Kansas City Royals Quiz: 1) George Brett hit .390 in 1980. Who is the only other Royal to hit .340 or better? 2) Who are the only two to score 130 runs in a season (not Brett)? 3) Who is the single-season hit leader with 230? 4) Who is the single-season home run leader with 36? Answers below.
The London Games…final thoughts and tidbits
Final Medal Count
United States…46 gold…29 silver…29 bronze…104 total
China…38…27…22…87
Russia…24…25…33…82
Great Britain…29…17…19…65
Germany…11…19…14…44
So I am very melancholy as I write this Sunday evening. I really ended up getting into the Olympics, though to be honest largely only cared about the swimming and track. I also followed the results online during the day and then just watched NBC’s nightly coverage, except on weekends when I had it on the whole time (except for the last few days with the PGA). Like the rest of you, I’m now looking forward to a normal sleep schedule. The midnight finishes were killers for this old guy.
I invested a lot of time and money in the U.S. track team so was especially proud of Sanya Richards-Ross and Allyson Felix for capturing gold in their main events, the 400 and 200. It was clutch. Their careers are now complete.
And I was proud, as an American, of Galen Rupp for his terrific silver in the men’s 10000, which was the single best race of the Games, and with Rupp’s training partner, Mo Farah, winning it was one of the top three or so stories overall.
Of course there was Usain and Michael, and early on the U.S. women’s gymnastics team.
There are only so many endorsement dollars to go around and you know Michael will get his. Gabby will get hers. I just want my gal Allyson to get her share as well.
But aside from them, and Usain, can you really picture many more getting anything of substance? I mean you still have Peyton Manning cleaning up on the endorsement front, and Phil Mickelson. [In the New York area, Eli Manning and Derek Jeter get theirs.]
My point is that as great as some of our athletes are, there is little money in Olympic glory. It’s kind of sad. These guys and gals bust their ass for four years, or more, finally attain their goals and then nothing. You almost wish medal winners would get a lifetime pension of $50,000, or something like that. Why not? [Multiple winners get the same as single medal winners.]
So what would that be? Call it 80 medalists Xs $50,000. $4,000,000 a year. Put a $1 check-off on everyone’s income tax return. Do you think 4 million Americans would do that? Hell, it would be tens of millions. [Yes, then you have the Winter Olympics, and maybe 30 medalists there, and the total accumulates over the years, and you do something for past athletes…but in the grand scheme of budgetry it’s infinitesimal.]
America would be showing its appreciation. And boy would it get more young people involved in athletics of all kinds. Which is a positive all-around…especially in reduced lifetime health care costs.
China had 51 golds in Beijing to 36 for the U.S., while the Americans had 110 total medals to China’s 100.
But the U.S. is heavily dependent on swimming and track and field; winning 31 medals in the pool (16 of them gold), and 29 in track and field (9 gold).
“For the first time, female athletes comprise the majority of the U.S. team and, entering the final weekend of competition, had won more gold and more total medals than the men….
“At the 1972 Munich Olympics, American women accounted for less than 24% of the team’s total medals. By the 1992 Barcelona Games, their share had jumped to almost 41%.
“The increase is just as impressive for gold medals, from 30% in 1972 to 66% this summer [Ed. it ended up 63%], including two more wins Saturday, in basketball and the 1,600-meter relay at the track.
“ ‘I think that Title IX really gave us a head start because of the national commitment to make sure that young women are getting the opportunity to be involved in sports,’ said Scott Blackmun, chief executive of the U.S. Olympic Committee.”
–And a big beneficiary of Title IX was women’s soccer and basketball. The U.S b-ball team won its fifth straight gold medal in routing France 86-50. Their Olympic winning streak is now 41, starting with the bronze medal game in 1992. Over this time the average margin of victory is about 30 points.
–Speaking of soccer…helluva effort on the part of the U.S. women’s team there as well, 2-1 winners over Japan in the gold medal game, with goalie Hope Solo making a terrific game-saving stop.
–In winning the 200m in 19.32 (tying Michael Johnson’s Olympic mark from 1996…but short of his own 19.19 world record), Usain Bolt did indeed become a legend; the first man ever to win the 100m and 200m races at consecutive Olympics. Then he added the 4X100 relay gold, as the Jamaican team that Bolt anchored set a world record of 36.84 seconds to edge the U.S., which tied the Jamaicans’ previous world mark of 37.04; hardly an embarrassment for the Americans.
The scary part is that Bolt really isn’t in peak shape. He actually let up in the 200 because he felt a twitch in his back as he rounded the bend. “I wasn’t fit enough,” Bolt said after.
[Bar Chat loves Michael Johnson, too…as you are well aware.]
As for Jamaican teammate Yohan Blake, in any other era he is the most celebrated athlete in his sport. As it is, his 19.44 in the 200 was the sixth best time in history. But he has two silvers to Bolt’s two golds. As a London Times story put it, “They are the most satisfying one-two in sport.” It will be interesting watching these two push each other.
–That U.S. women’s 4X100 victory over Jamaica in world-record time of 40.82 was a thing of beauty, the previous 41.37 going all the way back to 1985 and the East Germans (who we learned later were seriously ‘roided up). Carmelita Jeter, who ran the anchor, thus finished her first Games with a gold, silver, and bronze. Yet another clutch American female performer.
—Allyson Felix picked up her third gold in the 4X400 relay as the Americans totally kicked butt. Sanya Richards-Ross thus gained her second gold. Felix ran a startling 47.8 leg, this after three rounds in the 100, three in the 200 and a leg in the 4X100.
“I couldn’t have asked for a greater Olympics and I couldn’t have had a better way to end it,” said Felix.
–I thought the U.S. men’s 4X400 silver medal performance was terrific. Sure, it was an event we have long dominated, but, heck, LaShawn Merritt, best in the world these days, was out, and Manteo Mitchell fractured his fibula halfway through his portion of the preliminary heat, a most courageous performance. Angelo Taylor, the veteran 400m hurdler couldn’t hold the lead but it was still a helluva effort.
–The USA track and field team:
Russia was next (8-4-6…18), followed by Jamaica (4-4-4…12)
The U.S. set a goal of 30 medals; mission accomplished in my book.
–Disappointing finish by 37-year-old Bernard Lagat in the men’s 5000, his last Olympics. Lagat finished fourth as he stumbled in the stretch. If he hadn’t, he medals.
Lagat had picked up a bronze in 2000 and silver in 2004 running the 1500 for his native Kenya. But then in 2008, running for his adopted U.S., he did not qualify for the final in the 1,500 and finished ninth in the 5000. It’s sad. He’s yet another I feel like I know a bit after watching him closely in Eugene the last two trials.
By the way, with Britain’s Mo Farah winning both the 5000 and 10000, it was the first time runners representing African nations did not win either since 1976. The United States won both in 1964, but no American had medaled until Galen Rupp’s silver in the 10000.
Rupp, just 26, said that with Lagat gone he needs home-grown competition if the U.S. is to end its gold drought in distance events. “There has to be more than one person,” he said. “It can’t just be me. We need a lot of people running.” [Bill Shaikin / L.A. Times]
–That was quite a scene at the end of the women’s 5000, when winner Meseret Defar of Ethiopia broke down at the finish and pulled out a picture of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus. I’d say she has a lot of faith. God bless her.
–But what a tragic scene in the women’s 1500 as American Morgan Uceny was tripped at the start of the final lap, similar to what happened to her at the world championships in South Korea last year. It was cool, though, that Turks finished one-two.
–I miss Barney Cipriani…Acapulco cliff diver of ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” fame. I could not get into the Olympic diving competition, though I watched a lot of it.
–So I watched the gold medal men’s basketball game, a 107-100 win for the U.S. over Spain as Chris Paul and Kevin Durant came up big down the stretch. But, boy, Pau Gasol looked terrific for Spain, especially in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the refs were dreadful and what was Coach K. thinking at the end? He pulled the starters too early. Spain very much had a shot.
–Nice job by American triple-jumpers Christian Taylor (gold) and Will Claye (silver). These guys performed in front of me at the Olympic Trials and you almost feel like you get to know them.
–And boy did Ashton Eaton and Trey Hardee come through in the decathlon. Total domination for the U.S. Ashton is another who deserves some endorsement cash, though not sure he’ll get it. But…he’s very young and will be back.
–Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News asks: “Okay, who won the Olympics – Gabby Douglas, Michael Phelps or Usain Bolt?”
–I’m not a huge fan of Misty May-Treanor. I like Kerri Walsh Jennings, though. Just a personality thing, you understand. [I’ve already forgotten the name of the bitchy U.S. gymnast. Good lord, she was awful.]
–Before the Olympic Games began, I commented to Mark R. down in Ocean City, ‘Gee, I don’t know anything about the U.S. men’s boxing team these days.’ Turns out it was for good reason. We were shut out of the medals for the first time in history.
–I didn’t realize the silver in the men’s 4X100 relay was the first Olympic medal for Tyson Gay. Good for him. He’s been through a lot.
–America should be proud of 800-meter runners Duane Solomon and Nick Symmonds. Sure, they finished 4th and 5th to Kenya’s spectacular David Rudisha, who ran a world record time of 1:40.91, but understand Solomon and Symmonds both ran personal bests (1:42.82 and 1:42.95). You can’t ask for more than that. Imagine, seven of the eight runners ran personal bests, the fastest 800 of all time.
One reason to like the 800 is it’s too quick for NBC to work in a commercial. “And we’ll be back for the interviews at the end.”
It absolutely drove me up the wall that they felt they had to have a freakin’ commercial in the middle of the 5000! Bastards.
—Lolo Jones has no Olympic or world outdoor championship medals. But Shaquille O’Neal reached out to his fellow LSU alum after her big disappointment. Jones said Shaq gave her a pep talk.
“It was like the pep talk of my life…full of, like, ‘Get it together’ and ‘You should not be ashamed of what you did. Don’t apologize, don’t feel bad about your performance, you didn’t let anyone down.’”
Lolo totally mishandled the whole situation with her American competitors, and for starters should have made an effort to congratulate Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells after they took silver and bronze.
—Bar Chat…4/9/12
“Tickets to see Usain Bolt in the 100-meter finals at the London Olympics are going for $1,000 already.
“Bolt is the London Games. Without him, fan interest is minimal, I suspect. Just stay healthy, Usain!
“Imagine, 16 days of Olympics, but it’s all about 9.5 seconds or so. His agent, by the way, said Bolt will keep competing until the 2017 World Championships, also in London.”
Not a bad preview on your editor’s part, if I may say so myself. If you had the wherewithal to spend $1,000, I’m guessing today you feel like it was money well spent.
–I watched the men’s marathon on Sunday morning, with Uganda’s Kiprotich winning it. What a great effort by Londoners…huge crowds along the course. Very cool. Super effort by American Meb Keflezighi in taking fourth. Yes, he didn’t medal but he’s 37 (like Lagat) and this is most likely it. [The other two Americans dropped out…and kind of early.]
–So here is the idea I’m toying with. A U.S.-Jamaica “Sprint Challenge” with a U.S.-Jamaica soccer game in the middle…to give the sprinters a 2-hour or so break between events, which is the norm for the 100, where you have a two-hour break between the semis and finals, so you give the runners a similar break between the 100 and a relay.
Like have the men and women run the 100 meters, play the game, and then men’s and women’s 4X100 relays for bragging rights. Maybe throw in a 400, or 4X400 relay that would normally have different runners.
Hold it in New York or Miami and you have a guaranteed sellout and huge television market. Do it next summer for maximum effect…worked around the schedule of the World Track and Field Championships.
I receive 1% of the gate for coming up with the format. Red Stripe would be the official beer.
Kiawah…the PGA
As Greg Norman said on TNT’s telecast of the PGA Championship, Sunday, the winner this week was Pete Dye. Isn’t that a cool-looking course, golf fans? You can see why I love playing it, even if I do suck. And, yes, the greens really are that spectacular.
But you saw how when the wind kicks up, it can be brutal, and on this aspect, Ian Baker-Finch actually offered a few design tweaks, like raised dunes to help the golfers with a wind break around some greens. Second round scores, after all, averaged a whopping 78, the highest ever for the tournament. Some of the club pros that make the PGA unique struggled a wee bit.
Like Doug Wade, who went 83-93! Yikes. Or Michael Frye…79-90. Or Bill Murchison…82-86. Heck, even Jose Maria Olazabal went 74-86.
Anyway, how about 23-year-old Rory McIlroy! Jack Nicklaus won his second major at an earlier age, but Rory did so before Tiger…winning by an astounding 8 strokes for a second time; Rory having won the 2011 U.S. Open by the same margin. That’s incredible.
With each major some players also gain more street cred. This time it was Carl Pettersson and Keegan Bradley, in my mind.
One other…give it up for Britain’s David Lynn! Geezuz, the guy is a nobody, but the PGA gave him an invite and all he does is finish second!
Lastly, the people at Kiawah and the International Resort Operators Union (IROU) did a great job of keeping a tragic fact secret. Over 800 spectators were killed by alligators and poisonous snakes during the week. Someday we’ll find out where the bodies were dumped…those that weren’t devoured whole. The last thing the IROU wants is to scare away future tourists.
Ball Bits
–The Astros were 32-43 before embarking on an historic streak of futility, a 4-34 stretch that put them at 36-77. Then they had walk-off wins on Friday and Saturday, but specifically for a 39-game stretch, the 5-34 mark was the worst since the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics, who finished 36-117, and went 4-35.
–The Mets’ Johan Santana was rocked in his first start after being on the disabled list, allowing eight hits and eight earned runs in 1 1/3 against the Braves on Saturday. Astoundingly, Santana is 0-4 in his last four starts, giving up 36 hits in 14 innings with a 17.36 ERA.
In nine starts since throwing 134 pitches on June 1 to record the first no-hitter in franchise history, Santana’s ERA is 7.98.
Manager Terry Collins agonized that June night. He didn’t want to leave Johan in but had to. Now the Mets, who still owe the guy $31 million beyond this season, including $25.5 million next year, should shut him down (though it doesn’t seem they will).
[The Mets are 8-20 since the All-Star break, heading into Sunday night’s game, and 1-11 at home in the second half.]
–The Mets’ Jason Bay is 7 for 65 since coming off the disabled list. Wow, that’s strong. And he’s getting paid $18.125 million!!! [For the year he’s hitting .150 in 140 at-bats.]
–The Yankees’ CC Sabathia is back on the DL and will miss two starts, at least, with an inflamed elbow. The team said it’s not concerned. I would be.
–The Nationals’ Bryce Harper was batting .173 through Friday since the All-Star break.
–The Baltimore Orioles are 12-2 in extra-inning games this season (12 consecutive wins, to boot). The 1949 Indians and 1959 Pirates were both 18-1 in extra-inning contests, winning 17 and 14 in a row, respectively. The ’59 Pirates, though, only finished 84-70 overall. (The Indians were 89-65). [Wall Street Journal]
–Finally, our long national nightmare is over…Dwight Howard has been traded. Off to play with the Lakers in a truly brilliant move by Laker GM Mitch Kupchak as he managed to keep Pau Gasol. Kobe Bryant was thrilled. “Look, I’m going to play two, maybe three more years…then the team is his. I’m excited for the Laker franchise. Now they have a player that can carry the franchise well after I’m gone. It should be his. He should be willing to accept that challenge.”
As for the Orlando Magic, Howard goes to the Lakers, Andrew Bynum to the 76ers, Andre Iguodala to the Nuggets, and what do the Magic get? Guard Arron Afflalo, forward Al Harrington, center Nikola Vucevic and rookie Moe Harkless (St. John’s), plus five draft picks over five years. Maybe it will look good in two or three. Right now it looks awful.
–ESPN College Football Power Rankings
1. USC
2. LSU
3. Alabama
4. Oklahoma
5. Oregon
6. Georgia
7. Florida State
8. Michigan
9. West Virginia
10. South Carolina
–LSU All-American cornerback and return man, Tyrann Mathieu, the self-professed “honey badger,” had everything going for him but he’s thrown it away. LSU dropped him from the team for an unspecified violation of athletic department rules (also school rules), but it’s pretty clear that Mathieu, who failed a drug test last season and was suspended for one game, most likely failed a second and third test, which would have meant expulsion, seeing as how both Coach Les Miles and the athletic director spoke of a recurring behavioral issue.
So Mathieu, who has two years of eligibility left, can transfer to a Division I-AA school, like McNeese State or Appalachian State, and play immediately, or otherwise he’d have to sit out a season at another D-I school. Or, he could just sit out and wait for the 2013 NFL draft.
—Tim Tebow made his official debut in the Jets’ desultory 17-6 exhibition loss to the Bengals. Tebow was 4 of 8 passing for 27 yards and one INT. But he rushed for 34 on just four carries.
As for the team, it’s early, but the offense looks like it has the potential to really, really suck.
–Talk about a “Dirtball of the Year” candidate, look no further than Dolphins receiver Chad Johnson, who is accused of head-butting his newlywed wife during an argument outside their home.
“Johnson and his wife, Evelyn Lozada, were at dinner and she confronted him about a receipt she had found for a box of condoms, said Davie (Fla.) police Capt. Dale Engle. The argument got heated and continued on the drive home, he said.
“When they arrived in their driveway, the 34-year-old Johnson head-butted Lozada, she told police.”
— “Jerk of the Year” candidate Kenny Britt, the Tennessee Titans receiver, tweeted following being fined by the team for missing a scheduled rehab session for his surgically repaired knees, “Yu gotta be (expletive) kidding me…Walk back to dis…Don’t dey know I have kids…I’m tired of dis (expletive).”
Unbelievable. This from a guy who had just met with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell over his most recent DUI.
–Steve G. wrote in that 40,000 showed up for a Broncos inter-squad game last weekend. Good lord.
–Memo to Brad K. I saw a story in the Wall Street Journal on ‘campaign collectibles,’ such as a 1920 button with James M. Cox and Franklin D. Roosevelt that sold at auction for $26,000. [Only about 60 are thought to exist.] Maybe you should diversify your already excellent collection of memorabilia. Heck, a “Strom Thurmond for President” poster went for $2,500.
–Brad passed along a tale from Minnesota and the Star-Tribune’s Laura Cox.
“A Minnesota pensioner became a deer-in-the-headlights…when an eight-point whitetail buck took a disliking to him, attacking him in his driveway.
“Mark Christianson was tending to his soybeans at his Fertile home when he spotted the creature closing in on him.
“It steadily gained ground before launching its attack, lashing out at the 66-year-old.
“Rising up onto its rear legs the brute pummeled Mr. Christianson with its front hoofs and head-butted him with a fierce set of antlers.”
“The brazen deer had been stalking Mr. Christianson and his 65-year-old wife Judy [Ed. I’m not sure Judy wanted her age included] for several days, staking claim to their yard and trampling down plants.”
But in the end, bloody and bowed, Christianson took out the marauder with his 30-06 rifle. One shot. Mr. Buck is no longer. It’s not known if he was then quickly carved up, which would have only been appropriate.
Then again, I just read where wildlife officials found parasites in its liver….so never mind. I’ll stick with salmon tonight*, thank you very much.
*It’s “Salmon Sunday” at my home. Really, for over ten years I have salmon every Sunday.
Top 3 songs for the week 8/14/71: #1 “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” (The Bee Gees…when they were good) #2 “Mr. Big Stuff” (Jean Knight…not a favorite of mine) #3 “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (John Denver…loved this one)…and…#4 “Draggin’ The Line” (Tommy James…should be in the Hall of Fame) #5 “You’ve Got A Friend” (James Taylor) #6 “Indian Reservation” (Raiders…underrated group) #7 “Beginnings” (Chicago… one of their best) #8 “What The World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin and John” (Tom Clay… different) #9 “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” (Marvin Gaye…brilliant …) #10 “Signs” (Five Man Electrical Band)
Kansas City Royals Quiz Answers: 1) Mike Sweeney is the only Royal aside from Brett to hit .340, hitting exactly that in 2002. 2) 130 runs scored: Johnny Damon, 136 (2000); Willie Wilson, 133 (1980). 3) Willie Wilson holds single-season hit record with 230 (1980). 4) Steve Balboni is still the Royals’ single-season home run leader with 36 in 1985.
*Huge milestone for the site coming up, by the way. Sometime in early September, Bar Chat #1500! Seriously. 1500!
