Arizona Cardinals Quiz (Chicago / St. Louis / Phoenix.
1920-2000): 1) Most rushing yards, career? 2) Most passing
yards, career? 3) Most receiving yards, career? 4) Most
interceptions, career? Answers below.
President Bush Honors the Memory of Pearl Harbor
I imagine most of you didn\’t have the opportunity to see
President Bush\’s speech to the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise on
Friday afternoon. It was a good one.
[Following introductory remarks.]
The attack on Pearl Harbor was plotted in secret, waged without
mercy, taking the lives of 2,403 Americans. The shock and
chaos came on a quiet Sunday morning. There were acts of great
heroism amongst those who survived and those who did not.
Nine who fell that day had Navy ships named after them.
In two hour\’s time, for bravery above and beyond the call of
duty, 15 men earned the Medal of Honor and 10 of them did not
live to wear it. Young sailors refused to abandon ship even as
waters washed over the decks. They chose instead to stay and try
to save their friends.
A mess steward carried his commander to safety and then
manned a machine gun for the first time in his life.
Two pilots ran through heavy fire to get into their P-40 fighters.
They proceeded to chase and shoot down four enemy aircraft.
Those were among the scenes of December the 7th.
On December the 8th, as the details became known, the nation\’s
grief turned to resolution. During four years of war, no one
doubted the rightness of our cause, no one wavered in the quest
of victory.
As a result of the efforts and sacrifice of the veterans who are
with us today and millions like them, the world was saved from
tyranny.
Many of you in today\’s Navy are the children and grandchildren
of the generation that fought and won the Second World War.
Now your calling has come. Each one of you is commissioned
by history to face freedom\’s enemies.
When the Enterprise sailed out of Norfolk last April, we were a
nation at peace. All that changed on the morning of September
the 11th. You were among the first to fight in the first war of the
21st century. You were ready. You performed with skill and
honor, and you have made your nation proud.
On board this ship, when you returned to port four weeks ago,
was a young man named Ruben Rodriguez. A few days later,
Petty Office Rodriguez lost his life in a plane crash. His wife
and his family are in our thoughts and prayers.
One of the last things the sailor did was to visit ground zero in
New York City. He saw what the terrorists did to America, and
he said to a friend, "That\’s why I fought."
And that\’s why we\’re all fighting. We\’re fighting to protect
ourselves and our children from violence and fear. We\’re
fighting for the security of our people and the success of liberty.
We\’re fighting against men without conscience, but full of
ambition to remake the world in their own brutal images. For all
the reasons, we\’re fighting to win, and win we will.
There\’s a great divide in our time. Not between religions or
cultures, but between civilization and barbarism. People of all
cultures wish to live in safety and dignity. The hope of justice
and mercy and better lives are common to all humanity.
Our enemies reject these values, and by doing so they set
themselves not against the West, but against the entire world.
Our war against terror is not a war against one terrorist leader or
one terrorist group. Terrorism is a movement, an ideology that
respects no boundary of nationality or decency.
The terrorists despise creative societies and individual choice,
and thus they bear a special hatred for America. They desire to
concentrate power in the hands of a few, and to force every life
into grim and joyless conformity.
They celebrate death, making a mission of murder in a sacrament
of suicide. Yet for some reason, for some reason, only young
followers are ushered down this deadly path to paradise while
terrorist leaders run into caves to save their own hides.
We\’ve seen their kind before. The terrorists are the heirs to
fascism. They have the same wield of power, the same disdain
for the individual, the same mad global ambitions. And they will
be dealt with in just the same way.
Like all fascists, the terrorists cannot be appeased. They must be
defeated. This struggle will not end in a truce or a treaty. It will
end in victory for the United States, our friends and for the cause
of freedom.
The Enterprise has been part of this campaign, and when we
need you again I know you\’ll be ready.
Our enemies doubt this. They believe that free societies are
weak societies, but we\’re going to prove them wrong. Just as we
were 60 years ago in a time of war, this great nation will be
patient, will be determined and we will be relentless in the
pursuit of freedom.
This is becoming clearer to Al Qaeda terrorists and the Taliban.
Not long ago that regime controlled most of Afghanistan; today
they control not much more than a few caves.
Not long ago Al Qaeda\’s leader dismissed America as a paper
tiger. That was before the tiger roared.
Throughout history, other armies have sought to conquer
Afghanistan and they failed. Our military was sent to liberate
Afghanistan and you are succeeding.
We\’re a long way from finished in Afghanistan. Much difficult
and dangerous work is yet to come. Many terrorists are still
hiding in heavily fortified bunkers in very rugged territory.
They\’re said to be prepared for a long stay underground.
But they\’re in for a sudden change of plans, because one by one
we\’e going to find them, and piece by piece we\’ll tear their
terrorist network apart.
As we fight the terrorists, we\’re also helping the people they
have persecuted. We have brought tons of food and medicine to
the Afghan people. They\’ll need more help as winter comes, and
we\’ll provide it.
Most of all, that country needs a just and stable government.
America is working with all concerned parties to help form such
a government.
After years of oppression, the Afghan people, including women,
deserve a government that protects the rights and dignity of all its
people.
America is pleased by the Afghan progress in creating an interim
government. And we\’re encouraged by the inclusion of women
in positions of authority.
And the war on terror continues beyond Afghanistan. With the
closing of bank accounts and the arrests of known terrorists, we
put the terrorists and the nations in the world on notice: We will
not rest until we stop all terrorists of global reach. And for every
nation that harbors or supports terrorists, there will be a day of
reckoning.
A few days from now I will go to a great American institution,
the Citadel, to describe the new capabilities and technologies we
will need to wage this broad war on terrorism for years to come.
We will need the intelligence to find the enemy where he dwells
and the means to strike swiftly across the world. We must have a
military organized for decisive and total victory.
And to you, the men and women of our military, I make this
pledge: You\’ll have every resource, every weapon, every tool
you need to win the long battle that lies ahead.
This war came, oh, so suddenly, but it has brought out the best in
our nation. We\’ve learned a lot about ourselves and about our
friends in the world. And they should stand with us, because this
is civilization\’s fight.
Today, we take special pride that one of our former enemies is
now among America\’s finest friends. We\’re grateful to our ally
Japan and to its good people. Today, our two navies are working
side by side in the fight against terror.
The bitterness of 60 years ago has passed away. The struggles of
our war in the Pacific now belong to history. For Americans
who fought it and suffered its losses, what remains is the lasting
honor of service in a great cause and the memories of ones who
fell.
Today at Pearl Harbor, veterans are gathering to pay tribute to
the young men they remember who never escaped the sunken
ships. And over the years, some Pearl Harbor veterans have
made a last request. They ask that their ashes be brought down
and placed inside the USS Arizona. After the long lives given
them, they wanted to rest besides the best men they ever knew.
Such loyalty and love remain the greatest strength of the United
States Navy.
And the might of our Navy is needed again. When America
looks at you, the young men and women who defend us today,
we\’re very grateful. On behalf of the people of the United
States, I thank you for your commitment, your dedication and
your courage. May God bless you, and may God bless America.
—–
Johnny Mac\’s Football.Steve Van Buren
[The other day I mentioned Beattie Feathers, the first 1,000-yard
rusher in the NFL. Johnny Mac reminds us that the first two-
time 1,000-yard rusher was quite a player in his own right.]
Steve "Movin\’Van" Buren was the best running back in the NFL
from 1945-51, a worthy successor to the legacy of Jim Thorpe
and Bronko Nagurski. A sturdy 6-foot and 200 pounds, Van
Buren was a power runner with speed, able to run over or around
would-be tacklers. His style set the stage for other fullbacks to
follow, from Marion Motley to Jim Taylor.
Born in what is now Belize, Steve was raised in New Orleans
and attended LSU. He had a great senior season for the Tigers,
leading the nation in rushing and capping his collegiate career
with a memorable performance in the Orange Bowl as LSU
defeated Texas A&M 19-14. Van Buren not only ran for 172
yards in the game, scoring twice, but he also threw for the other
touchdown, kicked the extra point, punted, kicked-off, returned
kicks and swept up the stadium. The Philadelphia Eagles then
wisely selected him in the draft and he paid immediate dividends.
In his first season, all Van Buren did was lead the league in
rushing, scoring and kick-off returns. Then in 1947 he broke the
1,000-yard barrier (1,008) and bettered that mark again in \’49
with 1,146. In all, Steve would lead the league four times in both
rushing and scoring. He also led the Eagles to three division
titles and consecutive NFL championships in 1948 and 1949.
Retiring after the 1951 season, in his short career Van Buren
nonetheless left quite a legacy. At the time, he held the all-time
career rushing record (5,860 yards), along with the records for
rushing attempts, rushing touchdowns, most touchdowns in a
season, most rushing titles, and most rushing yards in a title
game (196). So here at Bar Chat we honor another of the greats.
Johnny Mac, continued…Mel Hein
And speaking of the NFL and its leading pioneers, there is Mel
Hein, football\’s original "Iron Man." Forget the current
definition of the term, which we take to mean someone who
plays a number of games in a row. It doesn\’t matter how many
minutes or snaps that player is in for, just as long as he gets in.
Mel Hein, the real Iron Man, once played every minute of every
game for the New York Giants for 15 straight years. Take a
second and re-read that. Every play of every game.for 15
seasons.and he played center and linebacker, two very physical
positions.
Hein was a walk-on for the Giants in 1931, having had a decent
but unspectacular college career at Washington State. He was
signed to a game-by-game deal, which paid a whopping $150 per
contest. But he had a head for the game, as it turned out, and he
excelled at center, which was a key position back in the single-
wing days, with each snap directed to a back stationed behind the
line, similar to the shot-gun formation of today. Centers needed
to keep their heads down to insure accuracy, yet they also needed
quickness to get on their blocks or get out on the sweep. It was a
difficult job, and legend has it that Hein never made a bad snap.
The techniques he developed have been passed down to this day.
On defense, Mel was an excellent linebacker. He was among the
first to excel at pass coverage, and developed the technique of
jamming receivers at the line, still in use today. Hein also was
named Giants captain and remained so for 10 seasons. He led
the team to seven title games and two championships. In an era
of over-specialization, his 60-minute mentality must seem quaint
today. Granted, the game was not quite the collision sport you
see now, but it wasn\’t croquet either. To never miss a snap in all
those seasons was an amazing accomplishment by a hard-
working, humble man who just showed up and did his job.
College Football
And I\’ll let Johnny Mac have a word on the selection of
Nebraska to face Miami in the NCAA title game at the Rose
Bowl January 3rd.
"Let\’s see.Nebraska gets to play in the Rose Bowl, for the most
part, because they didn\’t have to play a tough last game in their
conference championship…huh?
"So, if Oklahoma had beaten Oklahoma State, then went on to
lose to Colorado in the Big 12 title game, that means Texas
would be in Pasadena by dint of not playing. Is it me, or is
something just a bit screwed up here?"
Well, I\’m happy for loyal reader Ken S. and the other Nebraska
fans out there, but, let\’s face it, these last three weeks have
witnessed some of the weirdest results of any season I can
remember. And how about Hawaii? All they did was bury
undefeated BYU, who had been crying that they weren\’t among
the BCS elite, 72-45! Quarterback Nick Rolovich of Hawaii
threw for 543 yards.bringing his total the last three games to
1,548 and 20 TDs. Hey, here\’s Dick Enberg. "Oh my!"
Actually, Hawaii deserves credit for its 9-3 mark, including
handing Fresno State one of its two losses.
As for the Heisman, well it was a lucky weekend for Nebraska
all around, as Eric Crouch became the first true option QB to win
the award.
Eddy Curry
Boy, this 18-year-old Chicago Bulls rookie is a goldmine for us
scribes. You\’ll recall about a week ago (Bar Chat 11/28) I wrote
of Curry\’s problem in remembering that he was married and that
his wife is the woman who bore him a child. This week Sports
Illustrated quotes Curry on why he has struggled at the free
throw line. "It\’s the balloons and all those things they\’re waving.
They didn\’t have that in high school." Let\’s just hope Curry has
a good money manager. Let\’s also hope he keeps talking!
Top 3 songs for the week of 12/15/62: #1 "Big Girls Don\’t Cry"
(The 4 Seasons) #2 "Return To Sender" (Elvis Presley) #3
"Bobby\’s Girl" (Marcie Blane)
Arizona Cardinals Quiz Answers: 1) Rushing, career: Ottis
Anderson.7,999. 2) Passing, career: Jim Hart.34,639.
3) Receiving yards, career: Roy Green.8,497. 4) Interceptions,
career: Larry Wilson, 52.
[The Cardinals franchise has won 2 playoff games in its history,
1998 and in 1947.the latter being the only championship when
they were the Chicago Cardinals.]
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday: A special look at past Heisman
winners, as well as tips on defending oneself from a cougar
attack. You\’ll want to clip the piece and post it on your
refrigerator.
