back. She holds people up and never apologies.”
–I can’t believe June 21 marks the 10th anniversary of the death of my favorite television actor, Carroll O’Connor.
Boy the way Glen Miller played
Songs that made the hit parade.
Guys like us we had it made,
Those were the days.
Top 3 songs for the week 6/16/62: #1 “I Can’t Stop Loving You” (Ray Charles…#1 for 5 weeks, and deservedly so) #2 “Stranger On The Shore” (Mr. Acker Bilk…great tune. If you don’t remember, YouTube it) #3 “It Keeps Right On A-Hurtin’” (Johnny Tillotson)…and…#4 “(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance” (Gene Pitney… incredibly underrated artist…I do a good “It Hurts To Be In Love,” especially after lubing the voice chords with two domestics) #5 “Palisades Park” (Freddy Cannon…ah, the good old days) #6 “Lovers Who Wander” (Dion…another who as famous as he is, still doesn’t get his due) #7 “Second Hand Love” (Connie Francis) #8 “The Stripper” (David Rose) #9 “Playboy” (The Marvelettes) #10 “The One Who Really Loves You” (Mary Wells)
Wimbledon Quiz: 1) Bjorn Borg defeated the following. 1976 – Ilie Nastase; ’77 – Jimmy Connors; ’78 – Jimmy Connors; ’79 – Roscoe Tanner; ’80 – John McEnroe. 2) Michael Stich defeated Boris Becker in 1991. 3) Conchita Martinez won in 1994.
