NFL Quiz: 1) What is the smallest television market for an
existing NFL franchise? 2) Entering the 2002 season, what back
has the most rushing yards the previous four seasons? 3) What
quarterback has the all-time lowest interception percentage
(minimum 1,500 attempts)? Answers below.
College Football Records
The following are some of the more important Division I-A
records that I’d nonetheless have a hard time putting in a quiz.
[Others I will quiz you on later this fall.] All season and career
marks include regular season games only.
Total yards, single game: David Klingler / Houston 1990…732
(16 rushing, 716 passing…the latter also obviously a record).
Single game, rushing: LaDainian Tomlinson / TCU 1999…406.
Season rushing records: Only three players have averaged 200
yards per game.
Barry Sanders / Oklahoma State 1988…239 yds/game
Marcus Allen / USC 1981…213
Ed Marinaro / Cornell 1971…209
Freshman rushing record: Ron Dayne / Wisconsin 1996…1,863
yards.
Career passing yards:
Ty Detmer / BYU 1988-91…15,031
Tim Rattay / La. Tech 1997-99…12,746
Chris Redman / Louisville 1996-99…12,541
*Rattay holds the career per game mark at 386 yards.
Career touchdown passes: Ty Detmer, 121
Single season touchdown passes: David Klingler, 54.
Detmer and Klingler are also the only two to throw for 5,000
yards in a single season. [Detmer 5,188 in 12 games. Klingler
5,140 in 11 games.]
Only three times has a quarterback completed 50 or more passes
in a single game: Drew Brees / Purdue 1998…55. And Rusty
LaRue / Wake Forest 1995, twice! 55 and 50. Go Deacs!
Single season receptions per game: Howard Twilley / Tulsa
1965…13.4 [134 receptions in 10 games.] Manny Hazard /
Houston 1989 averaged 12.9 but on a record 142 catches in 11
games.
Single game receptions: Randy Gatewood / UNLV 1994…23.
Season points: Barry Sanders / Oklahoma State 1988…234
points on 39 touchdowns.
Punt returns, career: Jack Mitchell / Oklahoma 1946-48… 23.6
avg. with 7 touchdowns.
Kickoff returns, career: Anthony Davis / USC 1972-74… 35.1
avg.
Career total yards [rushing, passing, punt / kickoff returns]:
Ricky Williams / Texas 1995-98…7,206
Napoleon McCallum / Navy 1981-85…7,172
*Only two over 7,000.
Career field goals: Jeff Jaeger / Washington 1983-86…80.
Only three have kicked 67-yard field goals (all with the use of a
kicking tee): 1978 – Joe Williams / Wichita State; 1977 – Steve
Little / Arkansas and Russell Erxleben / Texas.
A Pennant Race to Remember / 1967
I was reminded of this with the current race between the Oakland
A’s and Anaheim Angels. Here were the final A.L. standings in
’67.
Boston…92-70
Detroit…91-71
Minnesota…91-71
Chicago…89-73
It was known as “The Great Race” and it went down to the wire.
The Red Sox were everyone’s darlings, having finished 72-90
the year before, good for 9th place (there were 10-team leagues
back then). But the White Sox were an even more amazing
story, as they hit just .225 with no regular over .241! [Pete Ward
supplied the power with 18 home runs and 62 ribbies.] But
Chicago’s pitching staff had a splendid 2.45 ERA (and this
wasn’t even the year of the pitcher, which would be the
following year). As for Minnesota, they had replaced Sam Mele
as manager after a 25-25 start and then righted themselves under
Cal Ermer. The following description of the last week of the
season comes from “The Sports Encyclopedia: Baseball,” by
David S. Neft, Richard M. Cohen, and Michael L. Neft.
“Eddie Stanky’s Hitless Wonders from Chicago were the first to
drop out, losing a doubleheader to Kansas City on September 27
to end their hopes. Minnesota entered the final weekend one
game up on Boston and Detroit. Rain caused the scheduling of
back-to-back doubleheaders in Detroit with the California
Angels, while the Twins came into Fenway Park to play two
against the Red Sox. On Saturday, the Tigers split with the
Angels, while an early Minnesota lead was lost after Jim Kaat
had to leave the game with an injury, and Boston pounded Twin
relievers for a 6-4 victory and a tie for the top. On Sunday, the
capacity Boston crowd watched Jim Lonborg defeat Dean
Chance to eliminate the Twins, while the Tigers won their first
game to climb to a half-game behind the Red Sox. A Detroit
victory would have ended the season in a tie, but all Boston –
including the Red Sox – listened to their radios and prayed as
Detroit dropped the second game to the Angels, 8-5. The
Impossible Dream became a reality as Red Sox rooters floated in
the celebration of their first pennant since 1946 behind freshman
manager Dick Williams.”
Carl Yastrzemski won the Triple Crown for Boston while
Lonborg won 22 and the Cy Young Award. Of course, Boston
then lost the World Series to St. Louis, 4 games to 3. Heh heh.
Stuff
Stephen Farber had a piece in Sunday’s New York Times
wherein he proclaimed 1962 the best year in movies. And who
can argue with him?
Lawrence of Arabia
To Kill A Mockingbird
The Manchurian Candidate
The Longest Day
Birdman of Alcatraz
Divorce Italian Style
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
Billy Budd
Sweet Bird of Youth
Days of Wine and Roses
Lolita
Ride the High Country
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
Hatari
Advise and Consent
Lonely Are the Brave
Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
Cape Fear
–September 22, 1776. Nathan Hale, soldier and spy for the
rebellious colonists, is hanged after saying, “I regret that I have
but one life to lose for my country.”
–Crap…I forgot to congratulate the Minnesota Twins for
winning their division last time, a super accomplishment and a
great story. [For those who don’t follow baseball that closely,
like my readers in Saudi Arabia, the Twins not only have one of
the 3 or 4 lowest payrolls in baseball, Commissioner Bud Selig
had earlier marked them for contraction.]
–Gary Player: The great golfer had some interesting comments
in the October Golf Digest. Player’s father worked the gold
mines of South Africa and he once told Gary that a miner’s best
friend was the rat, “because when the rats took off running, it
meant a cave-in was imminent. Every day the workers gave the
rats bits of their sandwiches as tribute.” Kind of makes you want
to treat them with more respect, doesn’t it?
Player also talks about the advances in today’s equipment and his
educated opinion is that golfers on tour are hitting it 50 yards
farther than 40 years ago.
–September 15, 1902: The first double play in baseball was
recorded when in a game between the Chicago Colts (they
weren’t the Cubs until 1907) and Cincinnati Reds, an official
scorer wrote the words “Double Plays: Tinker-Evers-Chance”
into a major league box score for the first time. [Source: Dave
Anderson / New York Times] Joe Tinker was the shortstop,
Johnny Evers at second, and Frank Chance the first baseman.
Later, with Tinkers to Evers to Chance a then common refrain, it
was the New York Mail’s Franklin P. Adams who wrote
“Baseball’s Sad Lexicon”:
These are the saddest of possible words:
“Tinker to Evers to Chance.”
Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds.
Tinker and Evers and Chance.
Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble,
Making a Giant hit into a double –
Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble:
“Tinker to Evers to Chance.”
All three were elected to the Hall of Fame in 1946, the trio
having played together for 11 seasons. None of them deserved it
based on their records, which were mediocre at best.
Adams, by the way, also wrote the following:
In winter, when it’s cold out,
Appears the baseball holdout;
In spring, when it is warm out,
He gets his uniform out.
Top 3 songs for the week of 9/16/67: #1 “Ode To Billie Joe”
(Bobbie Gentry) #2 “Reflections” (Diana Ross & The
Supremes) #3 “Come Back When You Grow Up” (Bobby Vee)
NFL Quiz Answers: 1) Smallest TV market: Green Bay –
Appleton: 398,510 households; Jacksonville: 548,750, Buffalo:
618,000 (minus five…if you know what I’m sayin’). 2) Rushing
yards last four seasons (1998-2001): Curtis Martin (5,468),
Marshall Faulk (5,441), Corey Dillon (5,080), Eddie George
(5,046), Emmitt Smith (4,953). 3) Lowest interception
percentage, all-time: Neil O’Donnell…2.10%. Steve Bono is
next at 2.47%.
Next Bar Chat, Tuesday.
*Your editor is out of the country and thus is not keeping up with
current “bar chat” type events in the States…in case you’re
wondering why I don’t comment on some issues that may come
up while I’m away.
