NBA Quiz: Name the Top 3 in all-time free throw percentage.
[Hint: All are retired and played post-1960.] Answer below.
Super Bowl III
January 12, 1969…Baltimore Colts vs. New York Jets
The Colts came in as 18-point favorites. Despite an injury to
Johnny Unitas, backup Earl Morral ended up being the MVP of
the NFL during the regular season (26 TD passes) as the Colts
went 13-1, scoring 402 points while giving up just 144. [Bubba
Smith and Mike Curtis anchored the defense.] And the Colts had
killed Cleveland 34-0 in the NFL title game.
As for the brash Jets, this was the year of the Heidi game
(11/17/68) and they were able to gain revenge on the Oakland
Raiders in the AFL championship contest, 27-23. The Jets were,
of course, led by "Broadway Joe," Joe Willie Namath.
When the Jets arrived in Florida for the Super Bowl, Namath was
asked what he thought of Earl Morrall. "I can think of five
quarterbacks in the AFL that are all better than Morrall." Lou
Michaels, Baltimore\’\’s 250-pound placekicker / linebacker, met
Namath at a restaurant. "You\’\’re doing a lot of talking," he said.
"There\’\’s a lot to talk about," said my main man Joe Willie.
"We\’\’re going to kick heck out of your team. I\’\’m going to pick it
apart." You go Joe!!!
Later in the week at an awards dinner, Namath told reporters,
"The Jets will win Sunday; I guarantee it!" Woof woof woof
woof! [Excuse the excitement by this Jets fan, as he types the
story up. This is the only friggin\’\’ thing we can hang our hat on,
after all.]
Well, you know the rest; Namath delivered and the Jets beat
Baltimore 16-7. As Namath jogged off the field at the end of the
game, he held up his index finger in the air.and this 10-year-old
kid cried with joy.
After the game, George Blanda of the Raiders was asked for his
thoughts.
"Namath psyched two teams. He psyched the Jets into believing
that they could win, and he psyched the Colts into doubting that
they could win." [Source: "The Complete Super Bowl Story,"
Richard Brenner]
Line Score
Jets 0-7-6-3- 16
Colts 0-0-0-7- 7
Selected Stats
Passing
Namath: 17 of 28 for 206 yards [MVP]
Morrall: 6 of 17 for 71 yards with 3 interceptions.
Unitas: 11 of 24 for 110 yards with 1 interception.
Rushing
Matt Snell: 30 carries for 121 yards and a TD
Emerson Boozer: 10 for 19
Bill Mathis: 3 for 2
Tom Matte: 11 for 116
Jerry Hill: 9 for 29
Receiving
George Sauer: 8 for 133 yards
Snell: 4 for 40
Mathis: 3 for 20
Pete Lammons: 2 for 13
Willie Richardson: 6 for 58
Jimmy Orr: 3 for 42
John Mackey: 3 for 35
Total Yardage
Jets 337
Colts 324
*Jim Turner kicked 3 field goals: 32, 30, 9
**Favorite Jets name: Billy Joe, RB
Jimmy Yule
I saw an obituary the other day that was pretty fascinating. Lt.
Col. Jimmy Yule died at the age of 84. Yule, was a British Army
officer, notorious for his prison escape attempts, as well as
helping others to escape during World War II.
In May 1940, Yule was first captured during the Norwegian
campaign. Shipped off to a P.O.W. camp, he tried to dig a tunnel
but was discovered and placed on a train to another camp.
Well, Yule discovered that a door on the train was unlocked so
he jumped to his freedom.only to be recaptured a few days
later.
Now the incorrigible Yule was transferred to Colditz Castle in
Germany, an 11th-century hunting lodge that was used by the
Germans for their problem prisoners, most of whom were
officers.
Colditz was deemed to be virtually escape-proof because of its
high, thick walls. And for a spell Yule cooperated. But then he
was transferred to Spangenberg, where he tried to escape across a
moat, was recaptured, and sent back to Colditz. Luckily for the
Allies, his services as a radio operator were crucial.
Some French officers, who had been transferred out of Colditz,
left a radio receiver behind. But while they didn\’\’t have a
transmitter, at least Yule and his compatriots could listen for war
news and they were then able to smuggle out coded messages.
The BBC sent their own out all the time seeking intelligence.
For example, once they inquired as to the issue of Dresden and
possible barrage balloons. [These were used to foil low flying
bombers.] Just like in "Hogan\’\’s Heroes," one of the prison
guards was rather talkative and the men at Colditz were able to
ascertain that Dresden didn\’\’t have the balloons. They thus were
able to smuggle out the valuable information. [Unfortunately for
the people of Dresden, in February 1945, the Allied firebombing
of the city killed an estimated 135,000.]
Jimmy Yule was also in charge of the prisoners\’\’ orchestra at
Colditz. Richard Goldstein, writing in the New York Times,
described this crucial role.
"The strains often drowned out preparations for breakouts or
distracted guards when escapes were in progress. On one
occasion, the music started or stopped to signal two escaping
prisoners on the whereabouts of sentries who were in view of the
prisoner musicians. And a space below the theater stage was
used by four escapees as an exit toward passageways leading to
freedom."
American troops liberated Colditz in April 1945. In 1993,
workmen renovating the castle for use as a museum discovered
the secret radio room along with codebooks and a poem from
Jimmy Yule, written during his P.O.W. days as he longed for
home in the U.K.
"Back in London, here we are.
Back to clubs and caviar.
Back to Covent Garden\’\’s fruits,
Back to 50-shilling suits."
Here\’\’s a pint to ya, Jimmy Yule, and all of your brave comrades.
Oil
I forgot to mention this one the other day, but it was 100 years
ago, January 10, 1901, that a major event occurred at a place
called Sour Spring Mound, a few miles south of Beaumont,
Texas.
Sour Spring was thought to have oil and some workers were
installing a new drill bit for the purposes of drilling further than
the 1,160-foot hole that they already had.
As Frederic D. Schwarz wrote in a recent edition of American
Heritage magazine, before they could drill any further, "Mud
began to spurt out the top with enough force to break off pieces
of the wooden derrick. A few minutes later, a column of oil
erupted."
At first it was 120 feet high – a flow not seen outside of the Baku
fields of Russia. It took the workers 9 days to cap it (after the
column had grown to 150 feet).
Look out Beaumont. By late March, the population had tripled.
And by October 1902, what was to be known as the "Spindletop"
field had 440 producing wells. At the height of the boom, crude
oil dropped to 3 cents a barrel (the all-time low) due to a
resulting huge surplus. OPEC then came along and established a
price band of $22-$28.
Baseball Hall of Fame
Of course, it was no surprise to anyone that Dave Winfield and
Kirby Puckett were voted in on Tuesday. But Gary Carter is
once again disappointed as he failed to receive the required 75%
of the ballots cast. But Carter moved up to 65% (from 50% last
year) and he should make it in 2002. Jim Rice rose from 52% to
58%, but one would think he\’\’s going to have a tough time
gaining that final 17%.
Meanwhile, Jim Deshaies, he of the 84-95 career mark, received
one vote while Howard Johnson got zero. Also, Lance Parrish
and his 324 homers are not eligible for next year\’\’s voting since
he failed to garner the 5% necessary for a return appearance.
The same happened to Lou Whitaker, one of the best second
basemen of his generation (243 HR, 2369 hits).
Super Bowl Tickets
Just for your edification, the breakdown of the 75,000 seats is as
follows:
–18,750 to the NFL for staff, guests, advertisers
–6,250 to the host team
–23,100 to the other 28 teams (825 apiece)
–400 to the expansion Houston Texans (commence play in \’\’02)
–26,500 between the Ravens and Giants
DuJuan Wagner
Houston? We have us a new dirtball; DuJuan Wagner of
Camden High School in New Jersey. [Camden is the #1 rated
team in the state and must be in the Top Five nationally.] Early
this week, Wagner set the all time state record for points in a
basketball game when he scored 100. Wagner is one of the top
talents in America and is already committed to the University of
Memphis where his father, Milt (Louisville All- American.
along with a cup of coffee in the NBA), is an assistant coach
under John Calipari.
Anyway, Wagner convinced his coach to let him go for the
record in Camden\’\’s 157-67 victory over Gloucester Tech. Of
course, the coach at Camden is as much at fault for allowing
Wagner to stay in, thus further humiliating the Gloucester team.
And the coach obviously had no control over Wagner, even if he
recognized the error of his ways.
But, alas, the New Jersey press is ripping both the coach and
Wagner. I seriously doubt, however, whether DuJuan has
learned anything or not.
By the way, the all time record for points in a high school game
is 135, set by Danny Heater of Burnsville, West Virginia back in
1960.
Top 3 songs for the week of 1/18/75: #1 "Mandy" (Barry
Manilow) #2 "Please Mr. Postman" (Carpenters) #3 "Laughter
In The Rain" (Neil Sedaka.schmaltzy week, eh?)
NBA Quiz Answer: Free throw leaders – #1 Mark Price (1986-
1998), .904 [2135/2362. For the two years 1991-93, Price hit
559 of 590.94.7%.] #2 Rick Barry (1965-1980), .900
[3818/4243. Never below .862. Hit 160 of 169 in \’\’78-\’\’79, .947.]
#3 Calvin Murphy (1970-1983), .892 [3445/3864. 1st season
.820, never below .862 after that.]
*Muggsy Bogues: The 5\’\’3" wonder was never known for his
outside shot and so it should come as no surprise to learn that he
hit just 11 of his first 94 3-pt. attempts, 1987-92. But by 1996-
97, he sure had practiced and he went 60-144 in that season alone
(.417). And continuing with stats on Muggsy that I realize you
couldn\’\’t give a hoot about (but since we both went to Wake
Forest you have to put up with this), in 1993-94, Muggsy
averaged 4 rebounds a game! That\’\’s pretty awesome.
Beer: Two Tom Beer\’\’s have played in the NFL. One was a LB
with Detroit, 1994-96. The other was a receiver with Denver and
Boston / New England from 1967-72, catching 65 passes for
1012 yards and 4 TDs. Beer here!
Next Bar Chat, Monday…Super Bowl Quiz Week.
