NCAA Quiz: Name the following players who led the nation in scoring
before heading to the NBA. 1) I led the nation with a 37.4 avg.
while playing for Miami. 2) I posted a 28.9 avg. while at TCU.
[Hint: Both are post 1960.] Answers below.
Patty Hearst
Well, since March 20 represents the 25th anniversary of Patty
Hearst”s conviction for taking part in a 1974 bank robbery, and
since she was one of those pardoned by Bill Clinton as he left
office, I thought we should do a quick review of her case. [The
board here at StocksandNews has no real problem with the
former president on this one.]
Hearst, of course, was the newspaper heiress and granddaughter
of publishing giant (and major dirtball) William Randolph Hearst,
who on the evening of February 4, 1974 received a knock on her
Berkeley apartment door from those lovely folks from the
Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) – a bunch of leftists who
terrorized California in the early 70s.
The SLA had dreams of overthrowing the government and their
leader was a career criminal, Donald D. DeFreeze, a k a General
Field Marshall Cinque. In November 1973, the SLA shot and
killed Marcus Foster, the superintendent of the Oakland school
district, whom they regarded as a tool of the establishment. Then
on February 4, they kidnapped Patty Hearst.
Gagged and blindfolded, Hearst was driven away to a safe house
in San Francisco. The group was going to extort money from her
rather wealthy family in exchange for her release. On February
12, a ransom message from her abductors demanded $70 in food
for every needy person in California…quite a noble request, don”t
you think? The Hearst family then started a $2 million food
giveaway on February 22. [There is no telling what the Hearsts
would have done had the estate tax been repealed back then.]
On April 3, Patty sent a tape to authorities declaring she was
joining the SLA of her own free will. It turns out they were really
a swell bunch of folks! Except for the fact that they were robbing
banks. And in one of those robberies, a camera took a famous
picture of Patty participating in a San Francisco heist. There she
was, resplendent in her army garb, a semiautomatic weapon in her
hands.
The FBI was hot on the case and on May 17, 1974 more than 400
police officers and agents surrounded a bungalow in South-
Central Los Angeles. A fierce gun battle ensued, with the
ammunition and tear gas setting the house on fire. 6 of the 8
known members of the terrorist group died, including Field Marshall
Cinque. But Patty Hearst and some of her associates (including
William and Emily Harris) were not in the building.
On June 6, Hearst was indicted by a federal grand jury for her
role in the bank robberies. Meanwhile, the remaining SLA
members robbed two more banks and, in one, a customer was
killed. But on September 18, 1975 Hearst was captured in a San
Francisco apartment along with the remaining SLA members, all
except Kathy Soliah, a k a Sara Jane Olson, who fled to
Minnesota and started a new life until she was finally tracked
down by the police in June 1999.
In March 1976, Patty Hearst was convicted by a San Francisco
jury of taking part in the ”74 bank job and was sentenced to 7
years in jail. In May of the following year, she was released on
probation after she was able to prove that she had been
brainwashed and tortured. [Sources: Encyclopedia of American
Facts, Mark Miller / Newsweek]
Monday Morning Wrap-up
–To my friend Coach Jose Rebimbas of William Paterson
University, I know you”re upset at losing the Division III title on
Saturday to Catholic University, but, Jose, you had one helluva
season. And not many can say they took two teams to the Final 4
in three years. We”re real proud of you.
–Baseball: The Yankees are now thinking of moving Chuck
Knoblauch to left field. Oh great, the guy can”t make the throw
from second and now you think he can do it from left? Those of
you sitting down the left field line better wear a mouth guard, at
least. And make sure the little ones are paying attention at all
times.
Then there is Jim Leyritz, the 37-year-old utility player who had a
reputation for getting it done in post-season play. The Mets gave
him a tryout this spring, but released him on Saturday after he hit
just .160, 3 for 23. Here was Leyritz”s excuse.
“I use a real heavy bat and I have a big leg kick. It takes me time
to get going.”
Geezuz, are we supposed to wait until August?! Get outta town.
–This is really tragic…and no humor is intended. A 71-year-old
woman was playing golf with her husband down in Florida last
week when she accidentally drove the golf cart into a pond (30-
feet deep) and drowned. [She couldn”t swim.] This was one of
those places where private homes surround the course. Can you
imagine living by that site? You”d have to move.
–Reliving another tragedy, Wake Forest versus Butler. On
Friday, I”m working at the office with the tourney on. Wake-
Butler wasn”t the feature game so the first score I saw was the
box in the corner…it was 11-2, Butler. Well, I thought, since I
told my readers that Wake would lose this one anyway, I”m not
surprised, but I did expect my alma mater to make a game of it.
You know, as a fan you”re thinking the next score you see will be
something like 13-7. The next score was 22-3.
At this point Johnny Mac, the great friend that he is, called to
make sure I wasn”t contemplating suicide. I assured him that he
wouldn”t have to drive 90 minutes or call the authorities. As we
were talking the score became 25-3. A few minutes after hanging
up, it was 32-8.then 43-10, the worst half of basketball in the
history of the sport, far exceeding the effort of my fraternity
D-team against the football players in 1977 (though yours truly
did give a D-back a bloody nose, unintentionally, and lived to
write about it).
I am so embarrassed that I will hereby take my WFU cap out of
the rotation, which includes my Jets and Earnhardt hats. And
it will have to remain on a deep shelf until we beat a Top Twenty
team next year…if we ever do again.
–Speaking of NASCAR, ratings in L.A. and New York are up
62% from just last year.
–This week”s ridiculous airfare find: Unrestricted round-trip,
New York – Riyadh…$1540. Unrestricted New York –
Minneapolis…$1468.
–The fix was in: So did you see the Family Williams over the
weekend? Venus Williams tanked another match to her sister,
this time pulling out of the semi”s just minutes before taking on
Serena, Thursday night.
So on Saturday, dirtball daddy Richard and Venus arrive to watch
kid sister in the championship match. The crowd of 15,000
booed the two vociferously and Richard shot them a fist in
defiance. Venus showed absolutely no signs of an injury; no limp,
no bandages, no nuthin”. For making the sport of tennis a joke,
the tour really should suspend Venus for six months and ban
Richard from the game for life.
–Strippers / Pro Athletes!: The Daily News had a piece the other
day on the upcoming trial of Steve Kaplan, Junior Gotti associate
and owner of Atlanta”s hotspot, the Gold Club. At least 18 pro
athletes have been called as witnesses for the prosecution (6 from
each of the NBA, NFL and MLB), including Patrick Ewing.
Now I imagine some of you have been to this rather interesting
establishment (your editor won”t divulge whether he has…cough,
cough). Prosecutors are claiming that strippers are used for
prostitution in the VIP room. Ewing and other as yet unnamed
witnesses will be forced to testify. Reporter Greg Smith wrote
that one tape that has been revealed has a stripper saying, “She
saw a fellow dancer performing a sex act on Ewing and several
other NBA players.” The trial begins April 30. Just in time for
the NBA playoffs. Commissioner David Stern must be thrilled.
–Puffy is freed!!! Praise the Lord. Yes, here at StocksandNews
we are overjoyed that Sean “Puffy” Combs was acquitted of
criminal involvement in a 1999 nightclub shooting that left 3
people wounded. He faced gun possession and bribery charges.
“I want to thank God for just being here for me,” said Puffy, “and
just protecting me and my lawyers.”
There you have it, folks. God works in strange ways, doesn”t
He? [Of course, Puffy”s friend and protTgT, Jamal “Shyne”
Barrow, was found guilty of firing a weapon and faces 25 years.]
–Space junk: As Mir makes it way down towards an
unpredictable fiery end, last week the International Space Station
and shuttle Discovery had to be maneuvered out of the way of
some space junk, a large tool that was fumbled by an astronaut on
a walk earlier in the week. A direct hit would punch a gaping
hole in the spacecraft, causing immediate depressurization and
killing everyone on board. In February, the shuttle had to get out
of the way of some Russian junk.
What”s more amazing is that the U.S. Space Command in
Colorado Springs is actually able to trace 8,303 manmade
orbiting objects the size of a softball or bigger. [Let”s give it up
for Puffy!…oops…where did that guy come from?] Only about
600 of the 8,300+ are functioning satellites, the rest is just
garbage, like spent rocket bodies, old and broken satellites and
shards of exploded spacecraft. The Space Command is able to
give NASA a few hours notice of a possible collision.
Top 3 songs for the week of 3/17/62: #1 “Hey! Baby” (Bruce
Channel) #2 “Midnight In Moscow” (Kenny Ball & His Jazzmen)
#3 “Don”t Break The Heart That Loves You” (Connie Francis)
NCAA Quiz Answers: 1) Rick Barry played his college ball at
Miami, leading the nation in scoring in 1965. 2) Kurt Thomas led
the nation in both scoring and rebounding while at TCU in 1995.
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday. A tribute to John Phillips and the
Mamas and the Papas.
