Minnesota Vikings Quiz: 1) Who holds the team record for most
passing yards in a game? 2) Who has the most rushing yards in a
game? 3) Who holds the Vikings record for most rushing yards in
a career? Answers below.
So Long Charlie Brown…Part I
Today is “Peanuts” last daily strip. Schulz final words, in case
you miss them, are:
“I have been fortunate to draw Charlie Brown and his friends for
almost 50 years. It has been the fulfillment of my childhood
ambition.
“Unfortunately, I am no longer able to maintain the schedule
demanded by a daily comic strip, therefore I am announcing my
retirement.
“I have been grateful over the years for the loyalty of our editors
and the wonderful support and love expressed to me by fans of the
comic strip.
“Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Linus, Lucy…how can I ever forget them…”
–Charles Schulz
*He still has Sunday strips penned through Feb. 13th but they
were submitted before his retirement so you won”t see any special
ending. I will, however, have some final, final thoughts on one of
the greats at that time.
Jack Nicklaus and the Green Jacket
Believe it or not, Nicklaus, a 6-time winner of the Masters, didn”t
receive his own green jacket until a 1998 award ceremony.
Jack was a chubby 23-year old when he won his first Masters in
1963. Augusta tradition allows for the previous year”s winner –
Arnold Palmer in this case – to drape the green jacket on the
shoulders of the new champion. Club officials keep a number of
jackets handy for the presentation and they brought out a 46-long
for Nicklaus. “It was like an overcoat. It just hung on me,” he
said.
Defending champions have their own jacket waiting for them
upon their return the next year. For some reason a Nicklaus
jacket wasn”t inside his locker in 1964. So Nicklaus borrowed
one from Augusta member Thomas Dewey, the former New York
governor. He won again in ”65 and ”66, still no jacket. So he
continued to wear Dewey”s coat for the Champions Dinner, not
wanting to make a fuss. “They never said anything and I wasn”t
going to say anything.” When Nicklaus won for a 4th time in ”72
he had Hart, Shaffner and Marx make him a green jacket. “It
wasn”t even the same material or the right color.” No one
noticed. When he won in 1975, Jack was back to borrowing a
green jacket every year from Augusta National members – and not
letting on about the oversight.
Country Music
Sales of traditional country music have dropped while some, like
Shania Twain, have found success crossing over to pop.
Traditional sales have been flat for the past 3 years despite the
massive success of Twain, Faith Hill and the Dixie Chicks.
Ten years ago you had the class of ”89 (Garth Brooks, Alan
Jackson and Clint Black), now country needs new superstars.
The Nashville Network has been canceling music-themed shows
for reruns of “Dallas” and “The Dukes of Hazard.” Brooks is
considering retirement in 2000 and Arista Records, the high-
profile imprint for Jackson and Brooks & Dunn, may shut down
due to a power struggle.
Country music radio stations are seeing erosion in the key 25-34
year old female audience. According to one record executive,
country will attempt to cross over in mass, it will crash, and then
it will find its roots again, which is what happened in the mid-80s
when Randy Travis came along. [Source: Jim Patterson / AP]
Chuck Wepner…aka Rocky
Steve Politi, a sportswriter for the Star-Ledger newspaper
recently wrote a piece on Wepner, the former liquor salesman
who on March 24, 1975 fought Muhammad Ali for the
heavyweight championship of the world.
Wepner first heard he was fighting Ali when he was sitting home
in his Bayonne, NJ apartment watching “Kojak.” His mother
called with the news. “Did you see the papers, they say you”re
going to fight Ali!”
Just like that Wepner quit his job and began to train full time.
A former Marine, Wepner had been a good (38-12 record) but
unspectacular fighter known for his all-out attacking style along
with the nickname, “the Bayonne Bleeder.” Don King, then fresh
out of prison, had worked out a deal for Wepner to fight George
Foreman, then the champion. But Ali upset Foreman in Zaire and
King, to Wepner”s surprise, was still able to secure a title bout
for Chuck.
Suddenly, Wepner was in the spotlight. He even did the “Merv
Griffin Show” twice. [Your editor watched the Merv show,
though he now wishes he was reading a book instead].
Wepner was in great shape for the fight but as a 10-1 underdog,
the oddsmakers didn”t think he”d last past the fourth round. So
on the day of the fight Wepner went shopping for his wife.
“I bought her a powder-blue negligee and I said to her, ”You
wear this tonight because you”ll be sleeping with the heavyweight
champion of the world.” After the fight, I get back to the room.
She”s wearing the negligee and she says to me, ”Do I go to his
room or does he come to mine?””
Of course, Chuck lost the fight but I remember it well. He
knocked Ali down in the ninth round, but Ali knocked him out in
the 15th, just seconds away from forcing a decision.
Wepner”s story inspired the movie “Rocky” and, for a time, he
frequently saw Ali, but not since Muhammad”s Parkinson”s
syndrome worsened.
But when Wepner thinks about Ali, he thinks about the man in his
prime, and what he owes him.
“Just the other day, I went into a place for a job and I hear the
guys say, ”That”s Chuck Wepner, he fought Ali.” I probably owe
75 percent of everything I”ve got to him. Probably till the day I
die, people will say, ”That guy went 15 rounds with the greatest
in the world.””
Arthur Rhodes
I clip stuff out that I come across during the week and throw it in
a folder so here”s an item that I”ve been meaning to bring up.
Arthur Rhodes is an incredibly mediocre, make that lousy, relief
pitcher who just signed a $13 million, four-year contract with the
Seattle Mariners. All he did last season was go 3-4 with a 5.43
ERA. Imagine what he would have received if his ERA was
5.20!
Top 3 songs for the week of 12/28/68: #1 “I Heard It Through
The Grapevine” (Marvin Gaye) #2 “For Once In My Life”
(Stevie Wonder) #3 “Love Child” (Diana Ross & the Supremes).
*Don”t foul Jeff Hornacek, he”s 84 for 86 at the free throw line
this year!
Quiz answers: 1) Tommy Kramer, 490 yards, 11/2/86. 2)Chuck
Foreman, 200, 10/24/76. 3) Chuck Foreman, 5,879.
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday.
