NFL Quiz: Who holds the record for most receptions in a single
season? Answer below.
Sports Illustrated”s Top 50 Sports Figures from Each State
So SI just published this list. Here are a few choices I found
interesting, especially for the smaller states.
Alabama – 1) Hank Aaron 2) Willie Mays 3) Bo Jackson
California – Eddie Matthews was #50! That”s how strong the
state is…
Georgia – 1) Ty Cobb 2) Herschel Walker 3) Bobby Jones
(like Alabama, strong)
Idaho – 1) Harmon Killebrew
Maryland – 1) Babe Ruth 2) Cal Ripken, Jr. 3) Lefty Grove
4) Jimmie Foxx 5) Al Kaline
Montana – Dave McNally
Nebraska – 1) Bob Gibson 2) Gale Sayers 3) Grover Cleveland
Alexander
New Hampshire – 1) Carlton Fisk
New Mexico – 1) Ralph Kiner
New York – 1) Jim Brown 2) Kareem 3) Sugar Ray Robinson
North Dakota – 1) Roger Maris
Oregon – 1) Danny Ainge 2) Steve Prefontaine
Pennsylvania – 1) Wilt Chamberlain 2) Arnold Palmer 3) Johnny
Unitas
Rhode Island – 1) Nap Lajoie 2) Davey Lopes.slight drop-off.
Washington – 1) John Stockton
West Virginia – 1) Jerry West
Wyoming – 1) Boyd Dowler
The final ranking of the states was:
1) California 2) Texas 3) NY 4) PA 5) Alabama…huge surprise.
Curtis Mayfield
Mayfield died a few days ago at the age of 57. Born in Chicago,
Curtis teamed up at an early age with songwriter/producer Jerry
Butler to form The Impressions. Their first hit was “For Your
Precious Love” in 1958 but then Butler left to pursue a solo
career. Mayfield then became the lead singer and the group put
out “Gypsy Woman” in 1961. Other big early hits were “Keep on
Pushin”” (”64) and “People Get Ready” (”65). The former was
regarded as the first R&B song to rally blacks behind the civil
rights movement.
Mayfield said of this time that “Being a young black man,
observing and sensing the need for race equality and women”s
rights, I wrote about what was important to me.” He pushed the
boundaries of R&B by singing of black pride and gritty urban
landscapes.
In 1972 he wrote the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film
“Superfly,” which many consider to be his masterpiece. The
album produced two top ten hits in the title track and “Freddie”s
Dead.”
On August 14, 1990 while performing an outdoor concert in
Brooklyn, NY, a lighting rig fell atop him, leaving him
permanently paralyzed from the neck down. He died as a direct
result of the complications from this injury that plagued him ever
after. [If you want a great album, get the Greatest Hits which has
both his Impressions work as well as his solo act.]
Some of the Centuries Great Parties
According to the Sunday New York Times, some of the great
parties were.
–A fund-raiser for “The Masses,” a socialist magazine, held in
Greenwich Village back in 1913. Admission was $1 with
costume, $2 for plain clothes. “Drunkeness ensued, followed by
nudity as the costumes inevitably came off.”
–The Premiere Party for the movie “Around the World in 80
days,” held at Madison Square Garden on 10/17/57. Marilyn
Monroe rode in on an elephant. Liz Taylor played host as the
party was thrown by her husband Mike Todd (producer of the
movie).
–Fund-raiser for the Black Panthers at the Park Ave. apartment
of Leonard Bernstein, 1/14/70. “I dig absolutely,” Bernstein said
in response to a Panther field marshall”s call for Marxist
revolution. Little did Bernstein know that the fund-raiser would
unleash a torrent of scalding ink, including a famous satire by
Tom Wolfe called “Radical Chic.”
–Malcolm Forbes 70th birthday party in Tangier, Morocco,
August, 1989. The shindig cost some $2 million and was the last
chapter in the greed-is-good decade. Columnist Liz Smith wrote
“Malcolm was just trying to give everybody a good time, and
people were so ungrateful.” The problem was that some of the
living conditions for the guests were rather poor. The hotel was
just painted and there was no air-conditioning.
–Puffy Comb”s 29th birthday, 11/4/98. Said one, “This was the
day that he simultaneously arrived and peaked in one four-hour
period.” Held at Cipriani Wall Street, there were about 3,000
gate-crashers. Guests included Muhammad Ali, Donna Karan
and Sarah Ferguson, all of whom had to wait in the cold behind
police barricades while Martha Stewart and Naomi Campbell
snuck in a back door. Puff Daddy was four hours late. The price
tag was about $600,000. [And, of course, Puffy got in some
major trouble early Monday morning in New York as he was
squiring Jennifer Lopez. Shots were fired and Puff was found
with a gun which he swears isn”t his. To be continued. Also, no
word on whether Lopez reads StocksandNews.]
Martha Stewart Rings In The New Year
So Martha and I were planning this big deal. She says, “Brian,
let”s watch the Millennium”s first sunrise from the top of Maine”s
Cadillac Mountain, considered to be the first spot in the
continental U.S. to see the sun rise in 2000.” I said, “But,
Martha, it will be too icy for all of the guests to make the trek.”
She then changed her plans…and told me to get lost. Actually, as
the first dawn of 2000 breaks at 7:04 a.m., Stewart and the guests
at her home on Mt. Desert Island (Maine) will take a more
leisurely two-mile hike to a ledge overlooking Frenchman Bay,
followed by a grand breakfast at her place. Guests will dress in
fuzzy bathrobes and eat fruit from candied grapefruit shells, tall
blueberry muffins (as opposed to squished ones) and pancakes
that are a cross between popovers and crepes. They will drink
from giant cafe au lait mugs and wipe their fingers on fine Irish
linen.
Rusty Wallace”s Bloody Marys
Wallace, NASCAR driver extraordinaire, has the following recipe
for Bloodies.
1 quart tomato juice
1 cup vodka
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
+ teaspoon TABASCO brand Pepper Sauce
Lime slices or celery stalks
In a 2-quart pitcher, combine tomato juice, vodka, Worcestershire
sauce, lime juice, and TABASCO Sauce; stir well. Pour over ice
and garnish with lime or celery. Makes 6 (6-ounce) servings.
[Courtesy: “NASCAR Cooks with TABASCO Brand Pepper
Sauce”]
Top 3 songs for the week of 12/23/72: #1 “Me and Mrs. Jones”
(Billy Paul) #2 “I Am Woman” (Helen Reddy) #3 “You Ought
To Be With Me” (Al Green).
Quiz Answer: Herman Moore, 123, Detroit, 1995.
Next Bar Chat, Friday.
