[Posted Sunday p.m., while watching the Oscars…even though I didn’t see a single movie last year. I think the last one I saw in a theater was “Flesh Gordon,” in a double-feature with “The Groove Tube.”]
Baseball Quiz: Five pitchers in baseball history have been in the top 3 in their league in wins 8 or more times. Cy Young is one of them with 8. Name the other four. [I’m guessing there is one you’ll never think of…Hall of Famer, not obscure.] Answer below.
College Basketball Review
Since last chat….
–On Wednesday the upsets continued, though this one doesn’t really fall in that category, No.1 Villanova losing to No. 5 Xavier in Cincinnati, 90-83. These teams are evenly matched, with this night the Musketeers having six in double figures on the way to a 30 of 60, 50% from the field performance.
Also on Wednesday, 8 Iowa lost at home to Wisconsin 67-59.
Colorado upset 9 Arizona 75-72.
And your editor lost another six-pack of premium (or premium domestic) to Mark R. as Wake Forest failed to cover the spread in losing to Notre Dame 69-58.
–So then on Saturday, Villanova (25-4, 14-2) rebounded to defeat Marquette (18-11, 7-9) 89-79.
But 3 Oklahoma (22-6, 10-6) lost to 25 Texas (19-10, 10-6) 76-63 as the Longhorns placed five in double figures, while the Sooners’ all-world, Buddy Hield, couldn’t do it all alone. Hield scored 33 of the 63 Oklahoma points on 12 of 24 shooting from the field (6 of 13 from three), while the rest of the team shot 11 of 37.
Virginia (22-6, 11-5), tied for 3rd with Oklahoma in the AP poll, had a big 79-74 win over 7 North Carolina (23-6, 12-4) in Charlottesville.
22 Utah (23-7, 12-5) is moving up a few notches after beating 9 Arizona (22-7, 10-6) 70-64.
20 Purdue (22-7, 10-6) beat 10 Maryland (23-6, 11-5) in West Lafayette 83-79.
12 Miami (23-5, 12-4) beat 11 Louisville (22-7, 11-5) 73-65.
ACC standings….2 games left…
Miami 12-4
North Carolina 12-4
Virginia 11-5
Louisville 11-5
Vanderbilt (18-11, 10-6) upset 16 Kentucky (21-8, 11-5) 74-62.
Florida State (17-12, 7-10) probably knocked Notre Dame (19-9, 10-6) out of the top 25 with a 77-56 whipping of the Fighting Irish in Tallahassee.
In other games of note….Northwestern (18-11, 6-10) demolished Rutgers (6-23, 0-16) 98-59 as the embarrassment for the Scarlet Knights continues. I think I’ve had it rough with Wake Forest, but Rutgers fans are apoplectic.
And another fan base that is hurting mightily is Boston College’s, the Eagles losing again on Saturday to Georgia Tech (17-12, 7-9) 76-71 to fall to 7-22, 0-16. Both Rutgers and B.C. have two games left to avoid ignominy.
Rhode Island (16-13, 8-8) had a big win over struggling Dayton (22-6, 12-4) 75-66.
And then there was my preseason “Pick to Click” San Diego State Aztecs. After some hideous early-season losses, SDSU had been rolling in the Mountain West, clinching the regular season title early in going 14-1, an at-large NCAA bid back in play if they didn’t win the conference tourney, when they suffered one of the all-time meltdowns in the final minutes at home against Boise State (19-10, 10-6).
Ahead by 63-54 with 1:40 to play, the Broncos scored the last 12 points of the game to win 66-63 as the Aztecs missed their last seven free throws!!! At home!
Simply one of the worst choke jobs I have ever seen in all of sports. And so long to their incredible streak of winning 164 consecutive games when leading with five minutes to play.
So SDSU falls to 21-8, 14-2, and if they don’t win the conference tourney, which is clearly wide open, they don’t deserve a bid. [Plus they are probably losing at New Mexico this week, especially in their shell-shocked state.]
–On Sunday…I go back to the Xavier-Villanova game. Bill Raftery was working it and when it became clear the Musketeers were upsetting ‘Nova, Raf said more than once, look out for Sunday and Xavier’s game at Seton Hall. Anyone who follows the sport closely from my area, knowing how well the Pirates have been playing recently, knew Raftery was spot on.
And so Seton Hall proceeded to dismantle Xavier, 90-81, in a huge win for the program as they move to 21-7, 11-5, 8 of their last 9, and what should be a lock at-large bid. They also should enter the Top 25 Monday afternoon.
Xavier fell to 25-4, 13-4, and will probably remain at 5, maybe up to 4 because of Wednesday’s win.
Yup, this particular game was indicative of just how crazy the Big Dance is going to be.
Meanwhile, also on Sunday….
15 Duke (21-8, 10-6) got their butts kicked by Pitt (20-8, 9-7) in Pittsburgh, 76-62, as the Panthers outrebounded the Blue Devils 39-20! 16 offensive rebounds! Pitt shot 50% from the field. This stuff just doesn’t normally happen against a Coach K team.
But as for Duke’s Grayson Allen, who had 22 points in defeat, here’s Matt Bonesteel of the Washington Post on Allen’s week…last few, actually:
“(Allen) is doing all he can to be added to the Mount Rushmore of Hated Duke Players just in time for the NCAA tournament, with Thursday night’s trip of Florida State’s Xavier Rathan-Mayes adding to his sizable resume.”
The trip was so deliberate, it’s beyond pathetic. Allen said after, “He wanted to keep playing physical, so I tried to walk away from it as he was grabbing me. We ended up tangling up and falling. It was really nothing.” Hardly, but Allen wasn’t even whistled for a foul.
Earlier this month, Allen drew a flagrant foul after tripping Louisville’s Ray Spalding.
So the ACC reprimanded Allen for Thursday’s incident, but he will not face any suspension from the conference.
FSU coach Leonard Hamilton told ESPN on Friday that Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski called him to apologize.
Adam Kilgore / Washington Post
“Grayson Allen is a captivating basketball player and hellacious competitor who this season has been enabled to behave like a punk of the highest order. Allen is worthy of blame, and the real scorn should reside with Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and a bunch of Atlantic Coast Conference administrators if they continue condoning Allen’s indefensible conduct. Twice now, Allen has blatantly tripped an opponent. He has been branded a dirty player, and it’s hard to argue against the label. Is Coach K too busy shooting an ESPN commercial to do something about it?….
“Allen’s latest transgression surely will turn every last college basketball fan outside of Durham against him. He already fits college basketball’s most vilified archetype: the cocky, white Duke player.”
Mr. Allen is already in my December file. Hope he has room on the shelf for all the hardware he’ll be picking up at year end.
Separately, I guess I have to mention that Wake Forest (11-18, 2-15) lost on Senior Night, 81-74, to Virginia Tech (16-13, 8-8), whose coach, Buzz Williams, is obviously superior to ours, Danny Manning. And that’s a memo….
—Hand it to Monmouth. They just signed head coach King Rice to a five-year extension that runs through the 2020-21 season. With the team’s success, Rice was becoming a hot commodity but major credit to the school, and Rice, for the loyalty displayed on both ends.
But now the team, victors Sunday over Niagara, must still win the MAAC tournament. They are 25-6, 17-3, but that’s not enough.
–CBS announced that this year’s tournament selection show will be two hours instead of one. Oh brother. They better get the brackets out in the same amount of time.
–Finally, Matt Bonesteel / Washington Post:
“Rhonda Rompola announced Monday that she’ll be retiring as SMU women’s basketball coach after the season, ending her 25-year tenure as the Mustangs’ head coach. It’s been a good run, with seven NCAA tournament berths and a 438-314 record with three games left in the regular season.
“She wasn’t shy about explaining why she’s retiring, telling the Associated Press that it’s because of kids these days.
“ ‘Kids are not as coachable as they were years ago,’ she said. ‘I see kids sometimes talking back to their coaches and it’s like a way of life. I’m just being honest. The rules and everything they get, they haven’t taken time to appreciate. I was happy to have a scholarship. Kids nowadays are more concerned about when their next cost-of-attendance check is. It’s just a different world.’
“This academic year is the first in which NCAA student-athletes can receive cost-of-attendance payments in addition to their athletic scholarships. The additional money is meant to cover things such as travel home, school supplies, laundry, etc. The amount given to each student-athlete varies by school, anywhere from around $1,000 per academic year to more than $6,000.
“According to CBSSports, SMU student-athletes receive $2,676 per year, on average.
“Suffice to say, Rompola is not a fan.
“ ‘Kids are making decisions these days to go to a college based on what their cost-of-attendance check is, based on the meals they get, not based on academics, not based on what a great school it is,’ she told the AP. ‘I just think the direction it’s going is they are making [decisions] for the wrong reasons.’”
NBA
–On Thursday, Steph Curry said he was getting annoyed by all the criticism of his success and the team’s style of play coming from the likes of Oscar Robertson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Robertson, in a radio interview, said Curry’s success is largely due to the lack of physical play in today’s game, of which Jabbar concurred.
Curry replied, “It’s starting to get a little annoying just because it’s kind of unwarranted from across the board. We have a very competent group, and we have fun when we’re out there on the floor, and it shows, obviously.”
Thursday night the Warriors beat the Magic 130-114, as Curry went off for 51, 20 of 27, 10-15 from three, plus 8 assists and 7 rebounds, the record 128th consecutive game he had hit one from downtown.
Then on Saturday, the Warriors were playing the Thunder in Oklahoma City and all Curry did was sink a phenomenal 38-foot jumper with less than a second left to win the game, 121-118 in overtime.
Curry finished with 46 points and six assists, hitting 12 of 16 from downtown after that 10 of 15 effort against Orlando, making him the first player in NBA history to drain at least 10 three-pointers in consecutive games, while tying the NBA single-game record and breaking his own single-season mark in the process.
According to the stats folks, Curry is 11 of 22 on shots from beyond 30 feet this season.
The Warriors are also 11-0 when he scores 40 points or more.
—Joe Johnson joined the Miami Heat after he was bought out of his contract and waived by the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday, a great move for Miami.
I always liked Johnson, a seven-time All-Star who no doubt has slowed down a lot but he has a history of being Mr. Clutch down the stretch in games and he should be rejuvenated in Miami. In fact at one point with the Nets, Johnson sank seven straight field goals with 10 seconds or less remaining and the Nets down by no more than three points. [The opposite of Carmelo Anthony’s record, I hasten to add.]
The Heat were in desperate straits since they don’t know if forward Chris Bosh will be able to return as he treats complications from his latest calf injury.
MLB
–Jared Diamond / Wall Street Journal
“Call it the ‘Chase Utley Rule.’
“Months after Utley’s controversial take-out slide during last year’s postseason, Major League Baseball and the Players Association announced a policy Thursday requiring runners ‘to make a bona fide attempt to reach and remain on the base’ while sliding.
“Though runners can still initiate contact with fielders ‘as a consequence of an otherwise permissible slide,’ they cannot change their path or ‘utilize a ‘roll block’ for the purpose of initiating contact with the fielder.’ Runners must make contact with the ground before reaching the base, must slide within reach of the base with their hand or foot and must attempt to stay on the base after completing their slides.
“If a runner violates the rule, the umpire can declare both the runner and the batter out, resulting in an automatic double play. Umpires can use instant replay to check the legality of a slide, and they can now also review so called ‘neighborhood play’ situations – when an infielder vacates second base early to avoid contact with a runner on a double-play attempt.
“ ‘Our goal in amending the slide rule was to enhance player safety, reduce incidents of injury and to do it in a way that respects and preserves the bona fide hustle plays that are integral to our game,’ MLBPA executive director Tony Clark said. ‘I am optimistic that this new rule will accomplish those goals.’”
At first blush this would appear to be a disaster. Lots of injuries because of the fielder now having to make contact with the bag and the runner having to do the same, plus a lot more time-consuming reviews.
Separately, MLB and the MLBPA added a rule to speed up the game. Mound visits cannot be more than 30 seconds, while breaks between innings were shortened to 2 minutes, 5 seconds for locally televised games and 2:25 for nationally televised games, down from 2:25 and 2:45, respectively.
So start planning your bathroom breaks accordingly. For the Sat. night, June 18, Mets-Braves game, let’s see, if I have three beers….
–So much for outfielder Dexter Fowler signing a three-year deal with Baltimore. He turned around and decided to go back to the Cubs, one year, $8 million, with a mutual option for the 2017 season worth $9 million. If Fowler does not receive that second-year option, he receives a $5 million buyout, making the deal worth a minimum $13 million. With Baltimore it was going to be three years, $33 million.
–We have us another idiot, sports fans. Cleveland outfielder Abraham Almonte, suspended for 80 games for violating baseball’s drug policy. The 26-year-old outfielder had 5 homers and 24 RBI last season for San Diego and Cleveland and was expected to play a key role at least early this season until the Indians’ All-Star Michael Brantley returned from off-season shoulder surgery.
Almonte was caught taking boldenone, which is what got Mets reliever Jenrry Mejia banned for life. Boldenone is an anabolic steroid used for horses and a side effect is that you begin to ‘neigh’ while on the field.
–We note the passing of former White Sox executive and ownership partner Eddie Einhorn. He was 80.
For many of us of a certain age, though, Eddie Einhorn is synonymous with the advent of mass televised sports, particularly college basketball.
Going back to the late 1950s, while a law student at Northwestern University, he put together a network from a handful of radio stations to broadcast the NCAA basketball tournament.
By the early 1960s, he was broadcasting games on television.
The big breakthrough came on Jan. 20, 1968, when UCLA, with Lew Alcindor, took a 47-game winning streak into the Astrodome to face the also undefeated Houston Cougars and their star center, Elvin Hayes.
Einhorn offered $27,500 for the television rights and the best offer from the major networks was $27,300.
The results are history: 52,693 people watched in person; and 20 million other fans viewed the action on television.
Thanks to advertising revenues, Einhorn pocketed $80,000 for the night’s work. He was off and running. In four years, he parlayed that 80 grand into more than $10 million. [NBC began broadcasting the NCAA tournament the following year, 1969, having been shown the market potential. CBS then seized the rights in 1982.]
His sports network, called TVS, had been drowning in red ink up until the UCLA-Houston game but afterwards, everything he touched turned to gold, covering both Notre Dame-UCLA games in 1971 and 1974, for example, with the Irish breaking long Bruin winning streaks in the process of each.
He put together a one-evening, four-hour package that included the Joe Frazier-Ron Stander heavyweight title fight (I remember that one) and the NBA-ABA all-star basketball game (but I don’t remember this!), selling it to 150 stations and scooping up $1 million worth of advertising.
He packaged college basketball and sold it to NBC.
Einhorn’s involvement in baseball came about because his old friend from Northwestern, Jerry Reinsdorf, was interested in purchasing the White Sox and when it went through, Einhorn became president of the team.
Golf Balls
–What a bizarre third round at the Honda Classic at Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., on Saturday, as co-leader Adam Scott shot a terrific 66 despite a quadruple bogey on the par-three 15th hole, hitting two balls in the water. So after three, Scott was tied with Sergio Garcia…
But Scott ended up prevailing on Sunday, by one over Sergio, for his 12th PGA Tour title, the most by anyone under age 40 (see Rory below).
According to NBC’s golf crew, this was only the second time in the last 30 years! that a golfer had a quadruple bogey in a tourney and still won it. [Scott may be the third….not sure if I totally heard it correctly…but it’s an amazing stat.]
—Rory McIlroy opened his 2016 U.S. / PGA Tour season last week at Riviera and finished T-20 after a disappointing 75 in the final round. Then he followed that by missing the cut this week at the Honda Classic, saying nothing to the press as he left the grounds.
In fact, as the Wall Street Journal’s Brian Costa points out:
“The difference between (Rory’s) best and his worst is more dramatic than any of his chief rivals.
“On the PGA Tour, McIlroy has won 11 tournaments and missed 11 cuts (now 12). At majors, he has four trophies and four missed Cuts. On the European Tour last year, he won twice and missed the cut twice.”
Contrast that with Tiger Woods, who once went a record 142 tournaments without missing a cut.
To be fair, Rickie Fowler has missed 12 cuts since 2014 alone, while Jordan Spieth has missed the cut 13 times since turning pro in late 2012. But Rory’s win/cut contrasts are greater.
There’s a lot of pressure on Rory to fulfill the role of being one of the Big Three this year and he has a problem. He is capable of the most spectacular golf of any player on the tour (easily over Spieth and Day in terms of all-around game), but he really gets down on himself.
Doral is going to be very interesting with a great field next week, and then we won’t see everyone together again until The Masters. Will Rickie break through to make it a Big Four? Does Rory, Jordan or Jason take it? Does D.J. finally get the monkey off his back? Can Phil mount a charge? Does Bubba pick up his third green jacket? What of Matsuyama?….can’t wait.
–I loved NBC’s little snippet on Saturday about the old Inverrary Classic, hosted by “The Great One,” Jackie Gleason. He would have been 100 the other day (Gleason died in 1987). The man was a giant and a super ambassador for the game.
–Thursday night, Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III initiated a dinner for some of the team members at Jack Nicklaus’ his home in North Palm Beach. Tiger Woods is serving as vice captain next September, whether he plays or not, and he showed up at the event, at which point Jimmy Walker said, “Wow, you’re not dead!” “Yeah,” Tiger replied. “Everyone thinks I’m dead.”
So you saw that hours after I posted last time the rumors of Tiger’s demise, at least in terms of whether he would ever play again were premature, as he posted a video of himself swinging a 9-iron on a golf simulator with the caption reading he’s “progressing nicely.”
“Apparently, Tiger Woods is further along in his recovery than we were led to believe,” Golf Channel’s Tim Rosaforte said. “I was told by a trusted source this afternoon that Woods was actually hitting drivers. Not full speed, but (he was hitting ‘em).”
Billy Horschel told ESPN that “Tiger looked great” the other night.
–We wish golfer Jason Bohn a speedy recovery, after Bohn suffered, what Tim Rosaforte described as a “major heart attack” following his second round at the Honda.
Bohn, 42 and a two-time winner on tour, complained of chest pains after his round Friday and went to see the medical staff at PGA National. He was taken by ambulance to the hospital and at first it was described as a mild one, but Bohn was able to tell Rosaforte Saturday it was a serious situation and had he not sought attention right away, basically, he’s dead. “The widow maker” artery was 99% blocked.
NASCAR
There were only 39 cars lined up for the second race of the season in Atlanta this weekend, the smallest field since North Wilkesboro (37) in 1996. But this was really by design.
Under NASCAR’s new charter system, which guarantees 36 spots for teams with franchise-like licenses, only four spots will be open for non-charter teams. In addition, the four open ones pay far less money than the charter teams get, which reduces the incentive to show up.
Why would NASCAR do this? I’ll get into it in more detail some other time but for now it’s the first time the sport is placing a value on each team, just like values on sports franchises. The 36 spots will now be eligible to be sold, which gives the race teams an exit strategy. Before, when a team folded, it had nothing but some auto parts in terms of value. Now at least they’ll be able to sell their charter. It won’t be for a lot of money, initially, supposedly something like $1 or $2 million, but after a while a market will develop.
Race teams are incredibly expensive to operate and the actual purses cover just a fraction of the costs, with sponsorships critical.
So in dealing with the sponsors, now the teams will be able to go to, say, a Coors Light, and guarantee that the car they are sponsoring will be in every race…none of the risks of having to qualify each week. You can thus negotiate stronger, longer-term deals with them.
Meanwhile, Jimmie Johnson won the dang thing, his 76th career win, tying him with Dale Earnhardt for seventh on the all-time list.
Premier League
–The schedule has been a little spotty with all the ‘cup’ competitions taking place these days, but this weekend, Leicester looked like it was going to draw against lowly Norwich at home, only to score a late goal in dramatic fashion to secure the 1-0 victory and the critical three points to remain on top.
Tottenham fell behind Swansea 1-0 at White Hart Lane but came back for a 2-1 win that, when coupled with Manchester United’s 3-2 defeat of Arsenal, propelled my Spurs to second place, just two points behind Leicester.
As for the Man U win, 18-year-old Marcus Rashford made his Premier League debut and all the kid did was score two goals and assist on the third. I watched the action…cool stuff.
[I also watched the entire Leicester game and can’t believe they pulled it out.]
So the standings…matches played and points….
1. Leicester 27 – 56
2. Tottenham 27 – 54
3. Arsenal 27 – 51
4. Manchester City 26 – 47*
5. Manchester United 27 – 44
6. West Ham 27 – 43
7. Southampton 27 – 40
8. Stoke 27 – 39
11. Chelsea 27 – 36
*Man City defeated Liverpool in a shoot-out for the League Cup title on Sunday and now the two play each other again on Wednesday in Premier League action.
–While I couldn’t care less, I have to put down for the archives that Gianni Infantino has succeeded fellow Swiss Sepp Blatter as president of Fifa.
Stuff
–Poor Lindsey Vonn. Leading the overall World Cup standings as part of another major comeback from injury, she sustained a hairline fracture of her left knee Saturday during a crash in a super-G race at Soldeu-el Tarter, Andorra.
Vonn posted the news about the fracture on her Facebook page several hours later but she left open the possibility of skiing on Sunday, with her being slated for an MRI on Monday.
So what does she do? She raced in the combined, Sunday, and finished 13th, picking up some key points as her overall WC lead is just 28…1,235 to 1,207 for Switzerland’s Lara Gut with 8 races to go.
Vonn’s fracture was actually described as “substantial.” This woman is beyond amazing.
We love Lindsey!
On the men’s side, two giant slaloms were run at Hinterstoder (Austria) as part of catching up with previously postponed races due to weather, and France’s Alexis Pinturault won both over Austria’s Marcel Hirscher.
But Hirscher has a massive overall points lead over three Norwegians, where the beer is incredibly expensive.
–According to the Denver Post, Peyton Manning will announce his retirement sometime this coming week, hardly a shock. He is under contract for another season with the Broncos, but a decision on stepping away from the game must come by March 9, when his $19 million for 2016 becomes guaranteed.
[Seton Hall University conducted a sports poll, cold-calling 762 adults across the nation from Feb. 20-22, and Manning received a 68 percent approval rating with just 3 percent disapproving and the other 29 percent having no opinion of the guy. The same folks were also asked about Stephen Curry. He had a 40 percent approval rating, but only 1 percent disapproval.]
–ESPN.com:
“Tennessee football coach Butch Jones told sophomore wide receiver Drae Bowles that Bowles ‘betrayed the team’ after helping a woman who said she had been sexually assaulted by two football players, an amended complaint filed Wednesday in a Title IX lawsuit against the university showed.
“According to the filing, Jones later apologized for calling Bowles ‘a traitor.’
“Bowles was also beaten and bloodied by teammate Curt Maggitt as retribution for helping the woman, Bowles said in the sworn affidavit filed in federal court. He also said he was confronted by teammates Geraldo Orta and Marlin Lane the following day.
“Bowles ultimately transferred to UT-Chattanooga after the November 2014 incidents.
“The filing also showed that two more unnamed women who say they were sexually assaulted joined the lawsuit against Tennessee, bringing the total number to eight….
“Jones and 15 other varsity coaches at Tennessee held a joint news conference Tuesday in which they said they believe the athletic department is being portrayed unfairly as a result of the lawsuit.”
This is beyond disgraceful.
–I didn’t become a big NHL fan until 1967 when I was nine years old. Reading the box scores, the first thing I had to learn was that the Rod Gilbert I was seeing in the newspaper was pronounced Jou-bert and that they were not two different people.
So as I began to become a Rangers fan I would hear of the former star, Andy Bathgate, but he played with them from 1952-64 and would later be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Bathgate died Friday at the age of 83.
Bathgate was league MVP for the 1958-59 season, when he scored 40 goals and had 88 points, back when they played 70 games.
In fact in looking up his stats, I totally forgot that the winger had 729 points as a Ranger in 719 contests. As budding Republican and GE spokesman Ronald Reagan must have said at the time, ‘Not bad…not bad at all.’
Bathgate would go on to play for Toronto, Detroit and Pittsburgh, and even a few games in the WHA at the age of 42. For his career he had 349 goals and 624 assists.
His No. 9 Rangers jersey was retired – along with that of Adam Graves who also wore it – in 2009.
—Hunters captured 106 Burmese pythons during the 2016 Python Challenge, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The longest was 15 feet.
I mean imagine just how many are in the Everglades if they are catching 106, yet they are endangered in most of their home range in Southeast Asia, according to USA TODAY.
–Another high-profile figure died in a skiing accident. Restaurateur Sam Beall of Blackberry Farm, a national destination of fine dining in Walland, Tenn. No details were provided other than that the death of the 39-year-old in Vail, Colo., was ski related.
–My brother passed along this distressing story from the New York Daily News:
“Traces of a toxic herbicide that has been shown to cause cancer have been found in Germany’s most popular beers.
“The Munich Environmental Institute revealed on Thursday that small amounts of glyphosate, the world’s most-used weed killer, were in all 14 brews it tested.
“Glyphosate was declared a probable human carcinogen last year by a World Health Organization agency.”
But some of the amounts of the chemical were “nearly 300 times the maximum amount of the herbicide allowed in drinking water.”
The German Brewer’s Association called the study “not credible,” and argued that the herbicide is so widely used that it “is now found virtually everywhere after decades of use in agriculture.”
I blame Merkel for the confusion.
—Lennie Baker of Sha Na Na died. He was 69. Baker played the saxophone and sang lead on the group’s hit version of “Blue Moon.”
Sha Na Na had their own comedy and variety television show from 1977 to 1980 as their whole schtick was resurrecting 1950s rock ‘n’ roll with a retro style of singing and choreography.
Another former member of the group, Dennis Greene, died in September.
Top 3 songs for the week 2/27/82: #1 “Centerfold” (The J. Geils Band) #2 “Open Arms” (Journey) #3 “I Can’t Go For That (No Can Do)” (Daryl Hall & John Oates)…and…#4 “Shake It Up” (The Cars) #5 “That Girl” (Stevie Wonder) #6 “Sweet Dreams” (Air Supply) #7 “Harden My Heart” (Quarterflash) #8 “The Sweetest Thing” (Juice Newton) #9 “I Love Rock ‘N Roll” (Joan Jett & The Blackhearts) #10 “Leader of the Band” (Dan Fogelberg…. there was a big reason I was getting back into the oldies at this point in my life…much of the current music sucked…)
Baseball Quiz Answer: Most times top 3 in wins.
Warren Spahn 14
Walter Johnson 11
Christy Mathewson 9
Cy Young 8
Bob Lemon 8
Yes, I was shocked by Lemon, who was ‘just’ 207-128 for his career, though 7 times he was a 20-game winner. He was out of baseball from 1943-45 for military service and got off to a late start (26 in his first full season), but what a career it was, all with Cleveland, 1946-58. He also had two complete game victories in the Indians’ 1948 World Series triumph over the Boston Braves.
Lemon was a helluva hitter as well, batting .232 with 37 career home runs.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
