[Posted from Charleston, S.C.]
Folks, consider this a week off from writing Bar Chat. It all started Saturday morning. My brother and I had a 9:30 flight to Charleston from Newark but I knew two days before the weather would be dicey. 24 hours before I started sweating as the snow forecast worsened. But when I got up Saturday, after posting that other column I do, I saw that the plane we were to take was going to leave Norfolk, Va., on time. So that was piece one of the puzzle. When we arrived at Newark, with heavy snow warnings now in play for the region, our flight was still on time as Newark was experiencing heavy rain. I called my parents from the airport, as they live in the same town I do, west of Newark, and they told me it was snowing heavily there and accumulating rapidly. Newark was a degree or two warmer and thus spared the snow at that point. Bottom line, we left on time. I’m guessing about another 20 flights after ours left before all hell broke loose at Newark. More than a few friends told me of taking flights to Newark in the morning that were then diverted to upstate New York and Connecticut. One friend was diverted to Syracuse, rented a car, stayed overnight in Binghamton, only to drive back Sunday to a total disaster area in my part of Jersey.
We were hit hard by Hurricane Irene. This monster October snowstorm was even worse in terms of downed trees and power lines. Connecticut, for one, has more power outages than any time in its history. I think for New Jersey it is the same. Everyone I know is without power, and word is it won’t be back on for days. The power at my home is off, so I know I’ll return later in the week to rotted food, for starters.
But somehow we made it down to Charleston and while I’m worried about how my elderly parents are coping, there is nothing my brother and I can do.
So on Saturday, after checking in we went to the Noisy Oyster, for, you guessed it, oysters, and Palmetto Beer, and then there was more beer…and more…and, well, it was a fun night.
Today, Sunday, we ventured out to Fort Sumter National Monument, which you get to by boat, of course, and it was far better than I thought it would be. If you haven’t been, and you are a Civil War buff, you have to check it out. You get a tremendous perspective on how the war started, and also what it must have been like to be shelled on this site, hour after hour.
Just to back up a little, South Carolina seceded on Dec. 20, 1860, after Lincoln had been elected that November. Six days later, Maj. Robert Anderson, who commanded 85 men on the Federal installation at Fort Moultrie, also outside Charleston, decided it was indefensible and in the dead of night, secretly transferred his men to Fort Sumter, a mile away.
By April 12, 1861, things had deteriorated as South Carolina demanded Anderson vacate Sumter, Anderson refused, and the first shots of the Civil War were fired at 4:30 a.m. that morning after Anderson had been given warning.
On April 14, after 34 hours of non-stop shelling, but zero casualties, Anderson surrendered and under the terms was able to board a ship for New York. The war was on.
For those who have seen the movie “Glory,” from Sumter you can see Morris Island, site of Fort Wagner and the scene of the battle that made the 54th Massachusetts famous, but the site itself has lost its integrity so it is inaccessible.
Anyway, it was a great trip out to Sumter and upon our return the South Carolina Aquarium was pretty awesome in its own right.
Tonight, I met a childhood buddy who lives in Myrtle Beach and came down to have dinner with the two of us. I’ve known Jeff for 45 years so it was pretty special.
College Football!
I didn’t get to see quite as much as I had hoped on Saturday, or NFL action on Sunday; like I missed the spectacular finish of the USC-Stanford game, 56-48 in triple overtime, as Cardinal QB Andrew Luck atoned for his late 4th quarter interception that gave USC the lead and led his team on an Elwayesque 76-yard drive to send the game into OT. Luck was 16 of 20 in the third and fourth quarters and 3 of 3 in OT.
Meanwhile, No. 3 Oklahoma State rolled over Baylor, 59-24; No. 5 Clemson lost to Georgia Tech, 31-17, as the Tigers were manhandled at the line of scrimmage; No. 7 Oregon defeated Washington State, 43-28; No. 9 Oklahoma destroyed unbeaten and No. 8 Kansas State, 58-17; and No. 10 Arkansas defeated Vanderbilt, 31-28.
Elsewhere, No. 14 Nebraska had an impressive win over No. 11 Michigan State, 24-3; No. 12 Virginia Tech squeaked by Duke, 14-10; Ohio State defeated No. 15 Wisconsin, 33-29; No. 19 Penn State handed Joe Paterno win No. 409 in besting Illinois, 10-7, amid the snow at Happy Valley (what a traffic nightmare they had there); and No. 22 Georgia beat Florida, 24-20.
Lastly, Wake Forest had its butt kicked by North Carolina, 49-24, as the Deacs committed five turnovers, matching their total for the first seven games of the season.
New AP Poll…
1. LSU 8-0
2. Alabama 8-0
3. Oklahoma State 8-0
4. Stanford 8-0
5. Boise State 7-0
6. Oregon 7-1
7. Oklahoma 7-1
8. Arkansas 7-1
9. Nebraska 7-1
10. South Carolina 7-1
14. Houston 8-0*
*On Thursday night, Houston QB Case Keenum set the all-time record for career touchdown passes, breaking Graham Harrell’s mark of 134, as Keenum extended it to 139 in tossing nine TD passes against Rice. He was 24 of 37 for 534 yards before being removed with eight minutes remaining in a 73-34 victory. Keenum is also now just 267 passing yards behind all-time leader Tim Chang of Hawaii.
And the BCS…
1. LSU .9734
2. Alabama .9591
3. Oklahoma State .9310
4. Stanford .8615
5. Boise State .8522
6. Oklahoma .7760
7. Arkansas .7033
8. Oregon .6916
On to LSU-Alabama next Saturday. A lot of us just hope our power is back on by then.
West Virginia is definitely Big 12 bound, though the Big East is determined to enforce the 27-month notification period for members who choose to leave the conference. WVU said they are leaving next summer. Missouri is joining the SEC any day now.
As for the NFL…
In the Andrew Luck Sweepstakes…or Race to the Bottom…
Indianapolis 0-8
Miami 0-7…barely lost to the Giants, 20-17
St. Louis 1-6…shocking 31-21 winners over the Saints
Arizona 1-6
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh defeated New England, 25-17; Philadelphia beat Dallas, 34-7, as both go to 3-4, a full two games behind the Giants; Detroit got its act back in gear in destroying Tim Tebow and the Broncos, 45-10; and Buffalo moved to 5-2 in shutting out the Redskins, 23-0.
Darren Everson of the Wall Street Journal pointed out that there is a Super Bowl-hosting hex out there. “This is the 39th season in which the Super Bowl will be held in an NFL team’s home venue – Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium – and it will almost certainly be the 39th straight time that the host has missed out.”
Actually, the host has never even made a conference championship game.
World Series
What more can you say about Game 6, and the Cardinals incredible comeback going back to Aug. 25? For the archives:
“Through this long and winding World Series, now concluded, Tony La Russa had a liberated air to him. He looked refreshed, made jokes, shared opinions – even delivered film reviews, for goodness sake.
“La Russa just turned 67, with no indication he feels the need to get away from some odious condition. But his contract is up, now that the Cardinals have won the World Series….
“La Russa has been a manager for 33 major league seasons, with the White Sox, with the Athletics and the last 16 with the Cardinals. He is not universally beloved in this insular town, scoots home to California whenever he can, is not a get-along kind of guy. But he has just won his second World Series with the Cardinals, in the first World Series Game 7 he ever managed.
“David Freese, the surprising most valuable player of the Series, was asked what La Russa brings to the Cardinals.
“ ‘Everything,’ Freese said. ‘He started it. That guy deserves all the credit. You know, he rallies the troops. He’s got a plan with every thought, with everything he says. He’s got a great idea of what it takes to not only win a game, but to get to this point, and for me to come to the big leagues and play under him right out of the gate, I couldn’t ask for anything more.’”
And so Tony La Russa further cemented his spot in the Hall of Fame, whether you like the guy or not. He also doesn’t appear to be finished.
The Cards were 10 ½ back on Aug. 25. They lost the first game in both National League playoff series, and three of the first five in the World Series. One strike from elimination in consecutive innings.
“There has never been an easy narrative about the Texas Rangers. For most of the last half-century, the franchise has played its games and anonymously slipped off the stage, never coming close enough to glory to be romanticized.
“When Neftali Feliz took the mound at Busch Stadium on Thursday night, with a two-run lead in Game 6 of the World Series, that was destined to change. Either the Rangers would win their first championship and establish an identity as winners, or they would join the ranks of the tortured, with a failure that could haunt for decades.
“They did not win, and yet they did not merely lose. The Rangers invented a new form of agony. In two innings, Texas came one strike away from a title and lost the lead. It happened in the ninth inning and again in the 10th….
“ ‘There were a few times last night where we were close, and I peeked into our dugout,’ the Rangers’ David Murphy said after hitting a fly to left fielder Allen Craig for the final out in Game 7. ‘Guys were getting on the front rail, getting excited. I took a step back for a second here and there, when I thought that the next pitch was going to be the final out, tried to take it all in a few times. You could almost visualize the trophy.
“ ‘But it didn’t happen. That’s the bottom line,’ he said. ‘That’s why you have to execute till the very last out is made.’”
How good were the last two months? Go back to the final day of the regular season.
“Four games, played simultaneously, directly affected the wild-card races.
“The Cardinals got a shutout from their ace, Chris Carpenter, and clinched when the Braves lost. The Rays, after trailing the Yankees by seven runs, got a two-out, two-strike, game-tying homer in the ninth from the journeyman Dan Johnson. An Evan Longoria homer eliminated the Red Sox, who had lost in Baltimore just three minutes before. Boston lost 20 of 27, and a nine-game wild-card edge in the process.
“In the playoffs, the stars lived up to their billing. Miguel Cabrera mashed for the Detroit Tigers, and Justin Verlander, flinging fastballs at 100 miles an hour, willed them to the sixth game of the A.L. Championship Series against Texas.
“Ryan Braun hit .405 in the postseason for Milwaukee, which won a playoff series for the first time in 29 years. Pujols joined Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson as the only players with three home runs in a World Series game.”
–It’s official…the NBA will play a shortened season, assuming they ever get started in the first place. Commissioner David Stern canceled all November games after negotiations to end the lockout stalled again.
—AP Preseason Basketball Poll
1. North Carolina
2. Kentucky
3. Ohio State
4. UConn
5. Syracuse
6. Duke
7. Vanderbilt
8. Florida
9. Louisville
10. Pitt
–Another shark attack, this one on a surfer near the Monterey coast in California. The shark bit him in the neck and forearm, but despite intensive bleeding, last I heard the fellow was going to live.
Top 3 songs for the week 10/27/73: #1 “Midnight Train To Georgia” (Gladys Knight & The Pips…ughh, can’t stand this one…Pips also overrated) #2 “Angie” (The Rolling Stones) #3 “Half-Breed” (Cher)…and…#4 “Ramblin’ Man” (The Allman Brothers Band…was such a unique sound when it came out…still one of the best cruising songs ever) #5 “Keep On Truckin’” (Eddie Kendricks…eh) #6 “Let’s Get It On” (Marvin Gaye…one of his five best) #7 “Paper Roses” (Marie Osmond…hey, guys, how great does she look today?!) “Heartbeat – It’s A Lovebeat” (The DeFranco Family…talk about not holding up well…when was the last time you heard this one? It’s godawful…sorry, LT) #9 “That Lady” (Isley Brothers…has held up great) #10 “Higher Ground” (Stevie Wonder)
Next Bar Chat, Monday, Nov. 7…hopefully back to normal then.
