Note: Posted Sunday PM….a little harried trying to cover everything this time of year. It’s impossible to add in all the detail.
NFL Quiz: Name the five Cowboys to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Answer below.
Ball Bits
–The Houston Astros’ last three seasons:
2013…51-111
2012…55-107
2011…56-106
324 losses over three years, exceeded only by the 1962-64 Mets (340), and the 1963-65 Mets (332), and tied with the 1915-17 Philadelphia Athletics (324). The 111 losses for this year is a franchise record as well.
But their season-ending 15-game losing streak was also the worst to end a year since the infamous 1899 Cleveland Spiders lost 16 in a row.
Yes, your 2013 Houston Astros sucked just as bad as we all thought they would last April.
But why lead with them? Because down the stretch the Cleveland Indians defeated them four times and the Texas Rangers whipped ‘em three times, so Houston had a large say in the A.L. wild card race.
Cleveland 92-70
Tampa Bay 91-71
Texas 91-71
So Monday, Tampa Bay and Texas square off in Arlington, and then on Wednesday, the winner goes to Cleveland for the one-gamer there. Man, it just doesn’t get any better than this.
–Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Pirates did it…wrapping up the home field for the one-game wild card playoff with Cincinnati by beating the Reds Friday and Saturday in Cincy. The Reds will go with Johnny Cueto on Tuesday, while the Bucs throw Francisco Liriano, who was 8-1, 1.47 ERA, at home this year. Oh, to be in the stands at gorgeous PNC Park for this one. Go Bucs!!!
[I should note that A.J. Burnett came up huge in Friday night’s 4-1 victory, going 8 innings. And like I said when the trade for Marlon Byrd and John Buck was made…brilliant move by Pittsburgh. All Byrd has done is hit .318 with 17 ribbies in 30 games. Exactly what they were looking for. Buck is 7-for-24 himself.]
–For a Yankee hater, I was glued to the tube for all the Mariano Rivera sendoffs, including Thursday’s magical moment. Yes, no dry eyes here in the home office of Bar Chat that evening with Joe Girardi’s inspired move to send out Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte to pull Mariano. Just great stuff.
I mean think about it. How many athletes do you know, in any sport, who have received the kind of year-long adulation that Rivera has, in every city…with total respect from the opposing teams and fans? You have never heard a single bad word about the guy.
But it’s the postseason mark that will forever stand the test of time….
0.70! We all know ERAs for relief pitchers can be rather deceiving, but not this one. Just 86 hits allowed in 141 innings. Only 21 walks. Nice WHIP.
[After Thursday’s emotional sendoff, Mariano decided not to play in the weekend series in Houston. There had been thought of putting him in center field for one inning to fulfill a dream of his, but he said he isn’t feeling well physically and, anyway, he said his last goodbye in far better fashion in New York.]
–And we have to note that teammate Pettitte went out in style with a complete game victory over the Astros on Saturday, 2-1. It was the first time he went the distance since 2006 and it was also his 438th start for the Yankees, tying him with Whitey Ford for the most by a pitcher with the team.
So Pettitte finishes up 256-153 (219-127 with the Yanks), 3.85, with those 19 postseason wins as well. But as I mentioned last week, he’s not a Hall of Famer.
–So how much is A-Rod going to steal attention away from the playoffs? On Monday, Alex Rodriguez’ arbitration hearing begins and it’s not known how long it will take (some say about ten days, though an actual ruling you’d think will come weeks after) or how much we will know about the process and what’s being said as it occurs. It’s probably all up to A-Rod and how much he wants his superstar legal team to leak the daily proceedings.
[A-Rod finished the season hitting just .244 in 156 at-bats with 7 home runs and 19 RBI. He was 3 for his last 39. Heh heh. But, sadly, he hit that 24th grand slam, which really, really sucks.]
–The Los Angeles Dodgers opened the season with a payroll of about $220 million and when it comes to the services of Yankee free agent-to-be Robinson Cano, sources told the New York Daily News that L.A. is not interested in joining a bidding war for the second baseman. The Dodgers are supposedly close to a deal with Cuban second baseman Alexander Guerrero, thus the reason why they wouldn’t be in the Cano sweepstakes.
Cano, it seems, is looking for, get this, $305 million over ten years.
C’mon, Robinson. You are good, very good. But a team would be nuts to even offer you $200 million over eight. Try $100 million over five. [Though I’m sure someone foolish will give him more than that. There were reports earlier in the year the Yankees were talking about $140 million over six.]
It’s time to get real about these contracts…ask the Angels.
But, that said, the Yankees will be desperate to keep Robbie. I mean with Mariano and Pettitte going, with Jeter a huge question mark, with A-Rod’s suspension, be it 100 games or 211 looming, with the health of Mark Teixeira a big question as well, let alone the fact the Yankees obviously just aren’t that good, particularly with the starting rotation (whither Kuroda, too), this is a team that may win as few as 70 next season.
“Of course Robinson Cano says it isn’t his representatives, no sir, no way, putting it out there this week that he wants a 10-year, free-agent contract worth over $300 million. You want to know why? Because now that it is out there, he looks bad and they look bad, and nobody from CAA Sports or Jay Z World can ever be allowed to look bad.
“ ‘Either Cano is crazy or they’re crazy,’ one prominent baseball executive said on Friday. ‘Or both.’
“But if we are talking about real bad leaks here, the one about the money isn’t the worst one for Cano, the worst one is that the Dodgers might not be bidders for his services when he becomes a free agent….
“(We) are about to see if the Yankees will learn their lesson this time around, not be as monumentally boneheaded with Cano as they were six years ago with the broken-down heap they have at third base and DH, meaning Alex Rodriguez.”
–Meanwhile, Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw finished his regular season with six shutout innings on Friday against the Rockies, so he’ll capture the Cy Young by virtue of his 16-9, 1.83 ERA record. He is the first starter since Roger Clemens in 2005 to finish with an ERA under 2.00, and the first Dodger to do so since Sandy Koufax did it in 1963, 1964 and 1966. Kershaw won the Cy Young in 2011 and finished second last year. He will be starting Game 1 of the NLDS on Thursday. Definitely must-see postseason baseball with him on the mound.
–The Mets finished 41-40 on the road. In the National League, only St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles had a better road record. But the Mets aren’t in the playoffs like those three because they were 33-48 at home. Yeesh.
–Speaking of the Dodgers, again, L.A. and San Francisco fans have always had a tough relationship when they play each other, but for the second time in three seasons, serious violence outside the stadium has erupted between them. It’s truly pathetic.
Two years ago, Giants fan Bryan Stow suffered permanent brain damage when he was attacked in L.A. The other night, Dodgers fan Jonathan Denver was stabbed to death in San Francisco.
It’s not even worth getting into the specifics, especially because as I go to post it appears police do not have sufficient evidence to pursue a case. One fellow was arrested, but his father said the 21-year-old acted in self-defense.
The killing happened more than an hour after a Giants-Dodgers game of little consequence.
Yes, it all goes back to the Dodgers-Giants rivalry in New York, passed down now through the generations. Plus it’s also about Northern vs. Southern California.
But violence? Then again, it was in 1965 that Giants pitcher Juan Marichal clubbed Dodgers catcher Johnny Roseboro with a bat in one of the sport’s uglier incidents.
–The Giants re-signed outfielder Hunter Pence to a five-year, $90 million contract. As the Fox broadcasting team noted during the Reds-Pirates game on Saturday, the price probably just went up for free-agent Reds outfielder Shin-Soo Choo. I was hoping the Mets might have a shot at him for, err, three years, not five. Then I woke up from my dream.
[Pence finished the year with 27 home runs and 99 RBI and is as good a guy in the clubhouse as you’ll ever find. Smart move by the Giants, who could easily bounce all the way back next year.]
–Despite another awful season, the Mets are giving manager Terry Collins a two-year contract extension, with a club option for 2016.
But while Mets and Yankees fans bemoan the fact our teams aren’t in the postseason (just the second time in 19 seasons for the Yanks), this is going to be as fascinating an off-season for both as we’ve had around here, perhaps ever. Both teams need to be super active, whether by trade or free agency, or the fan bases will be in total revolt and vote by not buying tickets in 2014. It’s that simple. The odds of a lousy product on the field are strong without wholesale changes.
If change doesn’t come…90-loss seasons are a lock for both (especially if Matt Harvey isn’t available for the Mets).
–If I’m Joe Girardi, I leave the Yanks and hope his hometown Cubbies take him. [Though by the time you read this, the Cubs may have already made a decision on their next manager, including current one Dale Sveum.]
—Commissioner Bud Selig announced he will retire at the end of the 2014 season. I agree with Mike Lupica’s assessment.
“History will take care of this eventually, but no commissioner in professional sports has done a better job over the past 20 years than Bud Selig.
“Selig will always get prosecuted for the past, by people who act as if they led the charge against steroids at the end of the 1990s.
“And he will never get the credit he deserves for taking control of his sport away from the Major League Baseball Players Association, or for eventually implementing the best drug-testing policy in pro sports.
“Or for the fact that every single major sport in this country has had some kind of work stoppage in the last 15 years except baseball, which once led the world in work stoppages. These are just some of the facts on Selig, at least for fair-minded people, and they don’t change and won’t change.
“Did he make mistakes? He sure did, they all do. You think Tagliabue and Goodell and Stern and Bettman haven’t during the same period in sports?
“You add it all up and he hasn’t just been a good commissioner for his sport, he has been a great one, all the way through Biogenesis.
I do have to mention a big black mark on Selig’s record, however. The Oakland A’s stadium issue. Selig himself this week called it “a pit,” but then told CBS Radio he’d been working on the proposed move to San Jose for “two or three years,” which has us fans of the sport asking, so why the heck hasn’t anything happened?
As you know it’s all about the Giants insisting San Jose is their territory so they keep blocking it.
But it’s pathetic Selig hasn’t gotten everyone together to hammer out a compromise, which would undoubtedly involve cash heading San Francisco’s way.
“During a reality-bites week in Washington, where the Nationals were eliminated from playoff contention and the winless RG-Threesues lost again and now have a 3.1 percent chance of competing in the postseason, a sudden clarity has emerged: As a big-time sports town, we don’t do expectations.
“If a manger says ‘World Series or bust,’ like Davey Johnson did in December, chances are the baseball team will be 15 games back in August.
“If a coach says ‘Anything short of a Super Bowl is a failure,’ like Mike Shanahan kind of did last month, chances are the football team will give up more yards than the Texas annexation and be playing for its season Week 4 at Oakland.”
Now the folks running the Wizards and Capitals are making the same mistakes heading into their new seasons.
“A catchy phrase that doesn’t promise too much, doesn’t overexcite. For instance:
“ ‘Your 2013-2014 Washington Wizards: We’re Going to Play All 82 Games This Season.’….
“ ‘Wizards Basketball: Preserving Your June Beach Rentals Since 1978.’”
Well, the Redskins moved to 1-3 in defeating Oakland 24-14 on Sunday.
–Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera, despite playing with one injury after another down the stretch that severely limited his power production, nonetheless won his third straight A.L. batting crown, .348.
–But Baltimore’s Chris Davis outslugged Cabrera, 53-138, to Miguel’s 44-137, thus Cabrera was denied a second straight Triple Crown.
–Miami’s 23-year-old Henderson Alvarez finished the season in style on Sunday, pitching MLB’s third no-hitter of the season in a 1-0 effort over Detroit. He walked just one and struck out four, with the Marlins’ winning run scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth.
[Miami and Tampa Bay, by the way, were the two worst drawing teams in baseball this season.]
–Toronto’s Jose Reyes did not have one triple this year.
–Frustrating season for the Phils’ Cole Hamels. He ended up 8-14 despite a highly respectable 3.60 ERA and having thrown 220 innings while fanning 202. Hamels just got off to a dreadful start and then when he did start throwing well never received the run support.
Nonetheless he turns just 30 in December, is 99-74, 3.38 for his career, and I’d expect him to win at least 15 next season.
By the way, here’s an interesting factoid. Hamels has pitched at least five innings in 75 consecutive starts, the longest active streak in the majors.
–Not for nothing, but last year’s N.L. Cy Young winner, R.A. Dickey, who was traded to Toronto last offseason, finished 14-13, 4.21, while throwing 224 innings. He wasn’t dominating like 2012, but Blue Jays fans can’t be too upset with his performance in light of how the rest of the team performed.
[One issue that hurt the Blue Jays from the beginning was that four of the five Toronto players who went to the World Baseball Classic had subpar seasons. There is a definite correlation.]
–What a year for presumptive N.L. Rookie of the Year Jose Fernandez of Miami. 12-6, 2.19 ERA, 187 strikeouts in 172 innings. Opponents hit .182 against him!
–My man Adam Dunn finished with 34 home runs and 86 RBI, not bad, but hit only .219 and his OBP was a mere .320. What a three-year stretch for the man who is still just 34 in November and has 440 career homers. Who will take him now?
–Jonathan Bernhardt of USA TODAY Sports Weekly had a piece on player performances down the stretch and I had no idea how in 1967, during Carl Yastrzemski’s Triple Crown season (44-121, .326), he hit .417 from Sept. 1 on, and .471 in the last two weeks of that incredibly exciting pennant race.
Boston 92-70
Detroit 91-71
Minnesota 91-71
Chicago 89-73
Yankees 72-90…heh heh
–We note the passing of Gates Brown, the clutch pinch-hitter for the Detroit Tigers who helped the Tigers to their 1968 World Series triumph. Brown was 74.
If you are of a certain age, in your youth you wanted a Gates Brown baseball card; just to stare at his ’68 season when he hit .450 as a pinch-hitter, and .370 overall. It didn’t matter he hit .187 and .204 in ’67 and ’69 in the same number of at-bats…you just couldn’t help but admire that .370.
Brown finished his 13-year career with Detroit (1963-75) batting .257 with 84 home runs and 322 runs batted in. He was made to be a DH but that was adopted too late for his career. Nonetheless, in part-time duty, he had double figures in homers five times.
It is as a pinch-hitter that the massively intimidating Brown (only 5’11”, but 220 lbs. of solid muscle) excelled. He still holds the record for most pinch-hits in the A.L. with 107 in 414 at-bats. He also still holds the A.L. single-season mark with 16.
And of course every baseball fan knew that Gates Brown was signed by the Tigers after a robbery conviction landed him in prison.
“He was also famous for eating hot dogs during games before his customary moment arrived, usually in later innings. Once, when he was called to hit earlier than usual, he was still getting to his hot dogs. After gulping one down, he slipped another inside his uniform, condiments already applied.
“ ‘Wouldn’t you know, Gator hits a double and slides headfirst into second,’ the former Tigers pitcher Jon Warden recalled to The News Journal. ‘Boom, mustard and ketchup all over him. The umpire said: ‘Stay there, Gator. You’re bleeding.’”
[Ed. I met Mr. Warden a few years ago. Very funny guy.]
–It was a shocking week in Los Angeles that started off rather innocuously as the NCAA turned down Southern Cal’s request for relief from the sanctions imposed on the team dating back to 2010. AD Pat Haden was miffed the NCAA decided to lessen Penn State’s Jerry Sandusky related sanctions, but the NCAA said there was no comparison in the two cases. USC’s penalties go back to the Reggie Bush era/debacle.
So then the 3-1 Trojans took on the 2-1 Arizona State Sun Devils and got walloped 62-41 as USC gave up 612 yards.
Early Sunday morning, the Los Angeles Times’ Bill Plaschke penned a piece with a time stamp of 1:48 AM PDT titled “USC’s debacle vs. Sun Devils may be beginning of end for Lane Kiffin.”
Hours later, Coach Kiffin was fired. Plaschke, not knowing what was about to come down, at least so soon, wrote:
“Before this game, it seemed as if Pat Haden, USC’s benevolent athletic director, would not make any coaching moves this fall. Despite overwhelming criticism, Haden had steadfastly supported Kiffin with the presumption that no coach could handle a team better under the sort of NCAA-mandated scholarship restrictions that limited the Trojans to 55 recruited scholarship athletes Saturday, or 15 fewer than in normal Pac-12 road games.
“But now, well, what if this season has already truly been lost? What if the Coliseum becomes even more empty? What if even more big donors fail to fill the end-zone suites or leave early from their 50-yard-line perches? The Trojans’ next game is in 12 days at the Coliseum against Arizona, on a traffic-choked Thursday night. What can Haden think about the future of his program if the place is barely one-third full?”
Well, Haden responded, and forcefully…and with 12 days before the next game, the timing was as good as any. Kiffin’s assistant head coach Ed Orgeron was named interim head coach. Orgeron has head coaching experience at Mississippi. ESPN reports that Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio could be a permanent candidate.
–Turning to the other action on the field Saturday….
No. 1 Alabama shut out No. 21 Ole Miss, 25-0, as the Tide held the Rebels to just 205 yards of offense.
No. 2 Oregon demolished California 55-16 in a total monsoon in Eugene, as both teams lost four fumbles. Duck Nation, however, is concerned with the status of star running back De’Anthony Thomas, who appeared to suffer a serious ankle injury on the first play as he slipped on the wet turf. [The Ducks, by the way, were favored by 37 ½…nice job, UO.]
No. 3 Clemson, favored by 28 over my Wake Forest Demon Deacons, rolled 56-7 as the Tigers outgained the Deacs 573-222. Heisman candidate Tajh Boyd had 380 yards total offense with four touchdowns.
No. 4 Ohio State defeated No. 23 Wisconsin in Columbus, 31-24, as Braxton Miller returned at quarterback for the Buckeyes and threw four touchdowns while rushing for 83 yards.
No. 5 Stanford defeated Washington State 55-17.
And in the real marquee game, No. 9 Georgia won a thriller vs. No. 6 LSU 44-41 as one-time Georgia teammates, quarterbacks Aaron Murray and Zach Mettenberger, faced off against each other.
Mettenberger was booted off the Georgia team for an off the field incident in 2010 that led to a guilty plea and he ended up at LSU. He had three touchdown passes Saturday and a career-best 372 yards, but Murray threw for four TDs, including a 25-yarder to Justin Scott-Wesley with 1:47 remaining.
So Georgia survived its brutal opening stretch in good shape with its national title ambitions still intact.
It lost to Clemson 38-35 in the opener, which hardly looks embarrassing, then defeated South Carolina 41-30 and now beats LSU. Georgia’s track to the SEC title game would seem clear from here on and the winner of that one is going to be rather difficult to keep out of the BCS championship against an Oregon, Clemson, Ohio State or Stanford, as things stand today.
Back to Mettenberger, he threw some terrific balls and definitely has NFL potential.
No. 8 Florida State defeated Boston College 48-34 in Chestnut Hill. BC beat the spread, 23, which at the end of the day, boys and girls, is really all that matters.
No. 10 Texas A&M got 340 total yards from Johnny Manziel to defeat Arkansas 45-33 in Fayetteville.
No. 12 South Carolina survived a road test against undefeated Central Florida 28-25, but lost quarterback Connor Shaw on the first offensive series for 2-3 weeks. Mike Davis then took over to rush for 167 yards and three touchdowns.
No. 14 Oklahoma staked their claim to being in the national title hunt with a 35-21 win over No. 22 Notre Dame in South Bend. ND quarterback Tommy Rees threw three interceptions. Coach Brian Kelly can forget his NFL ambitions.
Minnesota entered its game against Iowa 4-0, but once again the Gophers were revealed as pretenders in losing at home 23-7.
There’s a reason why none of the schools in North Carolina like to play East Carolina…the Pirates always play with a chip on their shoulder and occasionally use that to their advantage, such as on Saturday when they traveled to Chapel Hill and blasted the Tar Heels 55-31, outgaining UNC 605-465 with ECU quarterback Shane Carden going 32/47, 376, 3-1, through the air, with another three TDs rushing. Carolina was favored by 12 ½.
Northern Illinois, which beat Iowa in its opener 30-27, defeated Purdue on Saturday 55-24. The Huskies are now 4-0 and could yet be a BCS at-large candidate along with No. 25 Fresno State, which defeated Hawaii in Honolulu, 42-37, despite five Bulldogs turnovers. It was 42-17 after three quarters so the final score is a little deceiving, but poll voters, especially going forward when looking at Fresno State’s and Northern Illinois’ schedules won’t remember this.
Buffalo whipped UConn 41-12. Jeff B., a Wake-UConn contest this year would be quite appropriate.
Pitt moved to 3-1 with a 14-3 win over Virginia. The Panthers had 199 yards of offense, the Cavaliers just 188. Scintillating.
So here’s your new AP Poll…and remember, I write all of the preceding prior to the release of the latest rankings. No cheating on my part.
1. Alabama 4-0 (55 first-place votes)
2. Oregon 4-0 (5)…quack quack…Duckwear being worn by the editor
3. Clemson 4-0
4. Ohio State 5-0
5. Stanford 4-0
6. Georgia 3-1
7. Louisville 4-0
8. Florida State 4-0
9. Texas A&M 4-1
10. LSU 4-1
11. Oklahoma 4-0
12. UCLA 3-0
23. Fresno State 4-0…slightly surprised
25. Maryland 4-0
*If you carried out the votes, Northern Illinois would be No. 26.
—Peyton Manning threw another four touchdown passes in a 52-20 win over the 1-3 Eagles in Denver (4-0). Unbelievably, Manning has 16 TDs and zero interceptions in just four games.
—Seattle is also 4-0 after a stupendous 23-20 overtime win over the Texans (2-2) in Houston. They were down 20-3.
–The Bears (3-1) lost to the Lions (3-1) as Reggie Bush proved how valuable he is to Detroit if he can just stay on the field; 139 yards rushing in 18 carries. Jay Cutler had three interceptions for Chicago.
–The Steelers fell to 0-4 in London, losing to Minnesota (1-3) 34-27. Adrian Peterson had 140 yards on the ground.
—Cleveland, out of nowhere, is now 2-2 after upsetting Cincinnati (2-2) in Cleveland, 17-6, behind new QB Brian Hoyer, who is 2-0.
–The Bills (2-2) defeated the Ravens (2-2) 23-20. Baltimore’s Joe Flacco had five interceptions, this after signing a $zillion contract.
–The Kansas City Chiefs were 2-14 last season. Today, after defeating the shockingly 0-4 Giants in K.C., 31-7, the Chiefs are 4-0 under new coach Andy Reid.
[The Chiefs’ cheerleaders, always a sleeper squad, already look to be in playoff form.]
–The Colts moved to 3-1 in blasting the hapless Jaguars (0-4), who are about to be relegated, 37-3.
—Tampa Bay switched quarterbacks from Josh Freeman to Mike Glennon but had the same result, another loss, 13-10 to the Cardinals (2-2).
–My Jets came back to Earth and are now 2-2 after losing to Tennessee 38-13. I’ll have more on this next time, but for now we wish Titans QB Jake Locker the best. No word yet on how serious his hip injury is.
Lastly, Thursday night, San Francisco got their act together in destroying the Rams 35-11 in St. Louis as Colin Kaepernick threw two touchdown passes and Frank Gore broke out for 153 yards on the ground. The 49ers moved to 2-2 and their fans can relax a bit. As for your humble editor, did I pick the now 1-3 Rams to win the Super Bowl? I did say when I made that prediction that they would be fine if they were 2-2 after a brutal opening schedule, but it’s the way they are losing that is more disturbing and quarterback Sam Bradford, who I thought would have his big breakout season, has not looked good.
The Knicks…what the [expletive]?
Four days before the start of training camp, the New York Knicks demoted GM Glen Grunwald and brought back their former executive, Steve Mills, to be the new president/GM. The move is absurd.
Star Carmelo Anthony also didn’t know this was going down, which is another really stupid thing.
As one NBA GM told the New York Post the other day, “If you’re looking for logic within (owner James) Dolan’s Knicks, you’re looking in the wrong place.”
Commissioner David Stern defended the move, noting Mills’ work with him in the 1990s. “He’s dealt with a lot of players, a lot of agents. He’s a superior administrator who is going to help the team with its business operations and I don’t mean just business.”
But here’s the thing. Steve Mills hasn’t had a full-time job in sports since his years at the Garden.
Oh, it seems I forgot to mention this up front. Steve Mills was the president of Madison Square Garden Sports from 2003 to 2008, a period in which the Knicks were in total disarray on and off the court. Mills, after all, recommended Isiah Thomas be hired as the Knicks’ president in December 2003, and in January 2006, Anucha Browne Sanders sued Thomas and the Garden for sexual harassment.
The Mills hiring is an absolute nightmare for Knicks fans.
Mike Lupica: “If you believe Isiah Thomas will never again have a position of authority or responsibility at Madison Square Garden…well, why in the world would you believe something like that?”
–The NHL season is here. Sports Illustrated selected the Blackhawks to win the Stanley Cup over the Penguins. Of course I want the Rangers but won’t watch any action until after the World Series.
—Tiger Woods was named the PGA Tour’s Player of the Year for the first time in four years and record-extending 11th time in his career.
There will be all kinds of folks bitching over this selection but, remember, this is a vote of fellow tour players. The ballot included Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson, Adam Scott and Henrik Stenson.
Tiger did win five of the 16 tour events he entered. No other player on the ballot won more than twice. Some, however, thought Mickelson should have won it off his stirring British Open final round.
In case you are wondering, the ballots went out after the conclusion of the TOUR Championship won by Stenson.
Jordan Spieth won Rookie of the Year honors. I’m already fired up for next season, which technically starts this fall under the new format I’ll get into after the Presidents Cup.
“Less than two years ago, (Rory McIlroy) won his first Major by eight shots and then shocked his veteran British agent Chubby Chandler just five months later by announcing that he was dumping him to join boutique Dublin agency Horizon Sports Management.
“It seemed like a partnership made in heaven as McIlroy went on to become Irish golf’s first world No. 1, capturing his second Major title by another staggering eight-stroke margin at last year’s U.S. PGA.
“McIlroy has belied his boyish looks by taking a series of ruthless decisions during his short career.
“Deciding midway through this season that he needed to take ownership of his own affairs entirely, he cut ties with Horizon Sports, poaching a member of its staff to handle his day-to-day affairs before making his decision to go his own way public.
“It’s a decision that could cost him a sizeable chunk of his huge fortune. The matter is now in the hands of lawyers.
“ ‘Under Horizon’s management, Rory has signed some of the most lucrative endorsements in sports history,’ Horizon said. ‘The current management contract has a number of years to run. Rory’s decision to seek a termination of the management contract with Horizon is now regrettably in the hands of legal advisers. Horizon will be making no further comment.’”
Industry sources told Brian Keogh it could cost McIlroy at least 4.4 million euro to walk away.
You know, I knew Rory did this, change management teams twice, but hadn’t thought of the ramifications, nor of the fact, yes, Horizon was on board for his biggest endorsement deals. Right after he signed the Nike deal, though, his game went south and that’s when he ditched Horizon. He hasn’t won in 12 months.
McIlroy also didn’t attend Graeme McDowell’s wedding in the Bahamas, which was Saturday, because Horizon would have been there; they being McDowell’s team, which was a major reason why Rory jumped from Chandler to join friend McDowell in the first place.
All this extra pressure was totally unnecessary. It’s going to be interesting to see how fast Rory’s game comes back.
—Cuba announced it would allow its athletes to sign contracts with foreign professional sports leagues but this decision is highly overrated. There are all kinds of restrictions so don’t look for a ton of Yasiel Puigs to suddenly show up at spring training. As Randal C. Archibold of the New York Times writes:
“For one, players signing big contracts will still be unable to repatriate the money because of a cold-war-era American law prohibiting trade with Cuba. In most cases, the limits amount to a few thousand dollars a year.
“And Cuba in its announcement on Friday, in the state newspaper Granma, said players holding foreign contracts would still face commitments to play on the island. For baseball, that could mean playing in the November-to-April National Series, overlapping some with spring training and the opening of the Major League Baseball season.”
–Good lord…did you see Manchester United’s record after the first six matches of the Barclays Premier League season? 2 wins, 1 draw, 3 losses, including one on Saturday to West Bromwich Albion! It’s Man U’s worst start in 24 years. How would you like to be David Moyes, who took over as the new manager from the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson?
30 matches to go but what if we are talking relegation for Man U come next spring? Ya never know, futbol fans.
—George Bignotti died. He was 97.
If you are an old-time racing fan you remember the name, as I did. As a mechanic, Bignotti won the Indy 500 with drivers A.J. Foyt in 1961 and 1964, Graham Hill in 1966, Al Unser in 1970 and 1971, Gordon Johncock in 1973 and Tom Sneva in 1983.
He holds the record for most wins overall in Indy-car history with more than 80 victories.
Bignotti was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1993.
–Here’s some good news, salmon lovers. This year’s run on the Columbia River is the best ever since the Bonneville Lock and Dam was built in 1938. Among the reasons for the record are the spawning areas have been cleared of debris and invasive species and ocean temperatures have been highly favorable (low).
For example, as reported by the Los Angeles Times’ Maria L. La Ganga:
“The 10-year average for adult Chinook on Sept. 17 is a measly 7,157; five years ago, that daily total was only 4,451. But on this day, during this banner run, (fish counter Janet) Dalen and others tallied 18,896.
–Congratulations to Megan Young, Miss Philippines, for being crowned Miss World in Indonesia, Saturday, amid threats from Muslim hardliners to disrupt the contest.
Oh those daffy Muslims. Of course they are complaining the contestants showed too much skin so pageant organizers had already agreed to cut bikinis from the swimsuit competition and instead the girls wore track suits circa Al Sharpton in the early 90s. [OK, not quite…they wore sarongs.]
Kudos to the 127 girls who didn’t buckle under the immense pressure. Heck, the British, Australian and U.S. embassies issued warnings to citizens planning trips to Bali during the competition, fearing terror attacks.
Miss France took second…Oui!…while Miss Ghana took third.
Top 3 songs for the week 9/24/83: #1 “Tell Her About It” (Billy Joel…I can’t…would get in trouble…) #2 “Total Eclipse Of The Heart” (Bonnie Tyler…dreadful…) #3 “The Safety Dance” (Men Without Hats)…and…#4 “Maniac” (Michael Sembello…ughh….) #5 “Making Love Out Of Nothing At All” (Air Supply…one of the causes of global warming…) #6 “Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)” (Eurythmics… immensely depressing sound…makes you want to commit hari kari…) #7 “Human Nature” (Michael Jackson…he’s dead, you know…) #8 “Puttin’ On The Ritz” (Taco…Taco Grande, baby…) #9 “(She’s) Sexy + 17” (Stray Cats…don’t touch that…) #10 “Don’t Cry” (Asia…Yankees fans excluded…)
NFL Quiz Answer: Five Cowboys to run for 1,000 yards.
Emmitt Smith
Tony Dorsett
Herschel Walker (1988)
Calvin Hill (1972, 73)
Julius Jones (2006)
I thought you might miss Jones. No, I’m not listing all the seasons Dorsett and Smith hit the mark. I’m tired.
