Derby Quiz: 1) Who was the last Triple Crown Winner?
2) These two jocks both retired in 1998, are in the Top 15
all-time for overall wins, and have last names ending in “V.”
Name them. Answers below.
In Praise of Canada
So I asked my friend Harry K. in Toronto the other day for his
opinion on an article I had read about the continued slashing of
the Canadian military budget. Well, ol” Harry was a bit p.o.”d
shall we say. There are disasters over the procurement of
helicopters costing $600 million in penalties (according to HK), as
well as stories of enlisted men getting their food from food banks,
living in substandard housing, going on welfare, “while our
bloated officer corps makes blunder after blunder.” [Sounds like
the U.S., eh?]
And there are other issues to be explored. So I got to thinking,
why not do a bit on the heroism of our dear neighbors during
World War II? The only problem is I bit off more than I could
chew due to time constraints, but following is the beginning of an
all too brief summary of Canada and the war effort. [I apologize
ahead of time that I may miss more than a few important
exploits.]
At the beginning of World War II, Canada”s attitude as a British
Dominion was probably best described as one of resignation. As
was the case with all of the eventual combatants, the memories of
World War I were still fresh in the minds of the Canadian people.
60,000 gave their lives in that conflict and 172,000 were
wounded, staggering totals considering the population base of the
country.
WW I was followed by the Great Depression which devastated
the economy. And French Canadians, still bitter over the
imposition of conscription in 1917, had no desire to fight another
”British” war in Europe. On the other hand, English Canadians
assumed that when Britain was at war, so was Canada.
So in 1939, the country”s Gross National Product was a meager
$5.6 billion. Then on September 1, Hitler invaded Poland. On
Sept. 3, France and Great Britain declared war on Germany and
by September 10, Canada had done the same. Facing a challenge
from Quebec”s Premier Maurice Duplessis, Prime Minister
Mackenzie King responded by personally drafting the National
Resources Mobilization Act (June 1940). This was important in
that it pledged that his government would not implement
conscription for overseas service.
By late 1941, however, there were pressures for ”total war”
everywhere in the country. Then, fighting off another French
effort to avoid the draft, King came up with the policy, “Not
necessarily conscription but conscription if necessary.” Of
course, eventually conscription became necessary. But we”re
jumping ahead.
Back in 1939, while Canada prepared to help with soldiers, their
production machine was kicking into gear. The GNP doubled by
1945 but, more impressively, here are some other figures.
–556 million bushels of grain in 1942.
–A country that had built zero merchant ships in 1939 had
produced 345 by 1944.
–Aircraft production was 14,700 by the end of 1944.
–707,000 military vehicles and 45,710 armoured vehicles were
built.
Needless to say, the awful employment situation created by the
Depression was a thing of the past. Canada”s total war
production was fourth among the Allies! But only 30% of this
production was used by the Canadian forces. Virtually all the rest
was given freely to the Allies as gifts. The Canadian Mutual Aid
plan, the equivalent to America”s Lend-Lease, was an investment
by the Canadian government in its own people as well as a
contribution to the war effort. For hard-pressed Britain, the aid
was immensely important.
From a force of just 9,000 regulars, the Canadian armed forces
expanded more than a hundredfold over the course of the war.
The navy enlisted 106,000, the army 730,000 and the air force
249,000. This was a staggering force for a country that had a
total population of only 11.5 million in 1939. Prime Minister
King was particularly worried about the effect of casualties on
national unity. Monday, the story continues. [Source: The
Oxford Companion to World War II]
NASCAR Penalty
This week, Winston Cup driver Jeremy Mayfield”s team was hit
with the 2nd biggest fine in NASCAR history, $50,000, and
Mayfield was stripped of 151 points, dropping him from 7th to
14th in the overall standings. [For those of you who don”t follow
NASCAR, this kills any chance Mayfield had of winning the
driving championship.]
The fine is the result of the April 16 race at Talladega. Mayfield”s
Penske-Kranefuss car was fed an illegal fuel additive. Crew chief
Peter Sospenso was suspended until June 6 and will miss 3 races.
The improper additive – an oxygen enhancer – was discovered
following Mayfield”s 14th-place finish. All the Winston Cup cars
used gasoline provided at the track by Unocal. The unapproved
additive was put into the car”s gas tank by an unidentified
crewman. [The additive adds oxygen to the fuel, thereby creating
more horsepower.] Car owner Kranefuss apologized profusely
and accepted the penalty.
The crew member added the substance before the last pit stop and
did so without the knowledge of the driver. The crew member
took full responsibility, but under the rulebook states that the crew
chief is responsible for the action of the crew.
Ironically, Mayfield won last week”s race in Fontana, CA.
Winston Cup Standings
1. Bobby Labonte 2. Mark Martin 3. Ward Burton 4. Jeff Burton
5. Dale Earnhardt
Julie Krone
Krone became the first woman elected to horse racing”s Hall of
Fame on Tuesday. She was proud of what she accomplished “as
a girl in a man”s sport.”
Julie Krone was the most successful female rider in racing history
in a career that lasted 19 seasons before she retired last year. She
is the only female to win a Triple Crown race, The Belmont
Stakes in 1993 aboard Colonial Affair.
“While you”re doing your job, there is no gender factor. Now
that I”m retired, though, I”ll read about the great horses and think,
”Wow, I rode them.” Adversity doesn”t exist while you”re doing
it. But now, I step back and still have no idea how I did all those
things.” So this weekend, quaff a Mint Julie! [Source: Joseph
Durso / New York Times.]
Steve Reeves
Born in Glasgow, Montana, Reeves was the former Mr. America
and Mr. Universe turned actor who in 1959 starred as Hercules in
the movie of the same title. Hercules made him one of the
world”s biggest box office draws.
Reeves retired at 43, suffering pain for years from a dislocated
shoulder sustained when his chariot slammed into a tree filming
“The Last Days of Pompeii.” He died on Monday of cancer at
age 74.
Top 3 songs for the week of 5/5/73: #1 “Tie A Yellow Ribbon
Round.” (Dawn featuring Tony Orlando) #2 “The Cisco Kid”
(War) #3 “Little Willy” (The Sweet).
Canada”s Anne Murray
My mother, never a huge follower of pop music to say the least,
used to always say, “I can”t stand Anne Murray!” when Ms.
Murray would make an appearance on Ed Sullivan or other shows
of that ilk. I could never explain it. Whassup with that?!
Bonds vs. Griffey
Updating what we hope will be a season-long feud between
followers of Barry Bonds and those of Ken Griffey Jr. Who is the
better all-around player? Through Wednesday”s games.
Bonds: 11 HR 22 RBI .315 BA 32 runs scored!
Griffey: 7 HR 24 RBI .200 BA 14 runs scored.
Quiz Answers: 1) Affirmed, 1978…ridden by Steve Cauthen.
2) Jorge Velasquez and Jacinto Vasquez.
Next Bar Chat, Monday…Canada and “Underrated / Overrated.”
