What is Happening to the NFL?

NFL Quiz: 1) Until 1982, only two quarterbacks threw for 500 yards in a game. Name them. 2) Who was the third QB in 1982 to break into the 500 club? Answers below.

College Football Review

[The following comments are written prior to release of the new AP and BCS polls.]

Thursday night provided the big surprise. Not that No. 5 Stanford defeated No. 3 (BCS rank) Oregon 26-20, but rather that it was 26-0 Cardinal in the fourth quarter before a belated Ducks comeback effort.

It was about Stanford ruining Oregon’s national title hopes for a second consecutive season, after Oregon lost 17-14 in overtime last year. The Ducks’ only two losses the last two years are to Stanford.

It was also about Stanford playing old-fashioned smash mouth football, rushing the ball 66 times for 274 yards, with Tyler Gaffney carrying it a school-record 45 times for 157. The Cardinal held the ball a staggering 42 ½ minutes.

For Oregon, QB Marcus Mariota, playing hurt (though this in no way is an excuse), was very ordinary, 20 of 34, misfiring numerous times, though for the record he still hasn’t thrown an interception since Nov. 17, 2012, against Stanford.

So exit Oregon from the BCS chase, though here’s hoping they still get into a BCS game. I have all this Duckwear, you understand.

As for No. 6 Baylor hosting No. 10 Oklahoma, it was never in doubt, Baylor winning 41-12, as quarterback Bryce Petty threw for three touchdowns and ran for another pair of scores.    Baylor will now battle it out with No. 4 Ohio State (idle this weekend) to see if they can challenge No. 1 Alabama or No. 2 Florida State.

Alabama hosted No. 13 LSU and after the score was tied at 17-17 in the third, ‘Bama ran off 21 unanswered to win going away, 38-17. Quarterback AJ McCarron had his usual efficient effort, tossing three touchdown passes, and T.J. Yeldon rushed for 133 yards.

As for No. 2 FSU, let’s just say they were beating Wake Forest 42-0 at half after Wake turned the ball over five times. Final score…59-3. Wake ended up with 7 TOs, including six interceptions. Senior QB Tanner Price, who was just dreadful in a 13-0 loss to Syracuse the week before, completed one of his first four passes, the other three picked off by the Seminoles, and was yanked for the game. His replacement, Tyler Cameron, threw another three picks. Florida State actually had only 296 yards of total offense, but scored five touchdowns and a field goal off the seven turnovers.

One other sidebar for FSU…Heisman hopeful Jameis Winston did not look that good, despite the score, going 17/28, 159, 2-1. At least not a Heisman quality performance. So between this one and Mariota’s subpar effort on Thursday, the door is back open for Johnny Manziel.

No. 8 Missouri beat Kentucky 48-17 behind Maty Mauk’s five touchdown passes. Tigers receiver Dorial Green-Beckham hauled in four of the TD strikes.

No. 9 Auburn had 444 yards on the ground in blasting Tennessee 55-23.

Virginia Tech upset No. 11 Miami 42-24 behind QB Logan Thomas’ 25/31, 366, 2-0 performance. All week long, Hokies fans were calling for Thomas, who has had a decidedly disappointing career, to be benched. Out of nowhere he then has one of the best games of his career.

Johnny Manziel threw for 446 yards and five touchdowns in No. 15 Texas A&M’s 51-41 win over Mississippi State. But Manziel was also picked off three times.

No. 16 Fresno State stayed undefeated and in the BCS bowl hunt with an impressive 48-10 win at Wyoming. Wyoming got off to a 10-0 start but the Bulldogs reeled off 48 straight as quarterback Derek Carr, a definite big-time NFL prospect, threw for 366 yards and four touchdowns. He now has 32 TDs through the air and just four interceptions this season.

No. 21 Central Florida (7-1, 4-0) held off Houston (7-2, 4-1) 19-14 to just about wrap up its AAC title and a big bowl berth.

No. 23 Notre Dame (7-3) lost at Pitt (5-4) 28-21. Yay, Pitt…sock it to ‘em! [1940s chant, so my parents, Pitt grads, tell me.]

Minnesota is suddenly 8-2 after beating Penn State (5-4) 24-10.

Florida is now 4-5 after losing to Vanderbilt 34-17 and is in danger of its first losing season since 1979. No way coach Will Muschamp returns next year, even after an 11-1 regular season in 2012. Plus they say the next recruiting class isn’t that good.

North Carolina is now the best 4-win team in the nation as the Tar Heels (4-5) destroyed Virginia 45-14.

My Maine Black Bears moved to 9-1 with a not-so-great 33-27 win over 1-9 Albany.

Fordham is now 10-0 after eking out a 23-21 win over Bucknell.

And now the new AP poll….

1. Alabama (56 first-place votes) 9-0…1472 points*
2. Florida State (3) 9-0…1418
3. Ohio State 9-0…1310
4. Baylor 8-0…1303
5. Stanford 8-1…1272
6. Oregon 8-1
7. Auburn 9-1
8. Clemson   8-1
9. Missouri 9-1
10. Texas A&M 8-2
14. Michigan State 8-1
15. UCF 8-1…agree with this one
16. Fresno State 9-0…no longer overrated…where they should be
20. Northern Illinois 9-0…absurd

Yes, there are normally 60 first-place votes (voters) but one was on a mandatory furlough by his media outlet.

And the new BCS poll….

1. Alabama .996
2. Florida State .962
3. Ohio State .893
4. Stanford .869
5. Baylor .862
6. Oregon .767
7. Auburn .721
8. Clemson .720
9;. Missouri .712
10. South Carolina .558
14. Fresno State
15. Northern Illinois
16. Michigan State
17. UCF

More next Bar Chat, including the whole Fresno State, No. Illinois, UCF situation.

The Dolphins’ Mess

Among the latest revelations in the saga of Miami offensive linemen Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin, National Football Post reported that as a leader of the Dolphins’ O-line, Incognito would hold meetings at a South Florida strip club and would fine players if they did not attend.

An unnamed source told the website, “Richie wanted to set up Richie’s world as a way for everybody to act. Richie thinks everybody should act that way. He doesn’t get that some guys aren’t into that behavior. Some guys don’t want to constantly explain to their wife or girlfriend why they have to go to a strip club.”

As for Jonathan Martin, he is slated to meet next week in Los Angeles with the NFL’s special investigator to discuss allegations of harassment. Martin will be meeting with the noted attorney Ted Wells, who was appointed by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to look into possible misconduct on the part of the Dolphins.

“Jonathan Martin’s toughness is not at issue. Jonathan has started every game with the Miami Dolphins since he was drafted in 2012. At Stanford, he was the anchor for Jim Harbaugh’s ‘smash mouth’ brand of football and he protected Andrew Luck’s blind side.

“The issue is Jonathan’s treatment by his teammates. Jonathan endured harassment that went far beyond the traditional locker room hazing. For the entire season-and-a-half that he was with the Dolphins, he attempted to befriend the same teammates who subjected him to the abuse with the hope that doing so would end the harassment. This is a textbook reaction of victims of bullying. Despite these efforts, the taunting continued. Beyond the well-publicized voice mail with its racial epithet, Jonathan endured a malicious physical attack on him by a teammate, and daily vulgar comments such as the quote at the bottom. These facts are not in dispute.”

The ‘vulgar comment’ allegedly was from an anonymous teammate directed at Martin’s sister.

For his part, Incognito was interviewed exclusively by Fox Sports’ Jay Glazer, who has known Incognito for years, with Incognito saying in part:

“This isn’t an issue about bullying. This is an issue of my and Jon’s relationship. You can ask anyone in the Miami Dolphins’ locker room who had Jon Martin’s back the absolute most and they’ll undoubtedly tell you me.

“All this stuff coming out, it speaks to the culture of our locker room, it speaks to the culture of our closeness, it speaks to the culture of our brotherhood. The racism, the bad words, that’s what I regret most.  But that’s a product of the environment. That’s something that we use all the time.”

Incognito turned over 1,142 texts between him and Martin in the past year, including two sent by Martin three days after he left the team.

“Yeah I’m good man. It’s insane bro but just know I don’t blame you guys at all it’s just the culture around football and the locker room got to me a little.”

Dolphins coach Joe Philbin is a goner if reports he and his staff instructed Incognito to “toughen up” Martin are found to be true.

Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland allegedly told Martin’s agent to instruct his client to “punch” Incognito. He too is probably gone.

As the New York Post’s Mark Cannizzaro noted: “(This) could leave Dolphins owner Stephen Ross with little option but to napalm his entire program and start over.”

I’ll be shocked if the Dolphins, 5-4, play well the rest of the way, but they catch a break in playing 0-8 Tampa Bay on Monday night. [I’m selfishly psyched the Jets have two games remaining with Miami.]

“Some days, the Miami Dolphins owner, Stephen Ross, must wonder why he bought the team.

“Since he took full control in 2009, the Dolphins have not had a winning record, coaches and quarterbacks have come and gone, and season-ticket sales have dipped to a three-decade low.

“This year, Ross failed to win $200 million in subsidies to help overhaul the Dolphins’ stadium, and his fellow NFL owners passed over Miami to host the Super Bowl in 2016, 2017 and 2018. Ross took aim at lawmakers who refused to support the stadium deal. The local news media then criticized Ross for donating $200 million to his alma mater, Michigan.

“But these setbacks were a footnote compared with the unfolding and explosive story involving allegations of bullying and racial discrimination on the team….

“The public spat involving millionaire players who worked side by side on the Dolphins’ offensive line has the potential to not only damage the team’s credibility, but also unleash a legal storm that could swirl around the team for months….

“The cloud hanging over the team may not be good for business, either. The team has drawn just below 63,000 fans a game this season, 9.8% higher than in 2012. But the Dolphins fill only about 84 percent of Sun Life Stadium’s capacity, the second-lowest rate in the league behind that of the Oakland Raiders….

“The storm may also make it harder for the team to again seek public money to renovate the stadium….

“ ‘The reaction was if he had $200 million to give to the University of Michigan, why didn’t he use it for the stadium,’ said Carlos A. Gimenez, the mayor of Miami-Dade County.”

“Miami Dolphins players don’t get it. Their support of suspended guard Richie Incognito – even after they learned he used a racial slur in a threatening voice mail left for biracial linemate Jonathan Martin – is among many troubling aspects of the bullying controversy that has engulfed the NFL franchise.

“But for me, what’s most disturbing is that several misguided African American Dolphins players – Mike Wallace, Mike Pouncey, Brent Grimes and Michael Egnew have been among Incognito’s most vocal defenders – identify more closely with Martin’s alleged tormentor than they do with Martin. Their support for Incognito shows the wrongheaded thinking that can arise from the locker-room culture and long-standing beliefs in the African American community about what behavior is socially acceptable for blacks.

“There’s still a lot we don’t know about what caused Martin to abruptly leave the team last week and seek counseling….

“But this much is clear: Dolphins players view Incognito as one of the guys. From Martin’s position on the outskirts of the locker room, he couldn’t see the inner circle….

“To African Americans on the Dolphins, Martin was a 6-foot-5, 312-pound oddball because his life experience was radically different from theirs. It’s an old story among African Americans. Too often, instead of celebrating what makes us different and learning from each other, we criticize more educated or affluent African Americans for not ‘keeping it real.’….

“Former Stanford standout and NFL player Coy Wire provided an insider’s perspective this week in a column for Fox Sports, writing, ‘If you don’t fit into the mold, and the culture in the locker room, you won’t last…Sometimes, in a gladiator sport like football, intelligence can be perceived as being soft.’….

“In the African American community, we know there’s still work to do. The fact that several black Dolphins players have chosen to stand with Incognito instead of Martin shows just how much.”

Tony Dorsett

On Wednesday it was revealed that the 59-year-old Hall of Fame running back showed signs of CTE, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a debilitating condition linked to repeated blows to the head. Researchers at UCLA made the discovery, as only recently were living subjects able to be diagnosed for it, which had been found in the autopsied brains of dozens of former players, among them Junior Seau and Dave Duerson.

The thing is, back in 1991, Dorsett agreed to an $85,000 settlement for injuries to “multiple orthopedic body parts,” thinking later he was still able to file another claim for any subsequent injury, but this past May a California workers’ compensation panel turned down his brain-injury claim. He appealed the decision and it was upheld in August by a three-judge panel.

The Los Angeles Times found that since 2006, more than 3,500 former NFL players have filed workers’ comp claims in California alleging head and brain injuries. The NFL fights the claims, which can cost millions, and the league backed legislation signed last month by Gov. Jerry Brown that bars many athletes from filing such claims in California. [Ken Bensinger / L.A. Times]

Meanwhile, UCLA researchers also informed offensive lineman Joe DeLamielleure and former All-Pro defensive lineman Leonard Marshall they had early signs of CTE.

“Where are we? Where is pro football? The NFL doesn’t have a PR problem. It has a reality problem. And it may be a grave one. Every month – and it seems every few days – the NFL is inundated by new, barely suspected revelations. What has the NFL become? Or is this what it has been for some time? Is the truth coming out of the shadows?….

“The NFL is now the league of murder charges against Aaron Hernandez – gang execution style….

“The NFL is the league of concussions, cover-ups for decades and in-house pseudo-science to discredit critical research. That is, until dementia, insanity and a $765 million settlement with its players hits the headlines. The NFL is a ‘League of Denial.’

“The NFL is the league where future Hall of Famer Junior Seau, barely retired, shot himself in the heart so his brain could be studied by science to help prove that chronic traumatic encephalopathy is a core part of football, with risk of brain damage to the smallest kids who play it. It’s the league of Dave Duerson, 50, who also took a bullet-to-the-chest exit in 2011. CTE found. Ray Easterling, 2012 suicide, CTE found. Six weeks ago, Paul Oliver, 29, committed suicide in front of his wife and children.

“The NFL is the league of chronic degenerative injuries and grotesquely crippled stars, such as Jim McMahon, who can’t remember his name just 25 years after playing quarterback in the Super Bowl.

“The NFL is the league of thug bullies such as suspended Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito, who allegedly extorted money, texted racist insults and made death threats to a younger teammate. It’s the league of $15,000 stripper parties in Las Vegas, paid for by intimidated, hazed rookies who don’t make the trip but pay the check even if it busts them….

“The NFL is the league where star quarterbacks face sexual harassment or rape charges and a hero of the last Super Bowl has beaten a murder rap….

“The list seems endless, yet it never ends. The NFL is the league where you hold your breath week to week, almost day to day, to find out what crime, what betrayal of trust, what warped values for the young the sport can become identified with next. The NFL is the league where a nickname like ‘Redskins’ looks comfortably at home.

“This is what we know, what we now have to digest, as individuals and as a sports-fascinated culture that has raised the NFL to the status of ‘favorite game’ – by far.

“We already know these NFL shock headlines and more. What we haven’t done yet is put it all together, look at the monstrosity that has risen before our eyes in the past couple of years and weep. The NFL PR machine always has small-picture rebuttals for big-picture incriminations. That works one issue at a time. But the day comes – and may have arrived – when the correct response is simply, ‘Look at all of it. Explain away the entire pattern.’

“If the NFL doesn’t alter its culture, it won’t be ‘America’s game’ forever. Pro football isn’t going away any more than prize fighting has died. But status among sports can change – a lot….

“Like millions, I grew up as pro football grew up. It has been part of my life. But in time, I can gradually change.

Lastly, John Moffitt quit the Denver Broncos and the NFL this week. The third-year guard from Wisconsin called the Broncos from his home in Seattle, telling them he wouldn’t be returning following the bye week. Later he tweeted:

“Football was fun but my head hurts-haha kidding roger goodell. I’m on to new things, thanks to everyone along the way!!!”

Moffitt is leaving more than $1 million on the table, including about $312,500 for the remainder of this season and a nonguaranteed salary in 2014 of $752,000. He earned about $1.8 million before taxes in his 2 ½ seasons in the NFL.

“I’m ready to go to work and start doing other things right now,” he said. “So, it’s a smoother transition and I’m still young enough to start a career and my body’s healthy and I’m good. I look at it as a great start to life, you know?”

With all of the CTE issues, look for a lot more John Moffitts in the coming year or two.

NFL Review

The Giants are still in it, winning their third straight, 24-20 over the Raiders at the Meadowlands, as Andre Brown returned from another broken leg to rush for 115 yards. [Oakland has lost 12 straight in the Eastern time zone…and they have to come back out here to play the Jets on Dec. 8. Heh heh.]

This as the Eagles upped their record to 5-5 with a 27-13 win over the Aaron Rodgers-less Packers (5-4). Quarterback Nick Foles threw three more touchdowns after an NFL record-tying seven the week before. Foles, continuing to sub for the injured Michael Vick, now has 16 TD passes without an interception. You just don’t see this kind of Marcus Mariota action in the NFL. [Philly running back LeSean McCoy also rushed for 155 yards.]

The Eagles, by the way, are 5-1 on the road but 0-4 at home. Benjamin Franklin is scratching his head over this one.

Detroit moved to 6-3 in defeating Chicago 21-19 as Reggie Bush rushed for 105 yards on just 14 carries and Megatron, Calvin Johnson, had two TD receptions.

Seattle is now 9-1, and the Falcons a shocking 2-7, as the Seahawks prevailed in Atlanta, 33-10, with Marshawn Lynch rumbling for 145 yards on 24 carries.

My original Pick to Click, the St. Louis Rams (4-6), out of nowhere played like some of us thought they would, defeating the Colts (6-3) in Indianapolis 38-8 as rookie first-round pick Tavon Austin busted through for touchdown receptions of 57 and 81 yards, as well as a 98-yard punt return for a score. Yup, rather spectacular. For Indy, Andrew Luck was picked off three times.

Baltimore (4-5) defeated Cincinnati (6-4) in overtime, 20-17, despite the Bengals getting a Hail Mary TD to tie the game on the final play of regulation.

Carolina is shockingly 6-3 after defeating San Francisco (6-3) at Kezar Stadium (channeling Ray Scott), 10-9, holding the 49ers to just 151 yards of total offense as Boston College alum Luke Kuechly had a monster game for the Panthers at linebacker. Carolina has reeled off five straight, allowing 15 or fewer points in each contest.

Denver is 8-1 having defeated San Diego 28-20. Peyton Manning is hurting, but he’ll be on the field next week as the Broncos host the 9-0 Chiefs.

And Jacksonville won its first game! 29-27 against Tennessee. Jacksonville had only 214 total yards on offense but took advantage of four Titans turnovers.

–I have to admit I saw the headline “Bobby Thomason, Pro Bowl Quarterback, Dies at 85” and thought, ‘How did I not know who Bobby Thomason was?’ His obit says he was a three-time Pro Bowler who in 1953 became the first Philadelphia Eagles QB to pass for more than 400 yards, 437 and 4 touchdowns, to be exact, in a 30-7 win over the Giants. Thomason made the Pro Bowl that year, throwing a career-best 21 TD passes. Over his career, though, he had 68 touchdowns and 90 interceptions.

But here’s what I don’t understand. Someone please explain to me how he made the Pro Bowl in 1956, despite throwing 21 interceptions and only four touchdowns! You can look it up.

College Basketball

And we’re off and running…no big upsets yet (a minor one below), but Kansas phenom Andrew Wiggins had a solid debut, scoring 16 in the Jayhawks’ 80-63 win over Louisiana-Monroe.

Kentucky freshman Julius Randle, perhaps the best of the Wildcats’ super class of six All-Americans, scored 23 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in an 89-57 win over UNC-Asheville. [I’m actually wearing a UNC-A Bulldogs sweatshirt as I type this, courtesy of Asheville resident Johnny Mac.] On Sunday, Randle had another 22 points and 14 rebounds in a 93-63 win over Northern Kentucky.

And Duke’s heavily hyped Jabari Parker scored 22 in his debut, while Mississippi State transfer Rodney Hood added 22, the two combining to shoot 17 of 20 from the field in the Blue Devils’ 111-77 victory over Davidson.

My “Pick to Click” for the national title, VCU, opened up by annihilating Illinois State 96-58.

Mighty Wake Forest was down to Colgate 51-43 in the second half before finally getting its act together and pulling away with an 89-78 win at home. I was close to committing hari-kari, but realized I had to finish that other column I do, first, and by the time I did, Wake had the win and a life was saved.

And on Saturday, USC Upstate (South Carolina Upstate) upset Virginia Tech 64-63. At least the Hokie football team came through.

Reminder…clear the schedule for Tuesday…7:30 PM ET, ESPN, Michigan State vs. Kentucky, followed by Kansas vs. Duke. You get to see Wiggins, Randle and Parker. 

NBA Bits

–Early on it’s all about the Indiana Pacers, 7-0 after beating the Brooklyn Nets in Brooklyn Saturday night, 98-91. Yes, it’s not too soon to say the Pacers present a huge challenge to the Heat.

But I’m sticking by my prediction the Nets take it all, sports fans!

–Harvey Araton of the New York Times had a piece on the difference between the San Antonio Spurs’ franchise and the Knicks’ and he has one telling stat. Since the Spurs drafted Tim Duncan in 1997, San Antonio has won 30 playoff series and the Knicks seven.

Also, since San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich took the helm in 1996, the Knicks have had eight head coaches.

On Sunday, at the Garden, the Spurs walloped the Knicks 120-89 and it wasn’t even that close. Danny Green had 24 points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes. For New York, J.R. Smith made his return from his five-game weed suspension and was 1-of-9 from the field.

Lastly, the first overall selection in the 2013 draft, Cleveland’s Anthony Bennett, is 1-of-21 from the field in the Cavs’ first seven games, having missed the first 15 in his NBA career. He’ll be fine, boys and girls.

Golf Balls

“If you want to do something ridiculously unpopular, take on Tiger Woods. You’ll be called a racist, a moron and, worst of all, a hack. Brandel Chamblee, who won one PGA Tour event in a 15-year playing career, learned that lesson the hard way….

“Chamblee recently called Woods ‘duplicitous’ on Golf Channel. That’s a nervy thing to say because the cable network has a high-stakes business relationship with the PGA Tour. The Tour and Golf Channel share a star attraction. Good talkers, like Chamblee, learn to choose their words carefully, and live to talk another day.

“Chamblee has another outlet for his thoughts about the game, writing at Golf Magazine and at Golf.com…In a short, blunt Golf.com piece posted Oct. 15, Chamblee gave end-of-season grades to various players. He gave Woods, despite five wins, an F, for being ‘a little cavalier with the rules.’ Chamblee prefaced that remark by describing his own experience as a cheater on a fourth-grade math test. He never called Woods a cheater, but the implication was clear.

“Internet posters went crazy, telling Chamblee that he was a Tiger-hater, a bigot, an idiot – and a failed player. To the nonorthodox, golf’s rules seem persnickety. But others in the game, both its high priests and those toiling in its vineyards, understand that without strict adherence to the game’s often complicated and sometimes ridiculous rules, competitive golf unravels. The messenger – Chamblee – was shot repeatedly….

“Tour HQ in Ponte Vedra Beach and GC HQ in Orlando had urgent talks. High-priced corporate talent pondered weird scenarios. Woods dates Lindsey Vonn, who is likely to star again at the Winter Olympics, in February, broadcast by NBC. Golf Channel is a division of NBC. What if Woods stops giving interviews to Golf Channel? What if Vonn refuses to do fireside chats with Bob Costas? All because of some quickie Internet column? Somebody was going to have to make this right.

“And that somebody was Brandel Chamblee. He gave up his Golf and Golf.com gigs. He went on Twitter and Golf Channel and apologized not for his views but for the rancor his words caused…. ‘My intention was to note Tiger’s rules infractions, but comparing that to cheating in grade school went too far.’ As mea culpas go, these were skimmed milk on Raisin Bran. He did not, notably, back off his original statement….

“Any serious player will tell you that you stop lifting a twig for one main reason: The ball has started to move. Innumerable golfers have penalized themselves for minor ball movements. You know why this episode matters so much? It tells you what’s in the golfer’s heart.

“Back in the day, Woods didn’t have to do anything special to win, so superior was his talent. Those days are gone, even though he remains golf’s best player and most important figure. Chamblee wants what everyone who cares about golf wants. We want Woods to follow in the footsteps of Jones and Nicklaus and every slave-to-the-rules journeyman who was ever called a penalty on himself. We want Woods to put other players – and the game that made him – ahead of himself. The truth is, the ball’s in his court.”

—Chris Kirk won his second PGA Tour event at the McGladrey Classic.

—Adam Scott won the Australian PGA Championship over Rickie Fowler, a big deal for the Aussies, but I have to believe a very positive tourney for Fowler in terms of 2014. A lot of us would love to see him win multiple times, including a major.

–There’s a great spread in the December Golf Digest on Arnold Palmer and Kate Upton. Terrific photos. Worth checking out. Let’s just say Arnie is teaching Upton the game and he’s in seventh heaven.

–Golf Magazine polled 50 Tour pros and asked the question, “How many strokes would you need to give a scratch player to make it a fair match?”

2%…0-2
64%…4-6
34%…7 or more

–In the next to last race of the Sprint Cup season, Jimmie Johnson finished third behind winner Kevin Harvick at Phoenix, but his rival for the Chase, Matt Kenseth, finished a disastrous 23rd owing to an awful pit stop…a pure choke job on the part of Joe Gibbs Racing. Basically, all Johnson has to do in the final race next weekend at Homestead is finish. [23rd or better, specifically, irrespective of what Kenseth does.]

–Ah yes, Hot Stove time in baseball. Lots of fun for fans. Regarding my Mets, just have to repeat I do not want them overpaying for a free agent. I would like to see some trades, though.

–The Cubs hired Rick Renteria to be their new manager, another unproven hire for the struggling franchise that went 66-96 last season.

—Bill Mazeroski’s uniform from the 1960 World Series that he wore when he hit the dramatic home run to win it for Pittsburgh sold for $632,500 at auction this weekend. This nearly matches the $657,250 Mike Eruzione got for his 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey jersey, the uniform he wore during the “Miracle on Ice” defeat of the Soviet Union.

But as Richard Sandomir of the New York Times notes, these pale in comparison to the $4.4 million that a Babe Ruth jersey, circa 1920, brought last year.

–Stu Woo of the Wall Street Journal had a story on the worst sports years in New York for baseball and football.

Since the Mets entered the picture in 1962, the worst is 1966.

Mets 66-95
Yankees 70-89
Giants 1-12-1
Jets 6-6-2

–A boogie boarder was bit by a shark off the coast of New Jersey the other day. The 16-year-old is OK, but the bite was believed to be from a 6- to 8-foot shark and in reading a report from the Star-Ledger, not only was this in the surf off Bay Head, a community I am most familiar with, but supposedly there have been recent sightings of tiger sharks there! Run for your lives!

They say Jersey is perfect for sharks because there are abundant schools of bluefish and tuna.

–After at least 50 years, salmon have returned to metro Vancouver! Tiny Still Creek, with a Wal-Mart nearby. All it took was a fish ladder at a nearby dam and the construction of concrete culverts under the Trans-Canada Highway. Twenty years ago, it was a sewer ditch, observed one resident.

—Miss Venezuela won the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. Wish I was there to people watch in the hotels.

–Only four survivors from the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, April 18, 1942, remain, and three of them had a final toast on Saturday in Dayton, Ohio, at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force. Richard Cole, Doolittle’s co-pilot, David Thatcher and Edward Saylor. The fourth surviving Raider, Robert Hite, 93, was unable to travel. Hite is the last alive of eight Raiders who were captured by Japanese soldiers. Three were executed; another died in captivity. 

There were 80 original Raiders and in 1959, survivors were presented goblets by the city of Tucson, Ariz., with their names engraved twice, the second upside-down. During Saturday’s ceremony, “white-gloved cadets pour cognac into the participants’ goblets. Those of the deceased are turned upside-down.

“The cognac will be from 1896, Doolittle’s birth year.” [Dan Sewell / AP]

We remember our veterans, Monday and every day. God bless the four survivors of a great moment in American history.

Top 3 songs for the week 11/13/71: #1 “Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves” (Cher) #2 “Theme From Shaft” (Isaac Hayes) #3 “Imagine” (John Lennon Plastic Ono Band…brilliant…)…and…#4 “Maggie May” (Rod Stewart) #5 “I’ve Found Someone Of My Own” (The Free Movement) #6 “Yo-Yo” (The Osmonds) #7 “Peace Train” (Cat Stevens) #8 “Have You Seen Her” (Chi-Lites) #9 “Inner City Blues” (Marvin Gaye) #10 “Superstar” (Carpenters)

NFL Quiz Answers: 1) The only two QBs to throw for 500 yards until the 1980s were Norm Van Brocklin, 554 (still the all-time record), L.A. Rams vs. the New York Yanks, 9/28/51; Y.A. Tittle, 505, New York Giants vs. Washington, 10/28/62. 2) On 12/26/82, the Rams’ Vince Ferragamo threw for 509 against the Bears. Phil Simms would become No. 4 to throw for 500 (513) in 1985.