NHL Quiz: [Last one, I promise.until March.] 1) Scotty
Bowman is first all-time in games coached with 2,059. Who is
second at 1,606. 2) Who is first all-time in shutouts with 103?
Who is #3 with 84. [#2 is George Hainsworth, a name I figure
2% of you would get. #3 is a more modern-era player.] Answers
below.
Nothing But Stuff
–I was passed along a note by Phil W. that Jesse Jackson has
added former Chicago congressman Mel Reynolds to the
Rainbow / PUSH Coalition”s payroll. Now this is the same
Reynolds who was among the 176 criminals excused in President
Clinton”s last minute forgiveness spree. Now Reynolds was
serving a 6+ year sentence for wire and bank fraud, among other
things, including a concurrent sentence for sleeping with an
underage campaign volunteer. So as Phil”s friend Morton L.
notes, here is a first in American politics.
“An ex-congressman who had sex with a subordinate, won
clemency from a president who had sex with a subordinate, then
was hired by a clergyman (ed. I like to say “fake reverend”) who
had sex with a subordinate. His new job? Youth counselor.
“Is this a great country or what?”
–My man, Arnold Palmer, on the war on terrorism, as told to
Golf Digest. Palmer, who still flies his own plane, had a
suggestion for his friend, Tom Ridge, director of homeland
security.
“Bulletproof, one-way glass between the cockpit and the cabin. I
can see you, but you can”t see me. Our country got soft and
complacent, but we will fight for what is right. I would fight
myself, for my children and grandchildren. What would happen
if the terrorists win, anyway? What have they got without us?
They crash planes, we build planes. If one of those bastards
came into my cockpit, I”d break his neck.”
And even at age 72, if you ever saw Palmer up close and got a
load of his forearms, he”d make mincemeat of anyone who tested
him.
Plus Arnie is going to win the Masters this year.
–The February / March issue of American Heritage magazine
had a blurb on lunchboxes. The most popular ever was the
Disney school bus box, with all of the Disney characters in the
windows. This sold 9 million copies between 1961 and 1973.
Now if you have a 1950 Hopalong Cassidy model it might fetch
$87. But a 1965 Beatles lunchbox in mint condition would be
worth $1,375. A Lost in Space (1967) model in good condition
gets you $299.
–Prince Harry has been smoking pot and drinking beer. Since,
for starters, he”s only 17 and the drinking age is 18 in Britain,
well, let”s just say Harry”s father, Prince Charles, reamed his ass.
Of course around here we”re just curious what his ale of choice
is.
–Big controversy in New York City as a memorial to the
firefighters is going up at headquarters in Brooklyn. The original
statue to honor the 343 who died in the Twin Towers was to be a
replica of the famous picture of the three firemen raising the
American flag at Ground Zero. They were all white, as were
about 338 of the 343 victims (and the overall makeup of the
NYC Fire Dept. is of similar ethnic proportions). The uproar is
over the fact that whoever is in charge of the memorial wants to
have one white, one black and one Hispanic.
–George Will”s commentary Sunday on “This Week” was all
about the bogus Michael Strahan sack record that I referred to
last Monday. Sports relies on “integrity of competition, absent
that, you have a sham,” said Will. Right on, bro.
–Kirby Puckett is evidently getting a divorce from his wife,
Tonya, after she told police he threatened to kill her. Now
baseball fans recognize that Puckett was one of the most popular
to ever play the game and it”s the main reason why he was
elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame last year, even though his
career numbers clearly don”t warrant it. [If you disagree, then I
urge you to look at Vada Pinson”s career…paid for by The Vada
Pinson Fan Club.] Anyway, I have a different theory as to what
went on in the Puckett household. You”ll recall that Puckett was
forced to retire early because he is basically blind in one eye. So
I”m assuming he thought his wife was someone else. [The
prosecutor did not file charges in the case.]
–We have had a pretty funny little story going on in New Jersey
this week concerning two college basketball players, Marcus
Toney-El of Seton Hall and Rutgers” Herve Lamizana. It seems
these two didn”t like each other in high school and it was a
reason Lamizana chose not to attend the Hall. So as a prelude to
the Seton Hall / Rutgers matchup this weekend, they decided to
play out their feud in the Jersey papers. Toney-El had the
following quote.
“He (Lamizana) shouldn”t hate. That”s a female trait. Men are
men. We get over things. To still keep that on him, that”s a
female trait.”
Dohh!!! Well, needless to say Mr. Toney-El was taken to the
woodshed by Seton Hall, as well as various women”s groups.
We hope he”s learned his lesson. Both went scoreless in the
game, by the way.
–The New Jersey Nets are an astounding 24-11, all while their
leading scorer is Keith Van Horn at just a 15.7 clip. Of course
they”re at this mark because of Jason Kidd, the MVP in
basketball thus far. 14 ppg, 10 assists, 7 rebounds.
–Sorry, Tony Dungy should be fired. He”s got the talent. He
didn”t get it done.
–Matthew Futterman of the Star-Ledger reported that NFL
commissioner Paul Tagliabue is seriously looking at holding the
2007 Super Bowl at the Meadowlands because he yearns for a
title game decided in wintry weather. Now while this would be
good for our local economy, this is absolutely the stupidest idea
ever put forward. Hey, let”s get real. We all love watching bad
weather games in Green Bay, Buffalo and Chicago…but do you
really want the Super Bowl decided in a mud pit? Anyway, New
York doesn”t get winter anymore. And by 2007 the average
temperature for January / February will be 60 degrees.
–International Living”s 2002 Quality of Life Index
This particular publication (it”s a newsletter) is always good for a
little debate, and the articles on foreign locales are excellent.
The following is based on items like cost of living, economy,
environment, freedom, health, infrastructure, risk & safety, and
climate. And the winner is.even after 9/11.
1. U.S.
2. France
3. Norway
4. Netherlands
5. Australia
6. New Zealand
7. Finland
8. Denmark
9. Austria
10. Belgium
Frankly, I was shocked they picked the U.S. first because the
editors of this publication tend to be leftist. Others in the
rankings…Canada #12, Ireland #14, UK #17 and Turkey #93.
But imagine how ticked you”d be if you were in Taiwan. They
rated them #120…and China was 103!
As for the bottom ten, it”s Sierra Leone, Burundi, Yemen, Sudan,
Congo, Tuvalu, Iraq, Mayotte (I have no clue where this is),
Somalia, and the worst place in the world to live…Afghanistan.
as if you didn”t know.
Top Ten Tourist Destinations
France – 75.5 million visitors annually
U.S. – 50.9
Spain – 48.2
Italy – 41.2
China – 31.2
U.K. – 25.2
Russia – 21.2
Mexico – 20.6
Canada – 20.4
Germany – 19
Somalia – one
The coldest place in the world is Oymyakon, Siberia, where it
isn”t unusual to see the thermometer down to minus 94 F.
–Golf: The average driving distance on the PGA Tour increased
6.7 yards between 1980 and 1995. Since then it has increased
another 15.8 to 279.4 last year. [10 yards of this is owed to
titanium drivers, 5 yards for the ball.]
–What the heck were the Philadelphia Eagles” cheerleaders
wearing on Saturday? Geez, that was ugly. Now as for the
Raiders” girls.
–And why is Baltimore”s Ray Lewis allowed to do promos for
the NFL? C”mon, Tagliabue, you can do better.
–Us Jets fans are in mourning, but as Johnny Mac pointed out,
our pass rush took him back to his schoolyard days of touch
football…Raiders QB Rich Gannon could almost be heard
counting “one Mississippi, two Mississippi.” [We also await
the final story on John Abraham”s “stomach ache.”]
Top 3 songs for the week of 1/15/66: #1 “We Can Work It Out”
(The Beatles) #2 “The Sounds Of Silence” (Simon & Garfunkel)
#3 “She”s Just My Style” (Gary Lewis & The Playboys).solid
Top 3.
Harry K. passed along something I didn”t know. The Monkees”
Mike Nesmith”s mother invented Liquid Paper and when she died,
left him with a fortune of around $160 million.
Man, how about all of these record collections being advertised
on television these days? As for “Instrumental Classics,” I”m
partial to Floyd Cramer”s “Last Date” and Bert Kaempfert”s
“Red Roses For A Blue Lady” (don”t laugh, you”ll start liking
this one too as you get older). But because the collection also
includes Vangelis”s “Chariots of Fire,” one of the worst tunes of
all time, Time / Life has lost a sale.
NHL Quiz Answers: 1) Al Arbour is second all-time in games
coached. 2) #1 all-time in shutouts is Terry Sawchuk. #3 is
Glenn Hall. #4 is Jacques Plante.
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday.
