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Bar Chat

08/22/2016

Usain Seals the Deal...and more...

[Posted early Sunday p.m.]

Boston Red Sox Quiz: Post-1920, only three pitchers have won 25 games in a season (all three exactly 25).  The three did it in 1935, 1946 and 1949.  Name ‘em.  Answer below.  [Of course this is hard...I also don’t have a lot of time tonight.]

The Rio Games

Well it’s over, and thankfully no big incidents, just a lot of relatively minor ones and some ugly Americans.  In the field of competition, though, Team USA rocked.

Medal Count

USA... 121...46 (G)-37 (S)-38 (B)
China... 70...26-18-26
Britain... 67...27-23-17

These Games will forever be remembered not for Ryan Lochte (“Idiot...” “Jerk...” and “Dirtball of the Year” candidate) but rather for the spectacular performances of four individuals: Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles.  They were truly a Fab Four.

I enjoyed the Games immensely, especially the way virtually all of the major events folded nicely into prime time.

Below, I try to recap the major achievements since my last post, and I have to get some stuff down on Lochte, of course, for the archives and history.

But now it’s also back to normal and the advent of college football and the NFL, plus baseball’s pennant/wild card races. No time for a break.

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--Usain Bolt did it.  Nine for nine.  The triple-triple. The triple-treble, whatever you want to call it.

What started in Beijing in 2008, ended gloriously in Rio.

“There you go: I am the greatest,” he said Friday night, after anchoring the winning Jamaican 4X100-meter relay team for a third straight Olympics.

Bolt thus tied Carl Lewis for the most gold medals of any modern track and field athlete.

And get this, starting with the 100 at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, he has won 20 of 21 championship races (including world championships, with the only loss in the 2011 W.C., when he was disqualified for a false start).

As for the U.S. men in the 4X100, they crossed the line third and I was happy to see them get bronze.  But in watching it live, I thought there was a problem with the exchange between Mike Rodgers and Justin Gatlin, only I thought Rodgers had crossed into the other lane.

So as the U.S. was celebrating on the track, the four teammates learned they were disqualified because Rodgers’ baton pass to Gatlin was outside the lane.

“It was the twilight zone,” Justin Gatlin said.  “It was a nightmare.  You work so hard with your teammates, guys you compete against almost all year long.  All that hard work just crumbles.”

In 2008 the U.S. squad was DQ’d.  In 2012 they were stripped of their silver after Tyson Gay’s doping violation.  And then this.

The botched handoff actually marked the ninth time since 1995 the U.S. men have been disqualified or dropped the baton at an Olympics or world championships.

U.S. Track & Field appealed the ruling but to no avail.  It was an easy call.

--Earlier Friday night, the U.S. women won the 4X100, giving Allyson Felix her fifth gold medal, the first woman to win five track and field golds.

They almost didn’t make it, though, as in the first round, they had a bad handoff from Felix to English Gardner, but race officials ruled the two had been impeded by a Brazilian runner, so they were granted a second chance to make the finals and qualified....at the expense of the Chinese 4X100 team, which was extremely upset about the whole situation.

Felix then picked up her sixth gold, the most for any woman in track and field, as she anchored the 4X400 relay team on Saturday. With teammates Courtney Okolo, Natasha Hastings and Phyllis Francis, the girls extended the USA’s dominance in the event to six straight Olympics.

--Also Friday, poor Jenn Suhr. The defending Olympic and world champion pole-vaulter had been sick virtually her entire time in Rio, a respiratory infection, that had her vomiting blood Friday morning, and then vomiting twice during the competition in the evening.  [Awful job by the NBC analyst, by the way, who unless I missed it, didn’t seem to know how sick she was.  I didn’t know until reading about it later.]

Suhr, who also won silver at Beijing in ’08, didn’t medal, but American teammate Sandi Morris, the pride of Greenville, S.C., picked up the silver with Greece’s Ekaterini Stefanidi winning the gold on fewer misses.

Morris was fortunate to be in Rio. She broke a bone in her wrist back in May when her pole snapped.  Yikes.

--Kenya’s Vivian Cheruiyot won the women’s 5,000 meters, but for some of us the story was New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin, who finished last, but that didn’t matter.  Hamblin will forever be known in Olympic lore as part of the duo, the other being American Abbey D’Agostino, who helped each other out after a collision in the semis, D’Agostino tearing her ACL.  Because of the tremendous display of sportsmanship, both were awarded spots in the final but D’Agostino was there as a cheerleader only for Hamblin.

--Gwen Jorgensen became the first American to win gold in the triathlon, which became an Olympic sport in 2000.

--Brazil claimed its first men’s Olympic soccer gold on Saturday, defeating Germany 5-4 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 tie at the end of extra time, with Neymar, far and away Brazil’s biggest sports star these days, dramatically scoring the winner.  So an awesome moment for the hosts.

--The U.S. women’s basketball team crushed Spain for their sixth straight gold medal, 101-72.

--Saturday, American Matthew Centrowitz Jr. startled the racing world by winning the 1,500...the first American to do so since 1908.  Centrowitz took the lead in the third lap and never relented.  Just a great performance.

Interestingly, the pace was the slowest, 3:50, since 1932.

--Great Britain’s Mo Farah won his fourth Olympic gold as he became only the second man to retain the 5,000m and 10,000m titles; Farah triumphing Saturday in the 5,000 final to extend his tally as Britain’s most successful Olympic track and field athlete of all time.

Farah matched the feat of Finland’s Lasse Viren, who completed the long-distance double-double at Munich in 1972 and Montreal 1976.

American Paul Chelimo, a 25-year-old who serves in the Army, finished second to Farah, another shocker, but at first he was stripped of it for having a foot off the track ever so briefly, only to be reinstated when officials realized they were being a tad too picky.

--South Africa’s Caster Semenya took gold in the women’s 800 meters.  I’ve said my piece about her.  Margaret Wambui is another of the same ilk.  It’s uncomfortable watching them.

--No doubt as to who or what American Dalilah Muhammad of New York City is, though, as she kicked butt in the 400 hurdles, with teammate Ashley Spencer taking the bronze.

--Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson completed her sprint double in taking the women’s 200m, edging out the Netherlands’ Dafne Schippers, while USA’s Tori Bowie took bronze (after Bowie won the silver in the 100). 

[Following Usain Bolt’s win in the 200 on Thursday, that means Jamaica has 11 of the past 12 Olympic golds in the 100 and 200.]

--And Ashton Eaton won his second consecutive gold in the decathlon.  Yes, because it was The Usain Bolt show on the track, Eaton’s accomplishments have been overshadowed, including the fact his wife, Brianne, took the bronze in the hepthalon.

--Americans took gold and silver in the men’s shot put; Ryan Crouser (G) and Joe Kovacs (S).

--South Korean Inbee Park won the gold in women’s golf.  A seven-time major winner, Park has been sidelined with a wrist injury that kept her out of the U.S. Women’s Open and the Women’s British Open, but she wanted to make sure she was in shape for the Olympics.

New Zealand’s Lydia Ko won the silver, China’s Shanshan Feng the bronze.

--In the men’s steeplechase, Evan Jager captured the silver, the first American to medal in the race since 1984.

--The U.S. women claimed their second consecutive gold in water polo.

--Americans Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross salvaged bronze in beach volleyball, after Jennings had won three golds with prior partner Misty May-Treanor.

--American skeet-shooter Kim Rhode won her sixth medal, a bronze, making it six straight Olympics in which she has medaled.

Needless to say, given the nature of her sport, it’s not easy getting a sponsor; nor does it help she is an outspoken critic of gun-control laws.

--Sunday, American Galen Rupp finished third in the men’s marathon, an awesome accomplishment as it was just his second marathon ever (the first being the U.S. team trials that he won).

Rupp was highly disappointed he didn’t do better eight days earlier in the 10,000, finishing fifth, but for him to come back on such short rest and finish third in a marathon?  That’s phenomenal.

Now, Rupp says he’s wondering if this is his best event, after focusing on the 5K and 10K virtually his entire career.

The marathon was won by Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya in 2:08.44.  He was flying near the end, including a 9:13 two-mile split between miles 21 and 23.  That would be a solid one mile for me these days.  [I’m old.  And I suck.]

--The U.S. men won gold in basketball for a third consecutive time with a dominating 96-66 win over Serbia.  I actually watched about half of this one, because there was literally nothing else on.  But congrats to Coach K and to Carmelo Anthony, both now with three golds, Anthony becoming the first male player to do so.  Us Knicks fans are hoping some of the good karma rubs off on the team this coming season.  I do admire Melo for doing this.

--Emblematic of the topic below, in the span of about 60 minutes Wednesday night, U.S. women hauled in six medals; Tianna Bartoletta and Brittney Reese went 1-2 in the long jump, Torie Bowie picked up her silver in the 200, and Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali and Kristi Castlin swept the 100-meter hurdles – a feat that had never been accomplished before, by any country.  [The prior night, the U.S. was kept off the medal stand in the men’s 110-meter hurdles for the first time in Olympic history.]

--On the issue of the dominance of American women at the Games....

Sally Jenkins / Washington Post

“After considering the medal tally, the question becomes, why shouldn’t American women secede?  Why shouldn’t they take their separate and equal place among nations?  I hereby declare a new sovereign state.  Long live the Republic.

“What should we call this new nation, so heavily freighted with resources, chiefly precious metals? ‘How about Badassitannia?’ ESPN’s Julie Foudy suggested.  By Saturday when the United States beat Spain in basketball, and Gwen Jorgensen became our first Olympic champion in the triathlon, American women had won so many gold medals they ranked third among countries....

“The United States sent 292 women to Rio out of a delegation of 554, an all-time high for any country.  One explanation for the medal deluge is certainly money: This is what comes of Title IX and decent funding.  But obviously, pure funding is not the sole answer, or WNBA attendance would be higher and salaries wouldn’t be a tenth of the NBA’s.

“There is no unified theory that explains the riddle of the women’s sports market.  But it may be a mistake to measure prosperity through the misleading and impatient metrics of men’s leagues and LeBron James’ salary.  ‘If you look at it through the pro sports lens, it’s not there yet,’ said ESPN’s senior vice president for women’s initiatives, Laura Gentile.  ‘If you’re comparing everything to the NFL and economic factors behind the leagues, yeah, it’s a tough comparison. And it makes us unduly anxious.’....

“ESPN has dramatically increased the number of hours it televises women, to the point that it will air more than 7,500 hours this year, including ESPN3 and the SEC and Longhorn networks.  With rare exceptions, however, ratings haven’t dramatically increased, and therefore sponsorship lags.

“But what you do see are dramatically suggestive bursts: The 2015 Women’s World Cup final against Japan out-rated NBA games.  The 2015 women’s College World Series produced the most-viewed softball game on record... And the ESPNW website has shown startling growth, reaching an all-time high last month with 11.45 million unique views and then spiking during the Rio Games to 12.4 uniques....

“For sponsors, the question is becoming, why wouldn’t you invest in women athletes?

“As sponsor interest builds (slowly), so does higher compensation. Forbes ranked the top 10 female athletes earners in 2016, and their income totaled $124 million.

“Commerciality is only one metric by which to judge whether women’s sports are succeeding.  Economic change can’t happen until audience attitudes shift.  Momentum might seem to be lost over the next three years, and some of these women’s Olympic performances forgotten, but what audiences will remember is how they stretched our notions of the acceptable range of female strength and power.”

--The Ryan Lochte Debacle, part last...probably not....

When I posted last Wednesday morning, I said “Brazilian police can’t corroborate any of the details (of the supposed robbery of the four U.S. swimmers late Sunday night) and a security camera in the Olympic Village shows the swimmers returning around 6:40 a.m.  Who the heck knows? Wait 24 hours.”

Ah yes, my adage ‘wait 24 hours’ once again paid off as about six hours after posting, we started to learn that Ryan Lochte’s story that the crew had been pulled over and robbed was far from the truth.

Security video emerged from a gas station the athletes had vandalized parts of, which led to an encounter with security guards there.  But by the time the story had unraveled, Lochte was back in the States, while the other three were struggling to get out of Rio

Saturday, Lochte said he “overexaggerated” what happened, acknowledging it was his “immature behavior” that got him and his teammates Jimmy Feigen, Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz into the mess that would take up way too much attention the final week of the Games.

“It’s how you want to make it look like,” Lochte told NBC’s Matt Lauer.  “Whether you call it a robbery or whether you call it extortion or us just paying for the damages, we don’t know.  All we know is that there was a gun pointed in our direction and we were demanded to give money.”

Lochte said he had lied in telling NBC interviewer Billy Bush the morning after the incident that a gun had been cocked and pointed at his forehead, saying he was still intoxicated when he talked to Bush.

The swimmers offered 100 Brazilian reals ($41) and $20 to the guards to compensate for the damage, according to ABC News.

Lochte admitted to Lauer that he was told if the Americans didn’t pay for the damages, the police would be called.

Lauer then said, “You’re striking a deal.  Is that fair?”

“We just wanted to get out of there,” Lochte said.

Lauer asked Lochte how it felt to be home while the other three couldn’t leave the country.

“It hurt.  I let my team down.  I don’t want them to think I left them and left them dry. ...I just wanted to make sure they were home safe before I came out and talked.  I’m embarrassed for myself, my family, and especially those guys.

“I was immature and I made a mistake, and I’ll definitely learn from this.  I’m just really sorry. I took away from their accomplishments with this story.”

Lochte said he intended to compete at the Tokyo Games in 2020, but knew it would be up to USA Swimming and the International Olympic Committee.  He also said he regretted how the incident had tarnished Rio.

Prior to Saturday’s interview with Matt Lauer....

Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times

“So you’re Ryan Lochte, and you’re embarrassed, but by the time you return to the Olympic Village, you’re also inspired.  You’re a media hound who suddenly has a story to tell, not the true but cowardly story of entitled American athletes breaking stuff, but a story that would make you seem tough and hip. That sort of story needs a patsy, so you think about it for five seconds and pick on the biggest patsy at these Olympics.

“You blame it on Rio.  You say you were yet another victim of the lawless Brazilian streets.  You claim you were robbed at gunpoint by men posing as Rio policemen.  You even mention somebody putting a gun to your head, because what’s more gangster than that?

“You figured nearly everyone here has ripped the city because of rampant crime, so why couldn’t you?  You guessed properly that blaming it on Rio was the one narrative Americans would believe, the one that could give you the most buzz.

“Where you went wrong was failing to realize that Rio is not just a faceless collection of dirty beaches and criminal slums, but also millions of people with dignity and pride.  Rio might be your punchline, but it’s their home, it’s their family.  You didn’t count on a city finally standing its ground.

“This is how an Olympics flew off the track and out of the gym and ended up at an Ipanema police station Thursday where an official held a chaotic news conference during which he called the four American swimmers liars and distributed the video evidence to back it up.

“ ‘We don’t have anybody here with a clown nose,’ said Fernando Veloso, head of Rio civil police, through an interpreter.  ‘This is not a circus.’

“Where was the tough guy?  He had tucked tail and ran, back to the United States, leaving the three younger swimmers holding the star-spangled banner and unable to leave the country.”

Christine Brennan / USA TODAY Sports

“The only thing possibly standing between embattled U.S. Olympic gold medalist Ryan Lochte and a lifetime suspension from USA Swimming was an apology – an all-encompassing, sincere, lengthy apology.

“And so an apology of sorts came Friday morning via Instagram, more than five days into the U.S. swimming scandal that rocked the second week of these Olympic Games.  Actually, it appeared to be part apology and part explanation about the ‘traumatic’ events of early Sunday morning, as if any of us needs to hear another word about that drunken fiasco.

“In his apology, the 32-year-old Lochte actually mentioned his sponsors before referring to ‘the hosts of this great event.’  Sponsors first is so Lochte-esque.  Or perhaps it was the PR firm now representing him who thought of that one.

“Whatever the case.  Lochte is navigating treacherous waters.  He is certain to be suspended by USA Swimming, the no-nonsense national governing body for his sport, and by the U.S. Olympic Committee as well.  There could be two separate decisions, or they could be combined into one.

“Lochte’s three late-night Rio running mates – Jimmy Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger – will also certainly be suspended as well by both organizations....

“I don’t know why Lochte would ever be allowed back into the sport after lying about being the victim of a robbery early Sunday morning, apparently to cover up what Brazilian police call an act of vandalism at a local gas station by the four American swimmers.

“As a four-time Olympian, he knows as well as anyone the responsibilities of representing his nation – which are not the same as the responsibilities of, say, representing your college or your local pro team.  It might sound quaint and decidedly old school, but the USOC and USA Swimming take the notion of athletes properly representing their country very seriously....

“The Lochte controversy also comes at a politically sensitive time for the organizers of the bid for the 2024 Olympic Games in Los Angeles....

“Put it this way: If L.A. loses in the voting a year from now, the list of reasons could very well include Lochte.”

Sally Jenkins / Washington Post

“Ryan Lochte still doesn’t get it. His so-called apology (Friday) was a lame, crisis-crafted statement that showed zero sincerity and no awareness of his affront to Brazil and, if anything, only added to the insult by continuing to suggest he’s somehow this country’s victim.

“ ‘I want to apologize for my behavior last weekend – for not being more careful and candid in how I described the events of that early morning,’ he parsed, via Instagram.

“Hey, we can all be careless with our words. Which of us hasn’t falsely suggested we had a gun pressed to our foreheads?

“ ‘It’s traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country – with a language barrier – and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave,’ he continued.

“True, it must be terrifying for a 32-year-old with more than a decade of international travel experience to party until almost 6 a.m. at Club France and then not be able to find a conveniently open bathroom stall at a gas station.”

The IOC set up a disciplinary commission to investigate the incident.  Lochte is set to lose an estimated $6 million in endorsements.

In a January poll, Q Scores (or as I call it, Q-rating) found that Lochte was known by around 26 percent of the U.S. population, and 10 percent said he was one of their favorite personalities.  Michael Phelps back then had a 67 percent awareness and a 12 percent Q Score. [New York Post]

Well, those numbers are going to change drastically, at least for Lochte, after the past few weeks. 

MLB...haven’t been following that closely last two weeks, to tell the truth.

--Terry Collins said he wasn’t worried about his job after the Mets dropped to 60-62 on Friday with an 8-1 loss to the Giants.

They then won on Saturday, 9-5, behind Yoenis Cespedes’ two home runs and Bartolo Colon’s pitching (“Good Bart” showed up).

But entering Sunday night’s game against San Fran, the Metsies are five back in the wild card race.  What a wasted season.  What a waste of time for Mets fans.

--Albert Pujols hit No. 583 on Saturday, vaulting him into a 10th-place tie with Mark McGwire on the all-time home run list.

But it was the only run in a 5-1 loss to the Yankees as rookie hurler Luis Cessa pitched six shutout innings.

Friday, the Yankees shut the Angels out 7-0 behind Masahiro Tanaka’s 7 2/3 of scoreless ball as he is now 10-4, 3.24.

Today, though, the Yanks were shut out 2-0 and at 63-60 are 4 ½ back of the second wild card slot in the A.L.

--In other games of note since last chat....

Wednesday, Colorado beat Washington 12-10 as Stephen Strasburg was roughed up again, allowing nine earned in just 1 2/3 as he fell to 15-4, 3.59.  In his last three starts, Strasburg has given up 19 earned in 11 2/3.

Thursday, the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta (15-5, 2.75) picked up the win despite giving up 5 earned and 7 walks in 5 2/3 as Chicago defeated Milwaukee 9-6.  Kris Bryant was 5-for-5 with two home runs and 5 RBIs.  Pretty, pretty good.

Friday, the A’s beat the White Sox 9-0, which I mention only because Chicago hurler James Shields is now 3-8, 7.62! since coming over from San Diego.  Overall this season, he is 5-15, 5.98.  Good gawd, that blows.

--Major League Baseball has cleared Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard and Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman of any wrongdoing in its investigation of an Al-Jazeera report on performance-enhancing drugs, saying neither player violated the sport’s drug program.  Both players fully cooperated with MLB.

This is big in terms of the NFL’s ongoing investigation of four of its player that were part of the same report.

NFL

--The New York Giants have been mum about the one-game suspension handed kicker Josh Brown for a domestic violence incident in 2015, as part of the NFL’s personal conduct policy.  On May 22, 2015, Brown was arrested on one count of misdemeanor domestic violence after an altercation with his then-wife at their Washington state home.  The charge was dismissed five days later.

Brown and the team kept this incident quiet all last season, but hours after Brown himself said this was an isolated incident this week, the details of the full police report emerged, wherein Brown’s ex- alleged a history of multiple incidents where Brown was physically violent toward her, with police called on several occasions.

But when the NFL issued a statement Friday, saying it could only discipline Brown based on the facts of his dismissed domestic violence case, it said the ex-wife and local authorities would not cooperate with NFL investigators.

College Football

Final big preseason poll...AP

1. Alabama (33 first place votes)
2. Clemson (16)
3. Oklahoma (4)
4. Florida State (5)
5. LSU (1)
6. Ohio State (1)
7. Michigan (1)
8. Stanford
9. Tennessee
10. Notre Dame
15. Houston

So you have Alabama and Clemson 1-2 in every single major poll.  It’s the fifth time in history ‘Bama is the preseason No. in the Associated Press listing.

It’s also the first time since 1992 that the two teams who ended the previous season Nos. 1 and 2 in the AP began the next season in the same spots.  [Miami and Washington did it in ’92.]

But while Alabama has won an unprecedented four national championships in the past seven seasons, none have come when it was preseason No. 1.  The last No. 1 to then win the national title was USC in 2004.

--This isn’t the way you want the preseason to go.  Five Notre Dame football players were arrested Friday night after police stopped them for speeding and reported finding a handgun and marijuana in the car.  All five were charged with possession of marijuana, a misdemeanor.  Three were charged with possession of a handgun without a license, also a misdemeanor.

And then in a separate incident, a Notre Dame cornerback was arrested on preliminary charges of battery to law enforcement and resisting arrest.

One of the six, Max Redfield, a senior safety, was the fourth-leading tackler on the team and he’s in the group charged with possession of an illegal handgun. Sunday, it was announced that Redfield was kicked off the team.

--A better college football story this coming year will be Pitt running back James Conner and his return from cancer.  As noted in a story for this week’s Sports Illustrated by Brian Hamilton, Conner isn’t all the way back yet, but he’s almost there.

Golf Balls

--Korean Si Woo Kim, 21, picked up his first PGA Tour victory at the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, N.C., by five shots over Luke Donald.

Next up, the FedEx Cup Playoffs...more on that next time.

--Curtis Luck of Perth, Australia, won the U.S. Amateur over Brad Dalke at Oakland Hills.

--Bob Cupp died.  He was 76.  Cupp was a respected golf course designer, who from 1972 to 1986 worked closely with Jack Nicklaus before starting his own design firm.  Together with Jack they designed Glen Abbey Golf Club in Ontario, Shoal Creek in Alabama and Desert Highlands in Arizona.  Cupp also collaborated with others on designs such as Liberty National Golf Club in New Jersey.

--If you watched the recent Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, you may have noticed a man in a wheelchair that greeted golfers as they came off No. 18 that final Sunday.  He was also interviewed earlier by Jim Nantz.  It was Jay Fishman, former CEO of Travelers Cos. Inc.

Last year, Fishman stepped down as CEO after he had been diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s disease.  He died on Friday, age 63.

NASCAR

--The August Saturday night race at Bristol Motor Speedway is in my top three Sprint Cup races every year, but aside from the Olympics being on last night, there was rain at Bristol and they didn’t get it in until late Sunday; Kevin Harvick picking up his 33rd career win.  The crowd size, befitting the ongoing worrisome trend with NASCAR, was awful.

--Jeff Gordon, who has replaced Dale Earnhardt Jr. in the past five Sprint Cup races as Dale Jr. recovers from a concussion, said he won’t be in the No. 88 next weekend at Michigan International Speedway.

Gordon said a prior commitment will keep him from racing at MIS, with Alex Bowman, who had replaced Earnhardt for a race at new Hampshire Motor Speedway, probably returning to the 88 if Earnhardt himself isn’t back in it.

Premier League

--Manchester United is off to a flying start with their second-straight win to open the season, as the two big offseason acquisitions, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba have paid immediate dividends, Ibrahimovic with the two goals in Friday night’s 2-0 effort over Southampton.

In other games of note this weekend....new 2016-17 entrant Hull won its second straight, 2-0 over Swansea, even as they still don’t have a permanent manager and, because the roster has been ravaged with injury, just 13 senior players. 

The other two new teams, Burnley and Middlesbrough, both won their first games; Burnley with a 2-0 stunner over Liverpool and Middlesbrough with a 2-1 win over Sunderland.

Also, Man City beat Stoke 4-1, Chelsea beat Watford 2-1, Leicester and Arsenal played to a 0-0 draw (incredibly boring contest, frankly), and my Tottenham Spurs beat Crystal Palace 1-0.

Stuff

--The New York Rangers gave their fans a gift this week, signing free agent Jimmy Vesey to a two-year contract. The 23-year-old former Harvard forward who won the Hobey Baker Award as the best player in college hockey last season, was originally selected by the Nashville Predators in the third round of the 2012 draft.  Vesey then opted not to sign with them while he pursued his college career and his rights were traded to Buffalo.  The Sabres couldn’t come to terms with Vesey this summer and he became an unrestricted free agent.

Vesey was a prolific scorer in college and now we’ll wait to see if the 6-foot-3 left winger’s game translates to the big stage. 

--We note the passing of actor Jack Riley, 80.  He played a counseling client, Mr. Carlin, on “The Bob Newhart Show.”

--I didn’t realize when I mentioned Tony Bennett the other day that two days later he would be celebrating his 90th birthday.  The city of San Francisco pulled out all the stops, as an 8-foot-tall bronze statue of him was unveiled outside the Fairmount Hotel, where he first sang “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” in 1961.  He later attended the Giants-Mets game at AT&T Park, where he was honored in a pregame ceremony.

Top 3 songs for the week 8/21/71:  #1 “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” (The Bee Gees)  #2 “Mr. Big Stuff” (Jean Knight) #3 “Take Me Home, Country Roads” (John Denver...all-time fave...)...and...#4 “Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)” (Marvin Gaye...brilliant...)  #5 “You’ve Got A Friend” (James Taylor) #6 “Sweet Hitch-Hiker” (Creedence Clearwater Revival)  #7 “Beginnings” (Chicago)  #8 “Signs” (Five Man Electrical Band)  #9 “Draggin’ The Line) (Tommy James)  #10 “Liar” (Three Dog Night...strong week)

Boston Red Sox Quiz Answer: Three to win 25 games post-1920: Wes Ferrell, 25-14, 1935.  [I wrote of Ferrell a month or so ago, he having the record for career home runs by a pitcher with 38.]  Dave Ferriss, 25-6 in 1946. [Ferris was also 21-10 in ’45 at age 23 and out of baseball at 26.  But he did hit .250 in 372 ABs.]  Mel Parnell, 25-7, 1949. [Parnell was a fine 123-75 in his career.]

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.

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