Posted from Halsey, Oregon…home of the Pioneer Saloon, which at least has cold domestic, if nothing else.
Atlanta Braves Quiz: 1) Hugh Duffy has the all-time team record for hits in a season with 237, going back to 1894. Who is next on the list with 224 in 1945? 2) What three Braves have hit 45 home runs in a season? [All three did it twice apiece] 3) Post-1900, who holds the team record for strikeouts in a single season with 276? Answers below.
Trial Bits
–I made a serious omission last time in expressing how pumped I was about the upcoming men’s 4 X 100 relay battle in London between the U.S. and Jamaica. Actually, two. The women’s relay between the two countries could be just as good (especially if Alysson Felix makes the field), but I forgot to mention Jamaica not only having Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake, but they also have Asafa Powell, a former world record holder. And with Walter Dix hurting himself in the men’s 100 semis and not being a factor in the final, Dix having won bronze for the U.S. in Beijing in ’08, I’m placing too much promise, perhaps, on Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay, especially with Gay still coming back from hip surgery. But the newcomer from Oregon, Ryan Bailey, who placed third in the 100 finals here, is an up-and-comer.
–I also forgot to note that in the men’s 400, not only did LaShawn Merritt win in convincing fashion, but I should have mentioned the other two qualifiers for London, Tony McQuay and Bryshon Nellum. As in I should have noted that Nellum’s story is truly a great one. This guy out of Southern Cal, 23, was told he’d probably never regain top form after he was shot three times in his legs on Halloween 2008; the victim of mistaken identity in a gang shooting. Since then he’s had three surgeries and lengthy rehab.
“I just put it all in God’s hands,” Nellum said. “I just took it day by day and stayed dedicated, and now I’ve been able to achieve my dream, which is to make the Olympic team…It’s just a blessing.”
–But back to the Felix and Tarmoh dead heat for third in the women’s 100 meters, yes, USA Track and Field could not have screwed up more in not having a tie-breaking system in place. But it is what it is…and what happens first is the 200, with both runners being coached by Bobby Kersey. The girls need to focus on this event, solely, and only after will they then decide on a run-off or coin flip (Felix with the higher world ranking would get to choose if it was a flip). Kersey himself has already said, keep me out of this. It would be like deciding which child he loves more.
I did like sprinter Justin Gatlin’s idea that the two women should face off in Jell-O wrestling. It seems most girls weren’t real excited by this prospect.
–Meeting the Olympic ‘A’ standard is a big deal in the Trials. The two guys who finished one-two in the men’s javelin, for example, both failed to hit the ‘A’ for the event, but Nos. 3-4-5 all do have it so they get to go to London.
On the women’s side, we just had one triple jumper qualify for London.
And reigning world champ in the high jump, Jesse Williams, finished fourth the other day but he gets to represent the U.S. because one of the guys in front of him didn’t meet the ‘A’ standard. Jesse vowed to train more in the rain as the rain we had here clearly bothered him…and, you know, it rains in London, too.
–I was very disappointed in the women’s 800 final, won by Alysia Montano (a definite medal contender in London), because a new favorite of mine, Maggie Vecsey, finished last. Let’s just say Maggie is, err, you know…in shape.
–In the men’s 800 final, once again local boy Nick Symmonds prevailed, just like in 2008 and his fifth consecutive U.S. championship in the event. He continues to get better and has a shot at bronze. [Kenyan David Rudisha, by the way, the 6’3” Masai warrior, hasn’t lost an 800 race since 2009 and only two others in history have run the event faster.]
Great story in that 35-year-old Khadevis Robinson held off Duane Solomon for the other two Olympic berths. Robinson missed out in 2008 due to that spectacular Oregon sweep I wrote of then…the single most exciting race I’ve ever witnessed. [Michael Johnson’s 200-meter win in Atlanta was the single best ‘performance.’ 2008’s 800 in the Trials was the best ‘race.’ You need competition for a race…Johnson didn’t have any back in his day.]
No American has medaled in the 800 at the Olympics since Johnny Gray won bronze in 1992.
–On a different topic, whether or not Eugene should be the permanent home of the Olympic Track and Field Trials, I’d say most definitely yes. As Oregon track coach Vin Lananna says, “Twenty-one thousand people sitting in ponchos and not missing one step of the way, choosing not to sit around and watch TV, but to come here and be a part of the action. It seems apparent to me that in this community, in this town, this place, it is appreciated and it is a major sport. It’s not an afterthought. I haven’t seen any crowd, any group, embrace the sport as much as they have in Track Town.” [Ed. I just have to state that yours truly did watch the 10,000 men’s on Friday night in the beer tent rather than sit in the rain.]
He’s right. If you haven’t been to Hayward Field, the place is absolutely perfect and in two trips here, every session has been within 1,000 or so of capacity, which is around 22,000.
They’ve held the Trials at much larger venues, but then they don’t come close to selling it out so what’s the point? It’s just a terrific atmosphere when a place is packed, and boy these people know their track.
It’s all about Bill Bowerman and Steve Prefontaine (for the first time I’m not going to make it to Pre’s Rock this year…been there twice before). And it helps having Nike headquartered nearby.
But as opposed to the sun (and heat) of four years ago, yes, the weather this time has truly sucked. Ironically, I’m writing this Wednesday, one of the two off days, and the weather is perfect, but I think 3 of the final four days of competition, Thurs.-Sunday, are going to be iffy.
Anyway, others say that Univ. of Oregon and Oregon Track Club athletes shouldn’t always have a home field advantage, but that’s sour grapes. This is track…same track for everyone no matter where you go. It’s not like ballparks and different dimensions and quirky caroms off the walls.
–Meanwhile, there is a story in today’s Wall Street Journal on how some of the competitors in both the swimming and track trials are bitching because the events are held too close to the Olympics themselves. It seems to impact the distance swimmers and runners in particular. “In the pool’s longest event – the 1,500 meter freestyle – American men haven’t won a gold in a non-boycotted Games since 1976. In track and field, American men haven’t medaled in a race longer than 800 meters since Frank Shorter’s second-place performance in the marathon in 1976. The women have fared better, but haven’t won a distance event since Joan Benoit’s victory in the 1984 marathon.”
Sour grapes. I follow track year around and as I’ve written in the space from time to time, America just isn’t developing the caliber of distance runners that can compete with the Kenyans et al. It has nothing to do with scheduling. Everyone wants a freakin’ trophy in America!
–Switching gears, the other day when 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, Brian Clay, failed to make the team for London, just understand how much money he’s probably losing out on. Clay, like so many Olympic gold medalists, never really cashed in after Beijing, getting little more than a Wheaties box out of it. In fact he then didn’t compete in the event much at all in the succeeding four years and lost his performance contract with Nike, 90% of his income, and this is a guy with a wife and three kids to support. But Clay, 32, was able to replace the Nike loss with 12 new sponsors, but then he screws up here in Eugene. By the way, in the decathlon there has never been a gold medalist over the age of 30. [Ashton Eaton is 24…silver medalist American contender Trey Hardee is 28.]
–Lastly, back to swimming, while I’m following the events on the track in Eugene, Team USA swimmers are battling it out in Omaha and it’s going to be all about Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte in London; though even as Lochte is very much Phelps’ rival and equal these days, Phelps is going after another eight gold medals, it seems…five individual, three relays…and if he wins his first event, open the floodgates in terms of the press coverage and hype from NBC.
Ball Bits
–Arizona won baseball’s College World Series, defeating two-time defending champ South Carolina by scores of 5-1 and 4-1.
–I forgot to mention last time that the Red Sox traded popular fan favorite Kevin Youkilis to the White Sox, owing to the fact Beantown rookie Will Middlebrooks now has 36 RBI in his first 44 games at third. Youkilis was oft-injured the past 2 ½ seasons and his production had fallen considerably. He was sent to the ChiSox along with a boatload of cash for some spare parts. It was in April that manager Bobby Valentine got in some hot water for saying he questioned Youkilis’ commitment to the game.
But Youkilis is off to a decent start with Chicago, where my man Adam Dunn hit his 24th home run on Wednesday, so, coupled with 57 RBI in the team’s first 75 games, he’s headed for career years in both categories, yet he’s hitting .216! That’s my boy…Dave Kingmanesque.
–The Yankees lost workhorse CC Sabathia to the DL for a strained muscle in his left leg, though he should miss only two starts. But then on Wednesday, Andy Pettitte broke his ankle on a line drive off the bat of Cleveland’s Casey Kotchman and Pettitte could be out at least six weeks, a huge blow.
Separately, A-Rod hit his seventh double of the year in the team’s 74th game. Wow, that’s strong. While he’s homered in three of his last six (thru Wednesday), they were all solo shots and he has only 34 RBI. I love it.
–But Yankees fans, I did note a New York Times piece the other day on your team’s dominance of the N.L. in interleague play, like 13 of 18 this year, and they are now 170-112 since interleague play was introduced in 1997…and that sterling mark isn’t all because they play the Mets six times a year, though that helps.
–Yippee! The Mets’ Daniel Murphy, the guy I noted Tim McCarver said “can really hit,” though he’s been incredibly mediocre, finally hit his first home run of the season…in fact his first since last July 16. Then Murphy hit another home run the following inning in Chicago, Wednesday, as the Mets whipped the Cubs 17-1. We needed that.
–The Los Angeles Angels were 6-14 when they inserted 20-year-old phenom Mike Trout into the lineup and with Trout leading the way (.344) and a resurgent Albert Pujols (drat), the Angels are 36-19 since.
–This is pretty remarkable…for the first time in 123 seasons, the San Francisco Giants shut out the Los Angeles Dodgers all three contests in a three-game series, with Tim Lincecum getting his first win in 11 starts in the finale on Wednesday. The Giants thus tie the Dodgers at 43-33.
–In Philadelphia’s 77th game, Chase Utley finally returned and went 3-for-5 with a home run but the Phillies lost to the Pirates, 11-7.
–Outfielder Marlon Byrd was suspended 50 games for using an illegal substance. Byrd is a client of Victor Conte’s of BALCO fame, but Byrd claims Conte had nothing to do with it. Byrd was using a breast cancer drug, with Byrd saying he used it only to recover from an unspecified surgery two years ago. Huh. Byrd was a free agent after the Cubs and Red Sox dumped him this year, but the 34-year-old is a serviceable player.
BCS Playoff
As noted the past few weeks, we do now have a playoff system for college football, with four teams being selected as semifinalists, playing at sites that will rotate among the four current BCS bowls – Rose, Orange, Fiesta and Sugar – and two more to be determined. Then the winners of the No. 1 vs. No. 4, No. 2 vs. No. 3 matchups will advance to the championship on the first Monday in January that is six or more days after the last semifinal.
The first semis will be played Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 for the 2014 season, which is great, at least the New Year’s Eve contest will be. I don’t have any plans that night. Do you? The first championship is then set for Monday, Jan. 12, 2015.
As for who picks the teams, though, it will be by committee, similar to the NCAA basketball tournament selection process. But as I said the other day, the fun part will be deciding who No. 4 is, the first three most years probably being pretty obvious….the debate being over the order.
While many details have yet to be worked out in terms of whether computers will play a role at all (right now the only talk is over using criteria such as record, strength of schedule, head-to-head results and whether it is a conference champion), some are already arguing that the process will be dominated by just four conferences – the Pac-12, Big-12, Big Ten and SEC. So will a Boise State get shafted yet again?
But all in all, I like the idea, especially since it doesn’t prolong the season any longer than we have today. I mean most of us are ready for the NFL playoffs at this time of year and tired of college football.
—Spain won its Euro 2012 semi vs. Portugal, 4-2 on penalty kicks after a scoreless tie in regulation. Spain is thus one game away from winning its third straight world title, going back to Euro 2008 and the World Cup. Germany plays Italy in the other semi on Thursday.
–I’ve been bemoaning some of the transfers from the Wake Forest basketball program the last few years but it seems Wake is far from the only school suffering from a rash of transfers. A story out of USA TODAY by Jim Halley and Steve Wieberg had a few telling stats.
“Of about 1,050 freshmen basketball athletes at 340 D-I schools in their first two years of college:
“Only 60% continue into their third year at their original institution.
“The other 38% leave. Most transfer, some drop out completely, a few others leave for undocumented professional opportunities.”
10.9% transferred during the 2010-2011 season, all classes (4-year schools), though it was 10% for the 2004-2005 season.
Contrast this with football, which is at 5.1%, or baseball, 2.9%.
–San Antonio Spurs guard Tony Parker has been dribbling out information on the eye injury he suffered while an innocent bystander at the New York nightclub where Chris Brown and Drake and their respective posses got into a tussle. The bottles were flying and recall Parker, a friend of Brown’s, got some glass in his eye. Now he admits he had a shard removed from his left eye in surgery on Sunday. “Today I can say it – I almost lost an eye….I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
What sucks is that Parker won’t be representing his native France in hoops play at the Olympics and, to say the least, the Spurs are rather upset that he could have jeopardized his career.
Yup, nothing good ever happens after 3:30 a.m. Or midnight. Or for us old guys…after 9:00 p.m.
–This sucks. Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III appears to have been the victim of an extortion attempt by a former Baylor basketball player, who threatened to release derogatory information about Griffin unless he was paid.
–CBSSports.com’s Mike Freeman, who must be a Bar Chat reader, came up with a list of the “NFL’s 10 Biggest Jerks: Wideouts rule, but plenty of nasty to go around.”
Nos. 9-10…tie…San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh and Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz…think handshake spat.
No. 7…Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie…he of the 12 children…four with his wife, 8 others with 7 different women.
No. 4…Terrell Owens…yes, he’s out of football but he gets a “lifetime jerk award.” “His jerkiness is so pervasive that despite having some ability remaining no one will touch him. People fear jerk cooties.”
No. 1…Eagles QB Michael Vick…as in “For Vick, it will still take more time” to forgive him.
–Gee, that was too bad Venus Williams lost in the first round of Wimbledon to Elena Vesnina of Russia the other day. It was Venus’ first loss in the opening round of any Grand Slam event in 6 ½ years. I went into a deep depression.
–I’m not interested in the least in the NBA draft. I’ll get into the NBA again, maybe, come December…or February.
“Coyote shot after girl is attacked”
“Two days after a rare coyote attack on the Oregon coast, two wildlife specialists worked their magic in the still of dawn. Their cries punctured the quiet of the dunes, imitating the cry of a rabbit in distress, the yelp of a coyote pup, and the bark of an adult coyote moving into another’s territory.
“The tactics had one goal: lure a coyote suspected of attacking a 5-year-old girl and stalking three other people at Nehalem Bay State Park, the first coyote attack on a human in Oregon state parks history.
“On Thursday evening, Sadie Couch of Oregon City had strolled from her mother and father to the beach from their campsite in the state park to enjoy the sunset. At 9:15 p.m., they were about to walk back through the dunes to their tent when a coyote approached.”
“ ‘The little girl was running in-between Mom and Dad,” said Larry Oswald, manager of Nehalem Bay State Park. ‘She was dragging a stick back and forth up and down the beach access when she was jumped.’
“The coyote bit the stick, and the family yelled. But the animal didn’t flee. It nipped her feet. Then it bit or scratched her back, Oswald said.”
Well, the mother took her daughter to a Portland hospital for care not available on the coast, while park officials told campers to keep their dogs leashed. It was then officials also learned three others had been harassed.
Anyway, it took two days for game officials to finally nab their suspect, using the animal calls. And when a 20-pound animal got within range…BOOM!!! Down goes the coyote! Down goes the coyote!
–Speaking of the Oregon coast, with Tuesday and Wednesday off from the track, I spent Tuesday night in the town of Newport, which I’ve now been to three times in the last four years. It’s a different kind of place. Not a resort by any stretch, but a small town with spectacularly wide beaches and a terrific harbor area with good seafood and beer. Plus there is an outstanding aquarium.
Anyway, I always stay at the Shilo Inn, which is up on a cliff overlooking the Pacific and this being prime Great White territory, I bring along binoculars looking for Whitey. Alas, I’ve never seen him.
But I did see the now-famous tsunami dock. A giant structure that was ripped from its home in the Japanese tsunami and traveled 5,000 miles to Newport’s beach. Only after seeing an NBC News piece a few weeks ago, I thought it was on the beach at my hotel. Instead it was a three-mile walk north, and three miles back, but I needed the exercise. I’m glad I saw it. Turns out it’s being broken up in a few days…too much of a danger, and nuisance. [Folks climb all over it.]
I’ll be commenting further in that other column I do later in the week but many of the communities from Alaska on down to northern California face quite a cleanup task over the coming years. It’s going to take that long for all the debris to finally wend its way here.
–I forgot to note this story from Brad K. the other day, courtesy of the Arizona Republic. It seems a black bear could be responsible for three recent attacks in the Payson, Ariz. area, the most recent being an attack on a camper in Tonto National Forest, where the victim, who will survive, nonetheless was “bitten in the head and left arm,” according to Jim Paxon for Arizona Game and Fish Department. “The bear drug him around his tent, but he did not receive skull-crushing or neck-crushing injuries to his brain stem, so that’s a marvelous thing.”
Yes, Brad and I marveled at Mr. Paxon’s choice of words. As in this is yet another Sign of the Apocalypse and an indictment of our education system.
–This is depressing. There are about 150 California condors in the wild and researchers have concluded that 1 in 3 has some amount of lead poisoning from eating carcasses where the bullets haven’t been removed. They are thus dying at an alarming rate. One researcher was out in the field, checking the flight of one, when out of nowhere it just dropped out of the sky, right next to him. Dead of lead poisoning.
“Baboons can distinguish between written words and gibberish. Monkeys seem to be able to do multiplication. Apes can delay instant gratification longer than a human child can. They plan ahead. They make war and peace. They show empathy. They share.”
A researcher out of the Max Planck Institute in Germany said that one study showed apes can set goals and follow through with them.
“Orangutans and bonobos in a zoo were offered eight possible tools – two of which would help them get at some food. At times when they chose the proper tool, researchers moved the apes to a different area before they could get the food, and then kept them waiting as much as 14 hours. In nearly every case, when the apes realized they were being moved, they took their tool with them so they could use it to get food the next day, remembering that even after sleeping. The goal and series of tasks didn’t leave the apes’ minds.”
Geez, this is better than me! I never remember to take the bottle opener after I’ve been moved and/or sleep.
–We note the passing of Nora Ephron, who wrote the screenplays for “Sleepless in Seattle” and “When Harry Met Sally.” She died after a long battle with leukemia. She was 71.
“One martini is all right. Two is too many, and three is not enough.”
—James Thurber
—Classic Brian Wilson story, from an interview with Rolling Stone in the June 21, 2012 issue.
“Those are nice pants,” says Brian Wilson to a woman sitting next to him on the flight from Tampa to New York. “Are they cotton or something?”
“Cotton blend, I think,” the woman responds, hesitantly.
“Vodka? Is it good?”
Then he closes his eyes and munches some nuts. After a while, he tries to pick up the conversation.
Then, after another long pause, Wilson says, “What day is it?”
Top 3 songs for the week 6/27/87: 1) “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” (Whitney Houston…I want to dance with Alysson Felix…or Maggie Vecsey) #2 “Head To Toe” (Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam…whatever) #3 “In Too Deep” (Genesis…is this good or bad…very confused)…and… #4 “Alone” (Heart…girls haven’t aged well) #5 “Always” (Atlantic Starr) #6 “Songbird” (Kenny G. I’ll never forget a guy I used to work with, an otherwise good lad, coming into work one morning all excited… “I went to a Kenny G. concert last night! He was awesome!” He was met with Homer Simpson-like blank stares.) #7 “Shakedown” (Bob Seger) #8 “Diamonds” (Herb Alpert and Janet Jackson… what a cool career Mr. Alpert had…and made a mega-fortune) #9 “Just To See Her” (Smokey Robinson… stupid organ part in this one) #10 “Wanted Dead Or Alive” (Bon Jovi…never got into these guys…doesn’t make me a bad person)
Atlanta Braves Quiz Answers: 1) Tommy Holmes had 224 hits in 1945 in what was a remarkable season. He hit .352 and in 714 plate appearances (636 at-bats), Holmes struck out a total of nine times! He also hit 28 homers and drove in 117, finishing second in the MVP voting to the Cubs’ Phil Cavarretta; Cavarretta winning the battle title as the Cubs advanced to the World Series that year. 2) Braves who hit 45 home runs: Andruw Jones, 51, 2005; Hank Aaron, 47, 1971; Eddie Mathews, 47, 1953; Mathews, 46, 1959; Aaron, 45, 1962; Jones, 45, 1999. [Aaron also hit 44, four different times] 3) John Smoltz has the record for most strikeouts in a season, 276, during his Cy Young Award-winning year of 1996, when he was 24-8.
Next Bar Chat, Monday…probably an abbreviated one…next few days are more than hectic.
