[Posted Sunday p.m.]
NFL Quiz: Name the five players to score 25 touchdowns in a season, all of them post-1990. One I think is hard. Answer below.
The End for Pharoah?
The second-guessing has begun in a big way. I agreed with American Pharoah owner Ahmed Zayat that it was important for the sport of racing and its fans to run Pharoah as much as reasonably possible, but I would have picked the Sept. 19 Pennsylvania Derby, which was trainer Bob Baffert’s preferred choice, and then the Breeders’ Cup Classic to finish the colt’s career. As it turned out, the relatively short turnaround from The Haskell, including another trip across country, was in all likelihood what did the horse in on Saturday at Saratoga as it was edged out by Keen Ice, a very legitimate challenger who had finished third in the Belmont Stakes and was runner-up at the Haskell at Monmouth. [Yes, Pharoah’s last workout at Del Mar was superb, but then he had to travel.]
So in the immediate aftermath of the defeat at the Travers Stakes, Zayat said, “I have a huge responsibility. I haven’t spoken to my family, and Bob (Baffert), but you start questioning yourself. Have I pushed the envelope too much? He was happy and he’s special and he is the Triple Crown winner. Then you have to ask yourself, ‘Is the show over? Is it time?’
“I don’t know how Bob feels, but Bob I trust, not just as a trainer, but somebody that I really like because I know how he feels about his horses,” Zayat said. “My gut feeling right now, without being outspoken, is to retire him. We had a Triple Crown champion. I don’t think you guys understand. I pushed so hard and I hope I didn’t push Bob, because I know Bob isn’t a person to be pushed. Bob let the horse tell us. We honestly, genuinely wanted the horse to tip us. The horse could not have been better.”
Throughout the first mile of the 1 ¼-mile race, American Pharoah was pressured by Frosted, who briefly took the lead, only to have Pharoah come back to retake it in the stretch before succumbing. Jockey Victor Espinoza knew he was in trouble, though, with a half mile to go when he could not separate from Frosted.
“We are going to sit and think it over,” Zayat continued. “I’m an entrepreneur. I’ve made all the decisions in my life being an entrepreneur, being a gut man. My gut says the horse showed me that he tailed off. He’s not the Pharoah I know. There’s no question in my mind that the right thing is to retire him. He doesn’t owe me, he doesn’t owe anybody anything.” [Jerry Bossert / New York Daily News]
The Breeders’ Cup Classic isn’t until Oct. 31 at Keeneland Race Course, after which Pharoah would go to stud at Coolmore Farm in Kentucky.
“I’m disappointed for the fans, I’m heartbroken,” Zayat said.
As for Bob Baffert, he said after, “I feel bad for the horse getting beat like that. You can tell he wasn’t really on his ‘A’ game today. He tried hard. He looked like he was done way early and he just kept fighting on. The winner ran a great race.”
Baffert also conceded, “We knew we were doing the impossible shipping him back and forth, back and forth.”
So American Pharoah joined Affirmed, Gallant Fox and Secretariat as Triple Crown winners who lost at Saratoga. Whirlaway remains the only horse to win the Triple Crown and the Travers in the same year back in 1941.
But there’s no reason for Zayat and Baffert to rush their decision on Pharoah’s future, though personally I’m leaning towards retirement.
Mets 72-58
Nationals 66-63…5.5 GB
The Mets entered Friday night’s game at home against the Red Sox 71-56 and 6 ½ games ahead of the Nationals. The Mets were on a roll, scoring a team-record 73 runs in their last seven games, all on the road, and they already had set a franchise record with 43 home runs in the month of August, besting the previous high of 40 in June 2006, the last year they made the playoffs.
So then the Mets proceeded to lose to Boston 6-4 in 10 innings, wasting six scoreless by Matt Harvey and blowing the 2-0 lead he had when he departed, while also failing to take advantage of 12 walks by Boston pitchers. [I had no problem with Harvey being taken out after 103 pitches. Logan Verrett, who then blew the lead, had an 0.84 ERA in 30+ innings, too.]
Then the Mets lost 3-1 on Saturday as Jacob deGrom was outdueled by the Sox’ Joe Kelly. No home runs for the Mets in their first two games back home.
But New York prevailed on Sunday, 5-4, in a clutch effort as relievers Tyler Clippard and Jeurys Familia closed the door. For Boston, David Ortiz hit No. 494.
[Clippard has allowed one earned run in 16 1/3…0.51 ERA…since joining the Mets.]
Meanwhile, Washington split its first two games against the Marlins, Friday and Saturday, to move to 5 ½ back entering Sunday’s play. Friday, Max Scherzer fell to 11-11, 2.88, as he gave up 4 earned in 7 innings in the 4-3 loss to Miami.
Toronto 74-56
Yanks 72-57…1.5
The Yankees blitzed the Braves on Friday in Atlanta, 15-4, as shortstop Didi Gregorious went 4-for-5 with six RBIs. The Yanks then took Saturday’s contest 3-1 as 21-year-old rookie Luis Severino improved to 2-2, 2.17 ERA, in his first five starts (none over six innings, but he has looked very good).
[A fan died at Turner Field during the seventh inning of Saturday’s game. The man, who we learned later was 60, fell from the upper deck. Foul play was not suspected and thankfully no one was hurt below. Witnesses said the man was screaming at Alex Rodriguez, who had been sent up as a pinch hitter, when he suddenly lost his balance and fell approximately 50 feet to the concrete below. The game continued as medical personnel performed CPR for about ten minutes before he was carried out on a stretcher.]
Sunday, New York got the bats going again, 20-6! Nathan Eovaldi moved his record to 14-2, even though he gave up 5 earned in 5 innings. His ERA is 4.17. You know what this means, boys and girls. Mr. Eovaldi is receiving rather good run support.
As for Toronto, on Saturday, Edwin Encarnacion hit three homers and tied a club record with 9 RBIs (Roy Howell, 1977). He also extended his hitting streak to 24 as the Blue Jays rolled over Detroit 15-1.
Encarnacion then homered in his first at bat on Sunday, as Toronto rolled 9-2, Josh Donaldson hitting No. 36. The Blue Jays’ Mark Buehrle improved his record to 14-6, 3.53.
July 22
Angels 54-40
Astros 53-43…2.0 GB
Rangers 45-49…9.0
Aug. 30
Astros 72-59
Rangers 68-61…3.0
Angels 65-65…6.5
So Los Angeles is a pathetic 11-25 in the last five weeks. The main culprit? Mike Trout.
Trout had the best month of his 4-year career in July, batting .367 with 12 home runs and 24 RBI (1.323 OPS!).
But August has been his worst month ever, entering Sunday. He insists he is fine, that a left-wrist injury he suffered is not hurting him, but the fact is he’s hitting .227 (22-97), with just one homer and 7 RBI. This includes a 4-for-4 in a 9-2 loss to Cleveland this afternoon. As I noted the other day, he is no MVP this season unless he goes on a tear the rest of the way and leads the Angels into the playoffs.
–I have to note some performances since my last chat:
Wednesday, Detroit’s Justin Verlander took a no-hitter into the ninth against the Los Angeles Angels, before emerging with a one-hit shutout, 5-0, as Miguel Cabrera hit a two-run homer.
After struggling since coming off the disabled list, Verlander has found his old form, allowing just one earned run in his last 29 innings. That said, despite a 3.45 ERA, he is only 2-6.
–Friday night, Clayton Kershaw allowed one run in eight innings, striking out 14, as the Dodgers beat the Cubs 4-1, moving his record to 11-6, 2.24.
“Clayton Kershaw is 27, and already it is difficult to find something he has not done in his career.
“Most valuable player? Got one. Cy Young? Got three. Best earned-run average in the major leagues? Four years running.
“Kershaw is 6-0 in his last 10 starts, with an ERA of 0.92, eight walks and 96 strikeouts.”
So while the Cy Young has been conceded to Zack Greinke* (14-3, 1.61), with the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta (16-6, 2.22) facing the Dodgers Sunday night, Kershaw is still in the conversation.
*Greinke threw seven scoreless in a 1-0 win over Cincinnati on Thursday.
–Also on Thursday, San Francisco’s Madison Bumgarner improved to 16-6, 2.97, in a 9-1 win over the Cubs, with Bumgarner fanning 12 in six innings.
[Yes, don’t forget these two either come Cy Young time.]
—Vin Scully announced Friday he would return in 2016 in what will be his 67th season as the voice of the Dodgers. Scully turns 88 in November. Over the last few years he has cut back his schedule – no longer traveling outside California.
—Boston Red Sox fans are angry with the team’s NESN network for parting ways with longtime play-by-play voice Don Orsillo after 15 seasons. As I go to post NESN had yet to give a concrete explanation. The ratings are way down, but then the team has sucked.
Apparently Orsillo does not get along with NESN’s vice president of programming, who sounds like a total [cue Jeff Spicoli]. He will still finish the season.
—Japan won the Little League World Series over Pennsylvania, 18-11…coming back from down 10-2 early. Didn’t watch any of this.
–Finally, sometimes you see an article that is so patently false, you can’t help but respond.
So on Thursday, I’m reading a piece by Ed Lucas for the Jersey Journal on the many good baseball museums, aside from the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.
Earlier in the summer, Lucas encouraged his readers to go to Cooperstown and as he puts it this week, “Some have asked if there are any other baseball-related museums worth venturing to” and Lucas mentions Yogi Berra’s Museum on the campus of Montclair State as being a great option…which it is. He also talks about museums in big league parks, like ones the Mets and Yankees have, and mentions the Little League Hall of Fame in Williamsport.
OK so far.
“In the mid-1990s, Bob’s home town of Van Meter, Iowa, opened the doors to the Bob Feller Museum. Since his death in 2010, the museum gets more visitors than ever. If you ever happen to be in the area, be sure to stop by the actual ‘Field of Dreams’ from the 1989 movie, which is located in nearby Dyersville.”
I don’t know where to begin. I just noted in my Week in Review column that I had been to Van Meter and the Iowa Veterans Cemetery, but I didn’t mention Feller because I had already been to his museum twice before, 2007 and 2011, and I knew the freakin’ thing closed last year! Why? Because after his death, membership and attendance plummeted and they couldn’t keep it open. So many of the exhibits have now been moved to Van Meter’s City Hall. I didn’t have time this trip, but next time I’ll go just to see how they’ve handled things, but where the heck did Lucas come up with this?!
And then he says Dyersville is near Van Meter. In my three trips to Iowa since 2007, I haven’t made it to Dyersville because it is so far away! Like try three hours from Van Meter (at least).
NFL
—Week three of the exhibition season is the critical one where as a coach, you want to play your regulars at least a half to develop some rhythm, then resting them week four before the season openers to keep them healthy.
So it was interesting in Washington that at first, Robert Griffin III was cleared to play in Saturday’s preseason game at Baltimore, even after suffering the third concussion of his career in an Aug. 20 game.
But, an independent neurologist concluded RG3 should not be given clearance to return to competition. Dr. Robert N. Kurtzke is the NFL’s neurologist and he recommended that Griffin be retested in “one-two weeks” before a decision about his readiness is made.
The Redskins had said the day before an independent neurologist cleared Griffin. So the question in Washington is who ordered another look at the neuropsychological data?
[Now there are also rumors Griffin is on the trade block.]
–The problems for the San Francisco 49ers just keep growing. Linebacker Ahmad Brooks and former defensive end Ray McDonald will face charges stemming from an incident last December in which a woman claims she was raped by McDonald. Prosecutors charged Brooks with misdemeanor sexual battery while McDonald was indicted on one charge of raping an intoxicated person.
Normally I wouldn’t comment until a judgment has been rendered, but it will be interesting to see what the NFL does in the case of Brooks, since now the NFL can investigate and punish a player before a resolution of a criminal case.
—Illinois fired its football coach, Tim Beckman, just one week before the start of the season Friday, saying preliminary results of an investigation found some truth to allegations of player mistreatment and inappropriate behavior.
Beckman said the allegations were “utterly false” and suggested he might take legal action, calling the decision to fire him “a rush to judgment that confirms the university’s bad faith.”
Former offensive lineman Simon Cvijanovic initially made allegations on Twitter in May, leading to the university to launch a review that is not yet complete. Obviously the school found something. Athletic Director Mike Thomas made the announcement and said in part: “During the review, we have asked people not to rush to judgment, but I now have enough information to make this decision in assessing the status and direction of the football program.” Thomas added that when he was briefed on the initial findings, he “was shocked and angry.”
Cvijanovic said Beckman forced him to play through shoulder and knee injuries in 2013 and ’14. He accused the team’s medical staff of removing the meniscus in his left knee without his consent. A few former players came forward to echo his claims.
Beckman will not receive the $3.1 million remaining on the final two years of his five-year contract. He was 12-25, and 4-20 in Big Ten play.
Offensive coordinator Bill Cubit was named interim coach.
–No. 7 Oregon named transfer Vernon Adams as its starting quarterback and he will face his former school, Eastern Washington, on Sept. 5. Adams is an intriguing player, having thrown for 10,438 yards and 110 touchdowns, twice being named runner-up for FCS player of the year. He beat out junior Jeff Lockie, who was Marcus Mariota’s backup the past two seasons.
–Note to Shu…I just looked at the Wake Forest depth chart for the first time and goodness gracious, we are super young, which isn’t a problem when you’re Alabama, but sure is in Winston-Salem.
Ergo, your Elon boys could beat us Thursday.
Golf Balls
–So much for Jordan Spieth’s reign as No. 1 in the world. After missing the cut at The Barclays, the first round of the FedEx Cup playoffs at Plainfield Country Club, Rory McIlroy, who took this one off, returns to the top spot.
And right behind is the great Jason Day, who won his third PGA Tour title in four events (sixth for his career) in winning the Barclays by six over Henrik Stenson.
Every golf fan should be praying for a final round in Atlanta for the Cup title between Day and Spieth, or Rory and Day, or Rory and Spieth…or all three right there.
—Brian Harman mad two holes-in-one on Sunday, though shot a pedestrian 2-under 68. He aced the 183-yard third (7-iron) and 218-yard 14th (4-hybrid) holes.
It’s just the third time in PGA Tour history that two holes-in-one have been recorded in the same round. Yusaku Miyazato did in the 2006 Reno Tahoe Open, and Bill Wheldon in the 1955 Insurance City Open at Wethersfield Country Club in Connectticut. [Golfweek]
—John Daly was hospitalized after collapsing on a golf course at an outing in Canton, Mississippi on Saturday. He was taken away by ambulance from the 18th hole. Initial speculation was dehydration.
But then we learned Sunday he was suffering from a collapsed lung, possibly related to a rib injury he incurred way back in 2007 that has caused him discomfort since.
According to his playing partner, a nurse in the gallery had to perform CPR on him. Daly’s fiancée said he’s recovering but in a lot of pain.
Al Arbour
One of the two or three greatest coaches in the history of the NHL died Friday, Al Arbour, 82.
Arbour coached 22 years and was in command of the New York Islanders team that won four consecutive Stanley Cup championships from 1980-83 (a feat no team in any sport has matched since). .
“He treated his team like a family,” former Islanders general manager Bill Torrey said. “You have good days. You have bad days. But you are going together as a team and a group and you don’t falter. He really set the tone from day one.”
“The stories that have been handed down through the years have always depicted Arbour as a highly effective tactician who treated his players like they were his sons, mixing in doses of tough love and sage advice to get the best efforts out of his players. He had an astute knack of knowing when a player needed a stern hand and when a player needed an arm around his shoulder.
“He was a sports psychologist before we ever heard the meaning of the word,” said former Islanders broadcaster Jiggs McDonald. “He knew what he could get with a pat on the back or a kick in the hockey pants. He never let his guys get too high after a win or too down during a losing streak. He was a giant of a man.”
Kevin Allen: “The book on Arbour is that he drew the top performances out of his players because they respected him so much.”
Hall of Fame defenseman Dennis Potvin: “Al Arbour left us feeling like champions, and he also left us with a lot of great memories that we can carry on through life. I remember one thing in particular…Al used to say that the negative energy that you’re feeling, turn it into a positive energy. That has never left me and I know many of my teammates feel the very same way.”
Arbour coached the Islanders from 1973-86 and from 1988-94, leading them to the playoffs 15 times. He took over a team that had won all of 12 games the previous season, its first as an NHL franchise.
He is second in all-time wins behind Scotty Bowman with 782. During the Islanders’ epic Stanley Cup run, they won 19 straight playoff series victories, including three in 1983-84, before finally being dethroned by Edmonton and Wayne Gretzky.
As the Wall Street Journal’s Michael Salfino points out, the only team to approach the Islanders’ 19 straight is the Boston Celtics with 18 between 1959-67 (during which time the Celts won 8 championships in a row). The next closest is way back to 13, won by the Montreal Canadiens (1976-80), Chicago Bulls (1991-94) and Los Angeles Lakers (2000-03).
So you can make a very real case the New York Islanders were the greatest sports dynasty, ever. [Certainly there were far more teams for them to face than the Celtics had to deal with back in the day. In fact I just looked it up. In 1965-66, there were a whopping nine teams in the NBA. In 1982-83, there were 21 in the NHL.]
Arbour played 626 games in the NHL as a glasses-wearing defenseman with Detroit, Chicago, and Toronto, playing on two Stanley Cup championship teams (Chicago, 1961; Toronto 1962….and then briefly with the Leafs’ 1964 champions). He coached the St. Louis Blues for three seasons before going to Long Island.
Darryl Dawkins, RIP
“Chocolate Thunder” died at the way too early age of 58 due to a heart attack. Darryl Dawkins played 14 seasons in the NBA from 1975-89, averaging 12 ppg and 6 rebounds, with his 57.2 field goal percentage being seventh all time. Most of his time was spent with the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets. He was selected No. 5 in the 1975 draft by the Sixers, Dawkins thus becoming the first high school player to be taken in the first round.
Darryl Dawkins was huge. 6’11”, 251 lbs. He was talented but never made an All-Star team. What he was known for was his flamboyance and monster dunks, which he named…like the “Look Out Below,” the “Yo-Mama” and the “Rim Wrecker.” Dawkins also boasted he hailed from the “Planet Lovetron.”
Dawkins, while good-but-never-great, rose to nationwide prominence after he broke two rims while dunking in a three-week span in November 1979, forcing the league to use breakaway rims the next season and ban hanging on the rim.
Off the court, Dawkins was a beloved figure to. He also always claimed his “Chocolate Thunder” nickname was given to him by Stevie Wonder. 76ers CEO Scott O’Neil said, “His endearing charm, infectious smile and unparalleled sense of humor will be sorely missed. ‘Chocolate Thunder’ will always have a special place in our hearts.”
In a 1988 article for Sports Illustrated, Dave Wohl summarized Dawkins’ career and eye-popping athleticism:
“Most of us will judge him solely on what he could have been in the beginning or what he was when his career ended. Too many will be blinded by the flashes of brilliance that never materialized into consistent greatness. They will overlook much of Dawkins’ career. No, it was not great. But it was solid. Perhaps he could have been more if he had had the inclination. There were times when he teased us with a hint of how he could dominate a game. And we went home in awe and yet sad because we knew of no spell to make it happen more frequently. But few players could make us feel that way even once.”
Tom Friend of ESPN noted some other highlights from Dawkins’ career.
He once hurt his shoulder because he always carried around a 70-puond boombox.
He would eat chocolate bars on the bench as a rookie, drawing the ire of Philly Coach Gene Shue.
His love for kids was legendary, once working at 85 basketball camps. [Johnny Mac was telling me the other day that’s where he once met Dawkins.]
During the 1980 NBA Finals, Sixers Coach Billy Cunningham took a call from an angry sneaker executive who said Dawkins was wearing a Nike shoe on one foot and a Pony shoe on the other. He had signed a contract with both.
Premier League
—Reigning Premier League champion Chelsea is off to a horrid 1(W)–1(D)–2(L) start…4 points in four matches. The latest fiasco was a 2-1 loss Saturday, at home, to Crystal Palace (10th last year). For Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, it was only the second home loss in 100 home league games.
–My Tottenham Spurts continued their miserable play, a 0-0 draw at home against Everton*. The Spurs have just three points in four games (3 draws and a loss). Harry Kane is still scoreless, after 21 goals last season. He said this week he was already considering his options post Premier League. He wants to give the NFL a shot.
*For casual fans, Team USA’s Tim Howard is Everton’s keeper.
–Heck, Bournemouth, playing its first season in the Premier League, has 4 points in four after drawing, 1-1, with Leicester.
—West Ham beat Liverpool 3-0, its first win at Anfield since 1963.
–And then Sunday, Swansea City beat Manchester United for a third straight time, 2-1, as Bafetimbi Gomis scored the winner (his fourth goal in four games this season).
–So it’s just four of 38 games played but no doubt they are talking about the early standings in the pubs.
1. Man City 12 points
2. Crystal Palace 9
3. Leicester City 8*
4. Swansea City 8
5. Manchester United 7
6. Arsenal 7
7. Liverpool 7
16. Tottenham 3
A reminder…final finish for 2014-15
1. Chelsea
2. Man City
3. Arsenal
4. Man U
5. Tottenham
6. Liverpool
7. Southampton
8. Swansea City
10. Crystal Place
14. Leicester City
—No Sprint Cup race this weekend. The Chase resumes next weekend in Darlington (Sunday night…love the night races).
–When I was at the Iowa State Fair, I was talking to this couple at the bar about racing at the fair, which they haven’t done since a fatal sprint car accident that killed a spectator or two, and talk turned to Tony Stewart and his Aug. 9, 2014 issue at Canandaigua (N.Y.) Motorsports Park where Kevin Ward Jr. was killed.
Stewart was not indicted by a grand jury and Ward’s family has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit, to which Stewart gave his first response, as filed in U.S. District Court in Utica, New York.
Stewart claims he didn’t even know who was on the track at the time, and that Ward was responsible for his own death because he not only walked out onto an active race track (a major no-no), but also because he was under the influence of marijuana at the time.
This last bit, discovered as part of the autopsy, is a huge plus for Stewart, because otherwise the dark video is kind of damning.
Kevin Ward’s mother, Pamela, has said she didn’t believe Stewart intentionally tried to kill her son but his actions led to her son’s death. She also doesn’t believe her son was under the influence, though toxicology reports indicate he used marijuana within five hours of the event.
Stewart also said the Wards gave up their right to sue other participants as part of the waiver signed to compete in the event.
The conclusion of those of us at the bar was we’ll never know the full truth, though Kevin Ward was clearly at fault. But as for Stewart’s role, it’s still kind of troubling.
World Track and Field Championships
–The U.S. did it again. In yet another 4X100 relay disaster, the U.S. was disqualified from the finals after its third baton pass from Tyson Gay to Mike Rodgers went outside the designated zone after a bumbling exchange. So the U.S. lost the silver medal, which some say could have been gold had the other exchanges from Trayon Bronwell to Justin Gatlin, Gatlin to Gay and Gay to Rodgers been better. That said, Jamaica, with Asafa Powell and Usain Bolt, probably would have won anyway.
Jamaica has won six of the last seven world championships and Olympics in the relay. The last American win was at the 2007 world championships in Osaka. This was the seventh time in the last 13 world championships that the U.S. men’s 4X100 team was disqualified or didn’t finish.
For Usain Bolt, he has now won gold in the 100, 200 and the 4X100 relay in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics and the 2009, 2013 and 2015 world championships.
As for the 200, he defeated Justin Gatlin again…running a 19.55, the fifth-fastest 200-meter time ever and he was able to ease the final 80.
But as Bolt was dong a victory lap, a photographer on a Segway plowed into the back of him. Fortunately, Bolt wasn’t hurt, but as we all watched we couldn’t help but think how tragedy was averted. The idiot could have torn up Bolt’s ankle, or ripped his knee apart…or both.
–American Ashton Eaton bettered his world record in the decathlon to take another gold. He amassed 9,045 total points, besting his performance at the 2012 U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon. I was there.
Of course the last event of the decathlon is the 1,500 and Eaton willed himself to a 4:17.52 for the record.
–Britain’s Mo Farah completed another distance double, taking the 5,000 on Saturday. He has now swept the 5,000 and the 10,000 at the 2012 Olympics and the last two world championships.
In the 5,000, Galen Rupp was the top American at 5th.
—Ethiopians swept the women’s 5,000.
–Kenya’s Asbel Kiprop won gold in the men’s 1,500. Matt Centrowitz was the top American at 8th.
–American LaShawn Merritt took silver in the 400.
–The U.S. men did win gold in the 4X400 relay over Trinidad and Tobago. Merritt anchored this one, the sixth consecutive time the Americans have won the event at the world championships, and for LaShawn, it was his eleventh WC medal overall, thus surpassing Carl Lewis’ nine. Boy, you could win some coin on this one.
—Final medal tally:
Kenya 7(G)-6(S)-3(B)…16
Jamaica 7–2–3…12
USA 6–6– 6…18
–The U.S. Open tennis championship gets underway on Monday and it’s all about Serena Williams and whether she can become the first woman to win the calendar grand slam since Steffi Graf. If Serena pulls it off, there is your Sportsperson of the Year, edging out Jordan Spieth, I’m guessing. Though as USA TODAY’s Christine Brennan notes, you’d also have to put the U.S. Women’s World Cup team in there, along with American Pharoah. [I’m biased towards Pharoah.]
Serena received a big break when it was announced on Sunday, No. 2 seed Maria Sharapova was withdrawing due to a leg injury.
–We note the passing of Kyle Jean-Baptiste, the first African American and youngest person to ever play the lead role of Jean Valjean in “Les Miserables” on Broadway. He was just 21. Jean-Baptiste died after falling from a fire escape. The NYPD at this time believes it was accidental. He apparently was sitting on a fourth-floor fire escape of an apartment in Brooklyn with a woman friend Friday night when he stood up, slipped and fell backward.
–There was drama at the Smithsonian National Zoo this week as two baby pandas were born, a rarity, but then heartbreak when the smaller cub didn’t survive. Mei Xiang, the mother, rejected the smaller one, which is what giant pandas that give birth to twins do…nurture one and let the other perish. So the National Zoo, well aware of this, was switching the babies to Mei Xiang every four hours, letting her spend one-on-one time with each cub, but Mei Xiang refused to switch, keeping only the larger cub.
One thing, as panda expert Bill McShea pointed out in a recent Washington Post piece, is that they are bears, with big canines and sharp claws. They can be aggressive.
Plus pandas aren’t the brightest animals on the planet. I mean after all, they only eat bamboo. Yes, there have been sightings of pandas in the wild in China breaking into livestock pens and consuming goats and sheep, but for the most part you’d think they’d learn to like fruit and veggies, plus, say, Italian and Mexican. At least then they’d be able to break out of their little range in China and see the world.
Bottom line, pandas have never deserved anything higher than No. 51 on the All-Species List.
–The Wall Street Journal’s Jennifer Levitz had a piece on the Eastern mountain lion, which has been on the endangered list since 1973. But so many sightings have been pouring into the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, including one from a dentist who saw a cougar in Virginia near the Appalachian Trail in May, that many believe it is no longer endangered.
However…before you go throwing a block party, the authorities are actually thinking of removing the Eastern mountain lion because they believe it is extinct.
So you have this roar of protest from Maine to Georgia from those contending it is still roaming forests and backyards.
The feds say the last Eastern mountain lion was trapped in Maine in 1938. All the legitimate sightings in the past few decades they claim are Western cougars that wandered east (most originating in South Dakota’s Black Hills).
The wildlife agencies in the East contend that most of the sightings actually turn out to be bobcats, bear, deer, fishers (related to the weasel) or domestic pets.
You do have the famous local story of a cougar hit on a Connecticut highway in 2011 that had traveled through New York, but that one was thought to be from South Dakota.
Well, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to rule on the Eastern cougar’s fate by next summer. I’m going to call my contacts in the Black Hills to perhaps put about a dozen big cats on a Greyhound bus and ship ‘em east to just rile things up.
–From Sports Illustrated: “$1 million…estimated value of a trove of sports cards found last week in an abandoned warehouse in Detroit by a team of urban explorers. Millions of the cards – mostly baseball and hockey cards from the 1980s and ‘90s – were in unopened crates and in perfect condition.”
–Sunday night comedian Kevin Hart is performing at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia and the crowd is expected to be at least 50,000, which would make it, as far as anyone knows, the largest stand-up comedy performance in American history. The live gate could hit $4 million. Hart has been consistently playing basketball arenas holding 12,000 to 20,000.
Don Steinberg of the Wall Street Journal noted this new trend of comedians putting up rock-star numbers. Louis C.K. sold out four Madison Square Garden shows in January and Hart appeared there three times this summer. Jim Gaffigan is doing the Garden in December.
But it was Andrew Dice Clay, as I’ve noted more than a few times, who pioneered arena comedy in the late 1980s and early 1990s. I saw his first sold-out show at the Garden in 1990, literally the peak in his career, as it turned out.
Today, though, as Steinberg points out, rather than having a single performance on “The Tonight Show” or “Ed Sullivan” establishing a career, now comics pursue a diverse mix of media. Netflix has been aggressive in acquiring comedy specials. Kevin Hart has 21 million Twitter followers.
Top 3 songs for the week 8/28/76: #1 “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” (Elton John & Kiki Dee) #2 “You Should Be Dancing” (Bee Gees…ughh…) #3 “Let ‘Em In” (Wings…ack…)…and…#4 “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” (Lou Rawls…it was just so cool that a guy at this stage in his career could have such a super hit…though I was surprised to see it didn’t make #1…) #5 “I’d Really Love To See You Tonight” (England Dan & John Ford Coley…not me…Mets are on…) #6 “(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty” (KC & The Sunshine Band) #7 “Play That Funky Music” (Wild Cherry…got huge airplay in the bars back then…your editor just starting out at Wake Forest and spending his entire freshman year at TOG and the Safari Room…and then his sophomore…and junior… and senior years too…come to think of it…) #8 “A Fifth Of Beethoven” (Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band…one of the most atrocious songs of all time…six weeks later actually made it to #1!…What were we thinking, people!…) #9 “Get Closer” (Seals & Crofts (featuring Carolyn Willis…whatever…) #10 “This Masquerade” (George Benson…brilliant tune…but bet you’ll be surprised to learn it peaked at this position…a travesty…there should have been a World Court hearing…)
NFL Quiz Answer: The five players to score 25 touchdowns in a season…
LaDainian Tomlinson, 31 (28 rushing, 3 receiving), 2006, San Diego
Shaun Alexander, 28 (27-1), 2005, Seattle
Priest Holmes, 27 (27-0), 2003, Kansas City
Marshall Faulk, 26 (18-8), 2000, St. Louis
Emmitt Smith, 25 (25-0), 1995, Dallas
I forgot about Alexander. Both he and Holmes are classic examples of great 3-5 year stretches and then hitting the wall. But the other three had remarkable careers in their ability to sustain excellence. Jets fans, we forget what Tomlinson gave us in 2010. I think we’d take that from someone this year.
