The Winter Games

Sports Illustrated Quiz: [From the current issue…so short-term recall quiz] 1) Name the top three states for high school football recruits for the class of 2014. 2) The Marlins’ Jose Fernandez had a 2.19 ERA as a rookie starter last season, the best since 1945. Who is second at 2.34? 3) In the 1990s, aside from Tiger Woods, who was the only other golfer to win 3 events before his ninth start of the Tour season?

I have watched relatively little of the Olympics compared to past Winter Games. As I noted before, I can’t get into the new sports and only really care about men’s hockey, women’s figure skating, and all alpine. Even stuff like the bobsled, that I loved as a kid watching it on ABC’s “Wide World of Sports” once a year, bores the hell out of me.

I was fired up, though, to watch USA-Russia Saturday morning and caught the first two periods on television, but then I had to go to a funeral in Newark, knowing I could at least listen to the action on the radio until I got there.

Well I never made the funeral because Newark hadn’t plowed its streets and there was no parking to be had, being too late to grab a spot in the small snow-diminished church lot. Talk about frustrating, and kind of dangerous. Drove around and around and around…no room at all when a car approached from the other way, very interesting neighborhood…. [I have to admit I managed to find two locals who were very helpful in getting me out of jams when I thought I was dead.]

But, caught the third period and then the shootout on the drive home and listening on the radio was as dramatic as watching it on television, I decided. And now we all know the name of St. Louis Blues winger T.J. Oshie, who it turns out was selected by U.S. coach Dan Bylsma because Oshie was 7-for-10 this season with St. Louis on shootouts (25-for-46 lifetime).

As for the disallowed goal by Russia with 4:40 remaining, yes, the net was slightly ajar and whether goalie Jonathan Quick nudged it on purpose is really beside the point. The ref made the proper call, though Russian anger over it is understandable.

Separately, it was good to see Bode Miller gain his sixth career Olympic medal, bronze in the super G, moving him two behind the all-time Alpine leader Kjetil Andre Aamodt.  He thus became the oldest Alpine skier to medal at 36. It makes his comeback effort all worthwhile. 

American Andrew Weibrecht picked up the silver, while Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud won the gold, making it five of 8 gold medals awarded in Olympic super-G for Norway.

It was kind of funny how the U.S. speedskaters, bitching about their new Under Armour geer, switched to their old duds and still sucked. Shani Davis isn’t going to be seeing much endorsement money in the future. Home Depot is hiring 80,000 seasonal workers this spring so maybe that’s a possibility for him.

Goodness gracious, I didn’t realize there are 98 events at the Sochi Olympics vs. just 57 in 1992.

And, yes, those Ralph Lauren USA sweaters are beyond hideous. That’s like the kind of thing your mother would make you wear when Aunt Gladys was coming to town.

American figure skater Jeremy Abbott, a four-time U.S. champion who hasn’t done squat in big international competitions, finished 12th on Friday, after injuring himself the night before. Afterwards, he was asked about his failure to come through in big spots (he finished 9th in Vancouver in 2010, for example).

“You know I just want to put my middle finger in the air and say a big, ‘F-U,’ to everyone who’s ever said that to me. Because they’ve never stood in my shoes, and they’ve never had to do what I had to do. Nobody has to stand center ice in front of a million people and put an entire career on the line for eight minutes of their life when they’ve been doing it for 20 some years.

“And if you think that’s not hard then you’re a damn idiot.”

Yuzuru Hanyu won Japan’s first Olympic gold medal in the men’s figure skating competition. Patrick Chan of Canada won silver, and Denis Ten of Kazakhstan was a surprise bronze medalist.

At 19, Hanyu was the youngest man to win Olympic gold in skating since American Dick Button won at age 18 in St. Moritz in 1948.

Speaking of the men’s event, there was a huge backlash in Russia over once favorite son Evgeni Plushenko’s dropping out of the competition because of injury. Nationalist politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky said, “Two Olympics and get lost. Let the youngsters have a go. Plushenko is an invalid.”

Yikes. Zhirinovsky wanted a law passed banning any Russian from competing in more than two Olympiads. The anger is directed not just at Plushenko but also the Russian skating federation for giving him a spot on the team despite him being 31 and having had 12 surgeries through the years. But he won gold in 2006 and silver in both 2002 and 2010, and in leading the Russians to gold in the team event last week, became the first figure skater to medal in four different Olympics.

The Russian media was vicious, openly questioning whether Plushenko actually intended to skate in the individual event.

College Basketball

No. 1 Syracuse (25-0, 12-0) had its second straight cardiac finish, 56-55 over N.C. State (16-9, 6-6) at the Carrier Dome, on a steal and layup at the finish (and the Wolfpack’s missed desperation attempt at the buzzer).

Wednesday night, after I had posted my last chat, you had Syracuse at Pitt. What a game. The Panthers had a 56-55 lead with 4.4 seconds, the Cuse was about to suffer its first defeat, but Tyler Ennis took the inbounds pass, dribbled up the court, weaved through Pitt’s defense, and launched a 35-footer that went Swish! Syracuse 58 Pitt 56.

On Friday, Arizona State (19-6, 8-4) picked up the biggest win in school history in defeating No. 2 Arizona (23-2, 10-2), 69-66, in double overtime. The Sun Devils held the Wildcats to just 35.9 percent shooting from the field, including only 4 of 16 from 3-point land, negating a 54-35 advantage on the boards by Arizona.

No. 3 Florida (23-2, 12-0) rallied from a 45-38 deficit at No. 14 Kentucky (19-6, 9-3) to win 69-59, Florida’s 17th straight win, tying a school record.

No. 18 Creighton beat No. 6 Villanova in Omaha, 101-80, as “Player of the Year” Doug McDermott went off for 39, 13 of 17 from the field (4 of 6 from downtown).

My “Pick to Click” VCU Rams (20-6, 8-3) fell to No. 12 Saint Louis (23-2, 10-0) at St. Louis, 64-62, in a terrific game Saturday. But VCU shot just 38.5% from the field, 2-of-16 from downtown. It’s another season where the Rams have terrific athletes, play great ‘D,’ but ain’t got no ‘O.’ I can’t figure out if Saint Louis is for real. I don’t think so.

[Shaka…if your guys aren’t on the break, slow them down in the half-court offense. It’s like they are pounding the ball through the court.]

At least VCU had their nice win earlier in the week over George Washington, 92-75.

No. 17 Virginia (21-5, 12-1) continues to roll, 63-58 at Clemson (15-9, 6-6).

Super game yesterday with No. 24 UConn (20-5, 8-4) outlasting No. 20 Memphis (19-6, 8-4) 86-81 in OT. Shabazz Napier with a career high 34 for the Huskies. Can’t say I’m a UConn fan, but love the job Kevin Ollie has done. Initially he got a raw deal with the whole Calhoun mess.

Lastly, another dreadful loss for my Demon Deacons, at home, 67-60 to Florida State on Saturday. The Seminoles move to 15-10, 6-7. Wake, in freefall, drops to 14-11, 4-8. 8-10 in conference seems out of the question now. Very distressing. The Deacs were up 24-8, 8:16 left in the first half, and over the next 20:14 were outscored 40-17. I still believe in the 7 sophs (and think freshman Overton has potential), but this is a terrible ending to what started out as a season of major improvement.

Derek Jeter

On Wednesday, Derek Jeter posted a long letter on his Facebook page, announcing he would retire after this season. The letter read in part:

“I know it in my heart. The 2014 season will be my last year playing professional baseball….

“Last year was a tough one for me. As I suffered through a bunch of injuries, I realized that some of the things that always came easily to me and were always fun had started to become a struggle. The one thing I always said to myself was that when baseball started to feel more like a job, it would be time to move forward.

“So really it was months ago when I realized that this season would likely be my last.”

Jeter is the Yankees’ career hits leader with 3,316 (10th all time), a lifetime .312 hitter in 19 seasons, with 256 home runs and 1,261 RBIs. He has also scored 1,876 runs (13th), stolen 348 bases, and is a five-time Gold Glove winner.

“The greatest compliment we can give Derek Jeter, as he prepares to leave the grandest stage in baseball, is that he never let us down. He has made thousands of outs and hundreds of errors and finished most of his seasons without a championship. Yet he never disappointed us.

“This is no small feat for the modern athlete, in an age of endless traps and temptations.

“From cheating to preening to taunting – even to defensible acts, like fleeing to a new team in free agency – the hero, almost invariably, breaks our heart sometime. Not Jeter.”

“This retirement is so Derek Jeter. So smooth, so efficient, so convenient for all concerned.

“It’s kind of like a fielder flitting through the tall weeds of disaster and finding a wayward baseball and flipping it homeward, thereby saving his side from a mess of trouble. That would be so Derek Jeter.  Just look up, Giami, Jeremy.

“So is announcing his retirement just before teammates and fans and ‘you guys’ – the old Michael Jordan ‘you guys’ – arrive at this Florida base in Tampa. He beat everybody to the punch, just as he has done since he showed up in the 1995 season.

“Jeter is confining the tensions – No-Drama Derek – for this season, making sure he will not be a distraction. His stated position on his health has always been ‘I’m fine’ – even when he might have had a broken bone or something. Now he can conduct his own private little batter-pitcher duel with old age itself, try to get his rebelling body back to its old level of performance. And if not, he has given the Yankees, given everybody, a limit.

“(Jeter) was an even greater role model off the field.

“In an age of the National Enquirer, social media, camera phones and Page Six, Jeter survived.

“Never has Jeter been involved in a scintilla of controversy.

“He always said the right thing. Did the right thing. Acted the right way. And, all the while, still managed to have as much fun as anybody.

“He remains one of New York’s most eligible bachelors, dating movie stars and models, living in a fishbowl with paparazzi praying for a slip-up.

“He played the bulk of his career in the steroid era, watched the temptation of performance-enhancing drugs ruin the reputation of teammates such as Roger Clemens, Andy Pettitte and Alex Rodriguez, but never has his name even been whispered in any involvement.

“This has made Jeter both frustrating and admirable to cover. He never let you in: frustrating. He never let you in: admirable….

“He announces his retirement now and gets to control his message again. He doesn’t gamble holding it all season and having the secret trickle out. He doesn’t risk that he has a poor season and then it looks as if he is being pushed from the game rather than exiting on his own terms. And he gets now a season-long farewell from a sport that admires him because it senses all those qualities he never bragged about, never needed to state publicly to stroke his ego…

“Jeter lives by his code to the end – and, as always, it serves him brilliantly.”

Nope. That’s still Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig. But if you want to add a fifth position player, go ahead.

With Jeter’s announcement, ticket prices for his last game at Yankee Stadium, Sept. 25 against Baltimore, are now $619 on average. The average was $237 for Mariano Rivera’s last game, which was lower than the $467 peak it reached when Rivera announced his own retirement in March.

Ball Bits

—Dec. 10, 1971, the California Angels traded six-time All-Star shortstop Jim Fregosi to the New York Mets for Frank Estrada, Don Rose, Leroy Stanton and…Nolan Ryan, perhaps the most infamous trade in baseball history. Fregosi proceeded to hit .232 in 340 at-bats for the Mets, playing third base in 1972, while Ryan went 19-16, 2.28, with 329 strikeouts and his career was off and running.

Fregosi played 11 seasons for the Angels and had 1,408 hits, batting a robust .268, for a shortstop, with pop (115 home runs), as well as winning a Gold Glove in 1967. He would later be inducted into the Angels Hall of Fame and have his No. 11 jersey retired.

But by 1971, he had several nagging injuries and the Mets picked him up, expecting Fregosi to rebound. That didn’t happen and by July 1973, he was sold to Texas.

Fregosi would end up playing 18 seasons in the big leagues and then in 1978 he was brought back at the age of 36 to manage the Angels. He would manage 15 seasons in the big leagues, including with the White Sox, Phillies and Blue Jays, guiding the 1993 Phils to the World Series, where they lost in six to Toronto. His managerial record was 1,028-1,094.

The Angels said in a statement: “His personality was infectious, his love of the game legendary, and his knowledge endless. His contributions and passion for the Angels, both as a player and manager, have served as the standard for others within our organization through the years.”

Fregosi was well-loved in the game, a legendary story teller with a great sense of humor. George A. King III of the New York Post tells the story when, as a Mets third baseman, he committed a big error with Tom Seaver on the mound. “Seaver stared at Fregosi, and after the inning Fregosi approached the star pitcher in the dugout.

“ ‘If you are so good,’ Fregosi told Seaver, ‘then pitch around me.’”

Jim Fregosi died on Friday after suffering multiple strokes while on a Caribbean cruise with other baseball alumni six days earlier. He was just 71.

–It’s going to be interesting to see how Dodgers manager Don Mattingly deals with having four outfielders – Carl Crawford, Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. Remember, Puig hit .379 his first 58 games last season, but then just .234 his last 46.

–The New York Post’s Ken Davidoff has a piece on A-Rod and breaking down the $244 million in base salary and signing bonus paid by the Yankees since the 2004 trade that brought him to New York from Texas.

$150,617 per game the Yankees played, or $188,708 per game A-Rod played. $789,644 per home run hit. $43,132 per plate appearance.

–I can’t believe A.J. Burnett signed with Philadelphia, after telling the Pirates he would either finish his career with them or retire. Burnett signed for two years and $33.5 million in a complex deal that would pay out in full if he makes 30 starts in each of 2014 and 2015.

–Boston Red Sox hurler Ryan Dempster, on the other hand, walked away from $13.5 million when he announced he was taking the season off. Shocking. Dempster, 36, is 132-133, 4.35, for his career but was just 8-9, 4.57, in his first season with Boston.

–We wish Hank Aaron well. He slipped on the ice this weekend and had to have a partial left hip replacement. Aaron turned 80 on Feb. 5.

—Carmelo Anthony said he would take less money if it helped the Knicks build a title contender, but fat chance Knicks management is capable of this. As the New York Daily News’ Mike Lupica put it:

“If he is going to take less money, why wouldn’t (the free-agent to be) go somewhere where they actually know what they’re doing?”

“Right now he is as far away from the NBA Finals as he has ever been, on a dysfunctional team with an even more dysfunctional front office.”

By the way, Melo’s lack of clutch shooting continues. He had a chance to win last Wednesday’s game against the Kings, missing a 16-foot jumper as regulation expired, making him 0-for-12 with 10 seconds or less when trailing by one possession or tied in the last two seasons. He is 1-for-19 the past two years in the final 30 seconds on game-winning or game-tying shots.

—Did not watch one second of the NBA’s All-Star weekend. Why would I? Do I care who won the 3-point or dunk contest? I think not.

–A 144-page report commissioned by the NFL to explore allegations of bullying within the Miami Dolphins determined that three offensive linemen – Richie Incognito, John Jerry and Mike Pouncey – “engaged in a pattern of harassment” toward Jonathan Martin; another young offensive lineman; and an assistant trainer, including improper touching and sexual taunting.

“The long-awaited report needed to come with a disclaimer. Reader discretion advised: This is so raunchy.

“Vile language. Racist slurs. Crude taunts. Insensitive pranks. Inappropriate touching. Vulgar threats. Even an attempt to destroy evidence.

“The 144-page report from lead investigator Ted Wells into the alleged bullying and harassment campaign that prompted Miami Dolphins tackle Jonathan Martin to bolt from his team certainly was not watered down for general audiences.

“After weeks of conflicting reports and spin – and even the overwhelming support of Incognito from Dolphins teammates – there’s a much clearer picture now of the environment that Martin was challenged with, and teaching moments galore.

“That Martin engaged in an odd, close friendship with his primary oppressor, Incognito, underscores how victims of abuse sometimes subscribe to coping mechanisms that many may have a hard time comprehending….

“After he left and checked himself into a treatment facility in October, apparently not a single Dolphins teammate came forward in support. He was branded a snitch. The Dolphins players should be ashamed of themselves….

“Martin, a second-round pick in 2012 who wants to continue his career, will likely never develop into the next Jonathan Ogden and become one of the greatest tackles ever.

“But he’s officially a game-changer nonetheless. He is an earthquake to the NFL’s cultural landscape.”

—Commissioner Roger Goodell was paid $44.2 million in 2012, up 50% from 2011. The league generates $10 billion in revenue. Heck, Jeff Pash, the league’s general counsel, was paid $7.86 million in 2012, while Steve Bornstein, the league’s outgoing executive vice president for media, was paid $26.1 million! Good lord.

Actually, Goodell had a one-time bonus and pension payment of $9.1 million, so call it $35.1 million. Cough cough. [Ken Belson / New York Times]

–Gotta love Johnny Manziel. The Houston Texans have the first pick in the draft and Manziel desperately wants to stay in Texas, his home state.

So Johnny Football told the Texans that if they don’t draft him, “It would be the worst decision they’ve ever made,” especially if Jacksonville then took him with the third pick. “I’d be in the same division playing against them twice a year.”

Manziel vows to turn the 2-14 Texans into an instant contender. “I want to be the first rookie to win the Super Bowl.”

–We have an “Idiot of the Year” candidate. Safety Ed Reed, who reported he had $50,000 in cash stolen from his car Wednesday while visiting banks in Houston, the Houston PD confirmed Thursday.

Reed told police he withdrew $50,000 from one bank and drove to another bank, presumably to withdraw more money because he left the $50K on the passenger seat of his car and when he returned, the passenger window was smashed and the money was gone.

Police believe Reed was followed from one bank to the next. There were no reports on why he was withdrawing such a large amount.

I blame the Fed’s zero interest rate policy and savers’ receiving nothing on their accounts that forces them to take desperate measures. Guessing Reed was going to bury the cash in his backyard. 

—Bubba Watson won his first PGA Tour event since the 2012 Masters, his fifth overall, at Riviera, taking the Northern Trust Open with a stupendous 64-64 weekend performance, finishing two ahead of Dustin Johnson, runner-up for a second consecutive week. Always a great tournament. Tour in good shape for 2014.

–Some of us, namely Johnny Mac and myself, were very concerned watching last week’s ice storm develop and move into the Augusta, Ga., area. I thought it would do a number on a certain golf course in that city.

But, according to the Augusta Chronicle, Augusta National suffered only minor damage and two days after the storm hit, operations at the club were back to normal. Just a few limbs and branches, and a dangling “Members Only” sign.

Well I think we can deal with that. The Masters…a tradition unlike any other…on CBS.  April 10-13! Less than two months away! [Pinehurst No. 2, site of June’s U.S. Open, also supposedly did fine.]

Sid Caesar

“In a day before comedy was laced with irony and studded with mean-spirited barbs, Sid Caesar was more than funny.

“He was hilariously, outrageously, tear-inducingly, gather-up-the-whole-family-for-this funny.

“A veteran of the Catskills with an elastic face, a knack for gibberish and a mind that could find comedy gold in the workings of a Bavarian cuckoo clock, Caesar was the king of live television sketch comedy in the 1950s.

“Some of the best writers – Carl Reiner, Neil Simon and Mel Brooks – vied to work for him. No slouches at comedy themselves, they were dazzled by his genius and, at times, horrified by his temper; he once tore the sink from a hotel bathroom and threatened to throw Brooks out an 18th-story window.”

Caesar’s main event was “Your Show of Shows,” a live 90-minute Saturday night show that showcased an ensemble of Caesar, Imogene Coca, Reiner and Howard Morris and aired from 1950 to 1954, winning two Emmy’s for best variety show.

“Out of that pressure cooker came innumerable comedy classics.

“There were domestic sketches, including one in which Caesar and Coca are a married couple trying to decide how to tip at a fancy restaurant. In another, Caesar is a husband who is so anxious about a big meeting the next morning that he can’t fall asleep. But instead of taking sleeping pills, he mistakenly takes pep pills.”

Imagine the writing sessions with Reiner, Simon, Brooks and crew (including Woody Allen and Larry Gelbart).

At his peak, Caesar was earning $25,000 a week (the show ran 39 weeks a season), but his demons (alcohol and pills) were catching up with him. After 1958 he performed sparingly, though perhaps most famously as part of the star-studded ensemble cast in Stanley Kramer’s 1963 comedy “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.”

The Wall Street Journal had this bit from “Caesar’s Hours,” a 2003 memoir by Caesar:

“Comedy reflects the culture it comes from. There once was, ‘Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the show.’ It’s now hi, how’s everybody doing? That’s a subtle but very significant change. There’s a style, a level of refinement that is gone. The language used today would not in anyone’s wildest dreams have been used on television when we were starting out…

“We couldn’t go for a cheap joke or a shock joke. We had to be funny on our own. These limitations made us think. Instead of going for the easy laugh with profanity or an off-color remark, we always had to be creative and come up with something that was both funny and clean. We drew from real life. Things aren’t funny, people are funny. We would never have a guy walk into a room with a piece of toilet paper stuck to his heel. We had to be subtle.”

Sid Caesar and Jonathan Winters top my Comedy Hall of Fame.

–Incredibly, Sergei Bubka held the world record in the pole vault for nearly 21 years (Feb. 21, 1993), but it was finally broken at a meet in Donetsk, Ukraine on Saturday, with Bubka in attendance, by France’s Renaud Lavillenie, clearing 6.16 meters (20 feet 2.5 inches) without grazing the bar on his first attempt. Bubka had done 20-2 indoors, but still holds the outdoor record of 20-1 ¾. In fact Bubka still has the nine best outdoor marks.

–This was awful. Anton, a 25-year-old polar bear at the Stuttgart, Germany zoo, died of severe intestinal injuries after apparently swallowing a jacket or bag.

Some idiot dropped something into the enclosure. Keepers noticed the bear acting strangely last week and observed him spitting out bits of material. Anton, who could have lived another 15 years, was given vomit-inducing drugs and spit up more pieces but died nonetheless.

The death was not the first tragedy of its kind at the zoo. An elephant seal died after eating a teddy bear and a hippo died after swallowing a tennis ball.

“Man” drops to No. 298 on the All-Species List.

–We note the passing of actor Ralph Waite, the patriarch on “The Waltons,” who died Thursday at the age of 85.

“In September 1972, CBS premiered ‘The Waltons’ against two already popular shows: Flip Wilson’s irreverent comedy show on NBC, and ‘Mod Squad’ about hippie undercover police officers on ABC. What some saw as a cornball newcomer was expected to be buried, but within two seasons it had driven its competitors off the air.

“The success of ‘The Waltons’ owed almost everything to the actors and the characters they played, members of a homespun, hardscrabble rural family used to surmounting challenges through old-fashioned virtues.”

Ralph Waite grew up in White Plains, New York, and went to Bucknell University! That’s cool. He then earned a master’s in divinity from Yale and was an ordained Presbyterian minister. But he became upset with what he saw as hypocrisy in the church and left the ministry. He actually didn’t try acting until he was in his mid-30s.

Top 3 songs for the week 2/14/70: #1 “Thank You Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin” (Sly &The Family Stone) #2 “I Want You Back” (The Jackson 5) #3 “Raindrops Keep Me Fallin’ On My Head” (B.J. Thomas…one of the great tunes of all time…)…and…#4 “Venus” (The Shocking Blue) #5 “Hey There Lonely Girl” (Eddie Holman…super song…) #6 “No Time” (The Guess Who…one of their best…) #7 “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again” (Dionne Warwick) #8 “Psychedelic Shack” (The Temptations) #9 “Travelin’ Band” (Creedence Clearwater Revival) #10 “Arizona” (Mark Lindsay…guy was underrated…)

Sports Illustrated Quiz Answers: 1) Top 3 states football recruits class of 2014 – Florida 37, California 29, Texas 27. [Georgia 20; Louisiana 16] 2) Mark Fidrych, 2.34, 1976, is second to Jose Fernandez as a rookie. [Hideo Nomo, 2.54, 1995, is next.] 3) David Duval won 3 of his first seven starts in the 1999 season. Tiger, 1997, the only other to do so that decade.