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Bar Chat

05/15/2014

King Henrik

Los Angeles Clippers Quiz: Granted, you have to be older to have a remote shot at getting this one right, but the Clippers started off as the Buffalo Braves in 1970-71, going 22-60. Who were the team’s top two scorers, both averaging 20 points per game? [OK, major hint. Initials B.K. and D.M.] Answer below.

Let’s Go Ran-Gers!!!!

I hadn’t written much about the Rangers-Penguins series owing mainly to the games running up against my writing schedule, such as on Sunday, plus as was the case with all Rangers fans, after a truly pathetic performance last Wednesday at home, there was zero hope with New York down 3-1. 

Rangers fans were disgusted. Had the team lost Game 5 in Pittsburgh, as expected, I would have been writing last chat about the short-handed goal they gave up in Game 4 that was the all-time worst effort any of us can remember; not the actual giveaway, but allowing the rebound, again when the team was on the power-play. By the end of that evening, the Rangers were 0-for-36 with a man advantage...an epic, historic display of futility.

But then things changed. A human element was introduced. When the Rangers landed in Pittsburgh on Thursday to prepare for Game 5 the next night, Martin St. Louis was informed his mother had suddenly died at the age of 63. The team quickly arranged for him to fly to Montreal to be with his family. Friday morning, coach Alain Vigneault contacted St. Louis and told him to stay in Montreal. But Friday afternoon, St. Louis returned to Pittsburgh. His teammates, deeply moved and bonding like only hockey players can, went out and kicked the Penguins’ butts, 5-1, returning the series to New York for Game 6.

Sunday, the Rangers won 3-1, including an opening tally by St. Louis, on Mother’s Day, to force a Game 7 back in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. 

But they had never come back from a playoff series down 3 games to 1 in their history, though when it came to Game 7s, the Rangers had won four in a row, including over Philadelphia in round one. And that was four in a row with Henrik Lundqvist in the net.

Well make it five. King Henrik and the Rangers prevailed in a thrilling 2-1 finale as Lundqvist was masterful in stopping 35 shots, becoming the first goaltender in history to win five consecutive Game 7s.

In doing so, the Rangers also overcame the toughest playoff schedule in 25 years, including a stretch of five games in seven nights. As every player said afterwards on Tuesday, the team rallied around St. Louis.

So New York awaits the winner of Game 7 in the Montreal-Boston series Wednesday night. Rangers fans have learned anything can happen from here.

[The Penguins, by the way, fell to 2-7 all time at home in Game 7s, including three such losses in the past four seasons.]

NBA Playoffs

--My “Pick to Click” Brooklyn Nets were in position to tie up their series with Miami at two on Monday, but then folded down the stretch. It was 94-94 with 2:30 to go, only the great LeBron James stopped the Nets’ Mr. Clutch, Joe Johnson, on consecutive isolations, Chris Bosch hit a big three to give the Heat a 97-94 lead, and Miami won 102-96. Series over. LeBron was spectacular. 49 points. 

--Oklahoma City took a controversial 3-2 lead over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, 105-104, with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook combining for 65, the two going 26 of 28 from the foul line.

The Thunder were down 7 with 50 seconds to go but took advantage of a call that gave OKC the ball with 11.3 seconds left when on an out of bounds play, the ball should have been awarded to the Clippers. Westbrook then hit three free throws on the ensuing possession that gave the Thunder the 105-104 lead.

Afterwards, L.A. coach Doc Rivers was livid. “We got robbed because of that call. And it’s clear. Everybody in the arena saw it. That’s why everybody was shocked when they said Oklahoma City ball.”

--In Indiana, the Pacers once again laid an egg at home. They could have wrapped up their series against the Wizards and instead were rolled, 102-79, which is unfathomable. For Washington, the Polish Hammer, Marcin Gortat, had a career night; 31 points, 16 rebounds. For Indiana, once again center Roy Hibbert disappeared; 4 points in 25 minutes.

Hibbert is one strange dude. Casual observers of the NBA who don’t often watch Indiana remember Hibbert for his 22-point average in the Pacers’ 7-game series against the Heat last year.

But this postseason he put up the following point totals in the 7-game Atlanta series: 8, 6, 4, 6, 0, 0, 13.

Yup, as Roy Hibbert goes, so go the Pacers. They’ve won all four games in which he scored in double figures.

--And on Wednesday, San Antonio attempts to wrap up their series at home against Portland.

--I said I didn’t want to talk about Donald Sterling any more than I had to but he keeps opening his mouth, the latest episode being his interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, wherein Sterling asked for forgiveness for the racist comments that led to his being banned for life by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.

“I’m a good member [Ed. meaning NBA owner] who made a mistake and I’m apologizing and I’m asking for forgiveness. Am I entitled to one mistake, am I after 35 years? I mean, I love my league, I love my partners. Am I entitled to one mistake? It’s a terrible mistake, and I’ll never do it again.”

But then he said of Magic Johnson: “What kind of guy goes to every city, has sex with every girl, then he catches HIV. Is that someone we want to respect and tell our kids about? I think he should be ashamed of himself.”

Sterling then questioned whether Johnson has done anything for the African American community in Los Angeles.

“Has he done everything he can do to help minorities? I don’t think so. But I’ll say it, he’s great. But I don’t think he’s a good example for the children of Los Angeles.”

The Magic Johnson Foundation, founded in 1991, has granted about $20 million to organizations that work on various issues, including providing scholarships and technology to community centers.

And then you have his myriad investments in urban areas, including Magic Johnson Theaters and bringing the likes of Starbucks to underserved minority communities around the country; all of it providing much-needed jobs.

Meanwhile, the immensely irritating Shelly Sterling said her husband’s comments were “the ravings of a sick, delusional man.” 

Commissioner Silver, in response to Donald Sterling’s interview, issued an apology for “a malicious and personal attack” on Magic. “The NBA Board of Governors is continuing with its process to remove Mr. Sterling as expeditiously as possible,” he said.

“I’ll be the first to accept ur apology...as a man who’s made a mistake or two in life I know how hard it is to look at yourself in the mirror when you let so many ppl down but for anybody who can’t and won’t accept his apology u need to look in the mirror because were (sic) not perfect...forgiveness will destroy racism not more hatred.”

Ball Bits

--This is really sad...Miami Marlins phenom Jose Fernandez is out for the season...The speed on his fastball the last four starts was declining and he was placed on the DL with a sprained right elbow, though it was soon deemed to be more serious. Doctors discovered a tear in the UCL and he’s Tommy John bound, joining the likes of the Braves’ Kris Medlen, Brandon Beachy and Corry Gearrin; Arizona’s Patrick Corbin; Oakland’s Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin; Tampa Bay’s Matt Moore; the Yankees’ Ivan Nova; Mets closer Bobby Parnell and others.

Miami, just as the Mets did with Matt Harvey and Washington did with Stephen Strasburg before him, protected Fernandez, 21, when it came to his workload. They did all the right things. Yet all three met the same fate.

The Marlins’ fan base is no doubt shattered just as us Mets fans were when Matt Harvey went down last year.

--USA TODAY’s Paul White noted on Tuesday that “If today’s overall .251 batting average and .318 on-base percentage last through the season, they would be the lowest since 1972, and the current home run rate of 0.90 per game would be the lowest since 1993.”

And with all the strikeouts you are seeing these days, it’s interesting to note that in 2004, players swung at 16.6% of pitches outside of the strike zone, but in 2013, it was 31%. Yikes.

One reason for this is nastier pitches. As I noted the other day, the average fastball was 89 mph in 2002, and last season was 91.7. But you also have pitches like the cutter, popularized by Mariano Rivera, that was just 1% of pitches ten years ago but today is about 6%, according to FanGraphs.com.

--Monday, the Yankees lost Game One of the Subway Series to the Mets at Yankee Stadium, 9-7, and in the process announced that Carlos Beltran had hyperextended his right elbow taking swings in the batting cage and Ichiro was day to day with a back issue.

So add those two rapidly aging stars to a list that includes CC Sabathia, now on the DL, Mark Teixeira (groin issue, following serious wrist surgery) and Derek Jeter, who needs days off. [Let alone their two younger stars, pitchers Nova and Michael Pineda, on the DL, Nova lost for the season.] Oh, and Brian Roberts isn’t young at 36. And Kuroda is 39 and...you get the picture. This is one fragile ball club.

And what’s this? The Mets won the second game 12-7?! Six in a row over the Yankees?!

--Cool moment in Philadelphia on Tuesday as the Angels’ Mike Trout had his homecoming, Trout having grown up nearby in Millville, New Jersey. An estimated 4,000 fans from Millville chartered buses to the game. Wow. Trout went 1-for-5 in the Angels’ 4-3 win as he received a standing ovation from the Philadelphia fans when introduced! [Trout is in a 7-for-48 slump, by the way, after having signed that mammoth contract.]

--Last time I told you of being at Shea Stadium for Willie Mays’ first home run as a Met, which was on Mother’s Day, a family tradition of ours.

The Mets and Yanks rotated having a game that day and the four of us would pile into the Dodge for the trip to either stadium...I’d say about six or seven years in a row.

It was May 14, 1967, another Mother’s Day, that we saw Mickey Mantle hit No. 500 off Baltimore’s Stu Miller. I remembered the crowd not being particularly large (weather sucked, as did the Yanks) and it turns out it was just 18,800, upon looking it up.

At the time, Mantle became the sixth to hit that once magical mark...Ruth at 714, Mays was then at 546, then Jimmie Foxx (534), Ted Williams (521) and Mel Ott (511).

Two months after Mantle’s 500th, Eddie Mathews hit his 500th. [Craig Muder / Baseball Hall of Fame]

NFL Draft...final notes

--My point with Michael Sam and the video we saw as he celebrated being selected by the St. Louis Rams was that I guarantee this isn’t what St. Louis themselves thought they’d be watching right away, including coach Jeff Fisher. 

But we now live in a time where if you’re going to play the social media game you can’t say anything like Ole Miss basketball star Marshall Henderson tweeted...that the kiss was “sickening.” Ross Bjork, the school’s athletic director, said, “I’m extremely disappointed and we do not condone the statements made.”

Miami Dolphins defensive back Don Jones was fined and suspended by the team after tweeting “horrible” shortly after Sam’s kiss aired.

Meanwhile, Vito Cammisano, Sam’s boyfriend, is a member of a mafia family, as reported by Bill Hutchinson of the New York Daily News; a family of Midwest mobsters, specifically. Vito, a former swimmer at Mizzou, is the grandson of the late Mafia boss William (William the Rat) Cammisano.

His father, Gerlarmo (Jerry) Cammisano, 60, ended up doing 14 months in prison for running a Kansas City-based gambling ring.

There is no evidence Vito has been part of the Civella crime family of Kansas City like his grandfather, but Willie the Rat was boss until his death in 1995.

“Now about those kisses.

“You know, the ones exchanged between lips belonging to Michael Sam and his squeeze Vito Cammisano. The only mistakes the Bristol Clown Community College Faculty made were not giving viewers a few Super Slo-Mo, isolated camera replays. Or maybe getting a telestrator involved.

“If the production brainiacs were skilled in the science of anticipation and knew what was coming shortly after Sam became the first openly gay dude to be drafted by an NFL team, they could’ve brought in a play-by-play voice like Mike Tirico to describe the action – Jon Gruden too for the analysis. And there could have even been a sponsor. ‘Michael Sam’s kisses brought to you by Listerine.’

“Of course ESPN now is gratuitously airing the kisses whenever it can for (as usual) its own self-promotion and self-aggrandizement, not for historical significance....

“So after the kisses were exchanged, the most famous on ESPN since the ones Joe Namath attempted to plant on Suzy Kolber, it was time to get down to business as usual, serious football business. The expert ‘analysis’ turned on how the Rams will deal with what Trey Wingo called ‘these other media outlets.’

“This is the continent that could – and likely will (we hope) – turn Sam-to-St. Louis into a media circus, those ‘outside agitators’ not formally baptized by the NFL’s PR machine. They’re the ones who will descend on the Rams training facility looking to wreak havoc, pursuing all angles of Sam’s attempt to make the team.

“In NFL quarters, this notion is unacceptable. These troublemakers must march in lockstep with the rest of the NFL’s designated media zombies, right? At least that’s what Bill Polian, ESPN’s GM in residence, said Saturday afternoon.

“ ‘When all (these) sort of non-football people come in, the local media will explain to them what Mizzou represents. Here’s what this city stands for,’ Polian said. ‘So it will make that transition a lot easier.’

“We still have no idea what Polian was talking about....

“With the story line having so many tentacles, the Rams, and the NFL, will be hard-pressed to keep a lid on the media circus.”

--Nikita Whitlock had a super senior season as a nose tackle at Wake Forest, recording 19 tackles for a loss, nine sacks and two forced fumbles. But he’s way undersized, by NFL standards, 5-11, 250, so he wasn’t invited to the combine.

Whitlock, though, wasn’t giving up and now he’s turned himself into a fullback and supposedly looked good catching the ball at Wake’s Pro Day in March so the Bengals are taking a flyer on him, signing him as a free agent.

--Michael Campanaro was the only Wake Forest player to be drafted (7th round, Baltimore), but that’s better than the University of Texas. For the first time since 1937, the school failed to produce a single pick in the draft! USC, as the Los Angeles Times’ Chris Dufresne points out, only had three.

Consider it was just 8 years ago, January 2006, that USC and Texas met in one of the great college games of all time, won 41-38 by Texas at the Rose Bowl, and the two produced 14 NFL draft choices that spring.

According to a 2012 story in the Austin American-Statesman (as referred to by Dufresne), “27 starters from that game went on to play in the NFL (17 for Texas and 10 for USC).”

At least Texas’ new coach (following the departure of Mack Brown), Charlie Strong, had three first round picks off his old Louisville team last week.

By the way, the SEC led all leagues with 49 picks, 11 in the first round, followed by the ACC, 42, the Pac 12 (34), Big Ten (29), Big 12 (16) and Mountain West (16).

LSU had the most with 9, followed by Notre Dame and Alabama at 8.

Did you know that the horses that finished 2-3-4-5-6 after California Chrome have all opted out of Saturday’s Preakness? Only three of the Derby’s 19 starters will be in the field. As noted by Andrew Beyer of the Washington Post, it was also disappointing that the winner of the Kentucky Oats, Untapable, isn’t making a go of it at Pimlico because her trainer, Steve Asmussen, who won the Preakness with Rachel Alexandra, didn’t want to challenge the males with a turnaround of just two weeks.

That’s it. Two weeks is now too soon in the horse world. It’s like managers not wanting their pitchers to throw more than 100 pitches in a game.

“The belief that horses need lengthy rest between races has become part of the orthodoxy of the sport. It’s a radical change from the past. In the 1950s and ‘60s, good horses often raced with a week’s rest (or less). Now 3-year-olds get their final prep race three, four or five weeks before the Derby, and so the 14-day layoff before the Preakness looks like a daunting challenge.”

Why the change? As Beyer writes, it “may have occurred because horses are less robust than their forebears. It may have to do with the almost-universal use of Lasix; the diuretic causes horses to lose significant weight, and they need time to recover from a race. Many leading trainers are believers in the Ragozin Sheets and the Thoro-graph speed figures, both of which espouse the philosophy that horses will ‘bounce’ – i.e., run an inferior race – if they run back too quickly from a peak effort. Five-time Preakness-winning trainer Bob Baffert believes that the Derby’s now-common fields of 20 horses puts so much stress on runners that they need more time to recover than the Preakness allows.

“Art Sherman, the 77-year-old trainer of California Chrome, remembers how the game used to be played. As a youngster, he was the exercise rider for the great racehorse Swaps, who in 1956 set a world record for 1 1/16 miles, then made three more starts in the next month, winning them all and setting another world record.”

But now Sherman lines up with the rest, saying he prefers to go seven to eight weeks between races.

The thing is, Kentucky Derby winners in recent years have come back with terrific performances in the Preakness...Funny Cide (2003) won by nearly 10 lengths, Smarty Jones (2004) won by 11 ½, Big Brown (2008) by 5 ½. In 2012, I’ll Have Another and Bodemeister finished 1-2 in both the Derby and Preakness.

So this really sucks for this Saturday at Pimlico. Should California Chrome prevail, though, you’ll no doubt see many of the Derby entrants return for the Belmont.

Golf Balls

--I was reading a profile of Miguel Angel Jimenez, the Most Interesting Golfer in the World, in Golf World and writer Jaime Diaz ties in actor Jonathan Goldsmith, who portrays the “Most Interesting Man in the World,” and it seems Goldsmith channeled his late friend, Fernando Lamas, for the part in the Dos Equis commercials. Goldsmith’s personal favorite, incidentally, is “He once warned a psychic.” For Diaz, it’s a tie between “He once parallel-parked a train” and “His mother has a tattoo that reads ‘Son.’”

Last year after taking the 36-hole lead at the British Open, ESPN did a takeoff on the commercial with Jimenez as the “Most Interesting Golfer” and this spawned some memorable lines, including “When he talks to a hook, it listens,” “Masters galleries know him as The Patron,” and “Nick Faldo calls him Sir.”

[Alas, Jimenez himself, when asked to read a line or two, didn’t get it. But as Diaz writes, “Maybe Jimenez shouldn’t get it. If he were transparently trying to be interesting, he would be boring.”]

Jimenez recently got married for the second time on a par-3 golf course he has back in Spain near his home town of Malaga.

--After all I’ve written on dysfunctional Rutgers, bet you didn’t think it could get worse, but it did. 

Philip Nelson quarterbacked at the Univ. of Minnesota last year, throwing for 1,306 yards, nine touchdowns and six interceptions. He then transferred to Rutgers and was expected to compete for the starting job in 2015 after sitting out 2014.

So late last Saturday night/Sunday morning, he’s at a bar back home in Minnesota, takes offense at another guy looking at Nelson’s girlfriend (something like this), they have an altercation, the other guy, a 24-year-old former Minnesota State football player, punched Nelson in the back, causing him to fall to the ground, whereupon an unknown assailant punched the guy in the head or face and the guy went limp. Nelson then allegedly pushed past others and delivered a kick to the head of the defenseless man. The unknown assailant fled, Nelson stayed on the scene and was identified as the man kicking the victim in the head.

The victim (there is zero reason for me to list his name) is in critical condition with a severe head injury and may not survive, nor are doctors saying he would have a good recovery if he does.

Rutgers football coach Kyle Flood announced on Tuesday that Philip Nelson has been dismissed from the team, having been charged with first- and third-degree assault. First-degree assault is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Of course if the victim dies, you know the deal.

--Former Wake Forest hoops star Rodney Rogers was inducted into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Rogers was the 1993 ACC Player of the Year, two-time first team All-ACC pick, who after a three-year collegiate career, averaging 19.3 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, went on to play 12 seasons in the NBA.

Rogers then had an accident on his ATV in 2008 that left him paralyzed from the neck down. Thankfully, he has a tremendous support system. All of Wake Forest, for starters, loves Rodney Rogers.

--Shake Shack is a popular burger joint in New York and New Jersey, with a location at Citi Field, but boy they just received some bad publicity as both the Mets’ Lucas Duda and Phillies coach Ryne Sandberg got severe food poisoning from eating Shake Shack burgers, that both said were undercooked. Sandberg got his while the Phils were visiting the Mets last weekend, but Duda actually had his problem at a different Shake Shack locale.

You can be sure future burgers will now be overcooked.

--My best to Barbara Walters, who retires Friday on “The View” after 50 years on television. In other words, my entire viewing life.

Walters, who turns 85(!) in September, said earlier, “I’ve accomplished what I wanted to accomplish.”

Top 3 songs for the week 5/17/69: #1 “Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In” (The 5th Dimension) #2 “Hair” (The Cowsils...great opening drum riff...) #3 “Get Back” (The Beatles with Billy Preston)...and...#4 “It’s Your Thing” (The Isley Brothers) #5 “Love (Can Make You Happy)” (Mercy) #6 “Hawaii Five-O” (The Ventures...was not a fan of this tune...and am proud to say I never did that moronic deal on the floor in college after a few beers...No, I had higher standards when I was buzzed!)  #7 “The Boxer” (Simon and Garfunkel) #8 “Atlantis” (Donovan...strange tune...) #9 “Gitarzan” (Ray Stevens...didn’t like this song, but he was/is a great entertainer...his 1975 version of “Misty” is terrific...1968’s “Mr. Businessman” wasn’t bad either...) #10 “These Eyes” (The Guess Who)

*Ah yes...May 17, 1969...the Mets are 17-18, 6 ½ games out of first. They would actually fall to 18-23...and then go 82-39 the rest of the way...the Miracle Mets. On May 17, by the way, Cleon Jones was carrying the team, hitting .388 with 7 homers and 28 RBI.

Los Angeles Clippers Quiz Answer: In their first season as the Buffalo Braves, 1970-71, Bob Kauffman (20.4) and Don May (20.2) led the team in scoring. John Hummer, Dick Garrett, Em (Emmette) Bryant, Herm Gilliam and Mike Davis averaged in double figures as well (all between 10 and 13 ppg). Kauffman, out of Guilford College, also averaged 18.9 and 17.5 ppg his next two seasons in Buffalo. Don May, former Knick reserve, never approached his ’70-’71 production again.

As for the Clippers, they didn’t win 50 games in a season until 2012-13.

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