Baseball Quiz: Name the 11 former major league catchers who are now managing today in the big leagues. Answer below.
The NFL has found that it is probable that New England Patriots personnel deliberately deflated balls during the AFC Championship Game in January and that quarterback Tom Brady was “generally aware” of what was happening.
The findings were released by Ted Wells, the league-appointed attorney who investigated whether the Patriots deflated balls in their game against the Indianapolis Colts.
“For the reasons described in this Report, and after a comprehensive investigation, we have concluded that, in connection with the AFC Championship Game, it is more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violations of the Playing Rules and were involved in a deliberate effort to circumvent the rules,” the report said. “In particular, we have concluded that it is more probable than not that Jim McNally (the Officials Locker Room attendant for the Patriots) and John Jastremski (an equipment assistant for the Patriots) participated in a deliberate effort to release air from Patriots game balls after the balls were examined by the referee. Based on the evidence, it also is our view that it is more probable than not that Tom Brady (the quarterback for the Patriots) was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of McNally and Jastremski involving the release of air from Patriots game balls.
“Based on the evidence, the investigation has further concluded that there was no deliberate attempt by the Patriots to introduce to the playing field a non-approved kicking ball during the AFC Championship Game. Although Patriots personnel provided a kicking ball to game officials that did not have the distinctive inspection mark of the referee, we find that the Patriots personnel involved believed the ball to be authentic and appropriate. We do not believe that there was any attempt by Patriots personnel, including Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski, to deliberately circumvent the rules by offering the kicking ball for play.”
The report also said of Brady: “Brady denied any knowledge of or involvement in any efforts to deflate game balls after the pre-game inspection by the game officials.” He also claimed he knew neither the identity nor role of Jim McNally, the officials’ locker room attendant who tampered with footballs after referees inspected them.
“We found these claims not plausible and contradicted by other evidence,” the report said. “In fact, during his interview, Jastremski acknowledged that Brady knew McNally and McNally’s role as Officials Locker Room attendant. Similarly, McNally told NFL Security that he had been personally told by Brady of Brady’s inflation level preference.”
The report cites data retrieved from Jastremski’s phone in describing a “material increase” in the communication between the staffer and the quarterback after the allegations of tampering became public on Jan. 19.
“After not communicating by telephone or text message for more than six months…Brady and Jastremski spoke by telephone at least twice on January 19 (calls lasting a total of 25 minutes and 2 seconds), twice on January 20 (calls lasting a total of 9 minutes and 55 seconds) and twice on January 21 (calls lasting a total of 20 minutes and 52 seconds),” the report states, “before Jastremski surrendered his cell phone to the Patriots later that day for forensic imaging. …Brady also took the unprecedented step of inviting Jastremski to the QB room (essentially Brady’s office) in Gillette Stadium on January 19 for the first and only time that Jastremski can recall during his twenty-year career with the Patriots, and Brady sent Jastremski text messages seemingly designed to calm Jastremski (‘You good Jonny boy?’; ‘You doing good?’).”
The 243-page Wells report said league investigators found no evidence that coach Bill Belichick and team management knew of the practice.
In a statement, the Patriots said “to say we are disappointed in (the) findings, which do not include any incontrovertible or hard evidence of deliberate deflation of footballs at the AFC Championship Game, would be a gross understatement.”
CEO Robert Kraft said: “While I respect the independent process of the investigation, the time, effort and resources expended to reach this conclusion are incomprehensible to me. Knowing that there is no real recourse available, fighting the league and extending this debate would prove to be futile. We understand and greatly respect the responsibility of being one of 32 in this league and, on that basis, we will accept the findings of the report and take the appropriate actions based on those findings as well as any discipline levied by the league.”
But he added: “What is not highlighted in the text of the report is that three of the Colts’ four footballs measured by at least one official were under the required psi level. As far as we are aware, there is no comparable data available from any other games because, in this history of the NFL, psi levels of footballs have never been measured at halftime, in any climate,” Kraft said. “If they had been, based on what we now know, it is safe to assume that very cold-weather game was played with under inflated footballs.”
The Patriots won the AFC title game 45-7, but in the first half, a member of the Colts gave the officials a ball that appeared to be underinflated. The officials then checked all 12 of the Patriots game balls and determined that all but one were below the mandated amount of air pressure.
In 2007, the NFL fined the Patriots and Bill Belichick and ordered the team to forfeit a first-round draft pick after a Patriots staff member was discovered videotaping signals by Jets coaches during a game at the Meadowlands. Belichick was fined $500,000 and the team was ordered to pay $250,000.
“It’s been two days since his independent investigator kicked a pile of wet mud on the smiling face of his league, and still, Roger Goodell hasn’t weighed in with his punishment for Deflategate.
“Forget all the yelling from both sides of this one. Goodell’s decision on what to do next – no suspension, a short suspension or a long one for Tom Brady – is the only thing that matters, and you half expect to see the embattled commissioner sticking his head out of his Park Avenue office window to see which way the wind is blowing.
“He better get this one right. Oh, and here’s the problem with that: There’s a chance he can’t get this one right.
“If he opts for no suspension, he’ll have 31 other teams demanding answers and an already skeptical media dusting off those photos of him at Patriots owner Bob Kraft’s house. He can’t do nothing, because if he does nothing, he looks weak. His rule book will be a joke that doesn’t apply to superstars.
“The NFL routinely suspends players for smoking marijuana or engaging in other off-the-field activities that have no direct impact on the integrity of the game. Brady, at the very least, refused to fully cooperate with the investigation when he didn’t turn over text messages and other communications that the investigators wanted.
“But if Goodell does suspend Brady (and count me among those who thinks he deserves to sit four games)?
“Well, he better brace himself for a fight. That much is clear from how Brady has handled this since the story broke on Wednesday. The first shot fired came from his father, who called the entire investigation ‘Framegate’ in an interview with USA Today.
“But even that was nothing. Brady’s agent, Don Yee, issued a statement that called the Wells report ‘a significant and terrible disappointment’ that included ‘significant and tragic flaws.’
“ ‘It’s omission of key facts and lines of inquiry suggest the investigators reached a conclusion first, and then determined so-called facts later,’ Yee said in his statement. ‘One item alone taints this entire report. What does it say about the league office’s protocols and ethics when it allows one team to tip it off to an issue prior to a championship game, and no league officials or game officials notified the Patriots of the same issue prior to the game? This suggests it may be more probable than not that the league cooperated with the Colts in perpetrating a sting operation.’”
As for Brady, he had a chance on Thursday at Salem State University with a sympathetic audience (to say the least) and interviewer in Jim Gray, to comment and set the record straight, but instead, Brady said: “It’s only been 30 hours so I haven’t had much time to digest it.”
Personally, there is no way I would say anything if I were him until the penalty is handed down, so I cut Brady slack in this instance.
“(If) he is planning a Forgive Me Tour, like Lance Armstrong with Oprah, it’s certainly off to a strange start.
“Far more likely: Brady, or Brady’s people, read the report and saw enough holes in its conclusions to lead them to think they can win a case on appeal.”
“It never had to go like this for Tom Brady, whether you believe the National Football League really has the goods on him or not. Maybe even Brady, a smart Michigan guy, is starting to figure out that his handling of Deflategate has become as much of an issue as his handling of those under-inflated footballs in the AFC Championship Game. And maybe more of one.
“From the start, Brady has never acted like someone falsely and irresponsibly accused, and then convicted, everywhere outside New England. Mostly he has acted as if the whole thing was barely worth his time or attention, and that is why he has almost never given a straight or convincing answer about what happened to those footballs that day.
“He said this back in January, he sure did: ‘I have no knowledge of anything. I have no knowledge of any wrongdoing. I’m very comfortable saying that. I’m very comfortable saying that nobody did – as far as I know.’
“The truth is, as we know we’ll never get to the exact truth about those footballs, is that Tom Brady has acted uncomfortably, sometimes weirdly so, all along. Here is another thing he said back in January when asked if he was a cheater.
“What kind of answer is that? He should try saying ‘I don’t think so’ if he ever gets accused of cheating on his wife.
“But what if Brady had said something like this, at the very beginning of something that was never supposed to be treated like the crime of the century:
“ ‘Listen, I put an awful lot of pressure on our equipment guys about how much, or little, air I like in our game balls. And if I’ve put so much pressure on them that they somehow took them down below the legal limit, whether I came right out and told them to or not, that’s on me, and I’ve got to wear it. They probably just got a little over-zealous about what they thought I wanted them to do. So that’s on me as much as it’s on them.’
“At that point, the air – literally and figuratively – comes out of the whole thing. There is no Ted Wells investigation, there is no Ted Wells report. We aren’t where we are right now, with Brady and the league, and Roger Goodell being left no choice but to suspend a guy who is as much a face of the league as anybody else, a four-time Super Bowl champ, nearly a six-time Super Bowl champ, and somebody who can easily make his case that he’s the greatest quarterback of all time.
“Whatever you think of the language and conclusions of the Wells Report – and if you really think a lawyer of this stature would go into the tank for Goodell and the league, you must also believe Brady’s agent also saying it was a ‘sting’ operation – Goodell simply can’t let this go. You can’t commission the investigation and read it and still believe that Brady had ‘no knowledge of anything.’
“On top of that, Brady wouldn’t fully cooperate with Wells’ people, whether he sat for an interview or not. They narrowed the scope of what they wanted to see of his text messages and emails and still Brady wouldn’t turn them over, even knowing how clear the league is on cooperating in matters like this…
“What Brady has never said, from the start – what he’s never shouted – is that he never told anybody to take air out of footballs, that he could beat you throwing a cantaloupe, that he is insulted that anybody would ever think he had to break a rule to win a football game. He has danced away from the rush, even though that has never been his strong suit on a football field, he has joked, he has smirked, and generally acted like somebody who has cracked the case on sports, that if you are good enough and talented enough, and if you haven’t committed a serious crime, your career and even your brand can survive a nuclear attack….
“This is about Tom Brady’s hands clearly being in all this, in all ways. It’s about how bad he’s looked from the start, how he’s left Goodell no choice but to suspend him, whatever happens to that suspension if a grievance is filed.”
“The Pretty Boy doesn’t look so pretty anymore, and now he will be forced to wear a pair of Scarlet Letters when the 2015 NFL season begins: C for Cheater, L for Liar….
“Brady, four-time Super Bowl champion and – until this – the Greatest Quarterback Of All Time, takes the biggest hit, because he has always seemed so earnest, a refreshing counterpoint to the diabolical Hoodie, living the American dream, the beautiful Gisele on his arm, someone we wanted so badly to believe, someone we trusted.
“And now? How are we to believe anything other than Tom Terrific is a wolf in sheep’s clothing? A co-conspirator with a pair of organization lackeys to gain a competitive advantage to ensure he would have a chance to win his first Super Bowl in 10 years?
“Wells: ‘It is more than probable’ Brady ‘was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities’ involving the release of air from the Patriots’ footballs.
“Translation: He knew….
“Goodell, after a nightmare year of Ray Rice (domestic violence) and Adrian Peterson (child abuse), cannot afford to treat Brady as Teflon Tom, not with the integrity of the game at issue here.
“ ‘We believe it is unlikely that an equipment assistant and a locker room attendant would deflate game balls without Brady’s knowledge and approval,’ the report says.
“Brady made the bed he sleeps in now by refusing to cooperate with the investigation’s requests for text messages and emails to what the report more than probably identified as his Deflategate accomplices….
“The burden of proof fell on Brady during the course of the investigation to prove he was unaware, which he assured us he was at an awkward Foxborough press conference prior to the Super Bowl.
“ ‘I think there’s a lot of people that have more information than me.’
“ ‘I have questions, too, but there’s nobody that I know that can answer the questions that I have.’
“ ‘I don’t believe so,’ he said. ‘I feel like I’ve always played within the rules, I would never do anything to break the rules. I believe in fair play and I respect the league and everything that they’re doing to try to create a very competitive playing field for all the NFL teams.’
“Belichick and Brady will be remembered in some circles as the greatest head coach-quarterback tandem in NFL history.
“They will be remembered in other circles as the greatest head coach-quarterback cheaters in NFL history….
“It’s a lack of institutional control that leads to the likes of self-admitted deflator Jim McNally and John Jastremski deflating the integrity of the AFC Championship Game, and the buck stops with the all-knowing Belichick.
“If Belichick gets off without a suspension, what is Sean Payton, suspended one full season for Bountygate, to think? If the Saints were fined $500,000 and lost a pair of second-round picks, what are they supposed to think?
“The ball – regulation weight, of course – is in Goodell’s court.
“Belichick has told us for so long there isn’t a quarterback he would rather have than Tom Brady. Now, sadly, we have another reminder why.
“Circumstantial evidence is still evidence, and there’s a mountain of it in the exhaustively detailed, 243-page report. To think that a text exchange between Jastremski and McNally that referred to McNally being stressed was about re-selling season tickets begs reality.
“So, too, that Brady would just happen to have extended and repeated communication – via phone calls and texts – with Jastremski after Deflategate was uncovered….
“You can also say Deflategate is much ado about nothing; that deflating a football had little effect on the outcome of the game. After all, Brady threw for two touchdowns and the Patriots outscored the Indianapolis Colts 28-0 in the second half of the AFC title game, after officials had discovered the tampering and reinflated the footballs.
“Brady doesn’t seem to be taking it seriously, brushing aside questions Thursday with jokes and laughter.
“But that’s missing the point. By tampering with the footballs – or having someone do it for him – Brady tampered with the integrity of the game….
“Every athlete, in every sport, pushes the envelope in hopes of gaining even the slightest advantage. But there’s a difference between skirting the rules, as the Patriots did with that trick play in the win over the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round of the playoffs, and acting as if they apply to someone else.
“One of the league’s premier quarterbacks for more than a decade, Brady’s success isn’t the result of underinflated footballs. But knowing he was willing to break the rules puts him in a different, far less-flattering light, and diminishes all that he’s accomplished.”
“If Cleveland Browns general manager Ray Farmer was banned for four games for text messaging his coaching staff during a game, if Atlanta Falcons President Rich McKay was temporarily kicked off the competition committee he chairs for noise pollution at the Georgia Dome, if coach Sean Payton and GM Mickey Loomis were suspended a few years ago amid the New Orleans Saints’ bounty scandal, then Brady needs to take a seat, too, in the name of integrity.”
NFL Bits….
–You have to feel very sorry for Dante Fowler Jr., the No. 3 pick in the 2015 draft by Jacksonville who then tore his ACL less than an hour into the first day of rookie minicamp.
After playing in every game in three years at Florida, Fowler will miss the entire 2015 season. Just sucks.
But in case you were wondering about the contract situation, as ESPN.com reported:
“Unsigned draft choices participating in minicamp sign an injury protection waiver. If there is an injury, the team will continue to negotiate in good faith as if the player were not injured.”
–Former LSU offensive lineman La’El Collins, who went undrafted after being named as a person of interest in a double murder case, will sign with the Dallas Cowboys. The contract is said to be worth $1.65 million over three years, and will be fully guaranteed, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Collins was projected to be a first-round pick before his name came up in the shooting death of an ex-girlfriend, Brittney Mills, and her unborn child in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Collins was questioned by investigators in Baton Rouge on April 24 and is not considered a suspect, but he also hasn’t been officially cleared. So his stock fell, and he lost a lot of money in the process.
Yet another gamble for the Cowboys, who in the past few months have signed Greg Hardy, suspended the first ten games of the coming season for domestic abuse, drafted Randy Gregory (whose own stock plummeted due to character issues), and now Collins.
–In an interview with ESPN The Magazine, Buffalo running back LeSean McCoy, speaking of his days in Philadelphia and coach Chip Kelly, said:
“The relationship was never really great. I feel like I always respected him as a coach. I think that’s the way he runs his team. He wants the full control. You see how fast he got rid of all the good players. Especially all the good black players. He got rid of them the fastest. That’s the truth. There’s a reason… It’s hard to explain with him. But there’s a reason he got rid of all the black players – the good ones – like that.”
–We note the passing of former Oakland Raiders running back Marv Hubbard, 68. He died after a long bout with prostate cancer.
Hubbard, a bruising fullback who made three Pro Bowls, played with Oakland from 1969-77, but he will be best remembered for a four-year stretch, 1971-74, when he rushed for at least 865 yards each season and averaged 4.8, 5.0, 4.7 and 4.6 yards per carry during that time.
Hubbard, who was an 11th round draft pick out of Colgate, rushed for 4,544 yards in his career and scored 23 touchdowns on the ground.
NBA Playoffs
–Just a brief recap of the action since I posted last Wednesday morning.
Wed. night…Cleveland beat the Bulls 106-91, LeBron going 33-8 (reb.)-5 (ast.).
Houston defeated the Clippers, 115-109, as James Harden had 32, while Blake Griffin had 34. Chris Paul didn’t play due to his hamstring issue.
Friday…the Bulls defeated the Cavs 99-96, with Derrick Rose winning the game at the buzzer with a three, Rose with 30 overall. LeBron sucked…just 8 of 25 from the field with 7 turnovers.
The Clippers rebounded to whip the Rockets 124-99, as J.J. Redick had 31 points on 11 of 14 shooting. Chris Paul returned to chip in 12 points and 7 assists.
Saturday…Washington’s Paul Pierce hit a field-goal at the buzzer to give the Wizards a 103-101 win over the Hawks, after Atlanta came from 21 points behind in the fourth to tie it at 101 on a Mike Muscala three. Atlanta is just 26 of 77 from downtown in the three games thus far. Washington was playing without John Wall, who is out indefinitely with fractures in his hand and wrist.
And then late Saturday night, Memphis defeated Golden State, in Memphis, 99-89, as Steph Curry was just 2 of 10 from three and is 4 of his last 21 from downtown in the Warriors’ two losses.
So the best teams in the East and West during the regular season, Golden State and Atlanta, each trail their series 2-1.
Sunday…Today it was LeBron’s turn for a buzzer beater, a jumper from the corner that took down the Bulls, 86-84, to even the series 2-2. Game 5 in Cleveland on Tuesday.
–The Cleveland Cavaliers are thrown in the December file for playing a video during Wednesday night’s playoff game that showed a man violently throwing a woman across a room for wearing a Chicago Bulls T-shirt. It was supposed to be funny. Instead it was sickening.
“While the video was not intended to be offensive, it was a mistake to include content that made light of domestic violence,” the team said.
–Meanwhile, the Clippers’ Matt Barnes is a “Jerk/Idiot of the Year” candidate for getting into it with a female fan during Game 2 of the Clippers-Rockets series. Barnes made some pretty disgusting comments to the woman seated court-side…James Harden’s mother, Monja Willis.
Willis would later accept Barnes’ apology, Barnes saying he never wanted to disrespect anyone’s mother and that he was sorry, which was a stupid statement because why would he want to disrespect any woman sitting in the stands?!
Barnes, upon being notified the woman he had the choice words for was Harden’s mother, reportedly said, ‘Uh oh, that will cost me $25,000.’ The league fined him $50,000.
–Washington Nationals slugger Bryce Harper doesn’t turn 23 until October 16, yet it seems like he’s already been around forever. Every baseball fan has had the same thought…when he is going to begin busting out and show us his true talent?
After three years, three largely injury-riddled campaigns, many of us felt he would finally emerge this season and Wednesday, Harper hit three home runs and drove in five in the Nationals’ 7-5 win over the Marlins. Friday, after an off day, Harper hit two more, with another five RBI, in Washington’s 9-2 win over Atlanta. Five home runs and 10 RBI in two games, making him the youngest player in major league history to hit five homers in a two-game span.
So then on Saturday, Harper had a walk-off, two-run homer as the Nats defeated the Braves 8-6, making it six home runs and 12 RBI in three games, one homer off the major league record of seven in three games by Shawn Green, 2002.
Washington also moved to 16-15, over .500 for the first time this season.
The Nats were off to a dismal 7-13 start when they had a stirring come-from-behind win over Atlanta. Down 9-1, they won 13-12, and it was the start of a 9 out of 11 streak.
Actually, make it 10 of 12, 17-15 overall, as the Nats beat the Braves 5-4 on Sunday. Harper went 2-for-4, no homers, but an RBI….13 in 4 games, with his batting average up to an even .300.
So the preseason favorites to win it all have gotten their act together and they are being carried by a 22-year-old who is clearly now coming into his own. It’s great for the game. He’ll hit 625 in his career.
–Speaking of home runs, Alex Rodriguez belted No. 661 to move past Willie Mays in Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Orioles. The Yankee Stadium scoreboard in center field acknowledged A-Rod’s accomplishment as he rounded the bases, though he didn’t notice.
But the crowd demanded a curtain call and he seemed a bit uncomfortable in stepping out of the dugout to acknowledge the applause.
As for the “marketing agreement” and the supposed $6 million bonus for passing Mays that was part of a deal attached to his contract extension signed back in 2007, the team continues to say it doesn’t intend to pay him because it doesn’t believe it was any kind of contractual agreement. The team also doesn’t believe A-Rod is marketable because of his PED use and season-long suspension.
–But while all this is going on, both the Yankees and the Mets are in first place! No one predicted this (certainly not your editor) after the first 30-some games.
Mets 20-11
Yankees 20-12
Why it could be a pretty exciting summer around here.
And how about the pitching performances for both teams on Sunday? Oh, the Mets’ Bartolo Colon was far from special, 6 innings, 4 runs, 8 hits, but he became the majors’ first 6-game winner (6-1) as the Metsies beat the Phillies 7-4.
But, the man who is going to turn 42! on May 24 has now gone 40 1/3 without walking a batter and has 40 strikeouts and one walk in 46 1/3 on the season!!!
Yet on the other side of town, the Yanks’ Michael Pineda is showing everyone what we already knew…if he can just stay healthy (and behave) he’s as good as anyone in the game.
Sunday, in the Yankees’ 6-2 win over Baltimore, Pineda allowed one run on six hits in 7 innings for the win, but in the process struck out 16 and walked none. [He’s just the sixth pitcher in Yankees history to fan 15.]
Pineda, 5-0, 2.72 ERA, has 54 SOs and just 3 BBs. Colon and Pineda could rewrite the record book if they keep this up. [Better than Dennis Eckersley, by god.]
–Wednesday night, Toronto’s Mark Buehrle defeated the Yankees 5-1, the first time since April 10, 2004, that he had beaten the team. Incredibly, he is now 2-14 in 21 starts against New York, though his overall career mark is 203-154, while throwing more innings since 2000 than anyone in the game.
–Cubs phenom Kris Bryant finally hit his first home run on Saturday since being called up, but after an 0-for-5 on Sunday, he is hitting just .259 in his first 22 games, though he has 17 RBI.
–Speaking of the Cubbies, Mets fans are going to get their first look at stud righty Noah Syndergaard on Tuesday at Wrigley, Noah replacing the injured Dillon Gee in the rotation. This should be fun.
–The Dodgers’ Yasmani Grandal had a nice night, Thursday, hitting two homers and driving in 8, all from the sixth inning on in a 14-4 win over the Brewers.
Grandal was just the fifth in team history to have 8 RBI in a game.
“You can use a gun for home protection, if that’s your thing, or you could go old school and keep a baseball bat near the door.
“Or you could go with a game-used Lou Gehrig bat that’s probably worth many thousands of dollars. Whatever works.
“That’s what one unnamed family did for 30 years, and now that they know the bat’s extremely rare provenance – less than 20 game-used Gehrig bats are thought to exist – they’re auctioning it off through Love of the Game Auctions.
“ ‘This bat was given to the consignor decades ago by a family member of a former Yankee Stadium groundskeeper,’ said LOTG’s Al Crisafulli, president of the internet-based sports auction house. ‘Though the consignor is a Yankee fan, the family is not a baseball family, and without knowledge of the bat’s value it was kept behind the front door for protection – for 30 years.’
While Crisafulli wouldn’t speculate on what the bat is worth, Gehrig bats rank among the five most desirable for collectors, trailing only Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Ted Williams and Jackie Robinson.
–Finally, 37-year-old minor league slugger, Mike Hessman, playing at AAA Toledo for the Tigers, is now No. 6 on the all-time minor league home run list at 421. In front of him are…
Hector Espino 484
Nelson Barrera 479
Andres Mora 444
Alejandro Ortiz 434
Buzz Arlett 432
Golf Balls
–Wow, that was a helluva finish today at The Players Championship, won in a three-way playoff by Rickie Fowler over Sergio Garcia and Kevin Kisner. With everything else going on as I prepare to post this, I’m not going to do the tournament justice, but it was just last chat I mentioned that an anonymous poll of pros had Fowler and Ian Poulter as the most overrated on tour.
I said nothing about it in terms of these two, but noted the fourth guy listed, Hunter Mahan, was indeed overrated.
So Rickie wins with a spectacular 6-under over the final six holes in regulation, while Garcia and Kisner played clutch golf to work themselves into the playoff.
For Fowler it is the win he’s needed, validation of the adoration he’s otherwise accorded for being just a real good guy, and great ball striker.
But what ticked me off on Sunday was the constant noting of the poll by NBC’s Dan Hicks and the analysts, saying stuff like, “Overrated? Hardly.”
The fact is, while I didn’t say anything last chat about Rickie, I’m like Johnny Miller (who stayed mum) and everyone else watching the sport closely.
Despite being the only golfer last year to finish in the top five in all four majors, Rickie needed to win! This is what happens when your Q-rating is sky high. At some point you have to get it done.
Fowler is one of the six or seven most visible, popular guys in the sport, but while he is just 26, he’s been around a long time already and just had that lone victory. All the others in his orbit, such as Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy, have of course done far more.
So I’m happy for Rickie. He’s yet another who is great for the game. But, I’m sorry, the criticism was warranted.
However, not any more. The Players is no ordinary event and that was no ordinary back nine. Heck, it was, indeed, a performance for the ages.
–I can’t help but add what every Wake Forest fan was thinking. Had Bill Haas not blown those short putts on Sunday, he’s the winner. Incredibly, though, he finally picked up his first top ten in either The Players or a major in finishing T-4.
–As Steve DiMeglio of USA TODAY Sports notes, when it comes to Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, they “are on a quest to find past glory. And both remain confident that any golf obit starting out with their names would be premature.
“But there’s plenty of ammunition to argue otherwise.
“Neither has won since 2013. Rarely have the two contended once the calendar turned to 2014, although Mickelson has been runner-up in the past two majors. There have been far more missed cuts and withdrawals than top-10s.”
Tiger needed to birdie his final hole on Friday to make the cut and then did nothing on the weekend, finishing T-69. Phil missed the cut by five strokes.
–Interesting bit by Matthew Futterman of the Wall Street Journal on the difficulty Masters champs have had the rest of the season in the three remaining majors plus The Players Championship.
As in since 2007, when the Players shifted to May from March, Masters winners have managed more missed cuts (six…including Jordan Spieth this week) than top-10 finishes (four) in 32 starts at The Players, the U.S. Open, the British Open, and the PGA Championship. (Trevor Immelman, the 2008 Masters champ, skipped The Players that year).
–Good lord…Did you see the photo of Holly Sonders in the June Golf Digest? Since I only watch Golf Channel to catch live action, or an occasional documentary, I didn’t realize she’s been off the air since last July due to a contract dispute once she made the decision to go to Fox Sports, where she’ll be working NFL sidelines, as well as being a key component of Fox’s new golf coverage, starting with the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.
We look forward to watching Ms. Sonders in both jobs.
Rangers vs. Capitals
Friday night, the Rangers once again faced elimination, down 3-1 in their series with Washington with Game 5 at the Garden.
But the Rangers have goalie Henrik Lundqvist and he’s simply the best goalie in the world when it comes to these situations.
Yet Friday, the Rangers trailed 1-0 when Chris Kreider tied it up with just 1:40 to play in regulation, and then Ryan McDonagh won it in overtime, forcing a Game 6 in Washington.
The win Friday, though, meant the Rangers had played 12 straight playoff games decided by a lone goal, going back to last season, easily an NHL record, while Lundqvist moved to 12-3 in elimination games since 2012 with a 1.33 GAA. He is also 9-0 at the Garden since 2008 in such contests.
Sunday, the Rangers took a 2-0 lead after one, scoring the second goal with 0.00.3 left in the first. Then it was 4-1 in the third, only the Caps stormed back to cut it to 4-3, but that’s where it ended. Another one-goal game.
Premier League / Football News
–I lost all interest the last few weeks, I have to admit, with the awful play down the stretch by my Tottenham Spurs, who lost this weekend 3-0 to Stoke City. Both the Spurs and Southampton (2-0 losers to Leicester) flamed out in the end when they had a chance to go after the final Champions League slot.
And now the race for relegation is really down to just one slot, No. 18. Remember, the last three teams get tossed out for next season and it costs those three about $50 million each in lost revenues.
16. Sunderland 35 (games) – 36 (points)…plays Leicester next
17. Newcastle United 36 – 36 …plays QPR
18. Hull City 36 – 34…plays Tottenham
19. Burnley 37 – 29…plays Stoke, but too late
20. QPR 36 – 27…bye bye, Rangers
–Dr. W. sent me a bulletin on Sunday. I incorrectly dissed Chelsea’s John Terry the other day, saying he had three extramarital affairs. The good doctor said he heard from a coach who said Terry only had two known affairs with other player’s wives. The third was with a player’s girlfriend. Other affairs have been reported, says our source, but did not involve player’s wives. Nonetheless, still a dirtball, I think you’d agree.
–In the Champions League semifinals first legs, Juventus upset Real Madrid 2-1, and Barcelona and Lionel Messi (two goals) rolled over Bayern Munich 3-0. The second legs are Tuesday/Wednesday.
—Jimmie Johnson won his third race of the season at the rain-delayed race Saturday night at Kansas Speedway. Kevin Harvick finished second, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr.
–The top three finishers in the Kentucky Derby, winner American Pharaoh, Firing Line and Dortmund, are all set for the Preakness on Saturday.
–Like I said last time, I’m already very bored with the topic of Mayweather-Pacquiao, but I have to report for the record that after initial talk of a rematch once Pacquiao healed from his shoulder surgery, Floyd Mayweather is now saying he would never fight him again “because he’s a sore loser and he’s a coward.”
Mayweather believes the Pacquiao team is trying to blame the loss on his shoulder injury.
“He knows he lost,” said Mayweather the other day. “I lost a lot of respect for him after all of this.”
–Former Duke guard Rasheed Sulaimon, who was dismissed from the Blue Devils team in January, is graduating from the school this summer.
But he still has a year of eligibility left and he can play elsewhere immediately as a graduate transfer. The guy could be a nice piece for a school like Maryland, which should be contending for a national title next season. Sulaimon visited the school on Friday and is also said to be looking at Arizona State, Baylor, Colorado…even Seton Hall.
–Notre Dame quarterback Everett Golson announced he will transfer to another school for his final season of college football, after he lost his starting job at season’s end to Malik Zaire, who is expected to start this coming fall for the Irish.
–One of America’s most influential sports personalities, Bill Simmons, is parting ways with ESPN after the two failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension.
ESPN president John Skipper said, “We’ve had an excellent run with Bill, almost 15 years. It’s been good for us and him.”
Simmons reportedly was seeking $6 million per year. He has made no comments yet.
–Big-time excitement in these parts as the great white shark dubbed Mary Lee was tracked off Long Beach Island.
Ocearch, a nonprofit group that tracks the noble maneaters, tagged “Mary Lee” in 2012 and has been tracking her ever since with the Twitter handle @MaryLeeShark.
Mary Lee, however, is 16-feet long, so until she clears our waters (presumed destination Cape Cod…where it is hoped she takes out 5-10 swimmers in July…good for my ratings…), I am staying west of the Garden State Parkway just to be on the safe side.
May Lee has logged over 20,000 miles in ocean travel since she was first tagged in Cape Cod.
The Great White is No. 9 on the All-Species List. An active summer could boost it all the way to No. 5…behind Dog, Elephant, Tiger and the Gibbon.
–Darryl Fears of the Washington Post reports that the severe drought in the West is causing bears and mountain lions, among other species, to move increasingly into inhabited areas in search of food. People in Flagstaff, Arizona, for example, are being warned “coyotes and even bears (will) wander further into town than normal.”
Bears are also going to be invading Lake Tahoe in large numbers, which could be quite exciting. Bears can also be a ratings juicer.
–My brother passed on this note from the “Jaffe Report” here in New Jersey, a true Sign of the Apocalypse.
“When Rutgers football fans return for the fall games, perhaps they will e welcomed by the Scarlet Knight mascot, as well as all his ‘friends.’ The Scarlet Knight is a well-known white guy. Now the Student Assembly wants him to have some multi-cultural friends representing the student body – like the black mascot, the Latino mascot, the female mascot and the ‘third-gender’ mascot.” Really.
—Joanne Carson, one of Johnny Carson’s wives, died. She was 84 (another obit I read said 83). Their marriage lasted from 1963 to 1972, a time when he was rocketing to fame with “The Tonight Show,” which he hosted from 1962 to 1992.
The couple was actually inseparable and seemed to have a model marriage, but both were highly opinionated and behind the scenes had titanic arguments, so the story goes. Joanne also tired of the celebrity life.
So Joanne, who was raised in California, returned there (“The Tonight Show” being in New York at the time), where she had a long friendship with Truman Capote (whom the Carsons met in NYC). Capote had a writing room at her house, which is where he died in 1984 at the age of 59.
–The Washington Post’s Juliet Eilperin had a funny piece on all the things guests steal from the White House. For example, as dessert was being served at the recent state dinner for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, “waiters executed an extraordinary maneuver: They deftly removed all the vermeil eagle place-card holders from the tables so that guests would not be tempted to swipe them on the way out.
“Such is the reality of entertaining in the White House.”
Among the worst offenders over the years are said to be Barbara Walters, who loved swiping washroom towels, and Meryl Streep, a repeat offender who ‘fessed up to pocketing hand towels on numerous occasions.
Top 3 songs for the week 5/10/69: #1 “Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In” (The 5th Dimension) #2 “Hair” (The Cowsills…great opening drum riff…) #3 “It’s Your Thing” (The Isley Brothers…far from their best…)…and…#4 “Hawaii Five-O” (The Ventures…absolutely hideous… hated when my frat bros. did their moronic deal to this tune during a party…) #5 “You’ve Made Me So Very Happy” (Blood, Sweat & Tears…great one…) #6 “Time Is Tight” (Booker T. & The M.G.’s) #7 “Sweet Cherry Wine” (Tommy James and The Shondells…this one has aged tremendously well…YouTube it…) #8 “The Boxer” (Simon and Garfunkel) #9 “Atlantis” (Donovan…sounds better today than it did then…) #10 “Get Back” (The Beatles with Billy Preston…sorry, Lads, this one sucked…)
Baseball Quiz Answer: 11 former major league catchers now managing in the big leagues: Brad Ausmus, Tigers; Bruce Bochy, Giants; Kevin Cash, Tampa Bay; John Gibbons, Blue Jays; Joe Girardi, Yankees; A.J. Hinch, Astros; Mike Matheny, Cardinals; Bob Melvin, Athletics; Mike Redmond, Marlins; Mike Scioscia, Angels; Ned Yost, Royals.
