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Bar Chat

01/10/2022

NFL Playoff picture, Sidney Poitier and more....

Add-On posted early Wed. a.m.

College Football

--Congratulations to Georgia, coach Kirby Smart, quarterback Stetson Bennett and the Bulldogs’ defense as they picked up their first title in 41 years, beating Alabama 33-18 in Indianapolis.

And how cool was it that Georgia legend Vince Dooley, who coached the 1980 national champs that featured Herschel Walker, was in the stands to see it all.

“I’ve never been around a group of players that really wanted it so bad and wouldn’t be denied,” Smart said. “I told the guys in the locker room, just take a picture of this.”

Smart, a Bulldogs defensive back in the mid-1990s, returned to his alma mater in 2016 after helping Nick Saban build a dynasty as an assistant at Alabama.

Stetson Bennett (17/26, 224, 2-0) outplayed Heisman Trophy winner Bryce Young; Young needing 57 passes to amass 369 yards, throwing two bad picks.

Yes, Young was without arguably the best receiver in the game, Jameson Williams, for much of it as Williams left in the second quarter after suffering a knee injury, and having lost the team’s second-best receiver, John Mechie III, to a torn ACL in the SEC championship game on Dec. 4, and, yes, some of the ‘Bama receivers dropped his throws, but Young was the first to admit the game was on.

Bennett on the other hand, after a 9-6 Alabama lead at the half, all the points on field goals, rallied Georgia in the second, connecting with Adonai Mitchell on a 40-yard touchdown pass to give Georgia a 19-18 lead with 8:09 left and then hooked up with Brock Bowers for a 15-yard TD on a screen play to put the Bulldogs up eight with 3:33 left.

The final blow came from Georgia’s dominant defense.  Kelee Ringo intercepted an underthrown deep ball down the sideline by Young.

Bennett, the former walk-on, didn’t get off to a scintillating start but came through in the clutch down the stretch, as the Bulldogs’ defense clamped down on Young.

Alabama does still have the SEC Championship, which means a lot down there.

Mike Vaccaro / New York Post

“Stetson Fleming Bennett IV will never again have to pay for a meal, for a beer, for a bottle of wine anywhere within the state borders. This one will be forever.  This one will be eternal. The Bulldogs looked like they were about to lose another big game to the Crimson Tide, and Bennett was a big reason why.

“ ‘I wasn’t going to be the reason we lost,’ Bennett said.  ‘I wasn’t going to let that happen.’

“That was the darkest moment. That’s when the Georgia faction of sold-out Lucas Oil Stadium began to wonder if maybe they weren’t destined to spend one more season followed by a dark cloud.  The Bulldogs clung to a 13-12 lead, early in the fourth, the game a throwback rock fight between the SEC’s two most glamorous programs.

“Then, Bennett was pressured in the pocket.  He tried to get rid of the ball, and it sure looked in real time – and on more than a few replays – that he had merely thrown an incomplete pass. But the officials ruled otherwise: They called it a fumble.  Alabama’s Brian Branch recovered with his foot a millimeter inbounds. And four plays later Young found tight end Cameron Latu in the end zone.

“It was there that you could almost hear college football settle back onto its axis: Bama was ahead. Surely, Nick Saban’s crew would figure out a way to finish off his eighth national championship, seventh at Alabama.  All they had to do was contain Bennett, who has spent his entire career hearing people pine for someone else, anyone else, other than No. 13.

“It was on Bennett now. All of it. Game. Season. Championship.

“ ‘I had to.  Otherwise, we were going to lose,’ he said.  ‘I said, ‘I’ve got to fix this.’’

“He fixed it.  You bet he did. The Bulldogs got the ball back, and Bennett started throwing the ball with more confidence than he had all night: 18 yards to Jermaine Burton; 10 yards to Kenny McIntosh.  He targeted Burton again, and a pass interference brought them 15 yards closer.  A sack pushed them back to the Bama 40 – Bennett held onto the ball for dear life.

“And so it was: second-and-18.  Just over eight minutes left.  Bennett began his career at Georgia as a preferred walk-on, ran the scout team and shared a locker.  He transferred to a junior college in Mississippi.  He was recruited to play at Louisiana, but then Kirby Smart made a scholarship offer.  He would arrive buried, again, on the depth chart.  Smart kept recruiting over him.  Bennett stayed. In his heart, he always was the kid from Blackshear, born to be a bulldog.

“And now, he dropped back.  There was a flag – Alabama had jumped offside, free play. There was a key block. Bennett heaved the ball as far as he could.  And about 49 yards away, the ball dropped into Adonal Mitchell’s arms in the back of the end zone.  Georgia had the lead. Bennett added another short TD pass one possession later.

“Then, Ringo picked off Young.

“And the moment finally tackled Stetson Bennett harder than any Alabama defender had all night. In that moment, it was impossible not to paraphrase the famous line from Hoosiers – ‘This is for all the walk-ons who never got a chance…’

“Only this was real life. And Bennett said it better.

“ ‘I hope it gives someone a little hope,’ he said.  ‘Keep your mouth shut, work hard.  Life is tough.  Work through it.’”

--The leaders of the College Football Playoff again failed to come to an agreement on an expanded format, but they didn’t entirely rule out the possibility it could still happen before the end of the current 12-year contract, which runs through the 2025 season.

The 10 FBS commissioners met Monday morning in Indianapolis, ahead of the national title game, but Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby said the ten “didn’t even get close to unanimity.”

“There are big enough [issues] that remain that we have a lot of work to do,” he said.  “I am disappointed. …there’s holdouts for four, there’s holdouts for eight, there’s holdouts for 12.  It’s been a frustrating process.”

Beyond the number of teams, there is ongoing disagreement about revenue distribution, bowl games, and whether Power 5 conference champions should be given automatic bids.

Well, I’m on record as favoring eight teams and it seems easy to me….automatic bids to the Power 5 champions, one Group of Five entry, and two at-large, allowing for, say, the SEC, to have multiple teams.  It’s the perfect solution.  12 teams is way unwieldy and would lead to some awful matchups, not that today’s semis have yielded strong matchups and exciting action.

Actually, the more I think about it, only my idea works. 

--Finally, ESPN released its ‘way too early’ predictions for the 2022 season and we have the following top five.

1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Texas A&M
5. Michigan

But for ACC fans….

8. North Carolina State!
11. Clemson
14. Wake Forest!

I told you a few weeks ago that Wake would be preseason No. 15.

But all three of these teams play in the same division, so it’s going to be difficult for all of them to finish this high. That would mean no margin for error in their other contests.

NFL Playoffs

--I have to say I’m pumped for Saturday’s matchups.  OK, I admit for selfish reasons.  One, I can relax a little on Saturdays (as opposed to Sundays when I’m working furiously during football season and trying to cover everything else), and, two, we have cold weather locations with typical winter weather on tap, according to the latest forecasts (gametime estimates per your editor)

(5) Las Vegas at (4) Cincinnati…4:30 p.m. ET on NBC…20s and flurries

(6) New England at (3) Buffalo…8:15 p.m. ET on CBS…no higher than 10 degrees (air temp)

Sunday’s games don’t have the weather factor, save for Kansas City, but nothing big on the weather front there as yet for that day.

(7) Philadelphia at (2) Tampa Bay…1:00 p.m. ET on Fox

(6) San Francisco at (3) Dallas…4:30 p.m. ET on CBS

(7) Pittsburgh at (2) K.C. …8:15 p.m. ET on NBC…upper 30s, no precip…drat!

And then Monday…

(5) Arizona at (4) L.A. Rams…8:15 p.m. ET on ESPN/ABC

Green Bay and Tennessee have the byes and at least there is always the hope for major weather in Green Bay, my own first ‘vivid’ memory of a football game, the Ice Bowl…and No. 64, Jerry Kramer, leading the way for Bart Starr.  We had a little black and white TV that we put on the dining room table to watch the game, as a snowstorm was beginning to hit Summit, which was doubly exciting for this little one.

--They are still talking about Sunday night’s win-and-in contest in Vegas, the Raiders vs. the Chargers, which because of results earlier in the day became also tie-and-both-are-in.

The Raiders watched the Chargers convert on a key fourth down, which led to a big fourth quarter rally that sent the game into overtime, Justin Herbert with some major heroics at QB for L.A.  Both clubs successfully kicked a field goal to keep things tied at 32 apiece with only minutes remaining and the Raiders seemingly content to run the clock out.

Los Angeles’ decision to call timeout with 38 seconds remaining to set up its defense apparently brought an end to that potential outcome.

“We were certainly talking about [the tie] on the sideline,” Raiders interim head coach Rich Bisaccia later admitted.  “We wanted to see if they were gonna take a timeout or not on that run. They didn’t, so we thought they were thinking the same thing. And then we popped the run in there and gave us a chance to kick the field goal to win it. So, we were certainly talking about it.”

Vegas ran Josh Jacobs who picked up ten yards to reach field goal territory, setting up Daniel Carlson’s game-winner from 47 yards out.  [Carlson was money this season, 40 of 43, the second-best field goal percentage among the three kickers who made at least 40 field goals in a single season in the past 80 years, joining Neil Rackers (40-of-42, 95.2% in 2005) and David Akers (44-of-52, 84.6% in 2011) per ESPN Stats & Information.  Carlson actually missed 3 PATs this season.]

But the Chargers, despite some big wins in the regular season, will be watching the playoffs from home because of two key turnovers, 108 yards of penalties, and crazy decision-making by coach Brandon Staley.

Staley had tried to convert on fourth down from his own 18 earlier in the game, and then calls the  timeout with 38 seconds to play in OT that helps seal his team’s fate.

Meanwhile, what a story the Raiders have written, from the Jon Gruden resignation to wide receiver Henry Ruggs’ DUI and fatal car crash to cornerback Damon Arnette being released after making death threats in a viral video to even last week, when rookie cornerback Nate Hobbs was arrested for DUI.

Las Vegas lost five of six games coming out of its bye week but rebounded to win four straight to close the regular season and advance to the playoffs.

--How bad has it been for Jets and Giants fans?  Try 22-59 since 2017, for both!  Yes, worst in the NFL.  Needless to say, zero playoffs as well.

Giants: 3-13, 5-11, 4-12, 6-10, 4-13

Jets: 5-11, 4-12, 7-9, 2-14, 4-13

But the situations with the two teams are rather different.  The Jets feel like they are building a foundation, and for all of rookie quarterback Zach Wilson’s problems, he didn’t throw an interception his last five games.

The Giants, on the other hand, are a dead franchise.  MetLife Stadium was about a third full on Sunday in the loss to Washington.

General Manager Dave Gettleman, instead of being fired, was allowed to retire on Black Monday and it was assumed that head coach Joe Judge would then be let go by owner John Mara.  But then all Monday, nothing on Judge’s status.  If he was coming back, the fans screamed on sports radio, just tell them!

The New York Daily News’ Mike Lupica: “Wait: Has Joe Judge talked himself into being Giants coach a second time?”

The comments on social media by the fans were so vicious, even I can’t repeat them.

--So, speaking of Black Monday, the traditional day after the regular-season is over when coaches are fired, we had three…the Vikings’ Mike Zimmer (72-56-1 in the regular season, 2-3 in the playoffs), the Bears’ Matt Nagy (34-31, 0-2 in the playoffs), and Brian Flores of the Dolphins.

Previously, Vic Fangio (19-30) was let go at Denver.

Flores was the shocker.  Following a 1-7 start this season, Miami won seven in a row, before finishing 9-8.  He had a 24-25 record over this three-year tenure, no playoffs, and that was enough for owner Stephen Ross to fire him.

“I don’t think that we were really working well as an organization that it would take to really win consistently at the NFL level,” Ross said during a news conference, where he also attempted to quiet speculation he was going to hire Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh, Ross a strong supporter of the school where he earned his BS.

Brian Flores wasn’t the problem in Miami.  They don’t have the players.  Flores is a solid coach, and Giants fans were immediately thinking, ‘We want him!’  He’d be a great hire for New York.

It also made zero sense in terms of the NFL’s attempts at diversity with minority hirings, Flores one of just three black coaches currently in the NFL, the other two Pittsburgh’s Mike Tomlin and Houston’s David Culley.

I just don’t get it…unless Ross really does nab Harbaugh.

--But back to the Giants and the play-calling in the 22-7 loss on Sunday at MetLibrary Stadium, as the New York Post’s Steve Serby coined it.

You’ve all heard how the Giants ran two consecutive quarterback sneaks from their own 3-yard line on second and third down, which had the broadcasters, let alone the Giants fans, screaming…it’s been a “clown-show offense” all season.

The Post’s Ian O’Connor called them “the most shocking pair of quarterback sneaks in modern NFL history.”

When Joe Judge was hired off the Patriots’ staff, he said in his opening press conference:

“What I’m about is an old-school, physical mentality. We’re going to put a product on the field that the people of this city and this region can be proud of because this team will represent this area.  We will play fast, we’ll play downhill, we’ll play aggressive.  We’ll punch you in the nose for 60 minutes.”

After Sunday’s game, Judge explained the two quarterback sneaks.

“We were gonna give ourselves room for the punt.”

[You also had the inexcusable play where on a nice long pass from Jake Fromm to extravagantly overpaid wide receiver Kenny Golladay, Golladay didn’t even extend himself for a ball that hit him in the hands, which summed up the Giants’ season.]

Sally Jenkins / Washington Post

“Is there a more supercilious man in the NFL, with fewer accomplishments, than Joe Judge?

“Judge served from 2012 to 2019 for Bill Belichick in New England, but for some reason this guy doesn’t have the first idea of how to build up his own team – which is now 10-23 in two seasons under him – without cutting someone else down.  His coy reference last week to the emotional explosion between Washington’s Daron Payne and Jonathan Allen wasn’t just a cheap shot; it was something worse.  ‘This ain’t a team that’s having fistfights on the sidelines, this ain’t some clown show organization or something else, okay? We’re talking about the foundation built,’ Judge said, as if somehow (WFT coach Ron) Rivera’s foundation is cracked and flawed compared to this temple of excellence, the Giants….

“(Judge) went out of his way (in his remarks last week) to blame-shift the lousiness of the Giants on to Pat Shurmur, who was fired back in 2019, suggesting that Shurmur had infected the organization with all kinds of losering.

“ ‘When I came here and I sat down with all the players, I wanted to know what it was like in here, what we had to change from their mouths, all right?’ Judge said. ‘To a man, every player looked me in the eye and said, Joe, it’s not a team, they don’t play hard…everybody quit, everybody tapped, they stopped showing up to captains’ meetings, all that stuff.  Right?  They tapped out.  Okay?’

“They tapped out so much they won two of their last three games under Shurmur.  Fought all the way to the wire for him, even though they lost 21 players – damn near half the roster – to injured reserve, and still lost five games by a touchdown or less.

“Judge?  He lost his last four games this season by the collective score of 106-26.”

Now I repeated some comments I previously wrote about Judge’s press conference after the game two weeks ago because I just found it funny that Sally Jenkins, a renowned reporter, but nonetheless mainly covering Washington sports, was emblematic of the feeling nationally about Joe Judge.  As in this is truly an amazing asshole!

Jenkins: “Giants owner John Mara has said he will have to be ‘patient’ with Judge, given his lack of previous head coaching experience.  But lack of experience is not Judge’s issue.  It’s hard to see how a guy who already thinks he knows more than anyone in the league can learn anything.  Judge’s issue isn’t lack of experience.  It’s lack of character.”

BAM!  Spot on, Sally!

Meanwhile, I watched the WFT and thought, man, they’ve got some solid pieces in place, and they have a high-character guy in Rivera leading them.  I’d bet a few coin they are one of the better stories of 2022.

Well, I wrote the above early Tuesday and later in the day, John Mara pulled the trigger, firing Judge.  In a statement from the Giants’ co-owner:

“I said before the season started that I wanted to feel good about the direction we were headed when we played our last game of the season. Unfortunately, I cannot make that statement, which is why we have made this decision.”

The Giants lost their final six games, all by double digits.

So it will be up to Dave Gettleman’s replacement to pick the next coach.

The thing is, Brian Flores will likely be gone (maybe to the Bears) by the time a GM is selected.

--We note the passing of Hall of Famer, all-time New York Jets receiver, Don Maynard, 86.

Maynard began his career with the Giants in 1958, played a year in the Canadian Football League, and then joined the Jets, then known as the New York Titans, in 1960 and remained through the 1973 season, with 633 receptions (627 as a Jet) for 11,834 yards, 18.7 avg., 88 touchdowns.

His best season, arguably, was the Super Bowl season of 1968, 57-1,297-22.8 avg.-10 TDs.

Maynard had five, 1,000-yard seasons (14-game schedule back then) and at the time of his retirement, was one of only five players to record five such seasons, with 50 receptions.  His catches and yardage were professional records at the time.  He still holds the team records for receptions, yardage and receiving touchdowns. Maynard’s No. 13 jersey was retired by the Jets.

Don Maynard was known for being incredibly humble.

Pro Football Hall of Fame President Jim Porter, in announcing his death, said in a press release: “He was humble, and perhaps the best way to remember Don is through his own words – from his Enshrinement speech;

“ ‘I came to play, and I came to stay. Football was a game; Country Don was my name. I made a mark, and I became a star, with a lot of help from near and far.  There are good ones and great ones, I played with and against.  Thank you, good Lord, for that wonderful chance. As I played my part many times even late after dark, I don’t have to look back as I played it with my heart.  The direction from where I came, resulted in a whole lot of fame.  I played the best and I believe I passed the test. I am glad this is over; I need some rest.’”

Around his teammates, Maynard was known lovingly as a penny-pincher. The night before the 1968 AFL Championship game against the Raiders, where he caught 10 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Jets to Super Bowl III, he told his teammates he would dive into the frigid waters of the team hotel’s outdoor pool from a high dive.

“I told them, ‘Y’all put the money in my boot, and I’ll even do a back flip for you,’” Maynard recounted to the Star-Ledger back in 2007.

“Once they ponied up, tossing their money into the Texas native’s trademark cowboy boots, Maynard jumped into the water wearing the woolen blazer the Jets wore to away games.

“Speaking to the Star-Ledger, teammate Larry Grantham estimated the total thrown into the boot was $70, give or take. When told Maynard had said it was more like $126, Grantham laughed before deferring to the expert.

“That cheapskate remembers every damn dime he ever made.”

College Basketball

--New AP Top 25 (records a/o Sunday)

1. Baylor (61) 15-0
2. Gonzaga 12-2
3. UCLA 10-1
4. Auburn 14-1
5. USC 13-0…highest since Dec. 1974
6. Arizona 12-1
7. Purdue 13-2
8. Duke 12-2
9. Kansas 12-2
10. Michigan State 13-2
11. Houston 14-2
12. LSU 14-1
13. Wisconsin 13-2
14. Villanova 11-4…definitely playing better
15. Iowa State 13-2
16. Ohio State 10-3
17. Xavier 12-2
18. Kentucky 12-3
19. Texas Tech 11-3
20. Seton Hall 11-3
21. Texas 12-3
22. Tennessee 10-4
23. Providence 14-2
24. Alabama 11-4
25. Illinois 11-3

Boy, I was way off. I said last time that after Miami (13-3, 5-0) beat Duke on the road they would jump to about No. 18.  Wrong!  If you carry out the votes they are No. 28.

Yup, it’s a down year for the ACC in the minds of more than just us conference fans. We know it.  But the Hurricanes deserved better.

--So Tuesday we had some big upsets.  19 Texas Tech (12-3, 2-1), which beat then-No. 6 Kansas last weekend, pulled off a huge one in Waco, handing No. 1 Baylor (15-1, 3-1) its first loss in 22 games, 65-62.  And the Red Raiders have been playing without injured leading scorer Terrance Shannon.

And 5 USC (13-1, 3-1) was dealt its first loss at the hands of Stanford (9-4, 2-1) 75-69.  So much for the Trojans’ high ranking.

--I watched St. Bonaventure (9-3) finally play for the first time in 25 days last night and they needed overtime to beat LaSalle (5-8) on the road, 80-76.

Get this.  From the broadcast I learned all five Bonnie starters, who I’ve been touting all season, had pretty serious cases of Covid, but they all played at least 43 of the 45 minutes last night!  The bench played a total of 3 minutes.  Yup, St. Bonaventure is going to win or go down with these five who’ve been playing together for so long.

NBA

--It was another bad night for Julius Randle at the Garden on Monday, despite the Knicks’ 111-96 easy win over the Spurs.  Randle had just 2 points, 1-7 from the field, and he heard the boos in the fourth quarter as he exited the game.  But at least the Knicks, 20-21, won their fourth straight at home.

--The Nets were on the road in Portland Monday night, after playing back in Brooklyn Sunday afternoon, and Kyrie Irving was thus on the court against the Trail Blazers, scoring 22 points.

But the Nets lost 114-108 to fall to 25-14, as James Harden was out with an injury, though Portland was missing its backcourt tandem of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, also due to injury. [I didn’t realize McCollum, who has had a very underrated career, has now missed 14 games due to a collapsed lung.]

--After I posted Sunday, Klay Thompson made his long-awaited return for the Warriors in a 96-82 win over the Cavaliers.

Thompson had been out 2 ½ years, since the spring of 2019 when he tore the ACL in his left knee in Game 6 of the NBA Finals against Toronto.  While rehabbing from surgery for that injury, he tore his right Achilles tendon scrimmaging on his own in November 2020.  941 days, it ended up being.

But Thompson looked terrific, scoring 17 points on 7 of 18 shooting from the field, 3 of 8 from 3-point range, in 20 minutes.

--But Golden State and Thompson fell to Ja Morant and the Grizzlies (29-14) last night in Memphis, 116-108, Morant with 29 points and 8 assists; Steph Curry with a triple-double (27-10-10) for the Warriors, now 30-10.  Klay Thompson again played 20 minutes, 14 points.

It was Memphis’ 10th straight win and they are going to be a force in the playoffs for sure.  Morant is also a legitimate MVP candidate.

Novak Djokovic

The world tennis number one was released from Australian immigration detention on Monday after winning a court challenge to remain in the country to pursue his bid for a record 21st Grand Slam title at next week’s Australian Open.

Judge Anthony Kelly ruled the federal government’s decision last week to revoke the Serbian star’s visa amid a row over his medical exemption from Covid-19 vaccination requirements was “unreasonable” and ordered his release.  Lawyers for the government, however, indicated the fight may not be over, telling the court that Immigration Minister Alex Hawke was reserving the right to exercise his personal power to again revoke Djokovic’s visa.  After confirming that such a step, if taken, would bar the 34-year-old from the country for three years, Kelly warned the government lawyers that “the stakes have now risen, rather than receded.”

Kelly also ordered the federal government to pay legal costs for Djokovic, who spent several days in an immigration detention hotel, noting that his lawyers argued his “personal and professional reputation and his economic interests may be directly affected.”

Djokovic, on his arrival in Melbourne, told border officials he was unvaccinated and had had Covid-19 twice, according to a transcript of the interview.

More than 90% of the adult population in Australia is double vaccinated and public opinion has been largely against the player.  Emotions ran particularly high in Melbourne, which has experienced the world’s longest cumulative lockdown.  Cases have been soaring in the past week, driving up hospitalization numbers, staining supply chains and overloading testing facilities.

In the days ahead, Djokovic needs to justify why he posed for photographs with children at a prize-giving the day after his December positive PCR test was confirmed.

And then today, it emerged he had traveled to Spain and throughout Serbia in the 14 days before his flight to Australia, yet he said on his immigration form he had not traveled in that period.

You can’t keep lying and lying and expect everyone else to just go, “Ok, Novak…go ahead and play.”

But this is Australia’s problem.  There is yet a chance, though I’m guessing a small one, that by the time some of you read this, the Aussie immigration minister could rule to deport him.

However, Djokovic apologized Wednesday for filling out his immigration form incorrectly, blaming his support team, saying in a statement “my agent sincerely apologizes for the administrative mistake in ticking the incorrect box” concerning his travels.

Victoria state, whose capital Melbourne is hosting the Aussie Open, reported 21 deaths Wednesday along with 40,127 new cases of Covid.  The health care system is strained.

All of this leads to further impatience in the matter of Djokovic.

But while Immigration Minister Hawke has the power to deport Novak, his attorneys could go back to court to apply for an injunction that would prevent him from being forced to leave the country.  As in he could gain another nine days or so during the appeal process.

So a potential solution is the process proceeds, the tournament gets underway, Novak is allowed to finish and then they boot him out, potentially for more than a year.

Golf Balls

--There is a growing controversy of sorts that close followers of the sport, such as moi, saw weeks ago and wrote about and that is the international tournaments such as the upcoming Saudi Invitational, Feb. 3-6, which is the same week as the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Here’s who you won’t see at Pebble because they’ll be in Saudi Arabia, picking up their appearance money.

Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Xander Schauffele, Tony Finau, Patrick Reed, Matthew Wolff, Cam Smith, Marc Leishman and Lucas Herbert, for now.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan granted waivers to DJ, Phil, Bryson and Xander, initially, but then the others signed on and it’s become a dangerous precedent.

Especially after it was learned later that the money backing the tournament was from the Saudi’s Public Investment Fund, which could be a backer of the proposed Premier Golf League, which has Greg Norman as its commish.

Monahan says this is just a one-time waiver, but how would the courts rule?

For this year, the big loser is Pebble Beach.

Stuff

--Churchill Downs had a clear message to Bob Baffert’s lawyers on Monday: See you in court.

That was the word of Bill Carstanjen, CEO of the track.  Baffert has threatened to sue Churchill Downs and Carstanjen if the track does not lift the two-year ban he was given last May after last year’s winner, Medina Spirit, failed a drug test.

As Joe Drape of the New York Times reported, the paper obtained a draft where Baffert says that his right to due process was violated by the ban and that he has been unlawfully excluded from Churchill Downs and America’s greatest race.

Baffert wants a preliminary injunction that would keep Churchill Downs from denying his horses entry into races there (and another nearby track), and from “prohibiting him from earning points to qualify for the Kentucky Derby,” according to the complaint that has yet to be filed.  The document also demands that the company recognize qualifying points that his horses have already earned.  Baffert also seeks millions of dollars in compensatory and punitive damages.

Carstanjen said the threatened case was “completely meritless.”  He said Baffert signed an agreement back on April 7, 2021 – as the track requires all horse trainers to do – that he would follow its conduct and medication rules.

Carstanjen emphasized that Baffert was a repeat offender, including for the same substance found in Baffert-trained Gamine after she finished third in the 2020 Kentucky Oaks, a showcase for 3-year-old fillies at Churchill Downs.

Last month, Medina Spirit died of an apparent heart attack after a timed workout.  A necropsy is underway to determine the full cause.

Baffert, a Hall of Fame trainer, has won the Derby seven times.

The Triple Crown season is heating up and the quest for qualifying points to earn a spot in the Derby’s starting gate is getting urgent.

In the Sham Stakes on Jan. 1 at Santa Anita Park, Baffert-trained colts Newgrange and Rockefeller ran first and second.  Churchill Downs, however, has refused to award points to any horses trained by Baffert.

I’m on Baffert’s side in this one.  The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has yet to hold a hearing on last year’s Derby! Do so, you a-holes!   Ditto Carstanjen.

--I learned of the passing of actor/comedian Bob Sagat as I was going to post Sunday night and didn’t have any time.  Sagat is best known for his role as Danny Tanner, the father on “Full House,” which ran from 1987 to 1995.

Sagat, 65, was pronounced dead Sunday after emergency officials responded to his room at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando.

“Detectives found no signs of foul play or drug use in this case,” said the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.

According to a report Monday, Sagat was found on his bed.  He had been scheduled to check out of his room on Sunday, and when family members were unable to get in touch with him, they contacted the hotel’s security team, which sent a security officer to his room.

A cause of death could take up to four months to determine, Sagat’s body taken to the medical examiner.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen remembered their TV dad, saying in a statement: “We are deeply saddened that he is no longer with us but know that he will continue to be by our side to guide us as gracefully as he always has.”

Aside from being an actor and director, his roots were really in stand-up, and those who would go to see his act, thinking it would be clean and wholesome, were immediately surprised that he could be as raunchy as a Buddy Hackett.

Next Bar Chat, Sunday p.m.

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[Posted Sun. p.m.]

*I’ve lived almost my entire life in the New York City area, and I’ve loved it.  Those of us in the ‘burbs consider ourselves New Yorkers, in a certain respect.  After all, many of us work, or have worked in the City, making us New Yorkers, and more than a few of us like when local news can have national impact, and having big-time sports to follow.

But today we make the national news for an awful reason…a tragic fire in the Bronx that has taken 19 lives, ten of them age 16 and under, in a high-rise apartment building.

Two things. Early indications are it was caused by a faulty space heater and the apartment door was left open, accelerating it, particularly the deadly smoke throughout.  The smoke detectors were working.

All of you remember one thing.  Close the door where the fire has started! 

I pray for the victims, their families, and the survivors.

NBA Quiz: This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of the end of the Lakers’ all-time professional team record 33-game winning streak.  The 1971-72 team would go on to finish 69-13 and win the NBA championship.  Name the starting five, who all played 34+ minutes per game.  Answer below.

NFL

--Saturday, we had two games with playoff seeding implications.

Kansas City (12-5) beat Denver (7-10) 28-24, keeping their No. 1 seed hopes alive, but needing Houston to upset Tennessee today.

[Denver then fired Vic Fangio after three seasons, 19-30, with the Broncos now having failed to get to the playoffs six consecutive seasons.  Fangio is not a bad coach, it’s just the team can’t find a franchise quarterback, and all kinds of management and ownership issues.]

And Dallas (12-5), with a 51-26 win over the Eagles (9-8), kept their No. 2 seed hopes alive, but only if Tampa Bay and the Rams lost Sunday.

For the Cowboys, Dak Prescott was superb, 21/27, 295, 5-0, 151.8, but it was against a Philadelphia team that, having clinched their wild card spot, rested quarterback Jalen Hurts and a number of other regulars.

Philadelphia was going on the road for their first-round game next week regardless of Saturday’s result so they did the right thing.

--So entering today’s slate of games, I’m not waiting to post for the end of the Chargers-Raiders win-and-in, and I’m not going to attempt to keep up on all the playoff slots, but now we know Green Bay and Tennessee are the top seeds, Green Bay (13-4) having already wrapped it up in the NFC prior to their loss to Detroit (3-13-1), 37-30, Aaron Rodgers playing half the game before resting.  He now gets a full week off.  [Nice way for the Lions to end the season, however.]

Tennessee (12-5) did what it had to do…holding off a tough Houston (4-13) team 28-25 as Ryan Tannehill threw four touchdown passes.

--Which left everything else and for starters, Indianapolis inexplicably laid a massive egg, losing at Jacksonville (3-14) of all places, 26-11, as the Colts managed just 233 yards of offense, quarterback Carson Wentz sacked six times, throwing two interceptions, and stud running back Jonathan Taylor not a factor, 15 carries for 77 yards.

Trevor Lawrence started 11 of 11 and finished 23/32, 223, 2-0, 111.9.  Nothing but good feelings for him headed into the offseason after this one.

[At least Summit’s Michael Badgley wasn’t a cause for the loss, nailing his only attempt from 41 yards and finishing his stint in Indy, 18 of 21 field goals, 39-39 on XPs.  Nothing wrong with that.  You’d think they’d give him a contract for next season.  Or he’ll sign somewhere else.]

--So after the Colts loss, we waited on Pittsburgh at Baltimore, both with slight chances at advancing going in, but with the Indy loss, suddenly this one took on huge implications, and Ben Roethlisberger pulled it off in overtime, directing the Steelers 65 yards on 15 plays to set up a Chris Boswell game-winning 36-yard field goal, 16-13.

Which meant Pittsburgh finishes 9-7-1, ahead of Indy, Baltimore eliminated at 8-9, playing its last four games without Lamar Jackson.

And suddenly, Pittsburgh is IN as long as Chargers-Raiders doesn’t end in a tie!

Football fans have known all week that the Chargers and Raiders had the possibility of both going in given this scenario, so we’ll see.

[Here in New York, the game cut out for Jets-Bills with 2:30 to go in OT and Pittsburgh driving, so had to follow the ending on the Net…which along with the weather and breaking news is the only reason to have an Internet.  It should have been limited to that when Al Gore invented it.]

T.J. Watt picked up a sack to tie Michael Strahan’s record of 22 ½.

--New Orleans finished 9-8 with a 30-20 win over Atlanta (7-10), and then needed a San Francisco loss in Los Angeles.

The Rams, behind Matthew Stafford’s 15/16, 153, 2-0, 146.1 first half performance led 17-3 at the intermission.

But the 49ers rallied back, got it to overtime, and won it 27-24…San Fran in the playoffs.

[L.A.’s Cooper Kupp finished short of the receptions and yardage records.]

--Cincinnati (10-7) rested Joe Burrow, having clinched a playoff spot, and the Browns, sans Baker Mayfield, finish 8-9 with a 21-16 win.

--Meanwhile, locally, God came to me in a dream last night, never a good thing for moi, and He said, “Editor, because you didn’t go to confession last year, I’m assigning penance.”  Uh oh, I thought…hope He doesn’t know I haven’t been to confession in decades.

“You have to watch the entire Giants-Redskins game today.”

Drat.  I woke up in a start, threw open the window and said to the lad attempting to steal a car down below, “Good boy, do you know what day it is…is it Christmas morning?”

“No, you old fool….it’s like Jan. 8th or 9th.”

Depressed, I sat down later to watch said game, the WFT finishing their season 7-10 with a 22-7 win over New York (really New Jersey as a new lawsuit correctly avers), the Joe Judge Giants picking up 177 yards of offense and ending the season 4-13.  Judge should be fired tomorrow morning, but one never knows with co-owner/president John Mara, who seems to enjoy inflicting pain on himself…and the fanbase.

--The Jets played up in Buffalo, the Bills trying to win the AFC East for a second consecutive season, and Buffalo prevailed, 27-10.

Understand, the Bills outgained the Jets 424-53, 25 first downs to 4…FOUR…for my Jets.

Eegads.

--Seattle (7-10) defeated playoff bound Arizona (11-6) 38-30, as Russell Wilson threw for 3 touchdowns, in what may have been his last game as a Seahawk, while Seattle’s Rashaad Penny finished off a spectacular final few games with 190 yards on 23 carries.

--On a Full Send Podcast episode released Friday, Antonio Brown had some words about his former team, and Tom Brady.

“Brady is the general manager,” Brown said.  “He’s the guy my agent made the contract with, he’s the middleman and politician. I talked to Tom and he knows I’m not going to play.”

Brady told reporters last Sunday that the team loves and cares about Brown deeply and that “everyone should be compassionate and empathetic” towards the receiver.

“To me, a friend is someone who’s got your back,” Brown continued. “Not everybody in sports is going to be your friend.  Tom Brady’s my friend. Why?  Because I’m a good football player.  He needs me to play football.  People have different meanings of what friendship is.”

So these comments came a day after the NFL Players Association announced it would investigate Brown’s claims that Tampa Bay coach Bruce Arians and the organization are trying to “cover up” incidents of mismanagement, which led to Brown’s abrupt exit last Sunday against the Jets.

Brown went on another show, “Tapped in Daily” on Clubhouse Friday… and then questioned how genuine Tom Brady’s friendship really is.

“I mean, you can’t really expect anyone to be your friend in the business of football.  The game is football but our business is winning.  Me and Tom Brady have something in common with winners. We like winning.  We like to compete.  We like to be the best.  So we got that in common.  That’s what makes me want to be around him, that’s what makes us play together, that’s what makes us jell, that brings our greatness.”

But Brown also suggested that Brady might have been responsible for him not getting the contract he deserved.  Brown signed a one-year deal this offseason worth up to $6.25 million, but the incentive-laden deal carried a guaranteed $3.1 million with a $2 million signing bonus, and you know about the other $1 million for hitting various targets that Antonio will now fall short of.

“To say someone’s my friend – I’m out here getting ‘prove it’ type contracts when I’m out here, they got me trying to earn a million dollars to make some types of catches,” Brown said of Brady.  “So to say you’re my friend – I shouldn’t be playing on those types of deals when I just came with you and won the Super Bowl.”

And….

“I know America loves its bad guys.  But I’m a great guy.  [Ed. No you aren’t!]  I just won a Super Bowl.  I’m an American hero.  [Ed. No you aren’t!]  I persevered through numerous adversity.  I took a Covid suspension [for a fake vaccine card] without evidence [Ed. not true] and came back, got 100 yards on half an ankle, a deltoid, a torn ligament, bone fractures in my ankle.  No one’s talking about the great things that I’ve been able to persevere through and do.”

You looked to be in top shape prancing off the field last Sunday, I’ll grant you that.

Thursday, Tampa Bay officially cut Brown.  Coach Bruce Arians finally addressed the health matter in full, claiming Brown sought no medical attention from the team and was instead angry about not getting enough throws his way.

--In the Football Championship Subdivision (I-AA) title game Saturday, North Dakota State won its ninth national championship in 11 seasons with a resounding 38-10 victory over Montana State in Frisco, Texas.

The Bison have never lost when playing for the title in Frisco (north of Dallas), 9-0 since the 2011 season.

“We have a process,” NDSU coach Matthew Entz said.  “Our kids believe in it, and it works.”

The Bison rushed for 380 yards and four touchdowns, three by Hunter Luepke, and led the Bobcats 28-0 at the half.

Montana State was hurt when it lost standout freshman quarterback Tommy Mellott to an ankle injury on the game’s opening drive. He had accounted for 11 touchdowns in the first three playoff games.

--And, you know what? I keep forgetting….we have a National Championship game tomorrow, Alabama vs. Georgia!

NBA

--Kyrie Irving made his return to the Nets last week, eligible only for road games because he still refuses to get vaccinated, which makes him ineligible to play in New York.  Somehow this is supposed to work.  Charles Barkley, who blasted Irving from the start when he refused to get vaccinated, is having none of it.

After Irving’s season debut in Indiana on Wednesday (in which Irving scored 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting as Brooklyn came from behind to beat the Pacers, 129-121), the TNT analyst ripped both the star and the team on Thursday for enabling this unconventional marriage.

“I have an issue with the entire thing,” Barkley said on ‘Inside the NBA.’  “Kyrie is a heck of a player.  But to only play in road games, I don’t think it is fair to the game, No. 1.  But I think more importantly, I don’t think it is fair to the team.”

The Nets had prevented Irving from playing through October, November and halfway through December, until the Covid cases started spiking and more than half the team was in health and safety protocols.  So they added Irving to have an additional road player.

“I’m not even sure what [the Nets] realized,” Barkley said of their decision to cave to Irving.  “They’re like, ‘We’re going to let you play in half the games.’  And I just have a problem with that personally.”

Barkley has issues with Irving’s choice not to be vaccinated – “which is silly and stupid” – and his unwillingness to do so for the good of the team.

“When you’re on a team, you have to make sacrifices for the team to win,” Barkley said.

But co-stars Kevin Durant and James Harden have been walking a tightrope, saying they aren’t talking to Kyrie about getting vaccinated, that it’s his choice, even though you know the two are super pissed.  They can’t possibly win the title without Irving playing both home and away.

Friday night the Nets lost at home to the Bucks, 121-109, Irving of course absent.

This afternoon the Nets (25-13) needed overtime to defeat the Spurs (15-24) in Brooklyn, 121-119.  With Kyrie they blow San Antonio out.

--Meanwhile, across town, it’s all about Julius Randle, the struggling Knicks 19-21 after a hideous road loss to Boston (also 19-21) Saturday night, 99-75, Randle with 13 points on 6-19 shooting from the floor (1-8 from three).

Thursday night, Randle had given a thumbs-down to the Garden crowd (amidst a stirring comeback win) and later said they can “Shut the f--- up” when asked about his gesture.  He repeated the phrase a few times.  He then apologized Friday.  He then played another clunker Saturday.

Randle had a career year last season, without fans in the stands for the most part, averaging 24.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game.  He shot 41.1% from three.  For this he was granted a 4-year, $117 million extension.  Julius was the face of the franchise and fans loved his non-stop effort.

This season his average is down to 19.6 and he’s shooting 32.4% from three.  It’s a big drop-off and you see it in the team’s record.  But I also thought Julius was a little more mature than what he showed us this week.

--After more than two years, Klay Thompson is making his return for the Warriors tonight against the Cavs.

College Basketball

--Miami (13-3, 5-0) stunned 2 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday night, 76-74, the Hurricanes’ first win against a top-5 opponent in nearly six years and, yes, it seems Miami is for real.

You have to feel good for coach Jim Larranaga, who some of us are surprised is still at the helm after three straight below .500 seasons, but here they are…destined to leap into the top 25 this week (like No. 18 is my guess).

--In other top 25 action Saturday, we had three biggies/upsets, sort of, in the Big 12….

25 Texas Tech (11-3, 1-1) beat 6 Kansas (12-2, 1-1) 75-67.

Oklahoma (12-3, 2-1) upset 11 Iowa State (13-2, 1-2) 79-66.

Oklahoma State (8-5, 1-1) defeated 14 Texas (12-3, 2-1) 64-51.

In all three it was the home team that won.

You’ll also notice that with Covid still raging throughout all of sports, the conference schedule is just getting started, with many conferences, especially the A-10, still struggling to get any games in.

--Personally, I watched three games, back-to-back-to-back (with a quick break to pick up my Saturday dinner from Italian Village up the road).

24 Seton Hall (11-3, 2-2) had a needed 90-87 overtime Big East win over UConn (10-4, 1-2), as Kadary Richmond, a Syracuse transfer, had a career high 27 points off the bench.  He just took over the game.

Then I watched Wake Forest (13-3, 3-2) with a big victory at home over Syracuse (7-8, 1-3), 77-74, also in overtime.  The Deacs missed 8 of their first 12 free throws in the second half as they did all they could to hand the ‘Cuse the win on a silver platter, but Alondes Williams, our star transfer from Oklahoma, had 25 points and 12 rebounds.

Syracuse is not as bad as its record, with the Boeheim boys a good combo, but they could have used a little Kadary Richmond yesterday.

This whole transfer game is fascinating, and frustrating.  Wake Forest is playing four transfers among its first 6-7 in the rotation, not including Davien Williamson, who is in his second year after transferring, and at least three of them will be gone next season, and our coach, Steve Forbes, who is doing an outstanding job in resurrecting the program, is sticking with just an 8-man rotation, overall, so most of our young guys aren’t seeing any playing time.

Ergo, will they bolt, or realize their time will come next season?  The kids are fickle.

Anyway, then I watched San Diego State (10-3, 2-0) totally dismantle 20 Colorado State (11-1, 1-1) 79-49, the Aztecs looking very strong in handing the Rams their first loss.

CSU has a player, David Roddy, who is averaging 19 points and 8 rebounds, just a junior, and I’m watching him thinking he’s similar to Alondes Williams on Wake…as in I’m wondering if Roddy sees what Williams has done (elevating himself from nowhere to on the NBA Draft board) and says, hey, my final year I’ll play with Wake.  He’d fit in great, Demon Deacon fans.

MLB

--ESPN announced their new Sunday Night Baseball broadcasting team…Yankees announcer David Cone, Eduardo Perez and Karl Ravech, which sounds pretty good on paper.  They are all likeable in their current roles.

Alex Rodriguez, who had teamed with the departed Matt Vasgersian, is going to do a broadcast on ESPN2 eight of the Sundays patterned after the “Manning cast,” which will pair him with Yankees play-by-play man Michael Kay, who we don’t like.

So let’s just say I won’t be watching the A-Rod/Kaycast…unless I’m being held hostage and my captives are forcing me to.  Actually, that would be effective.  “If you turn it off, I’ll give up the nuclear secrets!”

--We note the passing of Dan Reilly, the Original Mr. Met.  He was 83.

Now if I hadn’t read the headline in the New York Times, the story by Richard Sandomir, I never would have known that Dan Reilly was the first, but he actually made mascot history when he “bravely donned an unventilated, oversize papier-mache head, with simulated stitches, to become the New York Mets’ first Mr. Met.”

Reilly was working in the Mets’ ticket office when two team executives broached the idea with him, the Mr. Met character existing only as a cartoonish character used on promotional material.

So on May 31, 1964, Reilly officially slipped on his Mets uniform and baseball-shaped head for the first time during a doubleheader at Shea Stadium.

“They had told me to play it straight, just walk out there and wave, but the kids started swarming down to meet me in the stands,” Reilly told The Amazing Shea Stadium Autograph Project, a blog.  “I shook hands, posed for pictures, signed autographs.  After that, I got cocky and started dancing.  It was an instant hit.”

Reilly stayed in the role until 1967.

Dave Raymond, the first person to portray the Phillie Phanatic, said Mr. Met was the first costumed mascot to achieve prominence in Major League Baseball, though he was preceded in the 1950s by the little-remembered Mr. Oriole, a costumed bird.

--Phil W., I’ll include your Hall of Fame tidbits in a future Chat.

Golf Balls

--At the Sentry Tournament of Champions, the opening event of the year on the PGA Tour at gorgeous Kapalua, Hawaii, the story after three rounds was Cam Smith and Jon Rahm, five shots clear of the field.

Smith -26…65-64-64 (par-73…only three par-3s)
Rahm -26…66-66-61
Daniel Berger -21…66-66-66

And Cam Smith bagged his fourth PGA Tour win, one shot over Rahm, 65 to 66 in the final round, -34 for the event.

Smith will be the choice of many a fantasy golf bettor the rest of the year.

--We learned this week that Steve Stricker spent weeks in the hospital battling a mysterious non-Covid illness following the Ryder Cup, according to a report by Gary D’Amato of Wisconsin Golf.

Stricker, who captained the Americans to a resounding victory at Whistling Straits in September, told D’Amato that what began as a bad cough and sore throat in mid-October changed into something “far worse.”  After a Covid-19 test came back negative on Oct. 23, Stricker was prescribed an antibiotic by his doctor and began to feel better a couple weeks later.  However, then he began to feel ill again after a hunting trip and was admitted into the UW Health University Hospital.

Stricker said his side hurt, and then his temperature shot up to 103, he received a heavier antibiotic, amoxicillin (Dr. W.), and Stricker thinks he had a reaction to it.  “My throat started to close up, my lips got puffy, my glands got puffy, my tongue got puffy.  It was like an allergic reaction.

“So, I went into the hospital about two weeks before Thanksgiving and they kept me in there. That’s when the s--- hit the fan. My liver numbers started getting worse.  My white blood cell count was jacked up really high. I was fighting something, but they couldn’t find out what it was.  My liver was going downhill.  I got jaundice. I was yellow and peeing out Pepsi-colored pee.”

Yikes.

Stricker said his heart jumped out of rhythm; at one juncture his heart rate soared to 160 beats per minute and stayed there for two hours.  Although he was released the day before Thanksgiving he went back into the hospital three days later.

Stricker said he didn’t eat for two weeks, because he didn’t have any energy or appetite to eat. He’d take a few steps to the bathroom and he’d be out of breath.

He was finally cleared to travel on Jan. 1 and he’s renting a house in Bradenton, Fla., as his daughter is attending IMG Academy.  No word still on what it really was.

Premier League

This weekend was devoted to FA Cup play (perhaps the coolest competition in all of sports).

Reminder, this is where, for example, a single- or double-AA baseball team takes on a Major League club, only in soccer.  It seldom happens, but every now and then you get a titanic upset.

This wasn’t titanic, but Saturday, League One Cambridge United, equivalent to Double-AA, beat the PL’s Newcastle United 1-0.  Actually, Cambridge is 16th in League One, making it worse.

And this is the Newcastle United I keep telling you is one of the more fascinating stories in sports.

They are struggling to avoid relegation after coming under new ownership, the Saudis, who spent a fortune acquiring the team…and not to be relegated!

Just before this defeat, Newcastle signed defender Kieran Trippier in a transfer from Atletico Madrid.  Trippier is an England international player, formerly at Tottenham.

Premier League standings…the bottom…played – points …

[bottom three relegated]

15. Everton 18 – 19
16. Leeds 19 – 19
17. Watford 18 – 13
18. Burnley 17 – 11
19. Newcastle 19 – 11
20. Norwich 19 – 10

Speaking of the Spurs, today in their FA Cup match they took on League One Morecambe, who is 21st in their standings, and the Spurs trailed 1-0 late, until Harry Winks scored at the 74-minute mark, and that opened the floodgates, Tottenham prevailing 3-1…phew….

Women’s World Cup Skiing

--They had giant slalom and slalom races at Kranjska Gora (Slovenia) this weekend and it was a poor one for Mikaela Shiffrin, finishing just seventh in the GS (won by Sweden’s Sara Hector) and a DNF in the SL (won by Petra Vlhova).  Not a good sign heading to Beijing.

Stuff

--We’ll learn tomorrow how an Australian court will rule in the case of Novak Djokovic and his ‘medical exemption’ to play in the Australian Open.  Australian Border Force on Thursday cancelled the visa of Djokovic and denied him entry into the country to play in the Australian Open tournament after he was forced to wait for several hours at Melbourne airport.

He was then placed in a hotel for quarantined refugees and asylum seekers.

The Australian government had not given Djokovic an assurance that a medical exemption that he said he had to enter Australia without a Covid-19 vaccination would be accepted, government lawyers said in a court filing on Sunday.

Djokovic’s father, Srdjan, told Russian media he was outraged by the treatment of his son.  “Tonight they can throw him in a dungeon, tomorrow they can put him in chains.  The truth is he is like water and water paves its own path.  Novak is the Spartacus of the new world which won’t tolerate injustice, colonialism and hypocrisy.”

Oh puh-leeze, Srdjan.  Your son has been a superspreader, witness all the video of him after he had tested positive for Covid back home.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison, as of this writing, has not backed down, and he’s under incredible pressure not to do so from a populace that has been dealing with severe lockdowns, especially in Melbourne.

“Our strong border policies have been critical to Australia having one of the lowest death rates in the world from Covid, we are continuing to be vigilant,” Morrison said.

--The only sports I care about in the Winter Olympics are skiing and the figure skating, though the hockey may be still interesting, even without the NHL players…I’m just not picturing how the lack of same will impact the various rosters.  Most of us also watch the bobsled and luge just because it’s different, but it’s not like you follow who is really good except for once every four years.

Anyway, the U.S. held its national figure skating championships this week in Nashville to establish who will make up the team for Beijing and Mariah Bell, age 25, became the oldest U.S. women’s champion since 26-year-old Beatrix Loughran won in 1927…which is really hard to believe.

Bell won in her ninth try and all but locked up a berth.

You might be thinking, ‘all but locked up a berth’?  Why wouldn’t she have?

Well, it’s called Covid, boys and girls, and the women’s event was hit hard when two-time champion Alysa Liu, who was third in the short program, withdrew because she tested positive.  So she plans to petition the selection committee for an Olympic berth.  Amber Glenn, who was second in 2021 but ranked 14th after the short program, also withdrew after testing positive.  Bradie Tennell, the 2021 champions, withdrew a few days ago because of a foot injury.

The members of the team were to be announced this weekend and it’s expected Liu will certainly be one of the three.  And then you have runner-up Karen Chen in the mix.

So I wrote this Saturday morning and later that day, the figure skating folks did indeed select Bell, Chen and Liu to represent us in Beijing.

Today, on the men’s side, Nathan Chen captured his sixth consecutive title by a wide margin over 17-year-old wunderkind Ilia Malinin.

Chen, despite faceplanting on a simple maneuver (after a number of dizzying quads), becomes the first to win six in a row since two-time Olympic champion Dick Button, who won seven straight in the 1940s and ‘50s.

Vincent Zhou, after a spectacular short program, was awful today but edged Jason Brown for third. As I go to post no word on whether Zhou is the third member to go to Beijing.

Malinin could be the story in the Olympics, though.  He electrified the crowds in Nashville.   Both of his parents skated for Uzbekistan at the Olympics.  He’s now known as the “Quad God.”

--Just an awful situation Thursday night in New Canaan, Conn., where a high school hockey player, Teddy Balkind, was playing in a junior varsity game at the Brunswick School in Greenwich when he fell to the ice.

As Balkind fell, an opposing player nearby was unable to stop and collided with Balkind.  The player’s skate cut Balkind on the neck.  Balkind died.

The incident was described as an “entirely normal and unremarkable play in the game of hockey” by Brunswick Head of School Thomas Philip.

The death reverberated through the sport, as the NHL and several of its players offered tributes and their condolences.

We offer ours as well to the Balkind family.

--John Podhoretz / New York Post

“Beloved Bahamian-American actor Sidney Poitier has died.

“Sidney Poitier’s astounding life was a testament to the greatest of all American stories – the story of reinvention against all odds.

“Was any 20th-century American more of a self-made man than the extraordinary Sidney Poitier, who died Friday at the age of 94?

“Unschooled beyond fourth grade in the Bahamas, sent to America by his parents at 14 to save him from a life of crime, shot in the leg at 16 during a 1943 race riot in Harlem, Poitier worked hard jobs as a menial laborer and an Army hospital orderly before he happened to spot an audition notice for the Negro Ensemble Theater.

“He was dismissed by the NET due to a thick accent and halting reading skills – and thereupon began the process of willing himself into becoming the most important American black pop culture figure of the 20th century.

“Poitier sat before a radio and trained his own voice, remaking it until he achieved the indelible sing-song baritone that – a little like Cary Grant’s – sounded like no one else’s on Earth.  He got into the theater troupe and made conscious use of a charisma that emanated from him like a pheromone.

“Four years later he had his first starring role in a movie – 1950’s ‘No Way Out.’  He was all of 22.  And he was playing a doctor. He would so again, 17 years later, in ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,’ the first major motion picture to feature a black man and a white woman in a romance.

“That film was the representative work of one aspect of his career – the aspect in which he served as the representation of black pride and dignity, a person it would be impossible to consider in any way inferior to anyone else.

“But the reason he became the first black Hollywood star – and, until Denzel Washington, its greatest – wasn’t his ability to serve as a plaster saint.  If it had been, he would have quickly turned into a respectable bore, the kind of figure who receives polite applause because the applause makes the applauder feel good.

“Rather, it was the way he personified the barely suppressed anger at the daily injustices that came with being a black man in America that made him haunting, compelling, inspiring, and enormously sympathetic.

“Poitier’s characters didn’t accept the social circumstances that held them back.  They tried to make better lives for themselves in spite of the prejudice directed against them, even as they resented the unfair obstacles placed in their path.

“Poitier rejected revolutionary answers to America’s racial crisis.  In his best movie, ‘In the Heat of the Night,’ he played a righteous cop – working to be part of the solution. In all, he was a cop in three movies and an FBI agent in three others.

“Unlike his friend Harry Belafonte, who had been in the Harlem troupe with him and embraced radical politics throughout his life, Poitier believed in the larger value of the social change his own journey to stardom had embodied….

“Sidney Poitier’s astounding life was a testament to the greatest of all American stories – the story of reinvention against all odds.”

Other Poitier tidbits….

“Poitier was Hollywood’s lone icon of racial enlightenment,” wrote Aram Goudsouzian in his 2004 biography “Sidney Poitier: Man, Actor, Icon,” assessing the actor’s early impact. He pointed to the unique qualities of Mr. Poitier’s performances, writing that his “cool boil struck a delicate balance, revealing racial frustration, but tacitly assuring a predominantly white audience that blacks would eschew violence and preserve social order.”

It took nearly 40 years before a Black actor repeated Mr. Poitier’s feat of winning an Oscar for Best Actor, “Lilies of the Field.”  When Denzel Washington nabbed his Oscar for best actor in 2002, he paid tribute to Mr. Poitier’s accomplishments. “Before Sidney, African-American actors had to take supporting roles in major studio films that were easy to cut out in certain parts of the country,” said Washington.  “But you couldn’t cut Sidney Poitier out of a Sidney Poitier picture.  He was the reason a movie got made; the first solo, above-the-title, African-American movie star.”

Cornel West, the author, social critic and civil rights activist, called Poitier “the towering American artist of African descent in the history of film” and likened him to the first Black major league baseball player, Jackie Robinson, and it’s an apt comparison.

--Jim D. passed along a story once again confirming ‘Dog’s’ status as No. 1 on the All-Species List.  A pair of labs, Huntah and Duke, have been roaming three school districts in Massachusetts to help sniff out Covid.

The labs were trained last summer in a program developed by Florida International University’s Global Forensic and Justice Center. 

Dr. DeEtta Mills, one of the founding researchers of the center’s Detection Dog Program said the dogs use their wet snouts to “detect the metabolic changes that a person’s body mounts to fight off” Covid-19.

With their ultra-sensitive noses, the dogs can sniff out the virus with high accuracy – around 97 percent, according to a peer-reviewed study published by FIU researchers last year.

The dogs go through empty classrooms examining surfaces.  When a spot is identified, the area is more thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.  When a dog detected an odor on a set of lockers recently, the school notified the parents of the students who use them so they could keep an eye out for possible symptoms.

So we once again thank our best friend, sometimes our only friend, for his continued work on our behalf.

--And this one….from the AP, Lebanon, N.H…..

“A German shepherd named Tinsley, first thought to be a lost dog, successfully led New Hampshire state police to the site of its owner’s rollover crash.

Both the vehicle’s occupants were seriously hurt, but thanks to Tinsley’s dogged efforts they quickly received medical assistance once officers discovered the truck, which went off the road near a Vermont interstate junction, WMUR-TV reported Tuesday.

“The dog was trying to show them something,” said Lt. Daniel Baldassarre of the New Hampshire State Police.  “He kept trying to get away from them but didn’t run away totally.

“It was kind of, ‘Follow me. Follow me.’  And they did that and you know, to their surprise to see the guardrail damaged and to look down to where the dog is looking at, it’s just, they were almost in disbelief,” he said.

There were no further details on the condition of those injured in the single-vehicle crash.

This is one of the best ‘Dog’ stories of all time.  A classic.

--With ‘Dog’ at the top of the ASL, ‘Man’ plummets further, now No. 89.

A Washington state father was charged with assault after he allegedly shoved an elderly referee at his son’s 8th grade basketball game, breaking his nose.

Mark McLaughlin, 31, stormed the court at Kenmore Middle School on Dec. 16 when he disagreed with a call.  He slammed the 72-year-old ref from behind, breaking his nose and cheekbone when he hit the hardwood floor face-first, according to the Seattle Times.

He turned himself into authorities the next day, and pleaded not guilty to the second-degree assault charge on Jan. 3.

McLaughlin, who is 6’6” and 215 pounds, is a former standout basketball player at Central Washington University, where he averaged 22.4 points per game in the 2012-13 regular season, the Times reported.  He attended nine different schools in six years, including Seattle University and the University of Washington.

He only spent 4 months at UW and left the team after an on-court altercation with a teammate led to punches being thrown, sources told the Times.

Sounds like Mr. McLaughlin deserves a Lifetime Achievement Award from Bar Chat.

Into the December file he goes.

--Twenty of Yellowstone National Park’s renowned gray wolves roamed from the park and were shot by hunters in recent months – the most killed by hunting in a single season since the predators were reintroduced to the region more than 25 years ago, according to park officials.

Fifteen wolves were shot after roaming across the park’s northern border into Montana, according to figures released to the Associated Press.  Five more died in Idaho and Wyoming.

Park officials said in a statement that the deaths mark “a significant setback for the species’ long-term viability and for wolf research.”

One pack – the Phantom Lake Pack – is now considered ‘eliminated’ after most or all of its members were killed over a two-month span beginning in October, according to the park.

An estimated 94 wolves remain in Yellowstone.  But with months to go in Montana’s hunting season – and wolf trapping season just getting underway – park officials said they expect more wolves to die after roaming from Yellowstone, where hunting is prohibited.

Park Superintendent Cam Sholly first raised concerns last September about wolves dying near the park border and recently urged Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte to shut down hunting and trapping in the area for the remainder of the season.

Gianforte, an avid hunter and trapper, did not directly address the request to halt hunting in a Wednesday letter responding to Sholly.

Why the heck would you want a wolf trophy in your den?  What does that prove?  Oh, yeah, Joe, you’re a real man!

I’m not anti-hunting.  Kill all the deer you want.  They are a deadly nuisance.  And, within reason, I’m not against black bear hunts in my state.

But you cross my line when you go after wolves…unless you tell me there are suddenly 100,000 of them in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho.

So in an emergency session of the All Species List Supreme Council in Kazakhstan (which as you know has become a rather dicey place these days, the Council dodging bullets on the way to its hideout, high up in the mountains), ‘Man’ has been dropped from 89 to 104.

--The Grammy Awards, slated for Jan. 31, have been postponed indefinitely due to Covid, the Recording Academy and CBS announced the other day.

No big deal.  They can reschedule for March safely, is my guess.  Just another few weeks of chaos with Omicron to go, folks.  We’ll get through this.

--The Library of Congress has uncovered some footage of the famous Altamont Speedway concert in 1969, near San Francisco, where one fan was killed, three others died and, many believe, the social revolution of the 1960s began its end.

The free concert on Dec. 6, 1969, featured the Rolling Stones, Santana, the Jefferson Airplane, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.  The Grateful Dead were supposed to play but backed out when they heard about the violence.

The show drew about 300,000 people, and lots of drugs and alcohol.  Crowd control was handled by the Hells Angels – a “constant and menacing presence” in the footage, as LOC film expert Mike Mashon puts it.

And, indeed, in the brief footage, without sound, easily findable I imagine (I did through the Washington Post story by Michael E. Ruane), you do get a real good look at the role of the biker gang.  The Hells Angels were responsible for the killing of one of the concert goers, who was stabbed to death after the teenager pulled a gun.

“Gimme Shelter,” a famous 1970 documentary, captured much of the chaos.  But none of the newly discovered film appears in that documentary. 

Of the other three deaths, one drowned in an irrigation canal and the other two were run over by a car.

Top 3 songs for the week 1/7/78:  #1 “How Deep Is Your Love” (Bee Gees)  #2 “Baby Come Back” (Player)  #3 “Blue Bayou” (Linda Ronstadt)…and…#4 “(Every Time I Turn Around) Back In Love Again” (L.T.D.)  #5 “Here You Come Again” (Dolly Parton)  #6 “You Light Up My Life” (Debby Boone) #7 “Slip Slidin’ Away” (Paul Simon) #8 “Sentimental Lady” (Bob Welch)  #9 “You’re In My Heart” (Rod Stewart)  #10 “Hey Deanie” (Shaun Cassidy…C+ week…)

NBA Quiz Answer: Starting five for the 1971-72 L.A. Lakers that won 33 in a row.

Wilt Chamberlain (14.8 points, 19.2 rebounds), Jerry West (25.8 points, 9.7 assists), Jim McMillian (18.8 points), Gail Goodrich (25.9 points), and Happy Hairston (13.1 points, 13.1 rebounds) were the starting five, all playing 34+ minutes per game.  Wilt averaged 42 min.

37-year-old Elgin Baylor retired nine games into the season.  Complementary pieces were Flynn Robinson, Leroy Ellis, Pat Riley and John Trapp.  Keith Erickson only played 15 games due to injury and missed the playoffs.

The Lakers were coached by Bill Sharman, who had guided the Utah Stars to the ABA title the year before.

The only other two NBA winning streaks over 25 were Golden State, 28, but this was over two seasons, 2014-15, 2015-16; and Miami, 27, 2012-13.

***Yes, I know Al Gore didn’t actually say he invented the Internet, technically.

I’ll have an Add-On up top by noon on Wednesday. Bama-Georgia and more….

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