NBA Quiz: Who are the only 2 players in NBA history to have
played 50,000 or more minutes? Answer below.
November 19, 1966
The original “Game of the Century,” Notre Dame vs. Michigan
State.
Notre Dame was in the third year of a resurgence under coach
Ara Parseghian. Michigan State had narrowly lost the national
championship in ”65. Notre Dame had quarterback Terry
Hanratty. Michigan State was loaded, particularly on defense
with the great Bubba Smith and defensive back George Webster.
Notre Dame entered the game #1, having outscored its opponents
301-28 in eight games. #2 Michigan State was 9-0. Of the 44
starters in the game, 25 would receive some All-America mention
and eight would be selected in the first round of the NFL draft.
More than 700 journalists were on hand for the game, a
staggering amount for those days.
The game lived up to its billing but, in the words of sportswriter
Tim Layden, “not because it was artistic but because it was a
violent symphony of collisions, a human Demolition Derby.”
Bubba Smith knocked Hanratty out of the game in the first
quarter, but Notre Dame was able to rally from a 10-0 deficit
behind backup QB Coley O”Brien and tied the game at 10-10.
So with Notre Dame taking over the ball on their own 30 with
just 1:15 to play, you would have expected a barnburner finish,
right? Nope. Parseghian decided to run the ball six straight
times. The game ended, tied.
Parseghian claimed that with Hanratty out and facing the great
Michigan State defense, he”d be nuts to take a chance and turn
the ball, and the game, over to the Spartans. Notre Dame also
still had a game against USC so he felt their national
championship hopes weren”t necessarily finished by accepting the
tie.
And he was right. The Irish killed #10 USC, 51-0 the following
week and they ended up winning the title. [Both ND and
Michigan State didn”t play in bowl games that year.] The
Spartans finished #2. But Alabama was the only unbeaten, untied
major team yet they finished #3. ”Bama fans have been bitching
about that result ever since.
Another Top 100 Music List
What a disaster…MTV and Rolling Stone magazine compiled a
list of the Top 100 pop songs since 1963. Here is their Top 10.
1. “Yesterday” The Beatles, 1965
2. “(I Can”t Get No) Satisfaction” The Rolling Stones, 1965
3. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” Nirvana, 1991
4. “Like A Virgin” Madonna, 1984
5. “Billie Jean” Michael Jackson, 1983
6. “I Want To Hold Your Hand” The Beatles, 1964
7. “Respect” Aretha Franklin, 1967
8. “One” U2, 1992
9. “I Want You Back” The Jackson 5, 1969
10. “I Want It That Way” Backstreet Boys, 1999
Can you believe this? Madonna? Aretha Franklin? Backstreet
Boys? Top 10 since 1963?!
Here are some more awful selections. “Beat It,” Michael Jackson
#22; “…Baby One More Time,” Britney Spears #25; “Dancing
Queen,” ABBA #44. [By the way, I have nothing against Aretha
Franklin, it”s just that “Respect” is far from Top 10 material.]
Well, at least these made the Top 100:
#11 – “Hotel California” Eagles
#24 – “What”s Going On” Marvin Gaye
#29 – “Bohemian Rhapsody” Queen
#30 – “Your Song” Elton John
#70 – “Good Vibrations” Beach Boys.but 70?!
#75 – “Hot Fun In The Summertime” Sly & The Family Stone
Animal Chat
The bears have gone into hibernation so no more stories until
spring. Drat!! But we do have the wild elephants in India which
Reuters reports are wreaking havoc on Indian Air Force bases.
“Wild elephants have created serious problems for us, affecting
our regular operations as the animals break into our air force
stations.endangering human life and equipment,” said one
general.
The elephant population has grown by 40% in the last 20 years
and rapid deforestation has forced them to come out. There”s a
movie here.
But a sad note. The world”s primates are disappearing at an
accelerating rate. 25% of the species could disappear by 2030.
In Central Africa, the monkeys and apes are hunted to provide
cash and protein. A hunter can earn $300 to $1,000 a year, far
more than the average household income in these parts. Plus
game officials take bribes rather than prosecute the poachers.
And in the Brazilian Amazon, an estimated 3.8 million primates a
year are killed. Since they have so few babies, killing just a few
can have a tremendous impact.
Tom Osborne
I missed this on election night but former Nebraska coach Tom
Osborne, a Republican, won his race for Congress, capturing 82%
of the vote. So he joins two other football legends in the House,
J.C. Watts and Steve Largent.
Arnold Palmer
I have been hurt just like many Arnie fans to see Palmer endorse
the Calloway ERC II driver, a club that has been banned by the
U.S.G.A. He”s been such a stickler for the rules of golf and
tradition, I just hope he sees the error of his ways and
disassociates himself from this particular club.
The New York Times Tom Friedman writes that many local club
operators are rebelling against the driver, saying that if you use it
you won”t be able to obtain an official U.S.G.A. handicap or play
in any tournaments. Good for them. Come back to us, Arnie.
You”re our hero!
Hot Dog Convicted
Nathan Hall, a 21-year-old skier, was found guilty last week in
the death of Alan Cobb in 1997. Hall was skiing extremely fast in
poor conditions at a Colorado slope when he plowed into Cobb.
He was convicted of criminally negligent homicide and could get
up to 6 years in prison. The jury was made up of skiers and
snowboarders.
Since the high profile deaths of Sonny Bono and Michael
Kennedy, skier deaths declined last year to 30 from 39 the year
before.
Bad Brew…Very Bad Brew
The death toll in Nairobi, Kenya has now exceeded over 110 as
police begin to get a handle on a batch of home-brewed liquor
that was laced with methanol. Over 400 are seriously sick, many
of whom will go blind. [Yes, alcohol poisoning spawned the
expression, “blind drunk.”]
The illicit brew is known as “chang”aa.” These homemade
concoctions are popular in Africa and also Central America. Just
30 ml of methanol can kill you. So this holiday season, if
Grandma says, “Bobby, how about some chang”aa?” just say, “No
thank you. I”ll have a Blatz.”
New York City / Top Playmakers
Sports Illustrated had a list of the Top 40 basketball playmakers
that hailed from New York City.
1. Bob Cousy 2. Nate “Tiny” Archibald 3. Lenny Wilkens
4. Dick McGuire 5. Stephon Marbury.
Others of note: 7. Kenny Anderson 8. Mark Jackson
10. Kenny Smith 11. Rod Strickland 12. Dean Meminger.
now Dean “The Dream” would have been awesome if he was
playing today. And here is a guy whose game was built for these
times; # 21, Armond Hill of Princeton. [The biggest waste of all
time, Dwayne “Pearl” Washington, was 13.]
Golf Tidbits
–The average drive on the PGA Tour in 1980 was 257 yards. In
1999 it was 273.
–In 1976, Bob Gore stretched DuPont”s Teflon into a film,
laminated it to fabric and came up with Gore-Tex.
A Misguided Father
I couldn”t believe this letter in Sports Illustrated this week from a
poor soul in Alabama which reads in part:
“I went to Tiger Stadium with my dad to see Henry Aaron as he
was finishing his career with the Brewers. Before the game I
spent time near Milwaukee”s dugout, hoping for a closer glimpse
of the greatest baseball player ever. I didn”t get Aaron”s
autograph, but I got the chance to see him play. That was thrill
enough. Now I”ll make sure my son, Hunter, gets a chance to see
Patrick Ewing.”
Patrick Ewing?! Geezuz. I watched Ewing for 16 years and I
can”t think of anything memorable, except choking in some key
spots. And to compare the experience of watching Ewing to
Hank Aaron! Someone get that guy some chang”aa.
Top 3 songs for the week of 11/20/65: #1 “I Hear A Symphony”
(The Supremes) #2 “1-2-3” (Len Barry…one of the more
underrated songs of all time. It”s aged well.) #3 “Get Off Of My
Cloud” (The Rolling Stones…I think this was my second ”45.
after I was forced to purchase “Dominique” by The Singing Nun.
A traumatic time in my life).
NBA Quiz Answer: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar played 57,446
minutes. Elvin Hayes exactly 50,000. Moses Malone played
49,444.
Next Bar Chat, Wednesday. More football history from our
own Johnny Mac.
