Note: It’s about 5:00 p.m. on Sunday here in New Jersey and I still have power, after being slammed by Hurricane Irene, but half my town doesn’t and now I’m afraid I’ll lose mine shortly too. [Winds have picked up again. Trees down all over the place.] So…I’m posting a little earlier than normal in case the worst happens.
U.S. Open Tennis Quiz: Name the five men’s winners in the decade of the 80s. Answer below.
College Football
OK…I’m going to give you something you just won’t find anywhere else. I’ve listed five different preseason polls over the past few weeks so I thought I’d consolidate them and give you the top five for each as we approach the opening week.
1. Oklahoma
2. Alabama
3. Oregon
4. LSU*
5. Florida State
1. Oklahoma
2. Alabama
3. LSU
4. Oregon
5. Florida State
1. Oklahoma
2. Alabama
3. Oregon
4. LSU
5. Boise State
1. Alabama
2. Oklahoma
3. LSU
4. Stanford
5. Oregon
1. LSU
2. Oklahoma
3. Alabama
4. Stanford
5. Oregon
*LSU starting quarterback Jordan Jefferson and linebacker Josh Johns were released from prison after being arrested and booked on felony charges of second-degree battery for their role in a recent bar fight. Both players were suspended from the team indefinitely. Of course LSU is playing Oregon next Saturday. This isn’t exactly the best thing that could happen to Oregon. Let’s say the Ducks win 27-17. How do the pollsters look at it, especially down the road if LSU doesn’t prove to be that good? Jefferson was a huge key to LSU’s title hopes, after all. Uh oh…cliché alert… “But now, we’ll just have to wait and see!”
Texas A&M has basically told the Big 12 it is leaving and “exploring our options,” per a letter sent out by the university’s president. What a freakin’ jerk. Take your “12th man” and shove it up….oops, sorry. No way am I ever rooting for this school, despite all their “tradition.”
If the Big 12 could snare now independent BYU, though, that would make up for the loss. Then again, here’s hoping the Big 12 sues the hell out of A&M to try and keep them from leaving. Nebraska and Colorado paid more than $9 million to leave.
For its part, the SEC is kind of leery about taking on the Aggies until they have all the legal issues resolved.
And now, your EXCLUSIVE Pick to Click for 2011… Stanford!!! Now I’m not a fan of the Cardinal, just saying that quarterback Andrew Luck stays healthy and has a special season. It would be refreshing for the sport, amidst all the scandals, to have both Luck and this high class institution succeed.
Base- and Foot-ball Bits
–The story of Yankee hurler A.J. Burnett continues. After giving up 9 runs in 5 innings, his ERA is up to 5.31 to go along with a 9-11 record. His ERA in August is over 11.00! And for performances like these he is receiving $82 million.
–Pete M. asks, has there ever been a worse pitcher with a winning record than Boston’s John Lackey? He is 12-9 but with a 5.98 ERA! Heck, that’s a huge improvement from when he was 5-8, 7.47, on July 4. Opposing hitters are batting .300 against him. 160 hits in 129 innings. Good lord!
–Detroit’s Justin Verlander became the first to win 20 games (20-5) by the end of August since Curt Schilling in 2002. I can’t think of a pitcher in recent memory who locked up the Cy Young so early.
–And what of the season the Yankees’ Curtis Granderson is having? The Grandy Man has 10 triples, 24 stolen bases, 36 homers and 103 RBI, thus becoming the first American Leaguer since the St. Louis Browns’ Ken Williams in 1922 to collect at least 10 triples, 20 steals, 30 homers and 100 RBIs.
Granderson was also part of a historic game on Thursday as the Yankees hit a major league record three grand slams in defeating the Oakland A’s, 22-9, after trailing 7-1 after three innings. Granderson, Russell Martin and Robinson Cano connected.
I get so jealous of the Yanks, being a suffering Mets fan, which is why we have to take pleasure in a-hole Burnett’s problems.
[For the A’s, this was kind of surprising. The 22 runs was the most the franchise has given up since 1955, when they were based in Philadelphia and lost 29-6 to the White Sox. As for the A’s bullpen, they gave up a record 16 runs on Thursday.]
–The Dodgers’ Matt Kemp can still win the Triple Crown. The Mets’ Jose Reyes is coming off the disabled list this week and last time he came back from injury he had a bad initial stretch. Kemp is just 13 points away from Jose in terms of batting average thru Saturday and right there in homers and RBIs.
–I missed this…but when the San Diego Padres retired closer Trevor Hoffman’s No. 51 uniform, they showed a videotape of his late father, Ed, singing The Star-Spangled Banner, which Ed used to perform when he was an usher at Anaheim Stadium, back when Trevor was growing up. Super touch by the team.
–Dodgers announcer Vin Scully said he was returning in 2012 for his 63rd season behind the mike! Speaking in the middle of the Dodgers-Rockies game, Scully said:
“I don’t want to make a big deal out of it; you and I have been friends a long time. But after a lot of soul searching and a few prayers, we’ve decided that we will come back with the Dodgers next year. God’s been awfully good to me, allowing me to do the things I love to do. I asked him, ‘One more year at least?’ and he said, ‘OK.’”
1950 was Scully’s first year with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Remarkable.
Here in New York, the Mets’ Ralph Kiner, who started in 1962 as an original broadcaster for the club, still does about 20 games a year for them.
–My man Ichiro, despite having a dreadful season in all respects, still has 149 hits in 131 games (he’s played in 130). So he’s going to end up with 180+ but it would take a spectacular final run to get to the 200 mark he’s synonymous with.
–We note the passing of former Cy Young Award winner Mike Flanagan, who died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 59. He did not leave a suicide note but apparently had financial problems.
Flanagan won the 1979 Cy Young with a 23-9 record as the Orioles went on to the World Series, only to fall to the Pittsburgh Pirates in seven. He was 12-4 for the 1983 Series-winning Orioles who defeated the Phillies in five games.
Mike Flanagan was highly respected and had been an assistant GM for Baltimore and then a color analyst on television. He was known for his dry wit, such as in the time he discussed how tough it could be for opposing pitchers in New York.
“The first time I ever came into a game there, I got in the bullpen car and they told me to lock the doors.”
–U.S. District Judge Susan Illston refused to overturn the obstruction of justice conviction of Barry Bonds, the only unanimous decision reached by the jury in her courtroom last April. Bonds and his legal team vow to take the issue to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where it is the hope here that they then throw Bonds in jail for ruining baseball’s record book.
“You know what, Mr. Bonds? You are such a dirtball that for wasting our time, and desecrating the sport, we’re instructing the court to put you away for three years.”
–I missed the death of former Eagles defensive end Norm “Wild Man” Willey, who passed away about ten days ago at the age of 83. Willey played for the Eagles from 1950 to 1957 and was an all-pro three times (1953-55). But as USA TODAY Sports Weekly points out, Willey should be forever remembered for a single game against the New York Giants on Oct. 26, 1952, “when, according to newspaper accounts, he tackled quarterback Charles Conerly behind the line of scrimmage 17 times”! Holy Toledo!
Sacks weren’t kept as a stat back then, so Willey is not known as the single-game sacks leader in NFL history. Former Chiefs linebacker Derrick Thomas had a record seven in one game on Nov. 11, 1990, against Seattle.
–So the football Jets and Giants were to have their annual exhibition drunkfest on Saturday night (I went twice when I had Jets season tickets and it is a stupid bacchanalia in the parking lot), but Hurricane Irene postponed the contest until Monday. The problem with this is both teams then end their exhibition seasons on Thursday. So two games in three days. Needless to say, regulars won’t be playing a half of each but coaches have to quickly cut the squads down, from the current 90 to 53 by next Saturday.
—Dustin Johnson won the rain-shortened first stage of the FedEx Cup playoffs at the Plainfield Country Club, which is all of about 20 minutes from your editor, but for various reasons I had zero desire to go. Throw in the weather and my choice was made easier. To say the least, it was awful and it’s incredible they got 54 in.
If Johnson and the others hadn’t been able to finish 54 on Saturday, Matt Kuchar, the 36-hole leader, would have been declared the winner.
With Dustin’s win, though, he becomes the first player since Tiger Woods to go straight from college and win in each of his first four years on the PGA Tour…Johnson now having five career titles. He also moves to No. 4 in the world rankings.
Meanwhile, there was the race to stay in the top 100 and qualify for the next stage of the playoffs. Ian Poulter shot 64 to sneak inside the cut line, while Ernie Els shot 67 on Saturday to go from 118 to 99. Pheww.
“You’re trying to survive. It’s desperation,” Els said. “It’s sadistic. In a way it’s fun, if you’re into that (stuff).”
Another reason to love Ernie, who after winning back-to-back tournaments in 2010 has really struggled to stay in the conversation.
Thankfully, the next event, the Deustche Bank up Boston way, doesn’t start until Friday (finishing on Labor Day), conveniently, because they will need every bit of that time to get the course in shape after all the rain that area just received.
[Meanwhile, U.S. captain Fred Couples placed Tiger on the Presidents Cup team (Nov. 14-20 in Australia) as one of his two captain’s picks. Woods is 28th on the Cup list, technically, but the two are friends and as Tony Soprano once told me when I complained to him about the Mets, “Whaddya gonna do?” Couples said, “In my opinion, when you’re the best player in the world for 12 straight years and you’re not on a team, there’s something wrong. Everyone else can have their opinion, but as far as I know Jay Haas and myself are the captains and we want him on the team.” It certainly makes the PC more interesting. Woods will probably now play one of the fall events before heading to Australia, where he is playing the Aussie Open the week before the Presidents Cup.]
–ESPN has chastised golf analyst Paul Azinger for mocking President Obama in a tweet, with Azinger saying Obama plays more golf than he does, and that Azinger had created more jobs.
ESPN has a new code for social networking and reminded Azinger to stay away from politics. Obama, you see, is a favored person of the network, the president filling out his March Madness bracket on ESPN.
–Gee, I’m really sorry I missed this. “Sheryl Swoopes hit a jumper with 2.9 seconds remaining to lift Tulsa to a 77-75 victory against the Sparks on Friday night at Staples Center, ending the Shock’s WNBA-record 20-game losing streak.”
–Talk about exactly what the world of track and field didn’t need…Usain Bolt was eliminated from the 100-meter final at the world championships in Daegu, South Korea, when he false started.
Understand that the race had already lost a lot of buzz because Asafa Powell and Steve Mullings, two of Bolt’s main rivals these days, didn’t run; Mullings because he tested positive for doping, and Powell due to injury.
[Without Bolt and the others, including Tyson Gay, Jamaican Yohan Blake (never heard of him) won the race in 9.92. Bolt holds the record at 9.58.]
–Former NBA player Jarvis Crittenton, once suspended by the league for having guns in the Washington Wizards’ locker room (part of the Gilbert Arenas story), was charged with murder after a woman was shot on an Atlanta street. As of this writing, police are still trying to track him down. Authorities say the victim was not the intended target, but that Crittenton was seeking retaliation for a robbery in April in which he was a victim.
Crittenton, a Georgia Tech alum, played in only 113 NBA games in his career and was a loser.
—BYU forward Brandon Davies, suspended last year before the NCAA basketball tournament for an honor code violation (having premarital sex), has been readmitted by the school. No doubt his loss could have prevented the Cougars from winning the national title.
–Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby continues to visit specialists on concussions to monitor his comeback from a concussion. Thus far he is receiving good news, that a full recovery can be expected, only there isn’t a timetable. Crosby hasn’t played since receiving hits to the head in back-to-back games in the Jan. 1 Winter Classic and on Jan. 5. He had resumed workouts this summer but when he got to 90% exertion, he started having headaches again.
You have to feel for the guy and we wish Sidney the best.
–Historian John Steele Gordon reviewed some books on one-term presidencies for the Wall Street Journal and says this of my man, James K. Polk, in noting Robert W. Merry’s book on him, “A Country of Vast Designs.”
“No one-term presidency was as successful or as significant as Polk’s. During his tenure in office (1845-49), the country almost doubled in size and became established as a Pacific power. Texas was annexed; the Oregon Territory was peacefully divided with Britain; and Mexico, defeated in war, was forced to cede what is now the American Southwest. None of it would have happened without Polk’s singular determination and great political talents. With his health failing, Polk declined to run for re-election; he died three months after leaving office, at age 53.”
“Derek Jeter and girlfriend Minka Kelly have split after three years, but even close friends of the pair say it came out of left field.
“While many had expected the Yankees captain, 37, to settle down with 31-year-old actress and reigning Esquire ‘Sexiest Woman Alive’ Kelly, the pair quietly parted ways a few weeks ago, sources confirmed to Page Six.”
Friends say the breakup was weeks in the making and amicable.
However, there is also the report that Minka, who is filming a TV revival of “Charlie’s Angels” in Miami, was messing around with co-star Ramon Rodriguez. Plus, Jeter apparently was jealous over Kelly’s pics for her “sexiest woman” photo shoot.
Jeter is so incredibly careful about his image, I can just hear him confronting Kelly, in a stern but controlled voice, “We need to move on…but we will do this very carefully and amicably. Got it? Good. Now slowly walk that way, no crying, and I’ll go this way.”
–Officials in Yellowstone National Park are trying to determine if a man whose body was found in the backcountry was killed by a grizzly bear or died of a heart attack (or a heart attack caused by seeing a grizzly!)
“Investigators found grizzly bear tracks and scat near the man, but were not immediately sure whether the grizzly caused the man’s death or disturbed his body after he died.”
The man was in his 60s, and the park superintendent said the hiker was found with a snack bar in his closed backpack, but that it appears the grizzly did not try to get at the food.
Can’t say I blame the griz. I have a ton of snack bars now left over from Hurricane Irene preparations in case I was cut off for a while. So perhaps I’ll hold a snack bar party, bring your own domestic, know what I’m sayin’?
— “Sea Lion Attacks Swimmers in Waters off Venice Beach”
“A sea lion attacked a man and a woman who were swimming off of Venice Beach Thursday evening.
“The couple, described as in their 60s, was swimming around 6:30 p.m. when a sea lion bit the woman on her leg.
“The woman’s husband was attacked and bitten on his hands, feet and head when he swam over to help.
“Doctors, concerned about the possibility of infection, treated the victims with antibiotics.”
Goodness gracious. Sea lion mouths are filled with awful stuff, a la prairie dogs…a bite from which could be deadly if you don’t know this fact.
“L.A. County Lifeguard officials say this is the first time they’ve heard of a sea lion attacking anyone in the local waters.”
This is what happens during tough economic times. I blame Obama. Others will blame Bush.
“A playground for rats…Huge one killed, but rodents still torment residents at Marcy Houses”
Now the Marcy Houses are on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, a bunch of apartment buildings, and here’s the deal.
“Playgrounds were all but deserted after the Daily News published a photo of a ridiculously huge rodent speared on a pitchfork by a Housing Authority worker.”
How big? Try 3-feet long! It was a Gambian pouched rat…probably once a pet let loose. The only problem is he wasn’t alone. The same worker has seen others that size.
So….if you get a call and the person says, “Say, having trouble with your mortgage payment? Why not move to the Marcy Houses in Manhattan?” Hang up, quickly. And then make sure all your windows and doors are locked.
“A Hindu woman is upset that a lifetime of not eating meat was undone when she was served chicken by mistake on a flight from New Zealand to India.
“Pushplata Sharma…is a vegetarian who, as part of her religion, does not eat meat or eggs.
“She had never eaten meat or eggs until she inadvertently ate chicken when it was served to her on a Singapore Airlines flight to New Delhi.”
Seems there was a mix-up when she booked the flight and the airline wasn’t notified she requested a special meal. Plus she speaks little English.
So when she was given the meal, she thought the chicken was cheese!
“She realized the mistake only after she had eaten some, and was immediately sick.”
Pushplata is now seeing a doctor for treatment for depression.
My advice to Ms. Sharma….get over it! Plus Singapore Airlines only serves the highest quality food. I’m kind of getting hungry just typing this up.
“The death of a country doctor who fell while extreme skiing will serve as a reminder to live life to the fullest, a colleague says.
“Graeme Nelson (from Australia), died yesterday when he fell about 700 meters while skiing on Mount Feathertop – Victoria’s second highest mountain.”
Seems Mr. Nelson, err, lost his footing when he was at the top, about to ski down a dangerous trail.
–Sunday was the 45th anniversary of the Beatles playing at Dodgers Stadium. For $4.50, you could see opening acts the Ronettes, the Remains, and the Cyrkle, before the Beatles took the stage. Barb Cabot, who attended the concert with friends, told the L.A. Times’ Chris Erskine:
“When they ran out on the stage, the screaming started and never stopped. Honestly, I didn’t hear one song…It didn’t matter.”
And who was the show’s promoter? None other than a 28-year-old, Bob Eubanks, who was a rising star in his industry. The same year he was then selected to host a show on television you might have heard of, the “Newlywed Game.”
It was to be the Beatles next to last concert, part of a tour that ended in Candlestick Park; their final live appearances in a big setting. Eubanks says that by ’66 they were jaded, and tired of it all. They were a smash sensation for only three full years at this point (including their introduction in the U.K.), but what a whirlwind it was. Every day incredibly intense.
Eubanks says the Beatles received $120,000 for their 11-song, 30-minute show. “If they ended up with $4,000 apiece I’d be surprised,” he recalls, noting the band’s expenses and huge entourage.
–Jeff B. commented on the death of Nick Ashford, having come across him from time to time in the Westport, Conn., area where Ashford and Simpson had a home. He was a very classy guy, says Jeff, and together with wife Valerie were thought of in the same affectionate tones as Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, which is high praise indeed.
Nick and Valerie used to have an annual 4th of July party for their friends at their Westport home, and while it wasn’t open to the locals, the neighbors would nonetheless gather outside, without problem, for one reason. The music! As one local blogger put it, the two threw a fantastic party.
“Limos deposited a who’s-who of the R&B world. Guests wore white linen – and bands like KC & the Sunshine Band performed.”
“People would walk around the neighborhood,” said one who lived nearby. “We knew we couldn’t crash the party, but we’d listen to music better than anything you could hear in the best club anywhere.”
Nick Ashford was always seen jogging the streets. You can imagine the initial reaction in lily white Westport, until they realized who it was. Said one, “He wasn’t particularly fast, but he had grace and style.”
—Keith Richards’ memoir “Life” hit the platinum, one million copies, level, placing it among the best-selling rock memoirs of all time. He received more than $7 million for the book.
Top 3 songs for the week 8/28/82: #1 “Eye Of The Tiger” (Survivor…can you believe this piece of crap was #1 for six weeks! What were we thinking?!) #2 “Hurts So Bad” (John Cougar…eh…) #3 “Abracadabra” (The Steve Miller Band…one of the worst from this otherwise excellent group)…and…#4 “Hold Me” (Fleetwood Mac…depends which of the two girls you’re talking about) #5 “Hard To Say I’m Sorry” (Chicago…talk about mailing it in) #6 “Even The Nights Are Better” (Air Supply …you know, gotta cut this Hair Club for Men band a little slack on this one, having just YouTubed it) #7 “Keep The Fire Burnin’” (REO Speedwagon…OMG! This is awful!) #8 “Vacation” (Go-Go’s…couldn’t stand them) #9 “Wasted On The Way” (Crosby, Stills & Nash…solid effort from the boys) #10 “Take It Away” (Paul McCartney… totally forgot about this one…excellent tune…but what was bizarre is it peaked at #10, and then stayed there five straight weeks which I’ve never seen before)
U.S. Open Tennis Quiz Answer: Men’s winners in the decade of the 80s.
1980…John McEnroe
1981…John McEnroe
1982…Jimmy Connors
1983…Jimmy Connors
1984…John McEnroe
1985…Ivan Lendl
1986…Ivan Lendl
1987…Ivan Lendl
1988…Mars Wilander
1989…Boris Becker
