U.S. Open Quiz: Ernie Els has Open titles from ”94 and ”97.
Who was the last foreign golfer to win the championship before
Els? Answer below.
June 17, 1775
It”s the 225th anniversary of the first large-scale battle of the
American Revolution. In April of 1775 the opening volleys of
the American Revolution were exchanged at the Battle of
Lexington in Massachusetts. In May, the British reinforced their
forces around Boston under the command of General William
Howe. Then, during June, the British noticed a disturbing
development, that being the building of fortifications across the
way on the Charlestown peninsula.
The American Committee of Safety had authorized the
occupation of Bunker Hill on the night of June 16-17. The forces
were to be under the command of Colonel William Prescott.
General Thomas Gage, governor of Massachusetts and
commander-in-chief of all British forces in North America, faced
a new threat. [The rebels had also decided to occupy Breed”s
Hill, next to Bunker Hill and closer to Boston across the river.]
Gage authorized General Howe to make an assault on Breed”s
Hill instead of just occupying the neck of the peninsula and
waiting for Americans to surrender. [Picture a blimp…with
Breed”s Hill being the front, Bunker Hill towards the tail, and the
actual tail, the narrow neck.]
But Howe landed his forces on the beach below Breed”s Hill at
1 p.m., where they ate a delicious lunch of spam and grog.
At 3 p.m., the redcoats made the first of two unsuccessful
charges up the hill. Each time they were repulsed, but then they
would regroup and charge again, over the bodies of their dead
comrades.
On the 3rd try, with 400 fresh troops, and having shed their troop
packs which weighed more than 100 pounds, they withstood
another withering musket volley from the rebels. The
Americans, running out of ammunition, then retreated, with some
of the troops covering them on Bunker Hill. Rather than pursue
the rebels across Charlestown Neck, the battered redcoats rested.
The tally of the casualties was staggering. By most accounts the
British lost 230 dead with about 850 wounded out of 2,500 that
were engaged. The Americans suffered 140 dead and 300
wounded out of an estimated 1,500 active participants.
The highly disciplined British fought with courage but were
outdone by the totally undisciplined rebels. Nonetheless, the
Americans temperament caused them more harm than good in
upcoming battles because they thought that their free wheeling
ways would always carry the day. Mainly, however, Bunker
Hill could be considered a success due to the leadership of
Prescott and Connecticut General Israel Putnam. It is Prescott
who is credited with the order, “Don”t fire until you see the
whites of their eyes,” but this was a common command of the
day and Putnam probably echoed it as well.
[Source: “Battles of the Revolutionary War,” W.J. Wood]
Relocations, Losses and Strikes
An interesting recent article in the Washington Post by Richard
Morin addresses a study by sociologist Robert Fernquist in the
latest issue of ”Aggression and Violent Behavior,” a publication
which your editor has somehow managed to avoid. Fernquist
looks at the relationship between sports fandom, murder and
suicide.
Murder and suicide rates are higher in cities whose professional
baseball, football, basketball or hockey teams consistently fail to
make the playoffs than in cities that regularly make it to
postseason play.
Fernquist examined the suicide and homicide rates in 30 metro
areas with at least one professional sports team between 1971
and 1990. Routinely making the playoffs appeared to lower the
suicide rate on average from 13.1 to about 12.3 per 100,000, or
about 20 fewer suicides each year in a metro area the size of
Boston or Atlanta. There were similar effects on homicide rates.
“People take winning and losing personally.it”s part of a very
powerful psychology. It”s not just a team that”s winning or
losing but it”s ”They beat us” or ”We”re losing,”” said Fernquist.
The study found that the national murder rate spiked during the
baseball strike of 1994-95 and then receded after play resumed.
Preliminary work on New York City when the Giants and
Dodgers left town in the 1950s, and in Cleveland when the
Browns bolted for Baltimore in ”96 suggest that the suicide rate
rose, then fell after “people got used to the idea.”
Boys vs. Girls
The Post”s Morin also reported on a new book by Christian Hoff
Sommers titled “The War Against Boys.” Among the findings:
–The typical boy is a year-and-a-half behind the average girl in
reading and writing skills. Girls scores still lag behind boys in
science and math, but only slightly.
–A majority of college students are women and the gap is
expected to grow. By 2007, the Dept. of Education estimates 9.2
million women in college, 6.9 million men. Yup, time for
graduate study.
–A University of Michigan study found that the “majority of
both genders (53%) described themselves as having been both
victims and perpetrators of sexual harassment.”
Greatest Golfers
Golf Digest, in their 50th Anniversary issue, listed their Top Ten
golfers of all time.
1. Jack Nicklaus 2. Ben Hogan 3. Sam Snead 4. Bobby Jones
5. Byron Nelson 6. Arnie 7. Walter Hagen 8. Gary Player
9. Mickey Wright 10. Tom Watson. [Gene Sarazen was #11
and Tiger was #12.]
Top 3 songs for the week of 6/19/61: #1 “Moody River” (Pat
Boone) #2 “Travelin” Man” (Ricky Nelson) #3 “Quarter To
Three” (U.S. Bonds)
Quiz Answer: David Graham was the last foreign golfer to win
the Open title prior to Els when he won at Merion in 1981.
Obscure recent U.S. Open runners-up: John Schlee (”73, Johnny
Miller won), Forrest Fezler (”74, Hale Irwin), Mike Donald (”90,
Hale Irwin).
Next Bar Chat, Monday.editor has no clue what it will be on.
