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Bar Chat

02/20/2012

The Kid

Baseball Quiz: 1) Name the four active players with a .320 or higher career batting average. [Minimum 3,000 plate appearances] 2) Name the three active pitchers with 175 or more wins. Answers below.

Gary Carter (1954-2012)

Major League Baseball ran the following full page memoriam on Sunday:

Driven by a remarkable enthusiasm for the game, Gary Carter became one of the elite catchers of all time. An 11-time All-Star, “Kid” won three Gold Gloves and five Silver Sluggers during his Hall of Fame career. He was instrumental in leading the 1986 New York Mets to victory in an all-time-classic World Series. Yet it was his character, his enthusiasm, and his leadership that made him among the most beloved players in the history of the Montreal Expos and Mets franchises. Major League Baseball extends its deepest condolences to Gary’s family, his friends, and his many fans.

Allan H. “Bud” Selig
Commissioner of Baseball

2,092 hits
324 home runs
1,225 RBI
4 times 100 RBI
9 times 20 HR
4 times top six MVP voting

Born April 8, 1954, Culver City, California.
Drafted in the third round by the Montreal Expos in 1972.

His Hall of Fame plaque reads: “An exuberant on-field general with a signature smile who was known for clutch hitting and rock-solid defense over 19 seasons.”

After his brief, and wicked, battle with brain cancer, the memories are pouring in. Carter did make it one last time to his beloved ball field, Feb. 2, where he caught a few innings of Palm Beach Atlantic University’s opener, Kid being their coach.

“Somehow…his face bloated from the drugs that were never going to save him, a Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish cap on his head, he made it to that opener…Made it to the ballpark one more time. It seemed important Saturday at this spring training place in Florida. It mattered, because Kid mattered…to his teammates and to the college kids who got to say goodbye that day at Roger Dean Stadium.

“They got to say goodbye to him. Kid got to say goodbye to baseball. All the toughness he ever showed at Shea and all the other big-league stadiums of his wonderful baseball life, all the toughness he showed when he’d get one of his pitchers through a rough inning or a bad day, all the toughness he showed when he’d block home plate again, Kid was never tougher in his life than when he made it to his college team’s home opener less than three weeks ago.

“Here is what Bobby Ojeda, who was always tough enough himself, told me about Gary Carter on Friday afternoon.

“ ‘He had a presence in the locker room. He had a presence on the field and not many guys have that. A lot of guys play the game, a lot of guys catch, pitch, but you don’t have a presence. Gary had a presence and he had a steadiness to his day-to-day outings and he was a legit competitor and a legit winner and he was the type of guy that made me better on the mound because he didn’t let me accept mediocre days. There was never a day where I was like, ‘Oh I don’t have my good stuff, Gary. We’re just gonna phone this in.’ That wasn’t happening with him. That was part of him. His winning mind-set was as vivid as anyone who has ever played the game.’

“Gary Carter was a great husband, father, grandfather, player, teammate. That is what you have heard from so many of his teammates over the past couple of days, from Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling, who spoke of the athletic character of the Met who stood up first and refused to make the last out of Game 6 of the ’86 World Series.

“You have heard it from Doc and Darryl and Wally Backman and I heard it from Ojeda. None of this was about the bad behavior we saw from some of the old Mets, the bad decisions, this was about the shared experience of what they did together when they were young, about the memories they made for themselves, and for us. The way they mattered. Once and for all this week, they all let you know, all the 86ers who played the game they way they did, how much Gary Carter mattered to that team, and to them.”

“His nickname ‘The Kid’ captured how Gary approached life. He did everything with enthusiasm and with gusto on and off the field. His smile was infectious…He was a Hall of Famer in everything he did.”

“Gary was one of the happiest guys in the world every day,” Mets teammate Mookie Wilson said.

“What he added to the team was character. His approach to the game was contagious. It spread to the rest of us. He helped each of us understand what it took to win,” said Darryl Strawberry.

“I relied on Gary for everything when I was on the mound, including location, what pitch to throw and when. Even when I didn’t have my best stuff, he found a way to get me through the game. He was just a warrior on the field,” said Dwight Gooden.

Carter was once honored with the Roberto Clemente Award for humanitarianism.

“Gary Carter was everything you wanted in a sports hero: a great talent, a great competitor, a great family, and a great friend,” said former Mets pitcher Ron Darling.

“Nobody loved life in a bigger way than Gary,” said former Mets manager Davey Johnson. “Gary’s brave battle has ended, but his from-the-gut laughter will be heard and his vitality and spirit will be felt forever. I loved him very much, and I know he is finally at peace.”

Mike Schmidt commented that when Carter finally was elected to the Hall of Fame in his sixth year of eligibility, “No player ever appreciated that call to the extent he did. The joy it brought him, his family, and friends, especially me, was so real and pleasantly genuine, I ate it up and still do.”

Pierre Elliot Trudeau, then prime minister of Canada, once said of Kid when he was an Expo, “I am certainly happy that I don’t have to run for election against Gary Carter.”

In the 1985 season opener for the Mets, Carter’s first game with the team after being acquired from Montreal for Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald, Herm Winningham and Floyd Youmans, Carter hit a tenth-inning game-winning homer at Shea, a harbinger of things to come as the fans screamed “Gary! Gary!  Gary!” and his teammates mobbed him at home plate. 

But when he was in Montreal, some Expos teammates thought he was a bit too enthusiastic, and that Carter was obsessed with his image and basked in his positive press coverage. They called him Camera Carter. Carter himself said his reputation as a self-absorbed straight arrow burdened him.

He told Jeff Pearlman, who wrote a book on the 1986 Mets, “I carried a lot of baggage with me. I’d go to a new team and guys were saying they wondered how I was in the clubhouse, whether I had a big head or was a team player.”

“We all disliked Gary when we played against him,” said Keith Hernandez. “He was just a little rah-rah varsity collegiate type, even though he didn’t go to college. But I respected him as a player. And when he came to New York, I appreciated him, too.”

Carter hit 24 homers and drove in 105 as the Mets won 108 games and the Series in ’86.

“Kid, Nails, Mex, Straw, Doc – it didn’t matter whether they signed autographs or not, because the Mets ruled the world – including the bars and clubs – on the other side of midnight.

“Carter didn’t live that way. Like Mookie Wilson, he was happily married, faithful to his wife, Sandy, didn’t drink, didn’t touch drugs. That made Carter an outcast in the clubhouse. Carter knew he often was mocked by Hernandez and Darryl Strawberry, among others. But The Kid never returned fire, either on or off the record, instead concentrating on playing hard and interacting with the media.”

But over the years, teammates, and writers, changed their views.

“Gary figured it out way before we did how to treat people,” former Mets infielder Wally Backman told Klapisch. “We used to make fun of him, the way he’d sign every damn autograph. We had to hold the bus for him sometimes, because he didn’t know how to say no. He didn’t want to say no. But you know what? He was right. He really loved the game.”

“For a man who had nothing bad to say or do toward anybody, he was strangely alone in the Mets’ clubhouse. In Montreal he had been the core of the Expos, but general manager Frank Cashen and his Mets staff had accumulated so many strong personalities on the Mets that Carter was muted…In New York, Kid Carter was pure vanilla for a city with stronger tastes.”

But all memories come back to Game 6, 1986, Mets down 5-3, two outs, bottom of the tenth inning… “I wasn’t going to make the last out of the World Series,” said Gary. So he singled on a 2-1 fastball to left off Red Sox reliever Calvin Schiraldi. Kevin Mitchell followed with a single. Then Ray Knight singled, with Carter scoring from second. When Gary crossed the plate he clapped his hands, pointed at Wilson in the on deck circle and clapped again. A wild pitch scored Mitchell and then Mookie hit the slow roller between Buckner’s legs, scoring Knight. Mets 6 Red Sox 5.

Carter had actually tied the game in the eighth with a sacrifice fly. In Game 7, Carter drove in the tying run in the sixth inning as the Mets went on for their second, and most recent, title.

“Many will remember Carter as the guy who always had a huge smile, someone who clearly loved his life. But there was also the intense Carter, standing up-right at home plate, eyes filled with intensity, especially in big moments like the one on a late October night in 1986 when he kept his team alive long enough to produce the most startling rally in postseason history.

“The words will pour out in the next few days and they will be heartfelt. But no words will capture the way those who played with him and knew him as eloquently as those few seconds when Ron Darling told the world he was standing up for his catcher [Ed. during a Stand Up To Cancer commercial during the past World Series, Darling acknowledged Carter’s battle].

“Today, all of baseball is standing up for The Kid. And there isn’t a dry eye in the house.”

Darryl Strawberry said on Kid’s death, “I wish I could’ve lived my life like him.”

“There was this too-good-to-be-true thing going with Gary Carter – he didn’t drink, didn’t smoke, seemed to be happily married to the same woman, studied the Bible, gave good quotes, smiled for the camera, smiled for everybody, reached down to pick up garbage he happened to see anywhere near the field. Teammates, many of them, just didn’t quite get him. Strangers, many of them, were suspicious. There he was, in late August, still smiling while their bodies ached, still going full speed when the temperature was scorching 100, still the Kid, long after most of the others had grown up.”

Ron Darling: “I know that World Series, that Game 6, it was only sports. But sometimes sports shows the greatness people have in them. Somebody had to stand up that night and say, ‘I’m not making the last out of the Series.’”

When Mookie Wilson was told of Carter’s death, it’s reported there was a long silence. He could barely get out that he just wanted to extend his condolences.  He couldn’t say anything else. Hernandez’ voice cracked when he was told. “I’m sorry,” said Keith, breaking down. “I’m very sad. He always had a love for life and a love for baseball. He always played in a lot of pain…He was a very brave man, a man of faith. He walked the walk as well as talked the talk when it came to his faith.”

Ron Darling: “For all the making fun we did of how Opie, Mayberry RFD he was, our team needed him. We needed him on our team, and we needed him in our lives….

“When you’re young and dumb you make so many stupid decisions. Kid was never like that. He was always a good husband, a good father, a good humanitarian. It took me a while to learn how to do all that.”

Lenny Dykstra, bad boy extraordinaire of the ’86 Mets, one of those constantly needling Carter, and one who has gone through countless problems of his own making the last few years, was evidently as broken up as anyone on hearing of Carter’s death.

“It doesn’t make sense why a guy like that, one who ends up with a great family…there’s nothing really else I can say. He was a Hall of Famer, and he played the game right. Kid and Mex [Hernandez] were the f----- hearts of that (’86) team.”

Yes, there is something different about the death of Gary Carter. As a fan I’ve felt it. I talked to my brother the other day and he felt it, too. All my fellow Mets fans feel it. While some of us don’t want to admit it, as Dykstra clearly hinted, it’s about looking in the mirror. Carter’s death, for those who knew him or followed his career as we did, forces us to look inward.

Ron Darling: “He was everything you’d want a man to be.”

I was one of those fans who loved how Carter was such a clutch player, but I thought he was kind of fake, insincere. Had I been writing Bar Chat back then, as a 28-year-old who in his own way was partying his butt off in New York just like my favorite team was, I probably wouldn’t have always been so kind, being incredibly immature in those days (not that I’m any better at 53).   That’s why Carter’s teammates are so broken up over his death. They’re all thinking the same thing. If we could only have known what we do now, we would have embraced Kid more. We wouldn’t have said some of the stupid things we did.

But in hindsight, look at the example Gary Carter set for the generations to come. Look how Phil Mickelson and Tim Tebow are embraced. They both have their detractors; they’re too good to be true, some say. But the doubters are increasingly in the minority. 

What’s wrong with embracing genuinely good guys? In just the past two weeks, America is being asked to judge another story of this kind, that of Jeremy Lin. He loves God, just like Tebow. Early on Lin’s saying all the right things. And he’s now proven over nine games he has the talent to back it up. Hopefully Jeremy doesn’t get jaded by the sudden success; that he’ll remain grounded. He’s given us little thus far to believe otherwise.

So we mourn the passing of Gary Carter. He didn’t intend it to be this way, but he’s forced many of us to do some soul-searching. His impact on his teammates and the tens of thousands outside the sport that he touched will never be forgotten. May those who now carry his torch, in sports and other walks of life, receive the respect from the start that Kid often didn’t receive.

College Basketball

--I watched a ton of college basketball on Saturday, even watched my Wake Forest Demon Deacons lose to Miami in typical fashion, 74-56. The Deacs were putting up a good effort on the road, taking a 22-18 lead and then you see what happened after…blowout city. Once again we also failed to beat the spread, which was 14 ½ points. And at the end of the day, boys and girls, you all know that’s what matters most. I admit to losing $48,000 on the contest, bringing my career losses on the Deacs to $17.8 million. Needless to say, it hurts.

But once again we were told by the television crew the Deacs have a solid recruiting class coming in so I’m going to give Wake a pass the rest of the season and give them a shot again come next November. 

--I totally concur with the various ESPN analysts who proclaimed after impressive wins by Wichita State over Davidson, 91-74; New Mexico over No. 11 UNLV, 65-45, in The Pit (The Lobos’ Drew Gordon with 27 points and 20 rebounds); and Murray State’s equally impressive 65-51 win at home over Saint Mary’s (the Racers going 25 of 43 from the field, 58%!); that this coming NCAA tournament could be all about the mid-majors. Dick Vitale said in his 30 years it’s the deepest group of them. Wichita State and New Mexico, in particular, could make some major noise. This week the rankings are going to be reshuffled big time, especially with Nos. 11-25, after the past week’s action, including some other big games. Like…

No. 19 Michigan defeating No. 6 Ohio State, 56-51.

No. 15 San Diego State with a bad loss at Air Force, 58-56.

--But since my last chat I also have to note some absolutely horrid performances.

On Wednesday, the Deacs defeated Georgia Tech, 59-50, with my friend Johnny Mac saying it was about the worst display of Division I hoops he had ever seen with the two teams combining to go 37 of 106 from the field (35%), though the Deacs (18 of 55) pulled it out on the strength of 19 of 20 from the charity stripe.

On Thursday, Florida State defeated Virginia Tech, 48-47, despite shooting 1-8 from the free throw line. Tech was only 7 of 16 themselves. So the two teams combined went 8 of 24! Are you kidding me?!

The worst game, however, was on Wednesday…UAB at SMU. UAB prevailed, 47-28! SMU, in a worst ever performance for Conference USA, was 8 of 46 from the field! 3 of 29 from downtown. My fraternity D team shot better than that. [I think I was 3 of 24 from 3-point land. But we threw good parties after.] By the way, 1,582 was the announced attendance at SMU. I’m wondering how many of them are out of the hospital, days later, after being treated for shock.

--Ah, but there was a stirring performance on Thursday, North Carolina State and Duke. Once again, as they did against North Carolina in Chapel Hill, Duke came back from a big deficit, this time down 61-41 with 11:33 left to win 78-73 as Seth Curry finally had a big game; 21 of his season-high 26 coming in the second half. And here I turned the game off with about, err, 11:33 to go.

--Then there is UConn, 79-64 losers to Marquette on Saturday. The defending national champions will not make the field this year, barring a miraculous run in the Big East tourney, as they’ve lost 7 of 9 to fall to 6-8 in conference play. Guard Shabazz Napier said, “I hate to say it, but I have to question some of these guys’ hearts.” To which Digger Phelps commented on ESPN, “Keep it in the locker room!” I agree with Digger.

Coach Jim Calhoun has missed the last five games while on medical leave. The team has been barred from next season’s NCAA tournament because of academic troubles. It’s just a mess. You’d think Calhoun is gone after the season.

--It wasn’t a good weekend for UConn basketball all around as St. John’s snapped the Lady Huskies’ 99-game home winning streak, 57-56, on a 3-pointer by Shenneika Smith with 8 seconds left. It was actually the Huskies’ first home loss to an unranked opponent in nearly 19 years. Good gawd! The 99 wins trails only the 129 consecutive home wins by the Kentucky men in Division I basketball history, the Wildcats accomplishing that in the 1940s and 50s.

Kentucky, Michigan State, Syracuse, Wichita State…this last one he wrote of before Saturday’s dismantling of Davidson.

And when it comes to his All-American team, it seems I’m not the only one very high on guard Isaiah Canaan of Murray State; Davis having him on his first team, along with Anthony Davis (F-Kentucky), Draymond Green (F-Michigan State), Thomas Robinson (F-Kansas), Jared Sullinger (F-Ohio State).

--One of the more remarkable sports streaks of all time continued over the weekend. Clemson lost for a 56th time in Chapel Hill, 74-52; as in Clemson has never won there…0-56.

--Speaking of crappy, in 2008-09, Binghamton was 23-9 and went to the NCAAs. Then the scandal broke, whereby we learned that basically the entire team should have been ineligible (long, ugly story) and the program collapsed, all the way to today’s 0-26 record.

--Johnny Mac wants me to give up some love for the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils. They started the season 1-11…but look who they played. Notre Dame, North Carolina, South Carolina, Iowa State, Arkansas, Florida, Wisconsin, Ole Miss, Northwestern…yup, they took on all comers.

Well the experience paid off and they are 14-0 in the SWAC.

--Biggest turnaround in basketball this season? Manhattan. They were 6-25 last season. 34-year-old Steve Masiello then came in, he having been an assistant under Rick Pitino at Louisville for six years, and Masiello has the Jaspers at 19-10.

Michigan State 11-3
Ohio State 10-4
Michigan 10-4

North Carolina 10-2
Florida State 10-2
Duke 10-2

--Lastly, having just been to Murray State, I can tell you how much the students, and town, wanted Dick Vitale to do their game against Saint Mary’s. The campaign started as soon as the BracketBuster contest was announced in the days before I arrived. Vitale then showed up and couldn’t have made the community feel better. I’ve criticized the man over the years just like everyone else has, but there is no greater ambassador for the sport than Dickie V. He gave the people of Murray, Kentucky an experience they won’t soon forget.

--After stumbling on Friday with the Knicks losing to New Orleans, Jeremy Lin came through on a national stage, Sunday, as New York defeated the defending champion Mavericks at the Garden, 104-97. All Lin did was score 28 points, dish out 14 assists, and have five steals. Yes, his seven turnovers remain too high, but the team is 8-1 since he entered the picture. Linsanity is alive and well.

--Yeah, I know shooting guard J.R. Smith is a talented ballplayer, and he showed flashes of his athleticism on Sunday, scoring 15 points in the Knicks’ win, but I still don’t know why the team signed him. This is not a good person.

Peter Vecsey / New York Post…while on a week-long assignment last season awaiting the Carmelo Anthony trade from Denver to the Knicks.

“There was a shoot-around the morning of the (Phoenix) game, Nov. 15, 2010. J.R. Smith overslept. When he showed up, eyes bloodshot and all attitude, he was nonchalant about his tardiness. Coach George Karl was pretty peeved.

“Karl made some comments. Smith talked back. Karl retorted, Smith kicked a basketball. Karl ordered him to leave the gym. Smith refused. Teammates interceded and ushered him out the door. It was not a syrupy situation.

“Smith was in his own world that day, a misshapen world that routinely has earned him suspensions (two games in that case), arrests and even jail time for a friend (Andre Bell) dying when J(ust) R(emanded) drove his SUV through a stop sign.

“Smith’s seven NBA seasons have been an ongoing series of hints and allegations (complaints from hotels about noise and smells) as well as documented incidents and accidents, with time off for bad behavior in China. During the lockout, his sister, Stephanie, and girlfriend were involved in a brawl in the stands. J.R. joined as their defender.

“Something disturbing always seems to be going on in his life. There have been fist fights with professional opponents (Knicks), choke holds applied to amateurs (a kid in a Denver pickup game) and confrontations with coaches regarding his careless and carefree approach to the game.”

Vecsey goes on and on. No doubt, however, J.R. Smith is immensely talented. But boy is it going to be interesting to see how he meshes with his new Knick teammates. Expect a choir boy first few weeks, then I’m guessing we’ll see the real J.R.

--Talk about a bunch of idiots…how ‘bout the folks at ESPN? After the Knicks’ loss Friday night ended Jeremy Lin’s, and the team’s, 7-game winning streak, ESPN.com published the racially-offensive headline “Chink in the Armor.”

ESPN apologized, explaining the headline was removed after 35 minutes. The employee responsible was fired.

--It was pretty funny the other night when the Knicks played Sacramento and Kings guard Isaiah Thomas was showered with boos every time he touched the ball. Thomas seemed to take it in stride, but couldn’t have fully understood how the venom was directed at the name, not him, as Knicks fans will forever hate Isiah Thomas (former coach and GM, and, yes, spelled differently). Said Isaiah, who was then heading to Detroit where the elder Isiah helped lead them to two titles, “I might get some cheers there.”

--Boston Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield retired at the age of 45. He wanted to keep going, but it was clear Boston didn’t have him in its plans. He also had achieved his main goal of winning 200, doing so exactly (200-180 lifetime). 17 of his 19 seasons were in Beantown, 186 of his wins. Wakefield also pitched on two World Series champion teams, 2004 and 2007. Overall, he was 5-7 in postseason play.

In 2009, at 42, he became the oldest first-time All-Star in MLB history. Not a bad career. [From 1997-2011, he also earned between $2 million and $4.67 million each season.]

--The Yankees finally completed the trade with Pittsburgh that sends pitcher A.J. Burnett to the Pirates in exchange for two minor leaguers. The Pirates will pay $13 million of the $30.9 million remaining on Burnett’s contract. If I were the Pirates, I’m not sure I’d spend $6.5 million on the guy the next two years, but I’m guessing he does pretty well.

--Bob Zuk, the Montreal Expos scout that signed Gary Carter, also signed Willie Stargell and Reggie Jackson. As Ronald Reagan would have said…not bad…not bad at all.

Wow…what a tournament on Sunday. What a year thus far. Bill Haas outlasted Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley in a playoff at the Northern Trust Open on famed Riviera. I thought for sure Lefty would win his second straight, but his putting failed him on the back nine and Haas prevailed for his fourth career triumph.

But how great was it on No. 18 in regulation when both Lefty and Bradley made terrific birdies to send it into OT? As good as it gets.

And once again, thank god us Wake fans have Haas and Webb Simpson to root for given the sorry state of the athletic program back on campus. 

--Lindsey Vonn clinched her fifth consecutive women’s World Cup downhill title with a third-place finish in Sochi, on the course to be used for the 2014 Olympics (a heavily criticized course, I might add).

Vonn’s five straight downhill titles ties the record set by Austria’s Annmarie Moeser-Proell from 1971-75. Moeser-Proell (who won seven), Renate Goetschl and Franz Klammer are the only skiers to claim five championships in the discipline.

Vonn remains way ahead in the overall World Cup standings as well. And on Sunday, she won her third-straight super-combined title when the race in Sochi was canceled because of too much snow and officials opted not to reschedule it for later.

--SI.com reported that quarterback Peyton Manning actually had a fourth, unreported medical procedure on his neck last year. On May 23 he had surgery to fix a bulging disk and had this unreported one before his neck fusion surgery Sept. 9. All four were to the right side of the quarterback’s neck.

--Ron Jaworski was dropped from ESPN’s “Monday Night Football” team, with the network opting to go with a two-man booth, Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden. This should be zero surprise to viewers, seeing as Gruden totally dominates a broadcast. “Jaws” will now work on several ESPN platforms, while Gruden has been told by Norby Williamson, ESPN’s executive vice president of programming, “to not overuse ‘great’ in describing players; to recognize when not to speak; to anticipate strategy during replays rather than always examining the play that just occurred; and to be clear about the film-room terminology that he often uses.” [Richard Sandomir / New York Times]

As I’ve stated before, Gruden is immensely irritating.

“In 1969, after six months alone on the Atlantic battling storms, sharks and encroaching madness, John Fairfax became the first lone oarsman in recorded history to traverse any ocean.

“In 1972, he and his girlfriend, Sylvia Cook, sharing a boat, became the first people to row across the Pacific, a yearlong ordeal during which their craft was thought lost.”

There’s far more to Fairfax’s story, but I’m running short on time. It’s worth looking it up if you care to.

--The University of North Dakota is back to being the Fighting Sioux, but as the Times’ Pat Borzi points out, it is proving costly; such as in jeopardizing North Dakota’s move to the Big Sky Conference on July 1 in all sports but men’s hockey. Leagues now have rules against Indian nicknames, and in hockey, North Dakota’s biggest rivals, Minnesota and Wisconsin, generally don’t schedule games against programs employing Indian names but made an exception for UND, but not for much longer.

--Follow-up. Among the four TCU football players arrested in the big drug bust on that campus were three prominent defensive players whose names I see no reason to mention.

--The London Times’ Rhys Blakely has a story on the struggle Alaska’s moose are facing this winter, having to deal with shoulder-deep drifts. In response, the moose are congregating on roads and railway tracks – “with predictably tragic results.”

“The ‘salvage teams’ that clean up dead moose from the state’s highways say they have never been busier.”

So the state is trying to create safe passages where the moose can find food. 

In one region north of Anchorage, the average annual number of collisions between moose and cars is 270. Officials say the toll this year could be double that by the end of winter. 

No word on how many human deaths there have been as a result of collisions with a moose, which can weigh as much as 1,500 lbs. in the case of a bull.

“Wildlife activists said on Thursday that poachers had slaughtered at least 200 elephants in the past five weeks in Bouba Ndjida National Park (Cameroon). The International Fund for Animal Welfare called the scale of the killings unprecedented, and urged the government to take action.”

The issue is poachers coming over from Sudan. Man, which had gained a few notches with the emergence of Jeremy Lin, now plummets back to No. 198 on the All-Species List.

--Nick Wallenda, of the famous family of circus performers, has been granted rare permission to walk a tightrope over Niagara Falls this summer.

“If successful, he will become the first to achieve the feat in 100 years. He will not wear a safety harness for the 1,800-foot long walk, which is expected to take around 40 minutes.” [Victoria Ward / Irish Independent]

How cool will this be? How terrifying! Geezuz, I’m sure it will be televised, but I’m not sure if I’d watch…at least with my eyes open.

--I feel sorry for Adele. Apparently a sex tape has emerged, shot off a cellphone and featuring her ex-boyfriend “in the back seat of her car,” according to French tabloid Public. Adele’s lawyers, however, deny the stills released thus far are of her.

--OK, guys…and girls…I’ve now looked through the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue twice and I’m still very unhappy with the Kate Upton cover shot. SI should have adopted MSNBC’s tag line, “lean forward,” when selecting the right photo to grace the most important publication of the year.

Additionally…I have to rank a few of the girls ahead of Ms. Upton.

So your EXCLUSIVE Bar Chat ranking of the, err, models.

1. Aeriel Meredith!!!
2. Chrissy Teigen
3. Jessica Gomes
4. Genevieve Morton
5. Jessica Perez
6. Julie Henderson
7. Kate Upton

Separately, in the body painting category, I think my friend [who needs to remain anonymous] put it best when looking at golfer Natalie Gulbis. “You know, the fact that she can shoot under par is a staggering bonus.”

Top 3 songs for the week 2/22/75: #1 “Pick Up The Pieces” (AWB… ‘Queen of My Soul’ favorite of theirs) #2 “Best Of My Love” (The Eagles…big slow dance tune at Wake) #3 “Some Kind Of Wonderful” (Grand Funk)…and…#4 “Black Water” (The Doobie Brothers) #5 “Have You Never Been Mellow” (Olivia Newton-John… depends on beer intake) #6 “Lonely People” (America) #7 “My Eyes Adored You” (Frankie Valli…still has it) #8 “You’re No Good” (Linda Ronstadt…at her most delicious) #9 “#9 Dream” (John Lennon) #10 “Nightingale” (Carole King…just listened to this one…underrated)

*Peter Frampton was on CBS’ Sunday Morning yesterday. Good piece. Check it out.

Baseball Quiz Answers: 1) Active .320 hitters: Albert Pujols, .328; Ichiro, .326; Joe Mauer, .323; Todd Helton, .323. 2) Active 175 wins: Roy Halladay, 188-92; Tim Hudson, 181-97; CC Sabathia, 176-96. Talk about some fantastic winning percentages. [Nos. 12, 28, and 32, respectively, all time.]

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