NFL Quiz: Time to take care of a few basics before the season starts. 1) Name the seven rushers with 13,000 career yards. 2) Name the leading active rusher who is not among the first group. Answers below.
American Pharoah at The Travers
Saturday, sold-out Saratoga Race Course, the Travers Stakes…American Pharoah attempts to keep it going against a field that includes the horse I talked about the other day…Texas Red. This is the mystery horse who won the Jim Dandy at Saratoga the other week who was held out of the Triple Crown races.
Others in the field as I go to post include Belmont Stakes runner-up, Frosted, and Keen Ice, second at the Haskell and third in the Belmont.
Pharoah will have the rail assuming the horse that drew that position, Upstart, backs out as expected.
Only three previous Triple Crown champions have raced in the Travers and only one, Whirlaway in 1941, left victorious.
As I wrote before I was hoping Pharoah and Texas Red wouldn’t meet until the Breeders’ Cup in October.
Saratoga capped tickets at 50,000. The purse was increased to $1.6 million (assuming Pharoah starts).
NL East
Mets 69-56
Nationals 63-61…5.5
Sorry if I’m more than a bit parochial these days, but us Mets fans have suffered through six consecutive losing seasons (tied with Houston for longest current streak in the majors) and our boys are suddenly firmly in charge of the N.L. East. They are also often winning these days in dramatic fashion.
Witness Monday night in Philadelphia. Starter Jacob deGrom entered the game with a stupendous 1.44 ERA his last 16 starts, and then promptly gave up 7 runs (6 earned) in 2 2/3, three home runs, as the Phils sprinted to a 7-2 lead, and deGrom’s ERA soared from 1.98 to 2.29.
The first Mets run, though, was a prodigious blast off the bat of David Wright. Yes, that David Wright. Erstwhile Captain America and still captain of the Mets. After 133 days since his last appearance, as he rehabbed for his spinal stenosis condition, Wright came back and looked good at the plate, adding another hit, though he was atrocious in the field with two errors.
But here’s the thing. It turned out to be a truly historic contest as the Mets stormed back for 14 unanswered runs, a 16-7 finale, bashing a team record 8 home runs and 15 extra-base hits (7 doubles) in the process.
The Mets thru Monday had thus scored 49 runs in 4 games and were 12 games over .500 (68-56) for the first time since 2008. They also had hit a staggering 50 home runs in their last 27 games.
Then Tuesday they defeated the Phils 6-5, another come-from-behind victory.
One last Mets note. I have to go back to the Sunday game in Colorado and spot-starter Logan Verrett’s superb performance (8 innings, one run) in a 5-1 win. I didn’t realize when I posted that this was the first time in the 21-year history of Coors Field that a Met starter had gone beyond 7 innings there.
Meanwhile, the preseason favorite to win it all, the Washington Nationals, are struggling mightily to stay in the hunt. Their last chance to make a major dent is Sept. 7-9, three games with the Mets in Washington. But they have to remain relevant until then.
Emblematic of the Nats’ season is this bit from the Washington Post’s great Thomas Boswell, referring to key figure Anthony Rendon, who recently returned from injury.
“Usually, a 25-year-old star who had missed 80 games would be eager to talk about his ability to contribute again. Instead, Rendon built a little barrier of chairs in front of his locker to keep reporters at arm’s length but then answered questions perfunctorily or with – was that really smirking disdain?
“Let’s hope not. A team with a 15 percent chance to reach the playoffs [Ed. according to the stat folks and the Nats being 5 ½ back] needs all hands on deck and accountable. The Nationals need to get very hot very soon, or they will need more than an arc of chairs to defend themselves from scrutiny.”
AL East
Toronto 70-55
Yankees 69-56…1
As for the Yankees, the first 105 games of the season, they were 60-45, scoring exactly five runs per game. Their last 20 they are 9-11 and scoring just 3.1 per game.
The starting pitching has generally been OK, save for Ivan Nova getting shelled in Tuesday’s 15-1 loss to the Astros*, and CC Sabathia’s renewed knee issues that will keep him out for two weeks, or more.
The bigger issue is the two key boppers, Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira need to hit. Tex had to sit out seven games with a bruised right lower leg, then when he returned on Thursday he was forced out of the game, appearing to have aggravated it. Prior to this, he had been slumping.
A-Rod is in a brutal 7-for-60 skid. That Sept. 13 pre-game ceremony to commemorate his 3,000th hit is looking a bit hollow these days.
*Tuesday, Houston’s Dallas Keuchel threw seven shutout innings to advance to 15-6, 2.28 ERA. There is your AL Cy Young winner.
–Detroit hurler Justin Verlander warned the other day that Major League Baseball had to extend the protective netting behind home plate, after yet another incident where a fan was hit by a foul ball (and then a day after his comment there was a separate serious incident).
“It seems like something happens once a game, where a ball just misses a fan and, inevitably, it’s always small kids or women, you know,” Verlander. “It’s just something that needs to be looked at, and hopefully it doesn’t get to the point where something really serious happens before there’s an adjustment made.”
Verlander then said via Twitter, the league needs to make changes “before it’s too late.”
Heck, I told you the other week how D. and I were at a Trenton Thunder game (Mets-Yankees AA franchises playing), and were right behind the Mets dugout when a foul ball came screaming towards us and hit a woman three rows in front. Both of us, as well as the woman, were carefully observing the action so we were prepared, but the woman still got clocked.
Anyway, yes, I know why the clubs don’t want to do it, but extending them even on a low level to the length of the full dugout, for example, would make a big difference.
–Speaking of Detroit, since coming back from an injury that kept him out from 7/3 to 8/14, Miguel Cabrera is scorching hot. 22-for-41 (after an 0-fer in his first game), with nine doubles.
Cabrera is now up to .371, 16-63, and there is a very good chance he will get the required plate appearances for the batting title if he remains healthy the rest of the way.
–You know how many of us long anointed Mike Trout as AL MVP this season? Wrong. It’s going to be Toronto’s Josh Donaldson. 34 homers, 100 RBI, .300 BA, .949 OPS. Trout can’t match up, plus the Blue Jays are playoff bound and the Angels need to pick it up. So another second-place in the voting for him.
–Major League Baseball’s efforts to speed up the game have met with some success. The average length of a nine-inning game has declined from 3 hours 2 minutes in 2014 to 2:54, which according to MLB is the biggest decline in game time since 1963.
In the minors, where a pitch clock is being used, the average length of a game in the AAA International League has fallen to 2:41, from 2:56 last season.
–Every year we talk about the same thing…reducing the number of exhibition games to avoid injuries. The latest victims, Green Bay wideout Jordy Nelson and Steelers all-pro center Maurkice Pouncey, both lost for the season.
But Nelson’s injury was actually non-contact, as was a season-ending torn ACL for the Panthers’ Kelvin Benjamin, whose injury occurred during practice.
And this just in…Dallas cornerback Orlando Scandrick suffered a torn ACL, MCL in practice on Tuesday. He was Dallas’ best CB last year.
Anyway, the debate is always about cutting back from four preseason games to two, but the owners demand the revenue generated from these clown games that your editor refuses to watch (though back when I had season tickets I went to the Jets-Giants game…because it was warm).
The worst franchise in terms of the injury bug, year in and year out, however, is the New York Giants. As the New York Post’s Bart Hubboch points out, via Football Outsiders Almanac (which measures games lost by starters), the Giants were the NFL’s most-injured team in both 2013 and 2014 and are already well on their way to the top spot in 2015. They started training camp with 90 players and already 22 have been sidelined by injury.
The Giants have lost five safeties in camp, including two who were lost for the season in the last game against the Jaguars.
Interestingly, the two healthiest teams the past two seasons were the Jets and Eagles. Chip Kelly’s team is No. 1 and he is a big proponent of “sports science.”
Knowing all this, though, as Bart Hubboch adds, “How Eli Manning remains the NFL’s reigning iron man with 167 consecutive starts while playing for this snakebitten franchise is as puzzling as the Giants’ three-year injury blizzard itself.”
–The Wall Street Journal’s Michael Salfino said Jets tight end Jace Amaro, a second round 2014 pick out of Texas A&M, is now third-string on the depth chart.
I thought the Jets made a smart pick, but now there is a real chance Amaro is released. So Mr. Salfino reminds us fans, “Just five of the other 20 second-round selections have started at least 20 games for the Jets, with games started being a widely accepted criteria for assessing draft success.”
The thing is, Amaro did lead NFL rookie tight ends last year with 38 catches, but veterans Jeff Cumberland and Kellen Davis are ahead of him at this point.
–Former receiver Cris Carter apologized on ESPN’s “Monday Night Countdown” for his remarks at the 2014 NFL Rookie Symposium, where he talked to players in the NFC session about having a “fall guy in your crew” in case a player got in trouble.
“I can’t make an excuse for what my mindset was. My heart was in the right place…It’s not the kind of advice I would offer young people. I would never tell young people to break the law to avoid prosecution. It was bad advice. I really regret my words.”
ESPN and the NFL both condemned Carter’s remarks at the symposium.
Video of the symposium had been archived on NFL.com, with Carter and Warren Sapp talking to players. Carter talked about having a fall guy, and Sapp repeated Carter’s statement that “we’ll get him out” if the person goes to jail.
–The Steelers signed Michael Vick to a 1-year deal after projected backup Bruce Gradkowski dislocated a finger during last week’s preseason game against the Packers.
–Former next door neighbor Steve G. (he of the sweet 20-foot jumper) passed along some betting sheets from various casinos in Vegas he was visiting the other day. Seattle and Green Bay are the two listed at 11 wins in the over/under game, with Denver and Indianapolis at 10 ½. Oakland, Tennessee and Jacksonville are at the bottom at 5 ½. [Steve, I’m keeping your personal picks for perusal later in the season.]
Seattle was 9/2 at the Red Rock to win it all. Green Bay 5/1. Tennessee and the Jags 200/1. [Giants 22/1. Jets 45/1.]
“USC began fall semester classes Monday, but the mood around Heritage Hall and outside the McKay Center was not overflowing back-to-school spirit.
“A day after Coach Steve Sarkisian publicly apologized for his behavior and language during a booster event on campus Saturday night, it was quieter than usual.
“The Trojans did not practice Monday, but Sarkisian addressed the team in the McKay Center. The players displayed no discernible emotion as they exited the building.
“ ‘Whatever it is,’ one player said later, ‘he’s got to take care of it.’”
As noted last chat, Sarkisian was clearly intoxicated when he addressed Saturday’s annual “Salute to Troy” booster event, saying, among other things, that several opposing teams on the USC schedule “suck” while uttering an expletive or two.
Tuesday, Sarkisian apologized at a press conference and said a mixture of medication and alcohol was at least partially to blame. When asked if he had a drinking problem, he said, “No, I don’t believe so, (but through the university), I’m going to find that out. I’m going to go to treatment.”
Sarkisian said he will not drink alcohol for the remainder of the season.
Some of the older players have played through the firing of Lane Kiffin and the interim tenures of Ed Orgeron and Clay Helton in 2013.
–Florida State sophomore running back Dalvin Cook was found not guilty of a misdemeanor battery charge. Cook, now 20, was accused of hitting a 21-year-old woman outside a Tallahassee bar on June 23. He was suspended July 11 from the football team and school after he turned himself him, but his suspension was lifted on Monday night. He practiced on Tuesday.
–Back to Steve G.’s tout sheets…from the Red Rock (and these odds could have changed), Wake Forest is 125/1 to win the ACC conference. Hey, Steve D. BC is 100/1 along with Virginia and Syracuse. [Clemson and Florida State are 2/1.]
My favorite bank teller, Faith, is married to a former Rutgers quarterback and we’ve been talking about the upcoming season, Faith and hubby being season ticket holders, so I won’t tell her Rutgers is 250/1 (along with Purdue) to win the Big 10. You see, sports fans, Ohio State has something to do with that…the Buckeyes being 1-4!
–I forgot to mention last time when I picked OSU to win it all that my closet football favorite, Pitt (due to major family connections there), could be a big-time sleeper with running back James Conner and receiver Tyler Boyd. [Hopefully they have a defense this season…15 starters, overall, are returning.]
[Love looking at the Pitt roster…Clairton, New Kensington, McKees Rocks, Aliquippa, Monroeville (where my godmother and her family lived), Murrysville (where some cousins reside)…But surprised no current Panthers from Latrobe or Greensburg.]
—Alabama is 8/5 at the Red Rock to win the SEC; USC 9/5 to win the Pac 12, despite the Cutty Sark issues.
–Uh oh…back to Rutgers. The school confirmed on Tuesday that it is investigating head coach Kyle Flood, over an allegation he improperly contacted a faculty member about the academic status of a top player. NJ Advance Media first reported Flood emailed a faculty member from a personal account in reference to a starting cornerback who is reportedly close to being academically ineligible to play. [The name of the player is irrelevant to me at this point.]
The email could be a NCAA rule violation for failing to promote a culture of compliance.
Flood said on Tuesday: “Any correspondence that I had with a professor in regards to a student-athlete, would really be of this nature: one, to be in support of whatever decision that faculty member made, and two, to inquire as to whether or not there would be an opportunity to earn a better grade. This practice is not unusual at Rutgers.”
This isn’t a story except it’s dysfunctional Rutgers. The projected starting quarterback, Chris Laviano, was suspended Tuesday for the first half of the season opener for attempting to use a fake ID.
Golf Balls
–So the first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs has returned to Plainfield C.C. here in New Jersey (Plainfield being where I was born). No time to attend any of it, plus, while its close, the traffic can be horrendous.
–The Presidents Cup in South Korea is being held Oct. 8-11 and I’ll watch the Sunday singles if it’s close and that’s it. The problem is this event has been a royal bore, or as Golfweek’s “Forecaddie” put it, since the International squad delivered a thrashing in 1998, “it has been as predictable as Harlem Globetrotters vs. Washington Generals.”
But it seems there was a very heated meeting at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational between International captain Nick Price, Adam Scott, Ernie Els and Louis Oosthuizen on one side and Tim Finchem and aides on the other.
The problem is the format, specifically, too many matches (34) vs. the Ryder Cup’s 28. The Sunday singles haven’t meant anything. The Cup has long been wrapped up by then and Price just wants to make sure it’s more competitive.
–Goflweek had a tale of the tape between Jack and Tiger. Nicklaus up to age 39 had won 15 majors in 68 tries; Woods is 14 for 70, Tiger hitting 40 December 30.
At ages 33-38, Nicklaus won four majors. Tiger hasn’t won one since his age 33 season.
–Phil W. told me it was a good thing I didn’t know Tiger played his pro-am round at the Wyndham with Chris Paul.
–And for those who still doubt Tiger’s impact on the game, the galleries for the Wyndham went from a usual 24,000 to 30,000, and then 35,000 daily over the weekend just because of his appearance (and solid performance, save for Sunday).
–In my fatigued state on Sunday, I failed to mention that SMU’s Bryson DeChambeau won the U.S. Amateur at Olympia Fields C.C. outside Chicago, thus becoming only the fifth golfer to win the Havemeyer Trophy and the NCAA individual title in the same year. [Way to go, Paul P.!]
Another Death on the Track
What a tragedy, the death of British IndyCar driver Justin Wilson, who in a freak accident was struck in the head by flying debris from the crash of Sage Karam’s car at Pocono Raceway, Sunday, and died the next day.
Wilson was a seven-time IndyCar race winner and loved by all. Mark Miles, chief executive of IndyCar parent company Hulman & Co. said: “Justin’s elite ability to drive a race car was matched by his unwavering kindness, character and humility – which is what made him one of the most respected members of the paddock.”
Wilson finished second in the previous IndyCar race in Mid-Ohio on August 2, while his final victory came at the Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway in June 2012.
In the past 20 years there have been seven deaths during race meetings in IndyCar, including in the series’ previous incarnations as Champ Car and Indy Racing League.
Four years ago British driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon lost his life at the Las Vegas Indy 300.
Less than six weeks ago, Frenchman Jules Bianchi succumbed to devastating injuries suffered at last year’s Japanese Grand Prix.
Sage Karam, who was released from the hospital after suffering heel and wrist injuries, said on social media: “I can’t find the proper words to describe the pain and sympathy I feel for Justin and his family.”
Wilson, from Sheffield, is survived by a wife and two daughters.
His brother Stefan, also a race driver, paid tribute on social media, saying: “Can’t even begin to describe the loss I feel right now. He was my brother, my best friend, my role model and mentor. He was a champion.”
–In the World Track and Field Championships, American Jenny Simpson was in line for a medal in the 1500 meters when with 600 meters to go she lost a shoe after another runner clipped her from behind, Simpson then finishing eleventh. It was emblematic of the U.S. team’s struggles, sitting in sixth place after four days of competition.
But my girl Allyson Felix is in the finals of the 400 on Thursday.
Kenya’s David Rudisha won the men’s 800 meters. American Nick Symmonds never made it to Beijing. [Team USA didn’t have an entrant in the final of this one, embarrassing.]
–Another huge bummer for us sports betting fans in New Jersey. In a 2-to-1 vote, a three-judge panel on the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia has ruled against the authorization of sports gambling in New Jersey.
This is so freakin’ stupid. New Jersey has argued that when it voted to repeal its prohibition of sports gambling in the state, it did not violate the federal Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 – which limits sports gambling to Nevada, Oregon, Delaware and Montana and forbids other states from authorizing it – because the state left oversight to casinos and racetracks.
The a-holes at the NCAA and the four major professional sports leagues sued to prevent the law from taking effect and on Tuesday, the court agreed.
Of course for starters, the layman might be musing, gee, I get Nevada, but why do the likes of Oregon and Delaware have it and New Jersey and others can’t? It just makes no sense.
At the same time, this particular Appeals Court decision is not unexpected and my state is not giving up.
The sports leagues are being incredibly shortsighted…betting drives interest, witness the explosion in fantasy sports. But at least NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has suggested the NBA is softening its position because, you know, Silver gets it!
–From CNN.com: “A safari guide has been mauled to death by a lion in the same Zimbabwean national park where Cecil the lion lived.
“Quinn Swales was taking a group of tourists on a walking safari in Hwange National Park on Monday morning when a lion suddenly charged, the company he was working for said.
“ ‘Quinn did everything he could to successfully protect his guests and ensure their safety,’ the company, Camp Hwange, said on its Facebook page, adding that no other members of the group were hurt….
“During the safari Monday, Swales spotted fresh lion spoor and decided to track a pride of two females, two males and two cubs, the Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority said in a statement.
“It didn’t specify which of the lions attacked him but noted that one member of the pride, named Nxaha [Ed. cool name], wore a tracking collar, as Cecil did.”
OK, a couple things. Walking safaris?! Tracking a pride of lions with amateur tourists as your charges?! Are you freakin’ kidding me?!
I have no doubt Mr. Swales acted heroically to save the tourists, and I’d love to get the true story someday (this has “60 Minutes” written all over it…actually, I’ll produce it for them. Part I, the initial 17-minute segment on trophy hunting and Cecil, Part II the story of the revenge. The third segment of the program could be the obligatory yearly story of some 18-month-old piano prodigy who, we’re never told later, grows up to a heroin addict).
–You see the 920-pound, 13-foot 6-inch alligator captured in Lake Eufaula, Alabama the other day?
Actually, last year, a 15-foot 9-inch gator weighing 1,011 pounds was caught in a tributary of the Alabama River. “About 115 pounds of that gator was a deer in the gator’s stomach.” [USA TODAY]
Top 3 songs for the week 8/23/75: #1 “Fallin’ In Love” (Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds) #2 “One Of These Nights” (Eagles…my favorite of theirs…) #3 “Get Down Tonight” (K.C. & The Sunshine Band)…and…#4 “Jive Talkin’” (Bee Gees…talk about a tune that hasn’t aged well…) #5 “Rhinestone Cowboy” (Glen Campbell) #6 “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” (War…incredibly underrated band…) #7 “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You)” (James Taylor) #8 “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” (Elton John) #9 “At Seventeen” (Janis Ian…only had two Top 40 hits and both were outstanding…the other being “Society’s Child”…) #10 “Please Mr. Please” (Olivia Newton-John)
NFL Quiz Answers: 1) Top seven rushers, lifetime:
1. Emmitt Smith…18,355
2. Walter Payton…16,726
3. Barry Sanders…15,269
4. Curtis Martin…14,101
5. LaDainian Tomlinson…13,684
6. Jerome Bettis…13,662
7. Eric Dickerson…13,259
1. Steven Jackson…11,388*
2. Frank Gore…11,073
3. Adrian Peterson…10,190
*Technically, I guess he isn’t active as he’s a free agent and last I heard he is being choosy.
