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Bar Chat

08/29/2016

Colin Kaepernick and the National Anthem

[Posted Sunday p.m.]

U.S. Open Tennis Quiz: Men: 1) Who won the singles title in 1971, initials S.S.?  2) Who won in 1975, initials M.O.? Women:  1) Who won the singles title in 1985, initials H.M.?  4) Who was the last American woman to win singles prior to Venus and Serena Williams taking charge?  Answers below.

MLB

Mets / Yanks Still In It!  [Despite Sunday’s play]

Wild Card Races [save for tonight’s Red Sox-Royals game]

A.L.

Boston 72-57... +1.5
Baltimore 71-59... ---
Detroit 69-61... 2
Houston 68-62... 3
Seattle 68-62... 3
Yanks 67-62... 3.5
Kansas City 67-62... 3.5

N.L.

San Francisco 71-59... +2.5
St. Louis 68-61... ---
Pirates 67-61... 0.5*
Miami 67-63... 1.5
Mets 66-64... 2.5

*Sunday, former Yankee Ivan Nova improved to 4-0, 2.87, in the Pirates’ 3-1 win over the Brewers.

--In the Yankees’ 13-5 win over the Orioles on Saturday, Gary Sanchez hit his 11th home run in his 23rd major league game, 11 in 20 games since being called up earlier this month, thus becoming the first player in major league history to hit his 11th so early in his career.  [When Sanchez hit homer No. 10 in his first 22 games, he joined current Rockies rookie Trevor Story and former Red Sox first baseman George Scott (1966) as the only players to go yard 10 times in their first 22.   I loved Scott...very underrated in his day.]

Yankees fans feel like they have known of Sanchez forever (Mets fans feel the same way, sharing the same media market and all), and yet he’s just 23. 

The thing is the Yanks signed him out of the Dominican Republic when he was only 16, Sanchez picking up a $3 million signing bonus.

But Sunday, while Sanchez went 2-4 with a double to move his average to .405, the Yanks lost 5-0 to Baltimore, who got seven scoreless from Kevin Gausman (6-10, 3.73).

--At the start of the Mets’ game against the Cardinals in St. Louis on Wednesday, one thing was clear.  Mets fans knew if the team didn’t win that night, and fell 5 ½ back in the wild card race, the season was essentially over.  It was that critical.

But the Mets prevailed 10-6, getting five shutout innings from rookie starter Seth Lugo, and then defeated the Phillies back in New York on Friday and Saturday, 9-4 and 12-1, to move to within 2 ½ of the playoffs.

Sunday, they remained 2 ½ back despite a 5-1 loss to the Phils.  The Mets played without injured Yoenis Cespedes and Neil Walker, and then Asdrubal Cabrera reinjured his knee and all three are day-to-day.

Cliché Alert! “But aren’t we all!”

The Mets would also be closer were it not for the horrid play of Curtis Granderson, who is 2 for 41 with two outs and runners in scoring position this season, historically awful.  Overall with RISP, he entered Sunday 10-84, .119!  [Melvin Upton holds the record for futility hitting with runners in scoring position, .108 in 2013, since Stats, LLC began tracking the statistic in 1974.]

One other...according to Baseball-Reference, Granderson’s 34 RBIs* on his 20 home runs are by far the fewest in baseball history for any hitter with at least 20 round-trippers (minimum 400 plate appearances).  [In 1973, Oscar Gamble had 44 RBIs on his 20 home runs while with Cleveland.]

*Granderson accounted for the Mets’ only run on Sunday, a sac fly, so give him 35 ribbies.  Oh joy.

Separately, the Mets are shelving Jacob deGrom for one start, believing fatigue is a major factor in his surrendering 13 runs on 25 hits over the last 9 2/3 innings.  He should be just fine.

There’s also no doubt that the Mets’ postseason run last year all the way to the World Series impacted their young pitchers; specifically, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and deGrom, all of whom threw career highs in innings, including the playoffs.  Harvey is out for the season after surgery to alleviate compression of nerves or blood vessels in his upper torso; Matz has had issues with a bone spur and is currently on the DL with unrelated shoulder tightness; and Syndergaard and deGrom have had problems with fatigue, though Syndergaard has seemingly caught his second wind.

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

Thursday, Giants pitcher Matt Moore came within one pitch of a no-hitter against the Dodgers, before on pitch No. 133, Corey Seager blooped a single to right field.

Moore had never thrown more than 120 pitches, which was back in 2013, before he had Tommy John surgery.  But Giants manager Bruce Bochy had to allow Moore to go for history.  He was taken out after Seager’s single and reliever Santiago Casilla threw one pitch to close it out, 4-0.

Moore would have been the first Giants pitcher to no-hit the Dodgers since Rube Marquard in 1915; when they were the Brooklyn Robins.

Also on Thursday, Cole Hamels improved to 14-4, 2.67, with 8 shutout innings in Texas’ 9-0 win over Cleveland in Arlington.  Talk about a guy having a superb year, under the radar, with not much Cy Young chatter, at least nationally.

--It was indeed a bit of a shock when the Dodgers traded catcher A.J. Ellis to the Phillies for catcher Carlos Ruiz.  Ellis, after all, was the personal caddie for Clayton Kershaw and a stabilizing figure in an otherwise dysfunctional clubhouse.

But Ellis, 35, also had limited offensive value, batting .194, and while Ruiz is now 37, he’s a big upgrade at the plate.

Kershaw, though, lost his best friend on the team.  For his part, Ruiz rejoins his old teammate in Philadelphia, Chase Utley.

As for when Kershaw might return, there are no guarantees he’ll be back before the end of the regular season.  Complicating matters, the minor league season ends Sept. 5.

--Good gawd...by now you’ve probably seen the new name for the new Comiskey Park in Chicago (which opened in 1991).  What was renamed U.S. Cellular Field in 2003 will now be called Guaranteed Rate Field starting Nov. 1.

Guaranteed Rate is a national mortgage lender, but as Phil Rosenthal of the Chicago Tribune observes, “This is the best the White Sox could do?”

Granted, the Phoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury share Talking Stick Resort Arena and the New Orleans Pelicans play in Smoothie King Center.

Of course in the past decade or so there have been naming disasters, companies overstretching, like the Houston Astros at Enron Field, or the New England Patriots playing at CMGI Field.  The Baltimore Ravens at PSINet Field and the Tennessee Titans at the Adelphia Coliseum were other high-profile flops.

And now the Denver Broncos have to do something about Sports Authority Field, what with that company having gone belly up.

Back to Guaranteed Rate Field, there are already nicknames like Guaranteed Loss Park or Low Interest Stadium.

--The team from Endwell, New York won the Little League World Series on Sunday, defeating South Korea; the first championship for New York since 1964.

NFL

--Sports Illustrated’s NFL preview is out and they have the Cardinals over the Steelers in the Super Bowl.  I’ll go with Arizona as well; your official Bar Chat Pick to Click.

I wish I had a better handle on my Jets.  The problem is the first six games on their schedule.

Cincinnati, at Buffalo, at Kansas City, Seattle, at Pittsburgh, at Arizona.

Brutal, at least on paper.  Remember, Buffalo beat the Jets twice last season.

SI’s Greg A. Bedard has the Jets going 8-8, which is where I peg them.  [The Giants are projected to be 8-8 by SI as well.]

Yeah, with the NFL, season-to-season, who the hell knows, but Jets fans will know an awful lot after Week Six.  I would gladly take 3-3 at that point.

--Dallas quarterback Tony Romo suffered a compression fracture in his back in Thursday’s exhibition game at Seattle.  There are conflicting reports as to how long he will be out.  Coach Jason Garrett says he might be available for the Sept. 11 opener against the Giants.  Others say he’ll be out 6-10 weeks.  Dak Prescott is the probable replacement, as of today.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys selected running back Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth overall pick in the 2016 NFL draft and immediately set about marketing him as the savior.  He may well end up being a star in the league, but he’s making some poor early choices.

Like being spotted at a Seattle marijuana dispensary before Thursday’s Seahawks game.

Yes, pot is legal in Washington, but it remains banned in the NFL.  A video taken by TMZ didn’t show if Elliott purchased any.

Dallas owner Jerry Jones was not real pleased.  “Well, I think that in and of itself the reason we are talking about it is in a way part of the learning process.  But it’s not good.  It’s just not good.”

Remember, the Cowboys are already starting the season with three players suspended for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy, including defensive end Randy Gregory, who is missing the first 10 games after testing positive for marijuana a number of times.

--Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers opted not to stand for the national anthem before the start of the Niners’ preseason game with Green Bay Friday night, and when asked about the gesture after, the quarterback said it was a statement against racial oppression.

“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” he told NFL Media in an interview published on Saturday.

“To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way,” he said.

Kaepernick, on his Twitter feed, has events on the topic, like police behavior, and an article about how Arizona teenagers were forced by their school to change out of their Black Lives Matters shirts, and the fatal police shooting of an armed black man in Milwaukee.

Kaepernick, who is biracial and was adopted by white parents, said he had decided to be more active after witnessing recent civil unrest.  He said he had not informed the team of his intentions.

“I have to stand up for people that are oppressed,” he told NFL Media.

In a statement, the 49ers said the pregame presentation of the national anthem was an opportunity to honor the country and the liberties afforded its citizens.

“In respecting such American principles as freedom of religion and freedom of expression, we recognize the right of an individual to choose and participate, or not, in our celebration of the national anthem,” the team said.

The NFL said in a statement: “Players are encouraged but not required to stand during the playing of the national anthem.”

It turns out Kaepernick didn’t stand during the first two preseason games either, but he wasn’t dressed for those contests due to injury.

Shaun King / New York Daily News

“What Colin Kaepernick did, not only by refusing to stand, but by then very clearly saying he was refusing to stand for an anthem to a country that habitually mistreats African-Americans at every turn, was one of the boldest moves in the history of American sports.  It follows Muhammad Ali’s refusal to fight in the Vietnam War and the Black Power salute hoisted in the air at the 1968 Olympics by Tommie Smith and John Carlos....

“I haven’t cared to sing the anthem for a good 15 years.  Does that mean that we hate America?  Does that mean that we hate soldiers?  Does that mean that we are spitting in the face of people that have sacrificed their lives?

“It means that right now, we don’t feel like singing a love song to a country that seems to love black culture but not black people.  It means that we don’t believe many words in this song or in the Pledge of Allegiance.”

I just wanted to put down Mr. King’s comments for the record. 

After the New York Giants’ exhibition game against the Jets Saturday night, Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz (who finally got back on the field) said that Kaepernick should have stood for the anthem.

“The flag is the flag. Regardless of how you feel about things that are going on in America today, and the things that are going on across the world with gun violence and things of that nature, you’ve got to respect the flag, and you’ve got to stand up with your teammates. It’s bigger than just you, in my opinion.”

Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan said players and coaches should stand for the anthem to show respect and give thanks to members of the armed forces.

“You’ve got to look at the gifts that we have, the opportunity that we have to play a great game is through the men and women that serve our country.”

Sunday, Kaepernick said he would continue to sit until he sees real change when it comes to racial oppression in the United States.

Kaepernick said he had nothing against the military.

“I do think that the talk has been more about me, more about I know a lot of people’s initial reactions thought it was bashing the military, which it wasn’t.”

Kaepernick said he had a players-only meeting with his teammates to explain his actions.

“I told them why I felt that way and looked at things the way I do.  A lot of it has to do with the history of the country and where we’re currently at.”

But, to be fair, Kaepernick, while calling Donald Trump “openly racist,” said of Hillary Clinton, “We have a presidential candidate who has deleted emails and done things illegally and is a presidential candidate.  That doesn’t make sense to me. If that was any other person, you’d be in prison.”  [ESPN.com]

Golf Balls

--Patrick Reed won his fifth PGA Tour title on Sunday at Bethpage Black, which should host the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs every year, though this isn’t happening.

Rickie Fowler imploded on the back nine and is now 0-4 in his career when having the 54-hole lead, though while he failed to make the Ryder Cup team on points this week, he should be one of Captain Davis Love III’s four captain’s choice selections to fill out the 12-man squad.

--Regarding his decision not to participate in the Olympics, Jordan Spieth said, “I watched it.  I really enjoyed it. It came off, I thought, tremendous... I wished I was there.”

But Jason Day, while saying it seemed well received, said, “I don’t have any regrets (in not going).  The decision...was based on family.”

Zach Johnson said the Olympics are for the athletes “who train for four years for that one week (to be) relevant. All of our [golf] athletes are relevant 24/7, 365.  I’ve got a strong, strong disdain for that.”

--It’s not only time for the college football season to begin, the first Bushnell Golfweek College Golf Poll (Coaches Poll) is out for the 2016-17 season.

1. Texas
2. USC
3. Illnois
4. Oklahoma State
5. Vanderbilt
14. Wake Forest
15. Oregon

Reminder...Oregon defeated Texas in the finals of this past June’s NCAA championship.

I’m hoping for big things from the Deacs.

U.S. Open

Play begins Monday and six-time champion Serena Williams is the top seed, though coming off a disappointing Olympic Games in Rio.  She has been the top seed in Flushing four times before.  The 2016 Australian Open champion, Angelique Kerber, is seeded No. 2

On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic is the No. 1 seed and defending champion, with Andy Murray No. 2.

Steve Johnson (No. 19) and John Isner (No. 20) are the highest American seeds, which is truly pathetic.

Premier League

--Three games into the Premier League season (out of a total of 38) and it’s already clear.  It’s unlikely there will be another Leicester City-type Cinderella story (there won’t be another one of those, ever, at least in my remaining years of drinking domestic on this planet).  As my good friend and PL expert Dr. Whit put it to me this morning, “All is right with the world.  Chelsea, MU and MC back on top.”  And indeed they have each started off the 2016-17 campaign by winning their first three.

This weekend, Chelsea beat Burnley 3-0; Manchester United held on a for a 1-0 win over Hull on a Marcus Rashford goal in injury time (90+2) [Rashford is the super exciting 18-year-old who was making his first appearance of the season, after subbing in late, and he now has six Premier League goals over the past year in just 12 appearances]; and Manchester City slaughtered West Ham 3-1 (sorry, I was looking for a pork/ham analogy).

Meanwhile, my Tottenham Spurs were lucky again to escape with a draw, this one a 1-1 affair at home against Liverpool.  I have zero confidence they are a top four squad this year.  [My sleeper pick, I’ve decided, is Everton.]

As for defending champion Leicester City, they picked up their first win, 2-1 over Swansea.

The league is off next week, then on Saturday, Sept. 10, the first big game of the new season... Manchester United hosting Man City.

--Separately, Europe’s top four domestic leagues will all be guaranteed four places each in the group stages of the Champions League from the 2018-19 season.

The current top four according to the governing body, UEFA, are Spain, Germany, England and Italy.

Under the existing system, England, Germany and Spain have three places each while their fourth-placed teams must win a play-off to qualify.

Italy has only two guaranteed places, plus one in the play-off round.

Europa League winners will also qualify for the Champions League group stage under the new system.

Additionally, UEFA revealed the financial distribution to clubs will also be “increased significantly” for the Champions League and Europa League.

Champions League play this season kicks off Tues. and Wed., Sept. 13/14.  For you casual Tottenham fans, we are in Group E with Bayern Levkn, CSKA, and Monaco.  Remember, home-and-home within Group stage (8 groups), to then come up with the final 16 for the knockout stage next year.  As Dr. Whit observes, correctly, for a team like Tottenham, another reason to be concerned about their Premier League play this season because of the grind of Champions League play.  Right off the bat, that’s six extra matches, at least.  This was a huge advantage for Leicester City last year because they weren’t involved in championship league play.

NASCAR

24-year-old Kyle Larson finally picked up his first Sprint Cup title at Michigan International Speedway after a few near misses the last two years.  He is one of the faces of the emerging group of young racers that the sport desperately needs to develop quickly to build a new fan base.  Another in this group, Chase Elliott, finished second.

Larson’s win ended a 99-race winless streak for Chip Ganassi Racing.

Separately, Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he won’t return for at least another two weeks, including today, as Alex Bowman replaced him at Michigan (finishing 30th) and Jeff Gordon is back on Labor Day weekend at Darlington Raceway.

Earnhardt said this week that his biggest issue is his gaze stability – “the ability to focus on an object at a distance while moving his head and not feeling off-balance or nauseated.”  [Bob Pockrass / ESPN]

Stuff

--In a spectacular performance at the 147th running of the Travers Stakes in Saratoga Springs, NY, on Saturday, Arrogate, trained by Bob Baffert, won by 13 ½ lengths in a track-record 1 minute 59.36 seconds for the mile-and-a-quarter route.

Arrogate?  It turns out last year, as a 2-year-old, Baffert determined the colt wasn’t ready for the racetrack, so the trainer didn’t run him in the Kentucky Derby preps.

Arrogate had run only four times before Saturday, none of them in a Stakes race.  What were its chances in a top-shelf race with the likes of Preakness winner Exaggerator and Belmont Stakes victor Creator?

As Joe Drape of the New York Times notes, even Arrogate’s jockey for its three prior wins, Rafael Bejarano, opted out of the Travers, choosing instead its stablemate, American Freedom, who finished a distant second.  [That meant Bejarano lost out on 10% of the $670,000 first-place check.]

Instead, Hall of Famer Mike Smith rode the winner.

--I like hearing that Oklahoma City is livid with Kevin Durant, or at least a certain segment of the OKC Thunder fan base.  As has been described, Durant is Public Enemy No. 1 after his defection to Golden State.

The latest indication was in the form of a petition at Change.org.  In it, an OKC fan is asking for the name of Durant, a town in Oklahoma, to be changed to “Westbrook.”

Actually, Durant, named after its founder, Dixon Durant, is pronounced “DOO-Rant.”

And while a name change isn’t likely, it would be a cool touch if the good folks of Durant changed their name to Westbrook for just one day, Feb. 11, when the Warriors visit the Thunder.

--Ryan Lochte was charged by Brazilian police with filing a false report during his incident at the Olympics, but there is zero chance he’ll hop on a flight to Rio.

Separately, Lochte is going on Dancing with the Stars, and he locked down an endorsement deal with “Forgiving Cough Drops,” a Pine Bros. product.

--U.S. Soccer suspended goalkeeper Hope Solo from the national team for six months, effective immediately, for “conduct that is counter to the organization’s principles,” U.S. Soccer said in a press release.

Solo had called Sweden “a bunch of cowards” after losing to them in penalty kicks during the Rio Games.

Solo’s career is effectively over when it comes to the national team, plus she sucked anyway.

--We have us an easy pick for a “Good Guy Award” at year end...Herb Alpert.  His namesake foundation, co-founded with his wife, singer Lani Hall, is making a $10.1 million donation to Los Angeles City College that will provide all music majors at the school with a tuition-free education.

“LACC is a gem of an institution,” Alpert said regarding the donation.  “The biggest motivation was helping kids who don’t have the financial energy to go to a major college.  At LACC, they’ve nurtured thousands of dedicated students every year... I’ve visited the school.  It’s alive.  It’s kickin’”

It is the largest gift to an individual community college in the history of Southern California.

The money will be used to create an endowment that will fund tuition for the school’s music majors and help supply them with music instruction.  And it will allow LACC to increase the number of music majors from 175 to 250.

--As you’ve heard, Season 9 of Curb Your Enthusiasm will shortly begin production, for airing sometime next year, but now the question is which cast members will be returning, Season 8 having wrapped up five years ago.

Jeff Garlin (who plays Larry David’s manager, Jeff), said he’s coming back, even as he stars in The Goldbergs on ABC.  Cheryl Hines and Ted Danson are hoping to be back, though Danson was never really a regular.

But in an article I was reading for Adweek, no word yet on the status of Leon. (J.B. Smoove).

--41 years following the release of “Born to Run,” Aug. 25, 1975, Bruce Springsteen and company played their longest ever concert at MetLife Stadium, 3:52:01, according to the Boss experts at Backstreets.com. 55,000 were in attendance, one of three shows he is giving at his unofficial headquarters.  Bruuuuuuuce!

Top 3 songs for the week 8/25/73: #1 “Brother Louie” (Stories)  #2 “Live And Let Die” (Wings...love this one...Trader George’s favorite as well...)  #3 “Touch Me In The Morning” (Diana Ross...where?...)...and...#4 “Let’s Get It On” (Marvin Gaye)  #5 “The Morning After” (Maureen McGovern... controversial pill...in some circles...)  #6 “Delta Dawn” (Helen Reddy)  #7 “Get Down” (Gilbert O’Sullivan...this tune isn’t aging well...)  #8 “Say, Has Anybody Seen My Sweet Gypsy Rose” (Dawn featuring Tony Orlando...nope, but I’ll let you know if I do...)  #9 “Uneasy Rider” (Charlie Daniels)  #10 “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown” (Jim Croce...sorry, never liked this one...heard it done poorly at too many weddings...)

U.S.  Open Tennis Quiz Answers:  [Yeah, these were pretty easy if you are of a certain age, but we’re trying to teach the younger folks here at Bar Chat!]  1) Stan Smith won the men’s singles in 1971.  2) Spain’s Manuel Orantes won in 1975.  3) Czechoslovakia’s Hana Mandlikova won the women’s singles title in 1985, sandwiched in between four wins by Martina Navratilova, who as the years go by you appreciate more and more as being one of the top three female athletes of the past 50 years.  [Need to give some thought as to the other two.  Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Serena?]  4) Lindsay Davenport won in 1998, the year before the Williams sisters took over.

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.

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