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Bar Chat

05/22/2014

Breathe Right

NHL Quiz: Easy one...name the three Canadiens to score 500 goals in a Montreal uniform. Answer below.

BREAKING NEWS...Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki sent out their wedding invitations a few days ago...but now they are no longer together.

“There is no right way to end a relationship that has been so important to two people,” said Rory in a statement in England. “The wedding invitations issued at the weekend made me realize that I wasn’t ready for all that marriage entails. 

“I wish Caroline all the happiness she deserves and thank her for the great times we’ve had. I will not be saying anything more about our relationship in any setting.” [CBSSports.com]

Well, this is just what Rory needs as he prepares for the U.S. Open... not!!! Your heart goes out to Caroline.

It’s a go. New York Racing Association stewards unanimously approved the use of equine nasal strips of the kind used by California Chrome in his first six starts, all wins, so on to the Belmont. And a shot at history.

New York State’s equine medical director Scott Palmer wrote, “Equine nasal strips do not enhance equine performance nor do they pose a risk to equine health or safety and as such do not need to be regulated.

“Where there is research to indicate that equine nasal strips decrease airway resistance in horses and may decrease the amount of bleeding associated with EIPH to some degree, I am unfamiliar with any research indicating that equine nasal strips enable a horse to run faster with nasal strips than without them. In other words, there is no evidence they have a performance enhancing effect.”

Of course there is a big winner already for the Belmont, regardless of what happens in the race...NBC.

“California Chrome does not have to win the Belmont to double or triple the usual Belmont Stakes viewership. He can dawdle at the starting gate and smoke a cigar on the first turn. He can run backward down the stretch while reading ‘The Hunger Games.’ Viewers, hard core and casual, will tune in because of the expectation that California Chrome could win the Triple Crown....

“When the race starts around 6:30 p.m. Eastern, viewership is locked in. Win or lose, Chrome will win for NBC.

“In 2004, when the extremely popular Smarty Jones was chasing the Triple Crown, NBC’s broadcast averaged 21.9 million viewers. Smarty lost the Belmont by a length to Birdstone.

“A year later, without a Triple Crown on the line, Afleet Alex’s victory generated only 7.7 million viewers for NBC.”

Let’s Go Ran-Gers!

It’s really amazing...five straight victories for the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup playoffs after they were down 3 games to 1 against Pittsburgh following a dreadful loss at home. But as I wrote the other day, then the human element was introduced with the death of Martin St. Louis’ mother, the team suddenly bonded, and between this and the sensational play of goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, the Rangers now stand two victories from the Stanley Cup finals after 7-2, 3-1 wins in Montreal. Back to the Garden for Game 3 on Thursday.

King Henrik had 40 saves in Monday’s 3-1 win; a game that the Rangers really had no right being in early on were it not for his spectacular play.

Tickets for Game 3 at MSG are selling for an average $600, the most expensive non-Stanley Cup Final game the online aggregator SeatGeek has seen.

NBA Playoffs

San Antonio whipped Oklahoma City 122-105 in Game 1 of their conference final, with Tim Duncan getting 21 of his team-high 27 in the first half and Manu Ginobili having a big 18 off the bench. For the Thunder, Kevin Durant had 28 and Russell Westbrook 25, which as I wrote before is not going to be nearly enough as OKC plays without their third scorer and big man, Serge Ibaka.

And then there’s Kawhi Leonard. As Matt Moore wrote for CBSSports.com:

“(In) recent weeks, Leonard has evolved into something else entirely. I’ve likened it to a species evolving to the top of the food chain, as a predator becomes stronger, faster, with more weapons. Leonard has been a terrific player since he came into the league. But even last year in the Finals, he was a specific tool for the Spurs to use. Corner treys, pump-fake and drives, a few post-ups, spot-up shots, tip-ins. He wasn’t an individual weapon.”

But it turns out Leonard didn’t really improve this season. He was solid, as before, but it seems a knee injury he suffered in last year’s Finals (that he played through), hampered his play this past year and only now does he seem fully healthy.

“(So) Leonard is becoming this apex predator, this beast that is starting to overpower the other superstars on the floor, and is able to defend at an elite level.”

[The trio of Duncan, Tony Parker, and Ginobili equaled the mark of the Lakers’ Magic Johnson, Kareem and Michael Cooper for the most successful trio of players in the postseason...110 wins total.]

--Miami evened its series against Indiana on Tuesday at 1-1, winning 87-83. I’m not the least bit interested.

--The NBA charged Donald Sterling with damaging the league and its teams with his racist comments, saying in a statement:

“All of these acts provide grounds for termination under several provisions of the NBA constitution and related agreements.”

The league said Sterling and the organization destroyed evidence relating to the now-infamous recording, as well as providing false and misleading information in connection with the commissioner’s investigation, and issuing a false and misleading public statement regarding the authenticity of the TMZ tape.

A hearing has been set for June 3, with Sterling having until May 27 to respond to the charge, and the right to appear before the NBA board of governors, after which it is assumed 3/4s of the owners will vote to terminate his ownership of the Clippers, thus forcing him to sell the team.

But Sterling, who has already said he would not pay the $2.5 million fine levied on him, will no doubt drag things out and I’m of the opinion this goes into the fall, at which point the players would boycott. Plus you have wife Shellie, who wants to retain her 50% share of the team even if Donald is forced to sell.

--For the third time in four years, the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA draft lottery to secure the top pick in the June 26 draft. So they will hope to do better than last year’s top selection, Anthony Bennett. In 2011, the Cavs did better in selecting Kyrie Irving.

This year Cleveland will no doubt choose one of three players, Jabari Parker, Andre Wiggins or Joel Embid.

Milwaukee gets the second pick. Philadelphia will draft third and Orlando fourth.

Ball Bits

--The bubble burst on some pitching performances Tuesday night. The Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka lost for the first time in the regular season since Aug. 19, 2012, having gone 34-0 between his play in Japan and his 6-0 start with the Yanks. He was defeated by the Cubs, 6-1, at Wrigley Field. For Chicago, they had an advantage being the first team Tanaka faced twice in his major-league career. So will all teams fare better a second time around? He had defeated them back on April 16.

Nonetheless, technically it was a quality start as he allowed four runs (but three earned) in six innings.

--Cincinnati’s Johnny Cueto was rocked by the Washington Nationals, 9-4, as he gave up 6 earned in 5 1/3. His first nine starts had been historic, the best start ever for a pitcher since 1900.   Tuesday’s performance, though, hiked his ERA from 1.25 to 1.86. [For Washington, Denard Span went 5-for-5.]

--Baltimore slugger Chris Davis broke out on Tuesday in Pittsburgh with three home runs.

--The Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright moved to 7-2, 1.85, in one-hitting the Diamondbacks, 5-0.

--Is there a better franchise in the purest sense of the word than the Oakland A’s? I don’t think so. [When judged strictly by performance relative to assets, including having to deal with a godawful ballpark.] Despite all the injuries to their starting staff, the A’s are 29-16.

--Shortstop Stephen Drew, a free agent all this time, finally re-signed with the Red Sox for a reported $10 million – prorated from the $14-million qualifying offer he turned down in the offseason.

--Tim Rohan had a piece on the futility Mets pitchers have experienced at the plate this season, starting the year 0-for-64, easily a major league record (the previous mark was 0 for 45), before rookie Jacob deGrom, in his first career at-bat, ended the streak. But heading into Tuesday’s game against the Dodgers, they were 1 for 71 this season, a batting average of .014.

So the Mets’ stats are refueling the debate over adopting the designated hitter in the National League. Even long-time friend and baseball purist, Ken P., wrote me that he’s ready to give in. I am too.

It doesn’t help when you have the Mets’ hitting coach, Dave Hudgens (why he is still around I’ll never know), tell Rohan “the Mets were more cautious than other teams when it came to their pitchers taking batting practice because they wanted to guard against injury.”

So it’s no longer the game we grew up with. It’s about specialization, beginning in the early years. You pitch, you pitch. You don’t necessarily learn how to hit.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, entering Monday’s games only five National League teams had pitchers batting above .150 as a group, the best at .176.

American League pitchers hitting during interleague play were batting a combined .131.

--But wait...there’s more! The Mets at home! 

“Citi Field has not been friendly to the Mets, where their offensive numbers at home have been some of the league’s worst since it opened in 2009....

“Five years later, the Mets appear haunted by their cavernous ballpark and the many home runs that die on Citi Field’s warning tracks.

“ ‘It’s brutal,’ said one ex-Met slugger, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. ‘You don’t realize it when you come in to play there once in a while. When you play there every day, it’s just brutal.’

“How brutal? The Mets are 9-12 at home this season – the last two games getting shut out by the Yankees – have posted losing seasons there from 2011-13 and are a combined 191-214 at home since Citi Field opened in 2009. In their last three completed seasons, the Mets’ .424 home winning percentage (103-140) was 28th in the majors, ranking well below the big-league average of .509.”

After the 2011 season the Mets moved in the fences and there are rumblings they will move them in further. I’m sick of this talk. Other teams come in and don’t seem to have a problem hitting the long ball, but Curtis Granderson comes over from the Yankees and proceeds to start out 10-for-78 (.128) with one home run at Citi.

Entering Tuesday’s play, in 21 home games the Mets were hitting .200, with the Cubs next worst at .232, a huge difference. By comparison, the Mets are hitting a respectable .255 on the road.

[The Mets then lost to the Dodgers, 9-4, on Tuesday, but had four runs on 11 hits, thus hiking their home batting average to .205. But they are also now 6-for-40 with the bases loaded, overall, having choked last night a few times. But that .150 average isn’t the worst in the league. Miami is .125 and Pittsburgh .114 with the sacks full. And not for nothing, but Tuesday’s game was four hours, 8 minutes, a minute shy of the Mets all-time mark for a nine-inning game. That’s not how you draw fans, boys and girls. I swear, I was beat from exercising too much during the day and I took almost a two-hour nap in the middle of the contest. I should also note that Granderson broke out a bit, going 3-for-5 with a homer.]

“Dodgers prospect Alex Guerrero was the victim Tuesday of a Mike Tyson-like ear chomp by triple-A teammate Miguel Olivo....

“Guerrero, a Cuban infielder who is in the first year of a four-year, $28 million contract, was scheduled to undergo plastic surgery to reattach the part of his ear that was bitten off by Olivo in a dugout altercation,” said agent Scott Boras.

Olivo, a 35-year-old journeyman catcher who has played 13 major league seasons, apparently was miffed his team gave up a stolen base in the seventh inning, blaming Guerrero for failing to tag the baserunner in time. Olivo then decked Guerrero in the dugout and when the players pulled Olivo off, he had a piece of Guerrero’s ear in his mouth, Boras said.

Guerrero, as you can see from the contract, is being counted on heavily in the Dodgers’ future and is batting .376 with 10 home runs and 29 runs batted in.

NFL Action

--According to the sports book at the Las Vegas Hilton, the predicted win totals for all NFL teams in 2014 have been released and Denver and Seattle top the list at 11, followed by the Patriots and 49ers at 10.5.

Carolina, which was a surprising 12-4, is projected at eight, the same as Atlanta, which was 4-12.

The Giants are at 7.5 and Jets 7. These are the benchmarks that are then used for over/under bets.

Jacksonville is bringing up the rear at 4.5, with Oakland at 5.

Last year, the 2013 predictions had the Texans at 10.5 wins and they went 2-14, while the Redskins had an over/under of 8.5 but finished 3-13. [USA TODAY Sports and pregame.com]

--NFL owners have tabled discussions about an expanded playoff system until the fall. There has been talk of expanding from 12 to 14 teams in 2015.

--And a group of retired NFL players, including three members of the 1985 Super Bowl champion Chicago Bears – Richard Dent, Keith Van Horne and Jim McMahon – sued the league, claiming it illegally gave them painkillers to keep them playing. The players then say the narcotics and other drugs, given without a prescription, led to serious health issues and long-term addictions.

More than 500 other former NFL players have signed up as the suit seeks full class-action status along the lines of the recent $765 million concussion settlement.

McMahon alleges he suffered a broken neck and ankle during his time in the NFL, but was never told of those injuries by team doctors, and instead given medications to keep him playing.

Van Horne alleges he played an entire season on a broken leg, and was not told about the injury for five years “during which time he was fed a constant diet of pills to deal with the pain.”

Receiver J.D. Hill, who played in the 1970s, allegedly “received hundreds, if not thousands, of pills from trainers and doctors, including but not limited to [anti-inflammatory drugs], codeine, Valium and Librium,” without a prescription or warning of potential side effects.

Hill left the NFL addicted to painkillers, and became homeless as a result.              

--Minneapolis was awarded the 2018 Super Bowl. Their new $1 billion stadium, which looks very cool on paper, is set to open in 2016.

Next year’s Super Bowl is in Glendale, Arizona, followed by Santa Clara, California, then Houston.

Tiger’s Rehab

Tiger Woods held a press conference on Monday to update the golf world on his recovery from back surgery. He has no idea when he will return.

“There really is no timetable.... It’s not going to be up to me whether I play or not, it’s going to be up to my docs.”

Tiger’s surgery was March 31 and he is still limited to very light chipping and putting.

Clearly he’s going to miss the U.S. Open at Pinehurst, which begins June 12, and I doubt he’s thinking of the British Open in July. While he didn’t say so, I’ll just guess he’s given the go-ahead to start hitting balls in mid-June and then appears at the PGA Championship in August.

Said Woods: “I don’t know when I come back and start ramping it up, how far am I away from being explosive. Do I still have that capability of hitting the ball like that? But once I start feeling like that, I don’t think it would take more than a couple weeks to where I can get out there and feel like I can compete.”

--One other golf note. 11-year-old Lucy Li qualified for the United States Women’s Open. She is a sixth-grader from Redwood Shores, California.

Li carded rounds of 74 and 68 on the Old Course at Half Moon Bay Golf Links in Calif., to not only qualify but also win by seven strokes.

The previous youngest qualifier was Lexi Thompson, 12, when she played in the 2007 Open.

Beverly Klass was 10 years 7 months when she qualified for the 1967 Open, but this was before qualification was required.

Jack Brabham

We note the passing of the great Formula One champion, Sir Jack Brabham, who died at the age of 88. The Australian driver won the championship in 1959, 1960 and 1966. Said his son, David Brabham, “He lived an incredible life, achieving more than anyone would ever dream of. He will continue to live on through the astounding legacy he leaves behind.”

Brabham, who was a mechanic in the Royal Australian Air Force, won his first Grand Prix at Monaco in 1959 and his last in South Africa in 1970, the year he retired from the sport.

He remains the only man in history to have designed, built and driven a championship-winning car, the rear-engined BT19 that he won in in 1966.

Bear Attack!

“A woman mauled by a sow brown bear with two cubs while running late Sunday morning on an unpaved road on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson barely remembers the details of the attack.

“The woman, who asked military officials not to identify her, remained at Alaska Native Medical Center in stable condition on Monday....

“Bleeding from slashes on her head and arms, she nonetheless managed to walk a mile or more uphill back to the Davis Highway, where her pickup was parked... A passing driver, a soldier, picked her up and brought her to the base hospital.

“ ‘The lady had the wherewithal, the will to survive and work her way back to her truck,’ said senior conservation officer Mark Sledge.

“The woman was running on a popular training route fairly far behind her soldier husband when she startled the bears.

“The sow and cubs came out of the trees just as she ran by.”

Picture the husband. He called her in as missing when he noticed she wasn’t coming up from behind and then backtracked but couldn’t find her. Security forces found him and took him to the hospital.

Conservation officer Sledge said, “The main message is don’t get complacent.... I don’t care if you’re in downtown Anchorage or on the base, bears are everywhere.”

Brad K. passed along this disturbing tale from ABC 7 in Denver:

“Two women are hospitalized after being attacked by a moose.”

The two were walking their dogs in Gilpin County, near Black Hawk, Sunday, “when they heard a noise behind them and the moose went after them.

“ ‘All of a sudden I looked up and he was looking right at me and grunted and then charged, with his head down. He got me in the chest and that threw me back on the ground,’ said Jacquie B. [I’ve been trying to leave out the real names in these stories. These folks already are in cyberspace forever...I don’t need to add to it.]

“She said she tried to get up, but he kept coming back..

“ ‘My friend Ellen ran for help and the dogs ran away too,’ she said. ‘He knocked me down first and charged me, then circled back and charged her again.’”

Jacquie ended up receiving 10 staples in her head and 15 stitches in her leg where the moose stepped on her. “This is where I hike every day,” she said.

The other woman received broken bones, cuts, bruises and stitches.

A wildlife official said “if you encounter a moose, try to back out of the area and put some distance between you and the moose.”

Personally, when I take the elevator down each morning to the Dunkin’ Donuts in my building, I’m always alert to moose in the adjoining parking lot

The Plight of the Sea Turtle

“Sea turtles are likely to be beneficiaries of a warming climate as hotter incubation conditions trigger a rising share of female hatchlings that could lift natural rates of population growth, new research to be published in Nature Climate Change shows.”

But, “At about 30.5 degrees (C., 86F), populations become fully female. As remaining males die off, ‘it will be end of story without human intervention,’ according to Professor Graeme Hays. At higher than 33 degrees (91.4F), embryos do not survive.”

Uh oh. Granted, because the breeding population will swell at first, sea turtle adult populations are “unlikely to be dire in the next 150 years,” the study concluded.

And by then the sea turtle could adjust and seek out cooler climes, or lay their eggs at milder times of the year.

But having experienced a brutal winter in these parts, my recommendation to Kanye and Kim Sea Turtle would be to avoid the Jersey shore in January or February.

--We note the passing of the great college basketball coach Don Meyer, 69, who had a career record of 923-324 in 38 seasons at Hamline University of St. Paul, Lipscomb University of Nashville and Northern State University in Aberdeen, S.D.

Meyer was satisfied at the small college level, but in 2008, he survived a head-on collision with a truck as he was driving alone, the lead car in his team’s procession to an away game. He later returned to coaching and in January 2009, Meyer surpassed Bob Knight as the winningest coach in men’s college basketball history with his 903rd victory. [He is now sixth on the list.]

“A dangerous reptile sustained injuries after being squashed by a portly circus accountant on a roadtrip in northern Russia on Tuesday.

“The two-meter-long crocodile was peacefully snoozing on the floor when the tour bus hit a bump in the road, triggering an unfortunate chain of events that caused a 120-kilogram [Ed. 265 lbs.] female passenger to be thrown into the crocodile and said crocodile to vomit for several hours afterward, RIA Novosti reported.

“Both reportedly sustained shock and minor injuries.”

The accountant was issued a formal reprimand for neglecting to wear a seat belt.

--Jerry Vale died. He was 83. Signed to Columbia Records in 1951 by the legendary talent director and producer Mitch Miller, Vale went on to record 50 albums and had hits into the mid-1960s with his signature “Al Di La,” “Have You Looked Into Your Heart?,” “Two Purple Shadows,” “I Live Each Day,” and “You Don’t Know Me.”

“Vale’s renditions of Italian love songs clearly struck a chord with director Martin Scorsese, who used his recording of ‘Pretend You Don’t See Me’ in ‘Good Fellas’ (1990) and ‘Love Me the Way I Love You’ in ‘Casino’ (1995). Vale appeared in both films and in ‘The Sopranos.’”

He was born Genaro Louis Vitaliano on July 8, 1930, in the Bronx, N.Y., to Italian immigrant parents. Later, singer Guy Mitchell, who was recording with Columbia, recommended Miller sign the youngster, who changed his name to Vale.

Top 3 songs for the week 5/22/71: #1 “Joy To The World” (Three Dog Night) #2 “Never Can Say Goodbye” (The Jackson 5...my favorite of theirs...) #3 “Brown Sugar” (The Rolling Stones)...and...#4 “Put Your Hand In The Hand” (Ocean) #5 “Me And You And A Dog Named Boo” (Lobo) #6 “Want Ads” (The Honey Cone) #7 “Bridge Over Troubled Water” (Aretha Franklin) #8 “It Didn’t Come Easy” (Ringo Starr) #9 “If” (Bread) #10 “Chick-A-Boom” (Daddy Dewdrop)

NHL Quiz Answer: Three Canadiens to score 500 goals....

Maurice Richard 544
Guy Lafleur 518
Jean Beliveau 507

Yvan Cournoyer 428
Steve Shutt 408

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