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Bar Chat

05/19/2014

Is This The Year?!

NHL Quiz: Name the only three Rangers to appear in 1,000 games in a New York uniform. Answer below.

Well, I said back in April, California Chrome was an “easy choice” and now I’m Belmont bound (weather permitting...I am not standing in the rain with 150,000 others) as we all anxiously wait for three weeks to see if America gets its first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

Saturday, with jockey Victor Espinoza again doing a masterful job, California Chrome held off Ride on Curlin and Social Inclusion to win the Preakness by 1 ½ lengths. Another win for 77-year-old trainer Art Sherman.

Afterward, Espinoza said: “This was tough. I’m telling you. There were some fresh horses (who did not run in the Derby) and they attacked me soon. I mean, I’m just glad I didn’t study the racing form because it (the race) didn’t go anything like it said it would.

“Many people ask me, ‘How are you going to ride this horse?’ and I tell them I wish I knew. Some maybe thought that I am not telling the truth, but this is the truth. In the gate, I go like a blind guy. There is no plan. I make my decisions during the race.”

It was 2002 that Espinoza was atop War Emblem as it won the first two legs of the Triple Crown, only to fade to 8th in the Belmont. California Chrome and the jock are now 6-for-6.

However, as I go to post, there is a controversy brewing over a New York State racing rule that does not allow horses to use the nasal strip that California Chrome does. I imagine a decision will be made Monday or Tuesday. Art Sherman was acting like he wouldn’t run the horse if it’s not allowed. I’m guessing it will be. The horse has used it in all six of his races.   The sport also has way too much to lose if New York authorities decide to be jerks about it.

“Earlier this month, Denver Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker was seen at the Derby carrying a huge stack of cash after winning a bet, even handing out $100 bills to random people.

“Now Churchill Downs, which puts on the event, says that money might not have been rightfully his.

“ ‘An individual believed to be a member of Wes Welker’s group on Kentucky Derby day was the beneficiary of an overpayment north of $14,000 on a wager due to a tote malfunction,’ Churchill Downs spokesman Darren Rogers said in a statement. ‘In turn, a letter has been sent to that individual in an attempt to resolve the error.’

“TMZ reported that Welker sent a friend to collect the winnings. Churchill Downs in turn paid out a total of $57,193.90 to that person....

“According to Kentucky administrative regulations, if there is an overpayment as a result of the calculation of a payout, the track is responsible and the patron holding the ticket does not have to refund the money.”

Welker and his friends made the bulk of their money boxing a 37-1 shot, Commanding Curve, in the Derby. The horse finished second, so a $2 exacta bet, for example, paid out $340 with California Chrome winning.

Welker wouldn’t divulge to Dan Patrick what he thought he won. Only he said he’s not paying anything back.

In the end, Churchill Downs changed its mind. The spokesman, Rogers, told Darren Rovell, “It is our mistake and we are not worried about the recovery of the money. We hope they come back to Churchill Downs and wager that $14,000 next year.”

--Nice day, Saturday, at Monmouth Park for jockey Paco Lopez, who rode a track record seven winners.

NBA Playoffs

After a truly scintillating first round of the playoffs, the second round was pretty hideous and when all was said and done we were left with the top seeds...Indianapolis-Miami; San Antonio-Oklahoma City. Of course I’m praying Timmy D. and Co. get another shot at the Heat. The Spurs are also getting a big break as the Thunder’s Serge Ibaka, averaging 12.2 points and 7.3 rebounds in postseason play, is expected to miss the rest of the playoffs with a calf injury. He averaged 15 and 9 in the regular season. So now Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook will have to combine for at least 60 a game to give OKC any kind of shot.

[Indiana beat Miami in their Game 1 on Sunday, 107-96, as Roy Hibbert channeled his inner Hibbert from last year’s Heat series and had 19 points and 9 rebounds. But Miami will prevail. Book it.]

The big story, however, at least in these parts, is how Steve Kerr dissed the Knicks and Phil Jackson to accept a five-year, reported $25 million offer (Mark Berman of the New York Post says it is $22 million) to coach the Golden State Warriors, even though Kerr has zero coaching experience. No doubt Phil Jackson is pissed, but then he only offered a reported $13 million over three years, with Kerr demanding at least a fourth.

“This is all guess work, just as giving Phil Jackson the job of rebuilding the Knicks into a championship contender was the ultimate guess on Jim Dolan’s part.

“Who knows, Kerr might be a successful NBA coach and he could be the guy to help the Warriors go deeper in the playoffs than they ever went under Mark Jackson. But since he’s never coached, there’s always a chance he doesn’t work out.

“ ‘He’ll win a lot of games with the Warriors because he’s got talent there and they’ve been winning,’ said one veteran scout... ‘And Steve is certainly a likable guy. But to coach in this league, you need to be a hard-ass. I just don’t know if Steve Kerr can be a hard ass. Does he really have a hard edge to him? And coaching in New York, you’d better have a hard edge.’

“It’s not just because you’re dealing with Dolan, who might have been right in this case in deciding not to overpay for Kerr. He’s already got a rookie president, at $60 million. Let’s say Kerr wanted $25 million or even more to come to New York. That would have been an $85 million investment, at the least, in two people who have never done their jobs. So you can’t blame Dolan....

“Not that Jim Dolan is right about much of anything when it comes to this team, but if he wants a coach with previous experience and is going to pay top dollar, what’s wrong with that?”

“(This) isn’t really about Kerr at all.

“It’s about Jackson. And unless he has been playing a splendid game of misdirection these past few weeks, the entirety of his search to replace Mike Woodson has amounted to one man: Kerr. Until Wednesday, Jackson (or his bosses) reportedly wasn’t willing to go to a fourth guaranteed year, wasn’t willing to empty the bank account to hire a guy with no experience on the job....

“Jackson had targeted Kerr as his man. They met. They talked. They haggled. But even through all of that, it seemed Kerr was destined to work for the Knicks because of his relationship with Jackson and, for a while, because he didn’t have anything better to ponder, besides staying in the seat next to Marv Albert on TNT.

“That changed instantly when Stan Van Gundy, the favorite to replace Mark Jackson in Oakland, decided instead to accept the Pistons’ offer for full control in Detroit. With the Warriors’ gig now in play, Kerr and his agent, old friend Mike Tannenbaum, had their leverage.

“And suddenly this isn’t quite the quaint story it seemed destined to be, the father turning over the family business to the loyal son.

“And, suddenly, the Knicks remain without a coach and without a true Plan B....

“But the most telling – and troubling – aspect of all is this: The strongest part of Jackson’s game, the thing that allowed everyone to overlook the gaping hole in his GM-free resume, was it was believed – assumed – that by force of personality and sway of his 11 rings he would be able to coax, convince and connive enough talent to rebuild and reload the Knicks, the way his ancient rival, Pat Riley, did in Miami.

“Bolstered by that hubris, he already has talked to Carmelo Anthony about taking less money to stay with the Knicks so Jackson can pad the roster with the extra cash as he hits the recruiting trail. That was an odd play anyway, never seemed remotely connected to logic.

“And now that he has seen Jackson’s first attempt at closing?

Back to Stan Van Gundy, he accepted an outrageous $35 million over five years to take over the Detroit Pistons basketball operation, including the head coaching position. Good luck, Van Gundy.

Meanwhile, the Lakers are without a coach and that’s a rather high-profile gig, I think you’d agree. It seems pretty clear Derek Fisher is going to be pursued rather heavily now by both the Knicks and Lakers, though he’s still playing with Oklahoma City.

Jackson was in Chicago interviewing Mike Dunleavy the other day. Kurt Rambis, Luke Walton and Tyronn Lue have been mentioned. But Derek Fisher is Plan B. [Pssst...don’t discount Kevin Ollie going to L.A. He said he’ll listen to everyone.]

Lastly, leave it up to Marv Albert to perhaps being the key figure in the Steve Kerr decision not to go to New York. Marv kept reminding his broadcast partner that “everybody hates being there (MSG).”

So Albert said of his conversations with Kerr: “I told him it never ends well there. Just look at recent history. It’s because of one man (Dolan).” [Bob Raissman / New York Daily News]

--Mark Jackson will be teaming with Mike Breen and Jeff Van Gundy for Heat-Pacers, having signed a multi-year deal with ESPN, though it doesn’t preclude him from coaching the Knicks should he be approached by Phil Jackson.

--What a wretched ending for my “Pick to Click” Brooklyn Nets, who lost Games 4 and 5 of their series with the Heat to fall 4-1; yet both contests ended in the exact same fashion, with the Nets up by 8 and 9 points with about 4:30 to play, only to see the offense suddenly go ice-cold as Joe Johnson was stopped twice, in each game, on isolations after he had carried the Nets to that point.

So the Nets’ grand experiment, $192 million in salary and luxury tax, went down the drain. They acquired the likes of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to add depth and playoff experience and now it seems Coach Jason Kidd is encouraging Garnett to retire, while Pierce, a class-A jerk, didn’t acknowledge reporters the day after, leaving everyone wondering if he’ll return another season or go elsewhere.

Plus, Andrei Kirilenko, Andray Blatche and Alan Anderson have player options, with Brooklyn desperately needing to bring Blatche back, while point guard Shaun Livingston, who played great, is a free agent. He owes the Nets for giving him a shot, but you know, it always comes down to money and Livingston will be in demand.

Oh, Jason Collins is a free agent, too, but you know how I feel about him. He’s just not that good. Heck, he knows that. I seriously doubt he’ll want to stick around. He’s a good guy who can now write his own ticket and move on with his life.

So what does that leave the Nets with? Incredibly overpaid Deron Williams (who probably needs more ankle surgery), Joe Johnson (who did show he’s a star in the league) and the oft-injured Brook Lopez.

Plus you have an owner, Mikhail Prokhorov, who supports Vladimir Putin, though you never see that in articles about the team.

Yup, it’s going to be an interesting off-season. The Nets could easily be 38-44, or worse, next year.

--Donald Sterling said he won’t pay the $2.5 million fine levied by the NBA, Sterling’s attorney told the league in a letter. The attorney also apparently said his client doesn’t warrant “any punishment at all” for his racist comments that were recorded by V. Stiviano and made public.

The attorney is a well-known anti-trust specialist, Maxwell Blecher. 3/4s of the other 29 NBA have to agree to Commissioner Adam Silver’s recommendation to force a sale of the Clippers.

It now looks like this could drag into next fall and training camp, at which point the players would boycott, perhaps the entire league, not just the Clippers.

Ball Bits

--Commissioner Bud Selig said he is “very worried” over the number of pitchers requiring Tommy John surgery as MLB consults with doctors and athletic trainers in an effort to address the problem.

--In a surprise move, at least to some, Tony La Russa is back in baseball, this time as Arizona’s chief baseball officer, overseeing the entire operation, while working with President Derrick Hall and general manager Kevin Towers and manager Kirk Gibson. Towers will no doubt be gone shortly.

The Diamondbacks, a miserable 18-28, at least destroyed the Dodgers 18-7 on Saturday night, roughing up Clayton Kershaw in the process, the two-time Cy Young award winner giving up 7 earned in just 1 2/3.

--Mets fans have been bewildered with Manager Terry Collins sitting centerfielder Juan Lagares four of five games as the Mets were in the midst of a streak that had them losing 11 out of 15. He’s the most talented of their five outfielders, and probably the best centerfielder in the game defensively. Collins’ excuses for not playing him were lame.

But Saturday, Lagares started, had two hits, including a two-run homer, and then made a spectacular catch to rob Jayson Werth of a home run to propel the Mets to victory, 5-2. He better remain in the lineup or Mets fans will revolt and burn down the stadium. [Just kidding, Mr. Police Commissioner!]

Lagares proceeded to do fine, Sunday, but the Metsies lost 6-3 to fall to 20-23.

--No word on the fate of a certain Mets staffer. He (or she) inadvertently emailed what appeared to be GM Sandy Alderson’s credit card information (including security code and expiration date) to a number of New York media members; the staffer apparently trying to get Alderson tickets to a show. The writers couldn’t resist...one tweeting he used the credit card to buy the Mets a shortstop.

--How good has Cincinnati’s Johnny Cueto been? Forget the modest 4-2 record. He has a 1.25 ERA in nine starts.

Further, “Cueto is the first major league pitcher to go at least seven innings and allow two or fewer runs in each of his first nine starts since the Philadelphia Athletics’ Harry Krause in 1909, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

“He is also the first Reds pitcher to go at least seven innings in each of his first nine starts since Bucky Walters in 1944.” [Associated Press]

By the way, Harry Krause, who pitched from 1908-12, ended up 18-8, 1.39, that 1909 season.

Bucky Walters finished up 23-8, 2.40, in ‘44. Walters was one fine pitcher, 198-160 for his career, winning 20 games three times, including 27 in 1939.

In fact I totally forgot that Walters was N.L. MVP that ’39 season, hitting .325 to boot. For his career, Bucky Walters hit .243 with 23 home runs. Not too shabby. He also made six All-Star teams.

[In case you were wondering, his peak Hall of Fame vote percentage was 23.7%.]

--The Yankees’ Dellin Betances, a 6-8, 260-lb. hurler, was a failed starter in the minors before the team moved him to the pen and now he is thriving at the big-league level. Betances has 42 strikeouts in 24 1/3, 2-0, 1.85 ERA, and in the Subway Series, Thursday, Betances was absolutely stupendous, fanning six consecutive Mets.

--The Cubs’ Jeff Samardzija gave up two earned runs in five innings in a 4-3 loss to the Brewers, Friday, and his ERA moved all the way up to 1.62. Yet he is now 0-4. I imagine he is ready to commit hari-kari. I would be.

--Detroit’s Max Scherzer is now 6-1, 1.83, as he tries to prove his not signing a $mega-bucks, multi-year deal in the offseason was a smart move as he opts to test the free agent market.

[Heading into Sunday night’s game against the Red Sox, Detroit was the best team in baseball with a 26-12 record, winners of 14 of their last 17.]

--Zack Greinke is 7-1, 2.03, and is now 22-5 in a Dodgers uniform since signing his massive contract. Good for him.

--Robinson Cano, he of the outrageous 10-year, $240 million contract, is hitting .318 for Seattle after going 4-for-5 on Sunday (helping to move King Felix to 5-1 in a 6-2 win over the Twins), but Cano has a whopping one homer and 24 RBI.

--A week ago I wrote how livid Harold Reynolds of MLB Network was, rightfully so, over a ball hit by David Ortiz in the near-no-hitter of Texas’ Yu Darvish that was ruled an error...a pop fly that fell between the second baseman and the right fielder. Such a play is always...always...ruled a hit, but it was a local scorer, it was the seventh inning, and the guy wanted to preserve Darvish’s no-no.

Ortiz later singled with two outs in the ninth to end the bid, thus avoiding major controversy, but Major League Baseball nonetheless went back this week and changed the call on the seventh inning play to a hit as well.

--Update: I dissed the Shake Shack hamburger chain the other day, after reading both the Mets’ Lucas Duda and Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg got food poisoning, at two different locations, after eating Shake Shack burgers.

Shake Shack representatives responded this week with a prepared statement, saying Sandberg’s complaint was the only one it received at any location in the past week and after checking the Citi Field outlet, they found no issues whatsoever. [Duda’s incident was passed off as being related to an illness that others on the team had.]

--Rangers-Canadiens...it has a nice, historic ring to it, though Montreal hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since 1993 (shocking) and the Rangers haven’t since 1994.

The two last played each other in the playoffs in 1996, and goalie Henrik Lundqvist hadn’t won at Montreal’s Bell Centre since 3/17/09, going 4-5-2, 4.25 GA, there in his career. In fact King Henrik has been so bad in Montreal, the Rangers didn’t play him there in the two contests this season.

But, alas, whatever curse there was has been exorcised as the Rangers and Lundqvist destroyed Montreal in Game 1 at the Bell Centre, 7-2, on Saturday. The Rangers were flying. Even Rick Nash got his first goal of the playoffs (in game 15).

The only downer was seeing the Rangers’ best player recently, Derick Brassard, go down with a back injury. He’s day-to-day. But with the Rangers in Montreal on Monday, and then not playing Game 3 until Thursday in New York, I’m assuming they rest Brassard Monday and hope he can go Thursday.

--It is way too early for me to dream of a Rangers-Kings Stanley Cup Final, but what the heck.

I mean how good are the Kings? First team in decades to come back from down 3-0 in a playoff series, then defeat the Ducks in Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinal, their sixth elimination win in two rounds, coming back from 3-2 down against Anaheim.

But the Kings faced off against the Chicago Blackhawks (not that I would mind Rangers-Blackhawks, by the way), Sunday, and Chicago won 3-1 in the opener.

--The Penguins fired general manager Ray Shero after losing Game 7 to the Rangers at home. Coach Dan Bylsma remains, for now, though it seems virtually certain he’s a goner. Co-owner Mario Lemieux said it was time to take the team in a new direction, after one postseason flameout after another following their last Stanley Cup title in 2009. Pittsburgh has been knocked out of the playoffs by a lower-seeded team in five consecutive seasons since.

--Can we talk? Is there a bigger jerk in football than Michael Sam? If you still think the St. Louis Rams are thrilled they took him in the draft, you are sadly mistaken. Some of us had problems with the scene after he was selected, but then he stupidly signed on with Oprah and her OWN to develop a documentary, with Sam not telling the team what he was doing beforehand.

Actually, the jerk hadn’t told any teams prior to the NFL draft he had done this. OWN later released the following.

“After careful consideration and discussion with the St. Louis Rams, ‘The Untitled Michael Sam Project’ has been postponed, allowing Michael the best opportunity to achieve his dream of making the team. OWN is about elevating and empowering people to achieve their best. It’s clear that we, along with the world, recognize the important opportunity that Michael now has in this moment. We will continue to support him in his journey to earn a spot playing for the Rams.”

Sam’s agent, who must be an idiot, Cameron Weiss, said, “After today’s meeting with the Rams, we collectively feel it is best to postpone the project. This will allow for Michael to have a total focus on football, and will ensure no distractions to his teammates.”

I’m sorry. This is all unbelievable. The guy was going to do a reality show around his attempt to make the team.

Now think about it. Can you imagine what the veterans would be thinking, and doing, in training camp? They’d kill the guy.

I supported Michael Sam when he came out. Now I really hope he is cut early in camp. My guess is the Rams’ organization is furious.

“Sam keeps saying that he wants to be judged as a football player and not a gay football player.

“But if you say that, you better wear it, and not allow your agents and your publicist to lead you around this way.

“If this was a racial issue we were talking about and not sexual orientation, you’d call this race hustling of the first rank from Sam and his handlers.

“And, by the way, this wasn’t some careless comment, or false step on the great stage of American celebrity; this was a well-considered plan, by them and by Oprah.

“Here is what Cameron Weiss, one of Sam’s agents (and one of the producers of the OWN documentary!) told Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic on ESPN the other day:

“ ‘Mike’s personal reactions (would be the focus), and not even on his training days (but) on his off days away from the team – things that give us insight to his private and personal life, and into his journey, and what’s going on inside of his head.’

“Wow. What a guy.

“He sounds like another Hollywood phony who got his sensitivity training at a tanning salon.

“Sam’s agents made things easier by calling off the documentary.

“They did their client, who nearly didn’t get drafted, no favors in the Rams locker room before they got around to that.”

“The Browns think they can control Johnny Football mania, which pretty much explains why this franchise is the NFL’s longest-running joke.

“When The Post tried this week to get a credential to cover Johnny Manziel’s first rookie minicamp this weekend in Cleveland, the Browns replied that the national media was being barred because the team wants to keep a ‘tight grip’ on its new quarterback and keep the attention from turning into a frenzy.

“A team spokesman said the Browns – most likely, new coach Mike Pettine, a former Jets assistant – had watched how the Tim Tebow situation was handled by the Jets and wanted to avoid a repeat.

“The Browns will be able to tame Manziel Mania about as well as Prohibition kept people from drinking alcohol. And Manziel isn’t Tebow because Manziel actually has an arm and knows how to throw a football.

“Never mind that The Post, like every other media outlet, was going to Cleveland with the expectation of writing a positive story – something that doesn’t happen too often for a sad-sack franchise with just two winning seasons since its return to the city in 1999.

“Have we mentioned the Browns are on their fourth head coach in five years?

“The team’s stance ranks high on the hypocrisy meter, too. The Browns were more than happy to sell 2,500 new season tickets and a boatload of new Manziel jerseys (even LeBron bought one), yet at the same time they’re trying to act like the former Heisman Trophy winner is just another player on their roster.

“Witness owner Jimmy Haslam’s weird comments this week that Manziel needs to know he is nothing more than a backup quarterback and that Cleveland ‘isn’t Hollywood.’

“Way to immediately dampen the enthusiasm of your perpetually let-down fan base, Jimmy.”

--Star pass rusher Robert Mathis of the Colts has been suspended the first four games of the season for violating the league’s drug policy. Mathis said in a statement that his positive test came from medication he took while seeking a medical solution to fertility issues. Mathis swears he asked doctors if it would be OK in terms of the league’s drug test and was assured there would be no problem.

“I made the mistake of not calling the NFL or NFLPA to double check before I took the medication at the end of last season,” said Mathis.

Mathis said he worked with the NFLPA to negotiate a punishment that wouldn’t include a suspension but it was denied by commissioner Goodell.

Mathis pleaded with the fans to “understand the unique circumstances involved here” and that he is a man of integrity. Whatever. But he and his wife are expecting a child later this year!

Actually, I’m guessing the league reconsiders before long, assuming the facts are as Mathis presented them.

--Aaron Hernandez was indicted on Thursday for the murder of two men after a chance encounter inside a nightclub nearly two years ago, with the murders allegedly committed weeks before he signed a five-year, $40 million contract before the 2012 season.

So add this to the 2013 murder he is in jail for. There is no ‘official’ word as yet whether the two cases are linked in any way, both occurring in the general Boston area. But the thought is perhaps, Odin Lloyd, killed in June 2013, may have had knowledge of the 2012 killings.

Golf Balls

--Just what the PGA Tour didn’t need...another first-time winner in Brendon Todd at the Byron Nelson event in Irving, Texas. I do have to note that Mike Weir finished second, however, which was his best finish since 2009 (his last win being 2007).

--Kenny Perry won the Champions Tour Regions Tradition in Shoal Creek, Alabama, a major for the senior set.

--And get this...Miguel Angel Jimenez, age 50, extended his record as the oldest winner of a European PGA Tour event in winning this week’s Open de Espana. It is his 21st Euro Tour win and 14th since he turned 40. Very, very cool. He is, after all, the “Most Interesting Golfer in the World.”

--The WGC-Match Play Championship is in danger as it hasn’t found a sponsor for 2015, following the departure of Accenture, and it won’t be easy.

For starters, the purse is expensive, $9 million. Second, some of the top names haven’t been teeing it up because of the uncertainty of not making it to the weekend (plus first-round losing money of $48,000 just isn’t that significant for the big guys). And some players don’t like the course, Dove Mountain outside Tucson.

If you’re a sponsor, the issue is you can get stuck with some real no-names on Saturday and Sunday, so while some of us thought the final matchup this year between Jason Day and Victor Dubuisson was the best golf we’ve seen yet in 2014, the masses didn’t tune in.

A suggestion has been made to tweak the format, such as having the top eight be exempted to a 16-man match-play field filled with the low eight through two rounds of a concurrent 72-hole, stroke-play competition, which was the format for the old U.S. Professional Match Play Championship in 1972-73.

[I’d do 36 holes, Wed.-Thurs., then 16 to 8, Friday, 4 matches, Sat., and two on Sunday. That would ensure some names make it to Sat.-Sun.]

But the bottom line is no one seems too concerned if the event, as it stands today, dies.

--An announcement is to be made this summer that The Open Championship (British Open) will be held in Northern Ireland, Royal Portrush, for the first time since 1951. The success of the 2012 Irish Open at Portrush – 130,000 spectators for the week – along with a stable political situation in the North, apparently sealed the deal.

The club will need member approval to make some changes, as requested by the R&A, with holes No. 17 and 18 being scrapped for two new ones designed by Martin Ebert on an adjacent course.

Graeme McDowell, a Royal Portrush member, joined countrymen Rory McIlroy and Darren Clarke in lobbying for the invite.

Here’s the ironic thing about the probable move...I would argue the political situation could worsen all over again. It’s more than a bit edgy these days.

--Jeff Neuman of the Wall Street Journal had a piece on the mighty, yet humble, golf tee. “A moderate-sized country club will spend in the neighborhood of $1,000 a year on tees, which it treats as a complimentary item like soap by the sink.”

William Lowell invented the wood tee as we know it in 1921. Today, PrideSports is the largest tee manufacturer in the world. At its factory in Burnham, Maine, “an 8-foot log 8 to 10 inches in diameter will produce 3,000 tees; the factory can turn out more than two million tees a day.”

--The Wake Forest men’s golf team failed to reach the NCAA Championships, finishing seventh in its regional with the top five advancing. Junior Cyrus Stewart qualified as an individual.

--Kurt Busch is attempting to become just the fourth to race in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 on the same day, next Sunday. The other three are John Andretti, Tony Stewart and Robby Gordon, Gordon the last since 2004. Only Stewart completed both.

Of course a lot has to go right, starting with no weather delays in Indy, then no flight or traffic delays getting to the track in Charlotte.

Busch ended up qualifying 12th for Indy. Ed Carpenter will sit on the pole. [Your editor will be rooting for Marco Andretti.]

--SHARK!!! Director of Shark Attacks for Bar Chat, Senior Vice President Bob S. passed along a story from Melbourne Beach, Fla.

“A 38-year-old woman on a family trip to the beach was attacked by a shark Thursday morning off Brevard County....

“ ‘Typically you’ll see fish jumping out of the water, birds chasing after the fish...it was just out of nowhere, bam,’ said the victim’s brother.

“(The brother) said he was body boarding with his sister while her two children played in the sand with family members when she had a ‘chunk’ taken out of her calf.”

She lost a lot of blood but was said to be in decent shape at a hospital in Melbourne.

But here’s the deal. It’s not known what type of shark attacked the woman. However, earlier in the week, a 14-foot great white that is being monitored pinged off the Brevard coast. The shark, given the name, Katharine, by the group tracking it, Ocearch, was just a few miles from where the victim was attacked a few days later.

As Bob S. noted, Katharine is on court-monitored probation and pings in from time to time in lieu of a physical meeting with its probation officer. [Orlando Sentinel]

--Ripped from the pages of the Sydney Morning Herald, via AFP:

“The limbs of an 11-year-old boy have been found inside a huge saltwater crocodile and his head discovered nearby after he was attacked in Papua New Guinea, a report said Wednesday.

“The four-meter croc grabbed the boy as he was fishing with his parents...

“ ‘The crocodile swept the boy with its tail and then attacked the defenseless child,’ said the local police chief.

“Police found two hands, two legs and a hipbone inside the crocodile after they tracked it down and killed it.

“The head was found later and taken to a morgue.” [In case you were wondering what kind of treatment you would receive were you to travel to PNG and come upon a 12-foot saltwater croc.]

Here’s a fun fact. “A total of 75 crocodile attacks, of which 65 were fatal, have been recorded in PNG by the CrocBITE database since 1958.”

Top 3 songs for the week 5/16/70: #1 “American Woman” (The Guess Who) #2 “ABC” (The Jackson 5) #3 “Vehicle” (The Ides of March)...and...#4 “Let It Be” (The Beatles) #5 “Cecilia” (Simon & Garfunkel) #6 “Spirit In The Sky” (Norman Greenbaum...ughh...) #7 “Everything Is Beautiful” (Ray Stevens...hit #1 two weeks later...) #8 “Turn Back The Hands Of Time” (Tyrone Davis) #9 “Up Around The Bend” (Creedence Clearwater Revival) #10 “Reflections Of My Life” (Marmalade)

NHL Quiz Answer: Three Rangers to play in 1,000 games for New York.

Harry Howell...1,160 (1952-69)
Brian Leetch...1,129 (1987-04)
Rod Gilbert...1,065 (1960-78)

Ron Greschner...982
Walt Tkaczuk...945...loved this guy. Talk about a tough SOB.

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