NCAA / NBA Quiz: From 1983-87, centers were selected as the
first overall pick in the NBA draft. How many of the five can
you name? Answer below.
A Lesson for All
Former Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints linebacker
Dennis Winston has learned a very painful lesson. Pay your
bills. It seems that Winston, who appeared in two Super Bowls,
kept his mementos at a storage facility; his old Steelers helmet,
jerseys he wore in the big games, a watch he got for playing in
the Cotton Bowl, and the most valuable player trophy he
received from New Orleans, being among the tons of items he
thought were safe.
Winston, an assistant coach at the University of Toledo, placed
his possessions in a self-storage facility in Kentucky, expecting
to take a job at Kentucky State before he then got the job in
Toledo. In his moving around, he failed to keep up on one or
two of his storage payments (this is in dispute). The facility then
sold his possessions this past February.
As reported by the New York Times” Edward Wong, a lawyer
representing the company, Self Storage, said that they have a
legal right to sell Winston”s possessions because he was overdue
on the payments. Self Storage said they were trying to notify
him by mail. [The rental agreement says that if your rent
remains unpaid for 45 days, they can sell it off.]
The storage company won”t tell Dennis who purchased his
memorabilia, but they add it only fetched $50. Dennis said that
everything was worth closer to $150,000 to collectors. At least
his Super Bowl rings from 1979 and 1980 are sitting in a safe
deposit box (or so he thinks).
*The preceding fulfills the StocksandNews public service
requirement as mandated by the FWSA (Federal Web Site
Administration).
The Animal Kingdom, Part XXXVII
[We love our animal stories here at StocksandNews, in case you
haven”t figured that out.]
–From Harry K. (and the Guardian newspaper), it would appear
that the Florida drought is causing the alligators to move to the
burbs as they seek new sources of water (the canals, ponds, and
swimming pools outside Everglades Park). Just last weekend,
over 175 reports of wayward gators were phoned in to
authorities. Folks, if they start heading up I-95, there is no
telling what kind of damage they could do. Let alone if they
make it up to New Jersey.
And game experts remind you, if you see one at a rest stop, for
example, don”t feed the scaly critter. Said an official, “Animals
will not know the difference between the food and the hand that
is feeding it.” Sage advice, indeed.
–But then there is the Llama. Thanks to David B. for passing
along a New York Times piece that tells of how llamas are
increasingly being used as “guard dogs.” An Iowa State
professor who specializes in the animal kingdom commented,
“It”s a kind of interesting, quiet revolution going on here” with
many farmers opting for the weird looking creatures.
Llamas exhibit an anti-predator behavior and have been seen
stomping and kicking at wild dogs or coyotes, sometimes killing
them. One rancher in Pennsylvania has not lost a sheep to a
predator since he started employing llamas. The average,
incidentally, is for a loss of 11% of one”s flock to the bad guys.
Now llamas have also been used as golf caddies in some
quarters. They aren”t that great at reading putts, but they won”t
get all ticked off if you give them a small tip. And you don”t
have to buy them a drink at the halfway house.
Stuff
–Now here”s a good guy, Iona basketball coach Jeff Ruland.
Ruland, who recently took his team to the Big Dance where they
lost 72-70 to Ole Miss, undoubtedly spurned offers from bigger
schools while opting to stay at his alma mater. [Ruland starred
on Jim Valvano”s late 1970s Iona squads.] This week he signed
an 8-year extension, saying, “I”m elated to be in this position.
This is all I ever wanted and I”m looking forward to the next
eight years. I feel I have the best job in the country.”
The cynic will say that if Ruland gets a few more teams to the
tourney, there”s no way he stays that long. Maybe so. But this
editor will be rooting big time for the squad.and I imagine he
will pick off some quality recruits in the years ahead.
And speaking of the college game and the coaching merry-go-
round, my friend Phil down in ACC country had an interesting
observation. Phil does some work for the league office as well as
helping out with last week”s NCAA regional action in
Greensboro. One of the coaches told him that he felt the lifespan
of a college coach these days is about 5-7 years. After that, the
coach or the university needs a change. Rare is the individual
like Coach K at Duke.
–Columnist Michael Kelly on the Puffy Combs trial.
“The acquittal of the incredibly innocent Sean ”Puffy” Combs,
following the acquittal of the incredibly innocent O.J. ”Juice”
Simpson and the acquittal of the incredibly innocent Bill ”Stain”
Clinton, reminds us of a duty that so many of us irresponsibly
neglect – the duty to protect our loved ones by getting famous.”
–Congratulations to Boris Becker! He is now officially the
proud father of 11-month-old Anna Ermakowa, the daughter of
Angela. Becker, who had admitted earlier that he fathered Anna
when he and her mother met at Wimbledon back in 1999, had to
be super psyched when Angela launched a paternity suit against
him and DNA tests proved that he was, indeed, the daddy. But
now, according to a wire service report, Becker has settled in
with rap singer Sabrina Setlur, once described as Germany”s
“most erotic woman.” To be continued.
–Adolph Levis, the man who created Slim Jims, passed away on
Tuesday at age 89. Levis came up with his idea when he kept
seeing pepperoni products selling at bars, so he worked on his
own 3-month meat curing process. He then packaged it and
called it Penn Rose (dumb) before changing the name to Slim
Jim (much better). In 1967, he sold the product to General Mills,
took his fortune, and moved to Florida. Only in America. And,
as one who has had more than his share of Slim Jims, I would
add, however, that they should only be consumed in the South.
while sitting on a porch, quaffing a Bud, and listening to some
Lynyrd Skynyrd.
But it”s also probably just as well that Levis has left us, because
we are about to discover that Adolph”s product is a carrier of
Mad Cow!!!!!!
Top 3 songs for the week of 3/21/64: #1 “She Loves You” (The
Beatles) #2 “I Want To Hold Your Hand” (The Beatles) #3
“Please Please Me” (The Beatles). Get out the broom!
NCAA Quiz Answer: Centers drafted first, ”83-”87.
1983 – Ralph Sampson (by Houston) 1984 – Akeem Olajuwon
(Houston) 1985 – Patrick Ewing (New York) 1986 – Brad
Daugherty (Cleveland) 1987 – David Robinson (San Antonio).
*Incidentally, during the 1984-85 season, Houston”s twin towers,
Sampson and Olajuwon, both averaged over 20 points and 10+
rebounds per game. But Houston, 48-34 during the regular
season, lost in the first round of the playoffs.
Next Bar Chat, Monday. The death of Claudius.
