New York Jets Quiz: 1) Most TDs, career? 2) Most
interceptions, career? 3) 3 Jets have rushed for 11 TDs in a
season…they played in the 70s, 80s, and /or 90s. Name ”em.
4) Name the coaches to take the Jets to the playoffs.
Answers below.
Juiced Ballplayers
Well, I”ve written in the past that there is no doubt one of the
reasons for the proliferation of home runs the past two years in
particular is the extensive use of steroids among major league
ballplayers. Now the New York Times James McKinley Jr., in a
front page story on Wednesday, sheds some light on the situation.
Unlike the NFL and the IOC, Major League Baseball does not
test players for the substances. That”s scandalous. And
McKinley reports that “it is not uncommon to hear players
speculating in dugouts that an ordinary hitter who has
metamorphosed over a few months into a muscled slugger is
”juiced.” With millions of dollars in future salary riding on
offensive numbers, the temptation to find a chemical edge is
great, current and former players said.”
Said former All-Star Andre Dawson, “When you see how quickly
some of them develop from one year to the next, you know
they”re using something.”
A consensus seems to be that 30 to 40 percent of players are
taking them. Cliff Floyd, an outfielder with the Marlins, had no
problem telling writer McKinley that he thought it was 40
percent.
Testing is not allowed under the current collective bargaining
agreement, so alleged steroid use is anecdotal. But the San Diego
Padres have randomly tested 25 of its minor league players – the
minors are not unionized – during spring training and each year
about one in five tests positive.
The concern is growing to the point where MLB officials will
press the Players Association to accept a testing program in the
next round of bargaining. The players would be wise to accept
because I don”t think the fans, still recovering from the series of
strikes, will be so tolerant. And having recently visited the Hall of
Fame, I will personally yank someone”s plaque who gets in for
hitting 500 home runs, 10 years from now, when half the time the
player was juiced.
Triathletes…Beware
There is a potentially fatal bacterial infection called leptospirosis
that has been making news lately. And if you venture into remote
wildernesses, you need to pay particularly close attention.
Leptospira interrogans is a bacterium found mostly in mammals
like dogs, pigs, cattle and rats. It is a scourge especially in
developing nations.
The bacteria, shed in animal urine (sorry, folks…this is science),
can live on the ground for weeks or months, under the right
conditions. In an article for the New York Times, reporter Alicia
Ault notes that torrential rains carry the leptospires from
riverbanks, grass, jungle floors or dirty streets and alleys into
places where people are playing or living.
People get sick by swallowing contaminated water or by getting it
in their eyes or in open cuts. Fever, severe chills, and joint pain,
are the first symptoms, but the leptospires “run amok, leading to
kidney and liver failure, meningitis and, sometimes, death.”
Now the real reason I”m writing about this is not just to warn
those of you who might be hiking in Costa Rica (Jeff, that means
you), but, also, recently 30 American athletes in the Eco-
Challenge Expedition Race in Malaysia became ill by swimming in
a flooded river which runs through a dense rain forest. The jungle
is inhabited by rats, bearded pigs, monkeys and orangutans.
[Always stay clear of nations with bearded pigs.] 12 Americans
required hospitalization.
But far closer to home, in 1998, 110 of 775 triathletes contracted
leptospirosis after swimming in Lake Springfield in Illinois.
And in Baltimore, researchers proved that three inner-city
residents had contracted lepto while walking barefoot through
alleys…yet there was no sign of bearded pigs.
Doxycycline (sometimes taken as an anti-malarial drug) seems to
be a good preventive medicine. Otherwise, the mortality rate is as
high as 25%.
Tiger and the Ad World
Tiger Woods” impact on the advertising market goes far beyond
his new $100 million, 5-year contract with Nike. Davis Love III
just signed a $50 million, 10-year deal with Titleist. [Why, I just
don”t know. What has he done recently?]
But as Mark Hyman of Business Week explains, these mammoth
agreements come at the same time that the Senior Tour and the
LPGA are suffering. PGA Tour attendance, on the other hand, is
soaring, but the Senior Tour”s ratings are just one-third what they
were in the early 90s.
And because of the Woods and Love packages, endorsement
deals for 2nd and 3rd tier players are drying up (from players #50
on down). Equipment companies will start slashing the number
of golfers on their payrolls.
A few years ago, a player ranked 50th could count on $150,000
from various endorsement deals. Not any more.
But while endorsement deals are shrinking for the rank and file,
the purses themselves are exploding, putting more cash in their
pockets. And they can all thank Tiger for that.
Wily Coyotes
Not only does New Jersey have over 1,000 black bears, but it also
has a burgeoning coyote population of some 2,000. And after all
of my talk about the bears (who will be hibernating soon, giving
you all a break from Bear Chat), it may be the coyotes who are
the real potential source of terror.
These German Shepherd-sized predators are flourishing. Three
years ago, New Jersey instituted a coyote hunt. But in that time,
fewer than two dozen have been killed. So with such a dismal
catch, the state is extending the hunt from one month to three.
Coyotes will eat anything, and they have been known to take
down newborn fawns and sheep.
No humans have been killed yet, but last year a woman had a
coyote start to drag her away by her collar after she had slipped
trying to prevent a coyote from killing her dog.
And awhile back, a pack of coyotes appeared on a soccer field,
causing school officials to postpone a game.
Yes, your editor is issuing a full-blown Coyote Alert. Make sure
the kids are armed if they”re playing in the backyard.
[Source: New York Times]
Music Tidbits
–In the 1960s, the Beatles had the two highest debut singles,
“Hey Jude” (#10, 9/14/68) and “Get Back” (#10, 5/10/69).
The Beatles also had the highest debut for the 70s, “Let It Be”
(#6, 3/21/70).
–The biggest chart jump in 1964 was not a Beatles tune. The
Four Seasons “Dawn” jumped from #75 to #24 in one week
(2/8/64).
–The biggest mover of the 60s or 70s was Jeannie C. Riley”s
“Harper Valley P.T.A.” #81 to #7 (8/31/68)
–“Can”t But Me Love” took only two weeks to get to #1, #27 to
#1 (4/4/64).the biggest all-time jump to the top spot.
Top 3 songs for the week of 10/15/66: #1 “Reach Out I”ll Be
There” (Four Tops) #2 “Cherish” (The Association)
#3 “96 Tears” (?Question Mark & The Mysterians)
Jets Quiz Answers: 1) TDs, career – Don Maynard, 88.
2) Interceptions, career – Bill Baird, 34.
3) Emerson Boozer (1972), Johnny Hector (1987), Brad Baxter
(1991), all rushed for 11 TDs in a season.
4) Coaches, playoffs – Weeb Ewbank (1968,69), Walt Michaels
(1981, 82), Joe Walton (1985, 86), Bruce Coslett (1991), Bill
Parcells (1998).
Formula One
Michael Schumacher won the 2000 Formula One Driving
Championship for Ferrari, their first since 1979. Schumacher, in
winning his 3rd career title, now trails just Juan Fangio (5) and
Alain Prost (4). But if I could just get the two of you together
who actually care about this, then I could charge a fee.
Next Bar Chat, Monday.
