[Posted Sunday p.m., prior to Giants-Vikings]
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College Sports Quiz: If you read this weekend’s Wall Street Journal, then you’re likely to get this one. From an article by Andrew Beaton. 1) Name the top five schools in the NCAA’s five major conferences in win differential between the basketball and football programs. For example, Wake Forest is No. 6 with an all-time BB win% of .562, vs. a football win% of .407, or a differential of .155. 2) Name the five with the biggest differential between football win% and basketball win%. Answers below. [Again, only schools in the five major conferences.]
NFL
The following is complicated so I’m going to take it from the top and we should learn soon if there is anything really there.
Before we get to the action on the field, an explosive Al Jazeera documentary revealed Saturday (formally released Sunday) that Peyton Manning was part of a drug doping ring, according initially to the Huffington Post.
An Indianapolis anti-aging clinic shipped human growth hormone to the quarterback’s home in 2011 as he was recovering from neck surgery.
A former pharmacist at the Guyer Clinic says the health center mailed HGH, which was banned as part of the NFL’s 2011 collective bargaining agreement, to Manning’s house, addressed to his wife, Ashley, so the quarterback’s name wouldn’t be associated with the shipments. Manning left Indy for Denver the following year after missing the entire 2011 season due to multiple neck surgeries, including a spinal fusion surgery.
“All the time we would be sending Ashley Manning drugs,” pharmacist Charlie Sly says in the video. “Like growth hormone, all the time, everywhere, Florida. And it would never be under Peyton’s name, it would always be under her name.”
Manning issued a denial on Saturday night, saying: “The allegation that I would do something like that is complete garbage and is totally made up. It never happened. Never.”
Peyton added, “I really can’t believe somebody would put something like this on the air. Whoever said this is making stuff up.”
Does Manning doth protest too much? His agent denied many aspects of the Al Jazeera report, but did not deny HGH was shipped to the Manning household.
“Any medical treatment received by Ashley is a private matter of hers, her doctor, and her family,” the agent said.
But Sly also says he provided a steroidal hormone to Mike Tyson, baseball’s Ryan Howard and Ryan Zimmerman, Julius Peppers and James Harrison, and he gave Green Bay linebacker Clay Matthews Percocet, a prescription painkiller, before at least one NFL game.
Also in the documentary, Taylor Teagarden, a former MLB catcher, openly discusses his use of PEDs.
Then, Sunday morning, Peyton was interviewed by ESPN’s Lisa Salters, with Manning accusing Al Jazeera of “defamation” while adamantly denying that he ever used HGH.
“Absolutely not, absolutely not,” Manning said. “What hurts me the most about this, whoever this guy is, this slapstick trying to insinuate that in 2011, when more than less I had a broken neck – I had four neck surgeries… It stings me whoever this guy is to insinuate that I cut corners, I broke NFL rules in order to get healthy. It’s a joke. It’s a freaking joke.”
So then Sly told ESPN’s Chris Mortensen that he isn’t a pharmacist and wasn’t at the Guyer Institute in 2011, as Al Jazeera claimed. State licensing records indicate that a Charles David Sly was licensed as a pharmacy intern in Indiana from April 2010 to May 2013. His license expired May 1, 2013.
Sly also said he recanted his story to Al Jazeera when he realized that it was using information he had “made up” to the undercover reporter who Sly said was trying to get into the supplementation business.
Manning admitted he did go to the Guyer Institute in 2011 to use a hyperbaric chamber, which was recommended by trainers and doctors with the Colts.
Manning told Salters Sunday: “I’m trying to understand how someone can make something up about somebody, admit that he made it up and yet somehow it gets published in a story. I don’t understand that.” [ESPN.com]
But what about the all the other allegations Sly made? And Peyton doesn’t deny his wife received the HGH.
Yes, just another case of….wait 24 hours.
–I’ll cover the full playoff situation next chat…tonight’s Minnesota-Giants game is big (for Minnesota), while tomorrow night’s Cincinnati-Denver contest is very big.
My Jets (10-5) are still in it after a nerve-wracking 26-20 win over New England (12-3) in overtime. Ryan Fitzpatrick continued his fine play at quarterback for New York, 26/41, 296, 3-0, 109.4 (passer rating). During the Jets’ 5-game winning streak he has 13 touchdown passes and just one interception (29-12 for the season).
Receiver Brandon Marshall had eight receptions for 115 yards and two touchdowns, becoming not just the first receiver in team history to hit the 100-reception mark (101), but also he’s the first in NFL history to have six seasons with 100 catches.
But the story was the coin toss before OT commenced, as New England’s Matthew Slater called heads, it was, and then he said the Pats wanted to kick off in a certain direction, and then he was surprised when New England couldn’t, as the rest of us were just wondering why the Pats wanted to kick off in an overtime where if the receiving team comes down and scores a touchdown on that first possession, the game is over.
However, coach Bill Belichick said after that this was indeed his choice, and in fact he has done so before, expecting his defense to hold.
So Fitzpatrick and the Jets promptly marched down the field 80 yards for a touchdown and the win.
Part of the apparent controversy for those of us watching it live, including the broadcast crew, was that clearly the referee appeared to prompt the answer out of Slater.
–The Jets, who came in tied with Kansas City and Pittsburgh at 9-5 for the final two wild-card slots, needed a loss by either and got it when the Steelers inexplicably laid an egg against the hated Ravens (5-10), 20-17 in Baltimore. Ben Roethlisberger absolutely sucked and was totally outplayed by Ryan Mallett (28/41, 274, 1-0, 95.0), the latter subbing for the injured Joe Flacco.
So the Steelers drop to 9-6, the Jets take their wild-card slot, for now, and we’ll see what happens next week.
–As for Kansas City, this is a team that started out 1-5 and has now reeled off nine straight. Pretty, pretty good. Sunday, the Chiefs beat the Browns 17-13. Alex Smith threw for a whopping 125 yards but it’s all about winning, baby.
For Cleveland, Johnny Manziel was horrid, 13/32, 136, 0-1, 40.6, but he did have 108 yards rushing.
–The AFC South is still up for grabs. Houston defeated Tennessee 34-6 behind Brandon Weeden to get to 8-7, while Indianapolis is 7-8 after besting the Dolphins 18-12. The two split their season series and so if they finish at 8-8, it gets confusing…more next time. [The Cincy-Denver result is important for this race.]
–As I said, Sunday night’s Giants-Vikings game is of import for the NFC North race. Green Bay (10-5) lost to Arizona (13-2) 38-8, so the Vikings (9-5) can tie them by beating New York.
–The Seahawks (9-6), who already clinched a wild-card slot, lost at home to St. Louis (7-8). Russell Wilson’s stretch of superior play ended today.
–Saturday night, Washington (8-7) clinched the NFC East with a 38-24 win over Philadelphia (6-9) in Philly, another dreadful NFL affair. But for the Redskins, quarterback Kirk Cousins continued his excellent recent play, 31/46, 365, 4-0, 120.3. He has now thrown 26 TD passes with just 11 interceptions. But what the heck was he thinking end of the first half?! [If you missed it, you saved yourself from getting sick.]
This game was so awful in terms of execution, you had Eagles QB Sam Bradford missing a wide open Zach Ertz for a sure touchdown pass with the Eagles down 13-7, and then Philly receiver Nelson Agholor dropping a pass from Bradford in the end zone with the same score, and that was before Cousins’ brain seizure and I was like why do we keep watching this crap?
For the Eagles in this third season of the Chip Kelly era, he is on the hot seat, big time. After back-to-back 10-6 seasons, making the playoffs in his debut, this 6-9 campaign has been a mess and seeing as he gained the power this year to make all the personnel decisions, it’s all on him.
This was supposed to be the year the Eagles went from 10-6 to Super Bowl contender, but then Kelly curiously traded for Bradford, even though the immobile and injury-prone QB is the last person you’d want running a Kelly-type offense. And instead of trying to keep running back LeSean McCoy, he traded him to Buffalo and signed Dallas’ DeMarco Murray, which has been a disaster all around.
Others say that owner Jeffrey Lurie will give Kelly one more year, fourth of a five-year contract. I don’t see it.
–Finally, in games that mattered, Carolina’s shot at history and an undefeated season is no more, losing to Atlanta (8-7) 20-13 to fall to 14-1.
–The Giants, playing without Odell Beckham Jr., who lost the appeal of his one-game suspension for bad behavior against the Panthers the week before (see below), then played a meaningless game against Minnesota Sunday night, as NBC bemoaned it had ‘flexed’ the game to this time slot.
The game was so meaningless, I planned on watching little of it.
–Last week the San Diego Chargers played their probable last game at home after 55 years in S.D. Thursday, Oakland played its final game in Oakland, most likely, in taking on the Chargers.
It was also Charles Woodson’s last game of his sterling NFL career for the Raiders. Oakland (7-8) won 23-20 in overtime on a Sebastian Janikowski 31-yard field goal.
Both the Chargers (4-11) and Raiders could be headed to the Los Angeles area.
Actually, St. Louis could move to L.A. too, but the NFL will rule in January which teams, if any, will do so. St. Louis has the best chance of staying put.
–So as you all know, Odell Beckham’s appeal of his one-game suspension was denied by James Thrash, a former receiver acting on behalf of the league and the players association.
Separately, an NFL investigation found no evidence that Carolina Panthers players directed homophobic slurs at Beckham before the controversial game of 12/20. The league did not discipline any Panthers players based on these specific allegations, but Josh Norman was fined about $26,000 for being a jerk.
As for Beckham, his PR folks wrote the following apology: “I wasn’t raised to act like I did the other day. I am not here to make excuses for my conduct. This isn’t about anything that was said or done to me. This is about my behavior, and I am responsible for my behavior. People expect better from me, and I expect better from myself.”
Deion Sanders and Michael Irvin were among those former players and current analysts claiming Beckham had been subjected to the taunts, with Irvin telling the New York Daily News Beckham told him he was subjected to slurs and has been “dealing with it every week.”
Coach Tom Coughlin said at a news conference Wednesday that Beckham “was provoked” beginning during the pregame and “there was two sides to this and not just one.”
Oh, cut the crap. Yeah, many of the Panthers’ players are total a-holes, but this aspect of the deal that day was blown way out of proportion, including the use of the baseball bat as a motivational prop. Odell really thought he was being threatened? Give me a break.
Coughlin also looks like a total ass. Nice way to go out, Coach.
Understand something…this whole affair epitomizes what the NFL has been this year…a veritable SUCKATHON! The play has sucked and the officiating has been beyond abysmal.
Saturday night and Kirk Cousins’ end of first-half play? Need I say more?
At the same time, I, like many of you, haven’t missed a minute of my Jets’ games. It’s what we do.
College Football
—Indiana faced off against Duke in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium and Duke prevailed in overtime, 44-41, to finish the year at 8-5, while Indiana dropped to 6-7. It was Duke’s first bowl win since 1961, despite going bowling four straight years.
69-year-old Frank Beamer closed out his coaching career at Virginia Tech (7-6) with a 55-52 win over Tulsa (6-7) in the Independence Bowl in Shreveport. So the classy Beamer, who was smiling the entire game, finishes up 238-121-2 in his 29 years putting the Hokies on the national map, including 23 straight bowl games.
In the only other game I had a mild interest in, Washington State (9-4) finished off a nice season with a 20-14 win over Miami (8-5) in the Sun Bowl in snowy El Paso, Texas. It was the first time many of the Miami players had seen the white stuff and no doubt they’ll remember that a heckuva lot more than their losing performance.
College Basketball
–There’s been a very limited schedule because of Christmas, but on Saturday, 16 Louisville lost to 12 Kentucky in Lexington, 75-73, in a pretty good game. Cardinals coach Rick Pitino is now 5-12 against the Wildcats, 1-8 against Kentucky coach John Calipari, and he flipped off the crowd as he walked off the court, though he denies he did so. [He did.]
The schedule picks up this week with some league play commencing, then after New Year’s the real season gets underway. With no super teams, save perhaps Michigan State, it’s going to be a mess…but should be a most entertaining one.
–My friend Johnny Mac’s niece, Jamie Pifalo, is a senior on the College of Staten Island’s women’s basketball team and she is playing a lot this season, so a big shout out to Jamie. The other day against William Paterson University, she had 14 points, 9 rebounds and a career-high 6 steals in a 76-75 overtime loss.
Through ten games, the Dolphins being 6-4, Jamie is averaging 8.2 ppg and 4.2 reb. in starting each contest.
But I couldn’t help but notice her shooting percentages, including from 3-point land, vs. Kobe Bryant.
Bryant is shooting .345 from the field (not including Sunday night’s game), and .257 from downtown.
Pifalo is at .418, and a very solid .390 from three (16 of 41).
Also, Jamie is a great kid and Kobe is, you know, Kobe Bryant… lots of baggage.
NBA
Golden State 28-1
San Antonio 26-6 (17-0 at home)
Philadelphia 2-30!!!
On Saturday, Philadelphia defeated Phoenix, in Phoenix, 111-104 as Isaiah Canaan had 22 and ex-Wake guard Ish Smith returned to Philly to run the point, he having been acquired from New Orleans. It’s the Ish Smith Era, part deux!
Smith, just 27, has now played on 11 teams, including twice with Orlando and Philadelphia.
–I watched the Knicks-Hawks Saturday night, Atlanta winning 117-98 to advance to 20-12, and let’s just say the 14-17 Knicks, for all their improvement over last season’s 17-win campaign, have a long ways to go.
—Steph Curry was named the Associated Press 2015 Male Athlete of the Year; surprisingly joining only LeBron, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird as the only basketball players to win the honor in the 85 years of the award.
But, while some of us would immediately think of the likes of Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Oscar Robertson didn’t win titles like the others), you do have to realize that the NBA during most of this time wasn’t nearly the sport it is today in terms of ratings and awareness. Bird and Jordan (and Magic) are the ones that really catapulted the sport (see also David Stern).
Anyway, Curry beat out Jordan Spieth and American Pharoah. Actually, Pharoah got three more first-place votes than Curry! But it seems some writers and editors among the 82 ballots didn’t deem the horse worthy, because it’s a horse, so more than one-third left him off their list entirely….the jerks.
As I said before with the Sports Illustrated selection for “Sportsperson of the Year,” my problem with Curry is he would be a lock if the Warriors parlay their phenomenal start into a second title. He wasn’t the player last season he is today, and you can’t give him the award based on his play for 30 games this season if his team hasn’t won it all yet. At least that’s my pretty simplistic feeling.
Meanwhile, Pharoah gets to bed hundreds of…..you know, I better stop here.
One more going back to SI giving their award to Serena Williams, Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News asked the same question in his Sunday column I asked two weeks ago… “If Serena Williams is the Sportsperson of the Year for what she did in tennis, then what the heck was Novak Djokovic?…
“Djokovic’s record for the year was 82-6, against competition that was so much tougher than Ms. Williams at this time in women’s tennis there is nothing to discuss.
“If this was a lifetime achievement award, fine with me.
“But there is no yardstick where the year she had in tennis was better than the one Djokovic had in tennis, against Roger Federer and Wawrinka and Andy Murray and everybody else.
“Other than this yardstick:
“She was the American tennis player doing this, and a way bigger star in this country than Djokovic will ever be.
“Serena is more famous, because she’s almost as good at that as she is at beating the world in tennis.”
—Charles Barkley cracks me up. Appearing on ESPN’s Mike & Mike the other day, talking about a variety of topics, Sir Charles is asked about how he’s going to “dominate Christmas” with all the games happening that day and Charles went off on the holiday.
“Man, ya know, Christmas is not a lot of fun for me. It’s just a big waste of money. When you’re black and rich, everybody thinks they’re a part of your family. Everybody is a relative. Everybody wants a really nice gift. It’s like your family members, one year you buy them a house, the next year you buy them a car, the next year you buy them a sweater. They look at you like, ‘You only got me a sweater?’ They always want the gifts to escalate, so you can’t ever get them a sweater if you bought them a house the year before because they get pissed.
“I’m not a big Christmas fan. I’m a firm believer that Santa Claus should only bring kids gifts. I think Santa Claus should bring everybody gifts until they get out of high school, and then that’s it. That’s my personal opinion.” [Alysha Tsuji / USA TODAY]
Got no problem with Barkley’s logic. Wouldn’t be that great for the economy, though.
MLB
–The Mets really weren’t interested at all in bringing back second baseman Daniel Murphy, despite his playoff heroics, and they gave him a $15.8 million qualifying offer, knowing he wanted a multi-year contract, perhaps his last opportunity for the ‘big’ money. I think a lot of us thought he’d get something like four years, $48 million and he ended up receiving 3 years, $37m from the Nationals.
The Mets had already traded for Pittsburgh second baseman Neil Walker and there was no way they were trying to retain Murph.
But CBS Sports’ Jon Heyman reports that the Nationals’ front office was split on whether to sign Murphy because he is such a poor fielder and, forgetting his postseason home run explosion, he has never been a power hitter.
Meanwhile, because Murph didn’t take the qualifying offer, the Mets picked up the Nats’ first-round pick, as well as a compensation pick between the first and second round, in next summer’s draft from the Nats. I’m lovin’ that.
–We note the passing of former major league outfielder Dave Henderson, 57. “Hendu” died of a massive heart attack in Seattle, according to one of his former teams, the Mariners.
Henderson spent 14 seasons in the big leagues, mostly with Seattle, Boston and Oakland. He won a World Series with the A’s in 1989.
But to Red Sox fans he will forever be known for a dramatic ninth-inning, two-out, two-strike homer that lifted Boston to a Game 5 victory over the Angels in the ALCS, propelling them into the Series with the Mets.
In his career, Henderson hit 197 home runs, drove in 708, and batted .258, making the All-Star team in 1991.
In postseason play he had seven homers and 20 RBIs in just 121 ABs.
Hendu had been working as a television analyst for the Mariners since 2011. RIP.
Premier League
I love Christmas week in this sport, as they throw in an extra game. Plus all 20 teams play the day after Christmas, so Saturday you had some of the following.
First-place Leicester lost to Liverpool 1-0, in a solid contest.
Second-place Arsenal then, with a chance to move atop the standings, got blown away by Southampton 4-0.
Earlier, Stoke City shutout Manchester United 2-0, as manager Louis van Gaal is on the verge of being fired. One thing is a certainty. If United doesn’t defeat Chelsea on Monday, van Gaal is out. No ands, ifs or buts. [To be replaced by deposed Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho?]
Speaking of Chelsea, they tied Watford 2-2 yesterday, while my Tottenham Spurs took advantage of some of the play in front of them and solidified their position in the fourth slot (last Champions League position) with a 3-0 win over Norwich; Harry Kane scoring two.
Manchester City beat Sunderland 4-1.
So after 18 of 38 we have….
1. Leicester 38 points
2. Arsenal 36
3. Manchester City 35
4. Tottenham 32
5. Crystal Palace 30
6. Manchester United 29
7. Watford 29
8. Liverpool 27
11. Stoke 24
12. Southampton 24
15. Chelsea 19…Dr. Whit (of Kiawah and Wake Forest fame) being a fan of the Blues.
So on Monday, Tottenham has an important match with Watford (10:00 ET), while Man U has its contest with Chelsea.
Tuesday, a big one…Leicester and Man City (2:45 ET).
Stuff
—After a drone crashed down during a race, almost hitting Olympic medalist Marcel Hirscher in a World Cup race last Tuesday, their use is now banned.
FIS race director Markus Waldner said, “It was huge luck that Marcel was not hurt. I am very angry.”
This was outrageous. It would have killed him. At best it would have sent him hurtling unexpectedly in a direction he wasn’t planning on, or it could have sliced him in the neck.
According to Waldner, FIS had agreed that the operator could use the drone, but the pilot wasn’t allowed to fly it directly over the race course.
–We note the passing of Snuff Garrett, who made $millions producing records for the likes of Bobby Vee, Del Shannon, Gary Lewis & the Playboys and others. He was 76.
Garrett began his music industry career working for Liberty Records in Los Angeles, a label best known for novelty acts like the Chipmunks.
But Garrett found material and recruited the artists, the first being Bobby Vee, who had the No. 1 hit “Take Good Care of My Baby,” written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin. Garrett was off and running.
He signed Gary Lewis & the Playboys in 1964 after discovering them at Disneyland. [Gary being the son of comedian Jerry Lewis, for you younger folk who may not have known this.] “This Diamond Ring” hit the top of the charts in 1965, the first of seven Top 10 singles for the group in less than two years.
And note to reader Shu, the arranger of “This Diamond Ring,” was none other than your fave, Leon Russell. [And Happy Birthday, Shu!]
Phil Spector was also a student associate of Garrett’s.
I thought I knew a fair amount about Garrett myself, but I didn’t know he produced Vicki Lawrence’s No. 1 single, “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia,” yours truly having the hots for Ms. Lawrence way back. [Don’t tell Mr. Lawrence…I have enough problems as it is these days.]
Garrett also produced a number of Cher’s big hits, when she launched her solo career, such as No. 1 “Gypsys, Tramps and Thieves,” “Half-Breed” and “Dark Lady.”
Snuff Garrett then made a fortune in buying the rights to hundreds of Republic and RKO films in 1976, just as the videotape revolution was taking hold. [Sam Roberts / New York Times]
–Reader Dr. John recommends James McMurtry’s Complicated Game – John’s best CD of 2015 in the Americana/songwriter category – and I just listened to a few tracks…good stuff. Thanks, John.
Top 3 songs for the week 1/25/64: [Once a year I have to jump ahead as we go from Dec. to Jan. or I’d be repeating all the same songs…back to the normal rotation next time.] #1 “There! I’ve Said It Again” (Bobby Vinton…answer to trivia question, what tune was #1 before the Beatles took over the charts for three months…) #2 “Louie Louie” (The Kingsmen) #3 “I Want To Hold Your Hand” (The Beatles…and here they come!)…and…#4 “Surfin’ Bird” (The Trashmen) #5 “Popsicles And Icicles” (The Murmaids…sorry, girls, you’re about to be extinct…) #6 “Out Of Limits” (The Marketts) #7 “Hey Little Cobra” (The Rip Chords) #8 “Forget Him” (Bobby Rydell…ditto singers like Rydell and Frankie Avalon…) #9 “Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um” (Major Lance) #10 “Drag City” (Jan & Dean)
College Sports Quiz Answers:
1) Basketball vs. football win differential:
1. Kentucky .764 (BB) vs. .494 (FB), .270
2. Kansas .722 vs. .488, .234
3. Indiana .639 vs. .419, .220
4. Duke .708 vs. .494, .214
5. North Carolina .737 vs. .564, .173
Since I told you Wake was sixth, Louisville is 7.
2) Football vs. basketball:
1. Nebraska .699 (FB) vs. .528 (BB), .171
2. Michigan .730 vs. .582, .148
3. Georgia .649 vs. .516, .133
4. USC .701 vs. .569, .132
5. Penn State .686 vs. .556, .130
6. Ohio State .722 vs. .609, .113
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday….a very brief one…not sure if I’ll have time for the annual awards show. Stay tuned.
