[Posted Sunday p.m.]
Clemson Quiz: For the 1981 national championship team that defeated Nebraska in the Orange Bowl, name the quarterback, the two running backs who had 500 or more yards rushing on the season, and the lone receiver with at least 20 receptions. Answer below.
College Football
–I watched most of the San Diego State-Houston Las Vegas Bowl Saturday and the Aztecs (11-3) shocked Houston 34-10, after Houston (9-4) had jumped off to a 10-0 lead.
SDSU running back Donnel Pumphrey broke the FBS career rushing record, surpassing ex-Wisconsin star Ron Dayne’s mark of 6,397 yards as Pumphrey finished the day with 115, giving him 6,405.
But this record is totally bogus, since Dayne’s 728 yards over four bowl games doesn’t count because the NCAA didn’t start crediting those yards to a player’s total until 2002 and Dayne played for the Badgers from 1996 to ’99. So Dayne’s total should be 7,125 yards.
That said the 5-9, 180-pound Pumphrey does have a future in the NFL as a third-down back.
But I do have to give announcer Brent Musburger credit. Early on he said an unnamed source had told him this particular game was all about superior, intact coaching (San Diego State) vs. talent (Houston…whose coaching staff was thrown into some turmoil when head coach Tom Herman left to go to Texas). Houston is indeed loaded with future NFLers, but SDSU head coach Rocky Long did a masterful job getting his guys ready.
The Aztecs intercepted Houston’s excellent quarterback, Greg Ward Jr., four times in the second half!
–No, I didn’t watch any of the other bowl games Saturday and just don’t care. I did tell you I was only going to watch Houston-SDSU. [OK…I will note App State beat Toledo in the Whatever He’s Smokin’ I’ll Have It Bowl.]
In fact, I’m not watching any of the next 8-9 games, including Navy-Louisiana Tech (without Will Worth, sorry, Bobby C., not of interest, especially after the Army game), until Boston College-Maryland, Dec. 26, and that’s more for laughs.
Actually, Dec. 27 now features back-to-back contests involving Wake Forest (vs. Temple) and Minnesota (vs. Washington State), two programs dealing with scandals…see below.
—Grambling State won its 14th Black College title, 10-9 over North Carolina Central, the difference being an excessive celebration penalty on Central’s Quentin Atkinson after he scored on a 39-yard touchdown pass with just two few minutes left, as he wildly ran around and took off his helmet. The extra point for the tie was then set back because of the penalty and it was blocked.
–A lot has happened since the Wake Forest scandal, Wakeyleaks, broke.
Matt Bonesteel / Washington Post
“Wake Forest still is coming to grips with the incredibly odd tale of Tommy Elrod, the former Demon Deacons quarterback and assistant coach who – in his role as color commentator for the team’s radio broadcasts – was found to have given inside intelligence about the program to a number of the team’s opponents. On Thursday, coach Dave Clawson spoke about the ordeal for the first time, and while he declined to give further details about the school’s continuing investigation, he was clear about his feelings on the matter.
“ ‘They were cheated,’ Clawson said of his players. ‘They were not given a fair chance to compete on multiple occasions, and there’s nothing we can do about it. We found out what happened. We found out who did it. They’re no longer part of our program. Now we need to move forward and try to win a bowl game.’
“Elrod was an assistant to former Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe for 11 seasons but was not kept on the staff when Clawson took over after the 2013 season.”
And you know the rest. The IMG Radio Network hired Elrod and Wake, read Clawson, gave him full access to the team, including game film, so he could prepare for his broadcasts.
Clawson: “I remember when he was first hired to do our radio broadcasts. I talked to his partner and said, ‘Do you think this is really a good move to hire somebody in this position that was just let go?’ And he was almost incredulous, like: ‘Are you kidding me? This guy loves Wake Forest and would do anything for Wake Forest.’ So we embraced him. We allowed him to have access to all of our practices, our press conferences.”
Elrod’s intentions have yet to be revealed, but it seems pretty clear it was revenge for not being retained.
Louisville and Virginia Tech admitted to receiving information, and Army officials at first said Elrod contacted the Black Knights but did not send any information. Army then announced Saturday it will begin an investigation, the 2014 and 2016 contests being in some question. [Wake and Army have played the last three seasons. Army won in Winston-Salem on Oct. 29 this season, 21-13, while Wake won the other two meetings, 17-14 and 24-21.
Indiana hasn’t said anything despite playing Wake the past two seasons and having an assistant, Brian Knorr, on their coaching staff who once coached with Elrod at Wake.
Saturday, the ACC fined Louisville and Virginia Tech $25,000 each for accepting leaked game plan information; $25,000 being the maximum fine allowed under ACC bylaws, which is rather weak.
Louisville suspended offensive coordinator Lonnie Galloway for the Cardinals’ bowl game against LSU because he accepted the plays before the two teams played this past November, a 44-12 Wake loss. [Galloway had once served on Wake’s staff with Elrod.] Virginia Tech did not name the assistant who accepted plays from Elrod, saying only he no longer worked at the school. The Va Tech penalty was for a 2014 game.
But regarding Louisville and Athletic Director Tom Jurich, he said during the week: “I’m disappointed that this issue has brought undue attention to our football staff as we prepare for our upcoming bowl game.”
Marc Tracy / New York Times
“Before gong any further: Yes, you may laugh. Not for nothing has the whole affair earned the hashtag #Wakeyleaks. The cloak-and-dagger element is unavoidably funny, particularly in the context of the obsessive secrecy under which football coaches already operate – although, admittedly, this episode has actually vindicated those tendencies.
“It is also amusing, in a more cynical way, that Jurich, last seen defending the men’s basketball coach, Rick Pitino, from NCAA allegations regarding a years-long scandal involving prostitutes in a dormitory, released a nothing-to-see-here statement that concluded with agonizing over the unnecessary distraction.”
Michael Rosenberg / Sports Illustrated
“Pure hypothetical here: What if Clemson had used Louisville’s stolen game plan to beat the Cardinals this year, a win that helped land Clemson in the College Football Playoff? That would be an enormous story. Well, this is the same transgression. The ACC can’t minimize this because the victim was ‘only’ Wake Forest.
“Louisville spokesperson Rocco Gasparro told the Courier-Journal that (head coach Bobby) Petrino ‘doesn’t have a comment (on) what appears to be a Wake Forest issue.’ Rocco, please: a Wake Forest issue? What?
“When Petrino hired his mistress at Arkansas over more qualified candidates, then crashed his motorcycle with her on board and lied about it to his bosses, was that a Harley-Davidson issue?
“Petrino apparently cheated to win a game. And it was probably easy to do. When Elrod coached at Wake Forest, he was co-coordinator of the passing game. His other co-coordinator, Lonnie Galloway, now works on Petrino’s staff. That sound you hear should be Galloway calling his lawyer….
“If the Patriots got caught doing what Wake’s opponents apparently did, Roger Goodell would take away all their draft choices, starting with pick No. 199 in 2000.”
Christine Brennan / USA TODAY…on AD Jurich
“ ‘Among the communication were a few plays that were sent and then shared with our defensive staff,’ Jurich said in a statement, adding that none of the plays were ‘run during the course of the game,’ as if that somehow makes Elrod’s communication with Galloway and Louisville’s use of the information any less egregious.
“Jurich was not finished. ‘Our defense regularly prepares for similar formations every week in their normal game plan. Any other information that may have been discussed was nothing that our staff had not already seen while studying Wake Forest in their preparations for the game and the material was not given any further attention.’
“Jurich added that he’s ‘disappointed that this issue has brought undue attention to our football staff as we prepare for our upcoming bowl game.’
“Well isn’t that too bad? The Louisville AD has just admitted that his team cheated, that his offensive coordinator received and shared confidential strategic information about an opponent, a breach of ethics that undermined the integrity of that game. And now he’s angry that it’s creating a distraction?….
“Louisville coach Bobby Petrino – it’s a college football scandal, so of course he’s involved – said in a statement back in November when rumors were flying about advance knowledge of Wake’s game plan that he ‘had no knowledge of the situation.’
“Now of course Jurich has confirmed that there was quite a bit of knowledge of the situation among Petrino’s staff a month ago….
“It’s essential that the ACC investigate Wake Forest. But it also should look at every conference school it played the past three seasons, starting with Louisville.”
Ms. Brennan wrote the above prior to the ACC’s ruling. It seems that many schools were approached by Elrod and some didn’t bite. There are a few good apples out there. But Petrino and Louisville are rotten to the core.
Petrino, by the way, is a past Bar Chat “Jerk of the Year” winner.
When Petrino was head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, after his team fell to 3-10, he announced his resignation and then the next day accepted the job of coaching Arkansas. The New York Times’ William Rhoden wrote then:
“This was a variation of the same lie, of deceit, but more cold-blooded. A trust was broken. The culprit was not a player, who, by definition, is single-minded and self-absorbed. This was ‘Coach’ the person, much like a shepherd, who is entrusted with the well-being of a group. The players follow the coach into weekly battles, give their all, fight through adversity only to find, in this case, that they are being led off a cliff while the coach saves himself.”
The day before Petrino resigned, Arthur Blank, the Falcons’ owner, said Petrino looked him in the eye, shook his hand and said he was the coach.
–The Univ. of Minnesota football team was preparing to boycott its Dec. 27 appearance in the Holiday Bowl over 10 accused “brothers” who were suspended by the university for misconduct, an unprosecuted allegation of multiple sexual assaults.
As Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post wrote:
“What’s known is this: Police and prosecutors decided that the case did not meet the burden of criminal proof, but the campus Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action investigators nevertheless recommended discipline against 10 players for violating student conduct standards, and the players were suspended by Athletic Director Mark Coyle and President Eric Kaler.
“According to a police report cited by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, a female student claimed that after a night of drinking, she went to an apartment complex where she initially had sex with one player that ‘may have been consensual,’ but she contended that subsequent sex with multiple other players was not. A brief recording taken by the first player showed her somewhat intoxicated as she engaged in sexual activity that did not appear to upset her. The police interviewed four other players who said the sex was consensual. The woman could not name the number of men because she said she had been drinking, and, per the report, ‘her description of the event is admittedly lacking due to her loss of memory.’ After she left the apartment, she called her sister, who told her to go to the hospital, where she was given a rape exam, while her mother made a report to the police. The Hennepin County prosecutor declined to bring charges.
“ ‘We’re concerned that our brothers have been named publicly with reckless disregard in violation of their constitutional rights. We are now compelled to speak for our team and take back our program,’ senior wide receiver Drew Wolitarsky told reporters. ‘…Moreover, the actions by President Kaler have breached fiduciary duty, not only to the 10 falsely accused but all of us. We demand a meeting with the Board of Regents, without the presence of Kaler and Coyle, to discuss how to make our program great again.’….
“Now, the Minnesota players undoubtedly believe that their ‘brothers’ are innocent of any wrongdoing. But two things jump out. The first is that the demand for a meeting with administrators to discuss ‘how to take back our program’ and ‘make the program great again’ is weirdly discordant and jolting, off the far more serious subject and begs the question of what the players are actually protesting. Is it innocence or simply interference by campus authorities they resent? Second, Wolitarsky and his brethren show zero recognition that if you’re a high-profile football player concerned for your reputation, then perhaps it’s best if you don’t engage in sex with an inebriated woman whose recall and consent may be compromised.”
But Saturday, the team announced it would play in the Holiday Bowl after all, after a group of seniors from the team met with the board of regents, university President Kaler and AD Coyle late into Friday night.
“As a team we understand that what has occurred these last few days and playing football for the University of Minnesota is larger than just us,” receiver Wolitarsky said.
The school declined the players’ request to reinstate the suspended players and the team will now go ahead with preparations for its Dec. 27 game after getting assurances that those accused will get a fair hearing next month.
Good for Kaler and Coyle, by the way, but all involved know it’s been an ugly week for the school.
–Then there is Oklahoma and running back Joe Mixon. Mixon pleaded guilty to assault after he hit a woman in July 2014 and was suspended for his freshman season. The victim, Amelia Molitor, suffered a broken jaw and cheekbone. Mixon did not serve jail time and was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.
He then returned last year and helped the Sooners reach the College Football Playoff, though he did not address the media at the Orange Bowl in his first media availability.
The issue has come up again because the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters sued to obtain a videotape from the assault that hadn’t been seen as yet and it shows Mixon punching Molitor after she shoved and then slapped him twice.
So the school is defending its actions, saying Mixon has conducted himself with high standards since his suspension.
I’ve seen the video. Mixon should have received a bigger penalty for the 2014 incident, but he didn’t, and since he has been fine.
Oklahoma plays Auburn in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 2 in what will be Mixon’s last game before he enters the NFL draft, and GMs will then decide the import of the case in its entirety, including the video.
—Want to look ahead to next year? Not only will Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson be back, but so will Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma as he announced recently he is coming back for his senior year. Plus Washington’s Jake Browning returns. And Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes (supposedly).
And then you have the guy everyone still feels is the prototypical NFL quarterback, and thus No. 1 in the draft, UCLA’s Josh Rosen.
And Southern Cal’s Sam Darnold. Alabama’s Jalen Hurts.
Heck, it’s assumed Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett will also return for his senior year.
Get fired up, college football fans!!!
–In Division I-AA / FCS play….
James Madison upset North Dakota State, winner of the last five championships, 27-17 in the semifinals, while Youngstown State earned the right to play JMU for the title with a 40-38 win over Eastern Washington on a last-second 5-yard TD pass, after E. Washington had taken a 38-34 lead with 4:24 left.
–And in Division III play, I missed last week that Mary Hardin-Baylor had defeated Mount Union in the semis, 14-12, thus ending Mt. Union’s run of 11 consecutive seasons in the D-III finals.
Mary Hardin-Baylor then proceeded to defeat UW-Oshkosh, 10-7, for the national crown this weekend.
Kind of tough to say you’re from Mary Hardin-Baylor and then attempt to convince people in a bar you played on a D-III football champion; no offense to my Mary Hardin readers, or to anyone named Mary Hardin.
[Truth be told…Mary Hardin and her husband John saved the school (then called the Baylor Female College) from bankruptcy during the Great Depression and it was then renamed in their (her) honor. So I guess it’s a good thing the school at least became Mary Hardin-Baylor instead of football players having to explain they are the D-III champions from Baylor Female College, at which point they’d be tossed out of the bar, a la George Bailey at Martini’s.]
NFL
—How ‘bout them Giants?! After today’s 17-6 win over the Lions (9-5) at MetLife Stadium, New York is 10-4 and playoff bound (virtually). Eli Manning (20/28, 201, 2-0, 115.3) outplayed Matthew Stafford (24/39, 273, 0-1, 71.8) as the Giants’ ‘D’ has now given up just 13 points the last two weeks against two pretty potent offenses…Detroit and Dallas (who the Giants beat 10-7).
But come playoff time the Giants will need a semblance of a running game and it seems clear to their fans they need to play Paul Perkins more.
—Pittsburgh was down and out, 4-5, fans bitching and moaning. But now they are 9-5 after winning their last five, the latest a 24-20 come-from-behind win over the Bengals in Cincinnati.
The Steelers were down 20-6 in the second quarter, but Ben Roethlisberger rallied the team back (21/36, 286, 1-0, 93.1), while kicker Chris Boswell booted six field goals, tying a Pittsburgh record, with five of the kicks 40 yards or more, which has to be an NFL record, though I haven’t seen yet.
For the Bengals, “Good” Andy Dalton morphed into “Bad” Andy, finishing with a 60.3 rating.
—Baltimore stayed a game behind Pittsburgh in the AFC North at 8-6 following a 27-21 win over Philadelphia. Joe Flacco had two touchdown passes for the Ravens, while Carson “Senor Wences” once again played like a dummy…22/42, 170, 0-1, 52.7.
—Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers stayed hot, the Packers pulling out a 30-27 win at Soldier Field over the Bears to move to 8-6, Rodgers completing a 60-yard pass to Jordy Nelson to set up the winning field goal, after Chicago (3-11), down 27-10 in the fourth, pulled even behind Matt Barkley’s 362 yards and two touchdowns (though he also threw three picks).
—Houston (8-6) stayed in the playoff hunt with a 21-20 win over the Jaguars (2-12). The Texans benched Brock Osweiler after he threw two early interceptions, and Rutgers/Pitt retread Tom Savage came off the bench to throw for 260 yards.
For Jacksonville, Blake Bortles sucked once again (12/28, 92, 0-1, 36.6) and after the game, coach Gus Bradley was fired. Bradley was 14-48 in three-plus seasons with the Jags, the second-worst performance in NFL history for a coach who was at the helm at least 50 games.
As for the Texans and their $72 million quarterback, Osweiler, this will be interesting. Scouts have long said Tom Savage had the goods to be a quality QB in the NFL. Will he get the nod the rest of the year?
–Meanwhile, Houston’s competition in the AFC South, Tennessee, upset the Chiefs (10-4) in frigid Kansas City, 19-17, the Titans moving to 8-6 on Ryan Succop’s 53-yard field goal, into the wind, as time expired. Talk about clutch…and probably season-saving.
–Also in the AFC South, Indianapolis stayed in it, now 7-7, after a 34-6 whooping of the Vikings (7-7) in Minnesota, a killer loss for the Vikes.
—Oakland (11-3) is playoff bound for the first time since 2002 after a 19-16 win over San Diego, the Raiders getting four field goals from Sebastian Janikowski.
—New England (12-2) is now vying with Oakland for home-field advantage in the playoffs after a 16-3 win over Denver (8-6), Tom Brady largely ineffectual but the Patriots’ ‘D’ stout.
–The Jets did it again. Playing just awful football in prime time, the latest fiasco being Saturday night at MetLife Stadium, a 34-10 drubbing at the hands of the now 9-5 Miami Dolphins that had owner Woody Johnson visibly leaving early.
The Jets are now 4-10 after losing five of their last six, and if quarterback Bryce Petty harbors visions of leading the team next year, his time would be better spent exploring graduate school options.
Petty sucked, and then he left in the fourth quarter with a chest injury.
But coach Todd Bowles said, “It’s all on me. I did a terrible job as far as getting these guys ready to play.”
Well what the [heck] do you do all week with these guys, Coach?
Woody Johnson is loath to make a coaching change just for the sake of shaking things up, but the Jets aren’t even showing up these days and to compound matters, the nation, which had suffered through a brutal political season, has been forced to watch one of the worst sports franchises on the planet. I mean this is worse than water-boarding.
Then again, I really could have just turned it off. My problem Saturday night was I watched the entire Wake Forest-Xavier hoops affair before catching the Jets’ second half and if it wasn’t so late, I would have called Johnny Mac for my sword.
Defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson, he of the massive contract, said afterwards: “Once we got down a couple of points, I don’t know if guys continued to fight like we did last week [a win over the hapless 49ers].”
The week before the San Francisco game, the Jets had lost 41-10 to the Colts on Monday Night Football.
Johnny Mac did point out to me that Michele Obama’s “no hope” diatribe was directed at Jets fans, not as was portrayed in the press.
–Thursday night, in the Seahawks’ 24-3 win over the Rams in Seattle, L.A. quarterback Jared Goff took off on a fourth-quarter scramble and as he headed toward an end zone pylon, Richard Sherman, in a clean play, knocked him out of the game and into concussion protocol.
Rams interim coach John Fassel said, “You admire his courage, but he’s just got to get out of bounds….He’ll learn that.”
Meanwhile, Seattle clinched the NFC West by improving to 9-4-1.
–The Giants used a walkie-talkie during the fourth quarter of the team’s 10-7 win over the Cowboys last Sunday and the NFL is investigating, after the Cowboys filed a formal complaint.
Under NFL rules, coaches aren’t allowed to use any type of two-way radio during a game. Giants coach Ben McAdoo broke that rule in the fourth quarter when he started using a walkie-talkie after the radio went down in Eli Manning’s helmet.
The reason this is illegal is because when a quarterback is wearing his normal helmet, the NFL cuts off all radio communication with the helmet once the play clock hits 15seconds. So the QB had no communication with his coach in the final 15 seconds before a play is run. But when McAdoo uses a walkie-talkie, the NFL can’t enforce its 15-second rule.
Bottom line, the Giants will be fined, though it should be a hefty one. This is pretty egregious stuff.
–NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said at the winter league meetings the other day that new stadium projects being planned for Oakland and San Diego have little chance of flying. “There is not a stadium proposal on the table that we think addresses the long-term issues of the clubs and communities, so we need to continue to work at it.”
Los Angeles is going to get another team, the Chargers (to be announced this week), while the Raiders would love to be in Las Vegas.
College Basketball
–Saturday, in a battle of heavyweights in Vegas, No. 6 Kentucky defeated No. 7 North Carolina 103-100, behind a spectacular performance by freshman sensation Malik Monk, who had a school freshman record 47 points (tops in Division I this year as well) on 18 of 28 from the field (8 of 12 from three), offsetting Justin Jackson’s 34 for the Tar Heels.
—No. 15 Purdue had a nice come-from-behind win at home against No. 21 Notre Dame, 86-81, with both playing like Sweet Sixteen teams.
—No. 2 UCLA defeated Ohio State 86-73.
–In the aforementioned Wake Forest-Xavier contest, what a frustrating loss for the Deacs on the road, 69-65, in what would have been a very nice win over the No. 17 Musketeers. Wake shot just 25-69 from the field, 36.2%, and only 5 of 25 from three, including 0-12 in the second half. Budding superstar John Collins was only 6 of 19 from the field, about 12 of the misses up close, in what had to be the most frustrating performance of his brief career. [That said, Collins is going to be an NBA star.]
I really like this Wake team. There is real talent (including the raw, 6-11 project out of London, Japhet-Mathias), and for the first time I can remember, I thought Danny Manning coached a good game last night…it’s just that the shots didn’t fall…pure and simple.
The Deacs will pull off at least two good upsets in conference play and we’re setting up to get back in the Top 25 next season…it’s the Bar Chat Guarantee!
NBA
–The NBA reached agreement on a new collective-bargaining agreement and frankly the money is so obscene for some truly mediocre players that I really don’t give a damn about trying to understand the details. Except, bottom line, salaries at all levels, including rookie players on their rookie scale contracts, are going up. For a player with 10 or more years’ service this will mean a maximum salary in 2017-18 of $36 million. The maximum salary for players between 7 and 9 years’ service is projected to be $31 million.
–Friday, the Houston Rockets set an NBA record for most threes in a game, 24, in a 122-100 win over the Pelicans in Houston. The Rockets were 24 of 61 from three, led by Eric Gordon (7 of 12) and James Harden (6 of 12). Harden had a triple-double (29 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists), the 15th of his career, a franchise record.
—Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook complains too much attention is being paid to his triple-doubles, but it’s hard not to do so. Saturday, in the Thunder’s 114-101 win over the Suns, Westbrook had 26 points, 11 rebounds, and a career-high 22 assists.
—Sacramento Kings star DeMarcus Cousins is one of the true jerks on the planet and the other day he proved it again, going off on a reporter who mentioned a legal problem involving his brother in a recent column.
“Don’t ever mention my brother again. You don’t know my f—ing brother,” Cousins yelled at Sacramento Bee columnist Andy Furillo Friday night, after Furillo published his column Dec. 9.
“You can say whatever the f—k you want to say about me, but don’t mention my mother—-ing family,” Cousins added before teammate Garret Temple and a Kings employee pulled him away from Furillo. Cousins added that Furillo is “a f—ing coward” as DeJerkoff left the room.
It all had to do with Cousins and teammate Matt Barnes and their fight at a swanky Manhattan club the last time the team was in New York, with Furillo saying the two needed better hangouts, including in Tampa, where Cousins’ brother was tazed when he and DeMarcus attempted to enter the club’s DJ area.
The Kings apologized for Cousins’ behavior and said “media censorship is unacceptable.”
Yes, he’ll get some yearend hardware.
–Finally, we note the passing of long-time TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager, 65, after a two-year battle with leukemia. While tributes have poured in from all corners of the sports broadcasting world and multiple eras, one message perhaps stood above the rest, that being from Dennis Rodman.
For the perennially troubled Rodman, Sager wasn’t just a fixture in the league; he was the reason why Rodman lived past the age of 31.
In April 1993, when the Pistons, the team with which Rodman won two NBA championships, was in the process of cutting ties with him, Rodman was contemplating suicide.
In 1993 the Los Angeles Times reported that “Rodman left a suicide note last February, and police later found him sitting in the parking lot at the Palace of Auburn Hills with a loaded rifle in the back of his truck.”
Later, Rodman disappeared and was considering killing himself when Sager tracked him down at a Detroit strip club, as Sager told Sports Illustrated earlier this year.
Rodman, Sager told SI, “had the gun. He was going to do it. I told him how stupid that would be.”
The intervention worked.
Rodman was then traded to the Spurs, per his request, and his personality and career flourished again.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, visibly shaken, paid tribute to Sager on Thursday before the Spurs’ game with the Suns.
“On a day like this, basketball has to take a backseat as we all think about somebody who was very unique, very special. Whether you really know Craig or not, you got the feeling that he was a special person in a lot of different ways. And right now, I just feel for his family. To talk about him being a professional and good at what he did is a tremendous understatement.
“All of us who knew him understood that that fact was what he was all about as far as work was concerned, but he was a way better person than he was a worker – even though he was amazing in that regard.
“He loved people. He enjoyed pregames, postgames. He loved all the people around him, and everybody felt that. So, the most amazing part of him is his courage. What he’s endured, the fight that he’s put up, the courage that he’s displayed during this situation is beyond my comprehension. If any of us could display half the courage he has to stay on this planet – to live every day as if it’s his last – we’d be well off.
“I’ll miss him very much.”
Sager was always conspicuous, including when he was 22 and working for $95 a week at a radio station in Sarasota, Fla., he talked his boss into letting him cover an Atlanta Braves baseball game on April 8, 1974. After Hank Aaron hit his 715th home run to break Ruth’s record that night, Sager ran onto the field and was at home plate by the time Aaron arrived. So there he was, interviewing the new home run king, and as Sager told BleacherReport.com, “The TV people were yelling at me to get out of the shot because when they cut to Hank, I was right there with him.”
Sager’s outrageous wardrobe was deliberate to help him stand out…and it worked. RIP.
MLB
–After signing his five-year, $86 million deal with the Yankees, reliever Aroldis Chapman had a conference call with reporters, wherein he said that despite winning a World Series in Chicago, he wasn’t a big fan of manager Joe Maddon’s methods in the postseason.
“Personally I don’t agree with the way he used me,” said Chapman.”
Chapman said what bothered him most was being kept in Game 6 of the World Series to pitch the start of the ninth inning with the Cubs holding a 9-2 lead – after he had thrown 42 pitches two nights earlier for an eight-out save in Game 5. In Game 7 the following night, Chapman’s fastball velocity was way down and he gave up a game-tying home run to Cleveland’s Rajai Davis before the Cubs won in 10 innings.
Maddon did say before Game 7 that he should not have allowed Chapman to remain in Game 6 in the ninth.
But clearly Chapman was also miffed at how Maddon would often bring him in in the middle of innings, and earlier than usual, Aroldis told Maddon when he was acquired by the Cubs from the Yanks in mid-season that he preferred to pitch only the ninth, but he did volunteer to be used wherever Maddon wanted to.
Bottom line, Yankee manager Joe Girardi has very well-defined roles for his relievers, to a fault, but Chapman likes that.
However, the size and length of Chapman’s contract will certainly be a topic for debate going forward. I agree with my friend, Ken P., that in two years, the velocity on Chapman’s fastball will be way down and with it his effectiveness. [Mets fans…think Bobby Parnell, though admittedly this isn’t exactly apples to apples.]
Premier League
Lots of action since last chat….
Wed. ….
Liverpool 3-0 over Middlesbrough
Chelsea 1-0 over Sunderland
Manchester United 2-1 over Crystal Palace (terrific Progba to Ibrahimovic late decider)
Manchester City 2-0 over Watford
Tottenham 3-0 over Hull
Saturday….
Chelsea 1-0 over Crystal Palace
Manchester United 2-0 over West Brom
Sunday….
Manchester City 2-1 over Arsenal…a biggie
Tottenham 2-1 over Burnley…Danny Rose pulls it out for the Spurs, whose Sissoko deserved a red card but got only yellow.
Monday…Liverpool and Everton square off.
So after 17 of 38 games….
1. Chelsea 17 games…43 points…11 wins in a row!
2. Man City 17 – 36
3. Liverpool 16 – 34
4. Arsenal 17 – 34…have lost two straight after being ahead in each.
5. Tottenham 17 – 33…doing exactly what I said they had to do. Beating up on those below them, but then can’t beat those ahead of ‘em.
6. Manchester United 17 – 30…suddenly they have won three in a row to become relevant.
Stuff
—Tiger Woods signed a new contract with Bridgestone Golf to play its B330-S ball, a multi-year deal, terms not disclosed. It’s the same version available in stores, kids; the same ball also currently played by Matt Kuchar.
Bridgestone expects its market share to change “dramatically,” as the company put it.
Calloway, Bridgestone and Nike have been battling for the No. 2 position in the ball marketplace, but the three combined are still well short of Acushnet’s dominance with its Titleist and Pinnacle brands.
—Jack Nicklaus is a big supporter of Donald Trump and will be attending the inauguration. While this might not seem news worthy, I look at it and say that any issues the PGA Tour may have with Trump are likely to be resolved with the influential Nicklaus bending the Tour’s ear.
That doesn’t mean we’ll see an event at Doral in the near future, owing to new sponsorship agreements, but already-scheduled events at Trump courses should remain on tap.
–The great California Chrome won a prep race at Los Alamitos on Saturday, setting a track record at 1 1/16 miles by more than three-quarters of a second, with the real target being the Pegasus World Cup, a $12-million race on Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park in Florida, after which Chrome will retire from racing.
Remember, boys and girls. The Pegasus will be a rematch with Arrogate, who handed Chrome his only loss this year in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. [I need to put post-its all over my place to remind myself on this one.]
–What a stupid deal in New York City. A deer has been stuck in a Harlem park and Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo fought over who was responsible for its removal. For two days, City Hall and Albany bickered and then on Friday, the deer died.
The city planned to euthanize Bambi until Gov. Cuomo intervened, because he just hates de Blasio. City officials say the deer died of unnecessary stress while waiting for its self-appointed state rescuers to arrive.
The reason why the City thought Bambi should be euthanized is because experts had concluded it wouldn’t survive transportation and relocation. That’s when Albany intervened.
It was a big story in these parts, for a few hours, because as the New York Post editorialized, Gov. Cuomo has a “weird obsession with stomping on the mayor.”
–And there was a tragedy in California the other day. A female mountain lion, who gave birth to three kittens earlier this year, was struck and killed by a vehicle while crossing the 118 Freeway near Chatsworth, wildlife officials announced Thursday.
The 5-year-old lion was known as P-39 and was hit by a car back on Dec. 3, but her remains have not been found. Instead, researchers discovered the tracking collar. The concern is that the three kittens, who were quite photogenic, will not survive. They were 4 weeks old when they were discovered in their den June 22.
P-39 is the 13th mountain lion to be killed on Los Angeles County roads since researchers began tracking the animals in 2002.
She crossed the 118 Freeway for the first time days before she was killed and it’s not known if her kittens were with her at the time of the crash.
Top 3 songs for the week 12/19/64: #1 “Come See About Me” (The Supremes) #2 “I Feel Fine” (The Beatles) #3 “Mr. Lonely” (Bobby Vinton)…and…#4 “She’s Not There” (The Zombies) #5 “Ringo” (Lorne Greene) #6 “Time Is On My Side” (The Rolling Stones) #7 “Goin’ Out Of My Head” (Little Anthony and The Imperials) #8 “Dance, Dance, Dance” (The Beach Boys) #9 “I’m Gonna Be Strong” (Gene Pitney) #10 “You Really Got Me” (The Kinks…pretty good week, I think you’d agree…)
Clemson Quiz Answer: 1981 national champs…QB: Homer Jordan. Running backs: Cliff Austin, 824 yards; Chuck McSwain, 692. [Jordan rushed for 486 and Jeff McCall chipped in with 457.] WR: Perry Tuttle had 52 receptions, the only receiver with more than 20.
Yes, not a lot of offense on this 12-0 team. It was all about ball control and the defense. Coach Danny Ford’s boys gave up more than 15 points in a game just once all season, an 82-24 win over Wake Forest. Yes, 82! Us Wake alum of a certain age remember it well. [Along with a 130-70 loss to North Carolina State in basketball about 35 years ago.]
The 1981 Clemson Tigers won the title by the skin of their teeth, with wins of 13-5, 13-3, 17-7 and 10-8.
Then in the Orange Bowl, they defeated a Nebraska team that featured running backs Roger Craig and Mike Rozier (Turner Gill at QB), 22-15.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday…and this one will be that day, not Wednesday. Our annual Christmas special.
