[Posted Monday]
Figure Skating Quiz: [Oh, cut me some slack…I know we have
some fans out there…I swear.] 1) How many straight years was
Sonja Henie of Norway women’s world champion? 2) What
American woman was world champ from 1956-60? 3) What
American male was back-to-back world champ in 1969 and
1970? 4) What Russian pair skaters dominated the late 1960s
…world champs from 1965-68 and gold medal winners in the
’64 and ’68 Olympics? Answers below.
*Tough Sunday for your editor. First, my Jets took it on the
chin, then Wake Forest got their butts kicked versus #1 Duke.
Time for a heart-healthy beer or two.
F. William Free
You know, here is a guy who needs to be in the “Bar Chat Hall
of Fame” (to be built at a site to be determined), though it will
have to be posthumously. And who was this man who died the
other day at age 74?
William Free was the advertising executive who in October 1971
launched an ad campaign for National Airlines. Remember?
Attractive stewardesses who said, “Hi, I’m Cheryl – Fly Me
….I’m Debbie, come fly me!”
Goodness, gracious. Some folks are getting all bent out of shape
these days over some of the beer commercials, with their overt
message of sex and good times, but picture what it was like in
1971?! The National Organization for Women was all up in
arms. But National Airlines, rest its soul, had a 19% increase in
revenues for the first six months the spots ran, so they signed up
for more.
This wasn’t the only campaign that William Free engineered that
got him in trouble. He was also responsible for a 1970 one for
Silva Thins cigarettes.
“Cigarettes are like girls, the best ones are thin and rich.”
Doh! NOW didn’t like that one either, as you can imagine. Yes,
for F. William Free we reserve a plaque in our Hall of Fame, just
for making life a little more fun.
Throwback Jerseys
If you were watching the halftime of the Jets game, you may
have noticed that in an interview with Tampa Bay’s Warren
Sapp he was wearing a Lew Alcindor Milwaukee Bucks
uniform. These “throwbacks” are all the rage in the hip-hop
community. Nothing wrong with it, mind you, but the New York
Times had a piece the other day on the money being made by the
two manufacturers who put out the “authentic replicas,” Mitchell
& Ness of Philadelphia and Stall & Dean of Brockton, MA.
Before they make one of these old-style jerseys, though, they
first have to get permission from the league and reach royalty
agreements with the player or his estate.
It all really started just about a year ago with hip-hop artists
wearing them in their videos. Competition is fierce to be original
and the first with, say, a Nolan Ryan 1980 Astros jersey. Most
of them go for between $250 and $475, with Mitchell & Ness
pulling in $25 million in 2002 and an anticipated $50 million in
’03.
The Sixers’ Allen Iverson got in a lot of heat in December for
showing up at a press conference wearing a Bill Russell #6
Celtics jersey, a sacrilege for most Philly fans. As the writer of
the article I read wrote, Wilt Chamberlain must have been rolling
in his grave.
The rapper Fabolous has 1,000 throwbacks and his fellow artists
seem to have a thing for powder-blue ones, specifically those of
the old San Diego Chargers and Lance Alworth.
Finally, in what I promise to be the last piece on this topic,
Walter Payton’s estate won’t allow anyone to manufacturer his
jersey for this purpose. The NFL itself has also nixed the idea of
O.J. Simpson replicas…thank God. Personally, if I was going to
get one, it would be #7…Ed Kranepool.
Stuff
–I saw a blurb on Michigan State sophomore basketball star
Chris Hill and it noted he has no tattoos. Chris, my man!
–RIP, Will McDonough, one of the better sports columnists and
television analysts of our time.
–For you followers of golf in Ireland, Golf Digest selected
Doonbeg as the “Best New International Course of 2002” and a
“future Ryder Cup site.” Folks, you may recall I played this last
September. Way, way overrated. I guess Golf Digest was afraid
of offending the course designer, Greg Norman.
“Links” magazine, on the other hand, had an article on a
“modern classic,” Crosswater in Sunriver, Oregon. I’ve only
been to this gorgeous part of the country once, but got to play the
course and it’s one of my all time favorites. A great golfing
experience. [I now await my ‘comp’ vouchers from the Sunriver
Department of Tourism.]
–According to Golf Digest’s “Golf Guru,” at any one time there
are 4,167 golf balls in the air worldwide (not including driving
ranges).
–Wow, Ernie Els shattered the PGA Tour”s all-time scoring mark
for 72 holes in shooting 31 under (64-65-65-67) while winning
the season-opening Mercedes Championship. And here”s why you
can”t help but love…cliche alert…the smooth-swinging South
African. Asked about his performance, Els said, “We might have
a couple tonight.”
–The Ottawa Senators of the NHL won’t be the only NHL team
to file for bankruptcy, as they did last week. I alluded to this in
the past, but the NHL faces a super tough labor battle after the
current players contract expires end of next season. 73% of the
revenue generated by the league is spent on player costs,
compared to 59% in the NBA.
–Speaking of hockey, here’s an incredible tidbit. The great
goalie Ken Dryden played for Cornell University 3 seasons,
1966-69, sporting a 76-4-1 record(!) and allowing just 1.59 goals
per game in taking his team to 3 “Frozen Fours” and one NCAA
title.
–But wait, there’s more hockey. Writing in the current Sports
Illustrated, writer Michael Farber came up with his top 10 ‘best
lines’ (left wing-center-right wing). He lists Ted Lindsay-Sid
Abel-Gordie Howe of the Red Wings, circa late 1940s, as the
best line of all time.
Some of the more modern ones were:
Esa Tikkanen-Wayne Gretzky-Jari Kurri, Edmonton, mid-to-late
1980s.
Steve Shutt-Jacques Lemaire-Guy Lafleur, Canadiens, mid-to-
late 1970s.
Wayne Cashman-Phil Esposito-Ken Hodge, Bruins, late 1960s
through mid-‘70s.
Rick Martin-Gilbert Perrault-Rene Robert, Sabres, mid-to-late
1970s.
The last two, in particular, I appreciated in the days when I
followed the sport.
But how the hell could Farber ignore the New York Rangers’
“GAG Line” (for goal a game), consisting of Vic Hadfield, Jean
Ratelle and Rod Gilbert?! It’s a travesty, I tell ya. I’m canceling
my subscription…after the swimsuit issue, of course.
–Back to the Jets, I read the following in the Sunday paper
concerning quarterback Chad Pennington.
“A few days ago, in the middle of a playoff season that could
write him into legend, (Pennington’s wife), Robin, had sent him
out to clean the gutters…”
The writer stupidly didn’t follow up. What the hell is
Pennington doing going up on a ladder?
–Dave D’Alessandro of the Star-Ledger raised an interesting
point the other day concerning Michael Jordan and his standing
as the NBA’s career leader in scoring average. Jordan entered
the season at 31.0 points per game, with Wilt Chamberlain
second at 30.1.
But Jordan has been scoring at only about a 17.5 clip in this his
last year (finally), which means that to finish ahead of Wilt, he
has to average about 21 a game the rest of the way.
–The other day I had a piece on the large amount of centenarians
in Nova Scotia, who live to that ripe age despite a rather
unhealthy diet, the reason being they just have good genes.
Well, the 1/13 edition of Newsweek tells the tale of the citizens
of Okinawa, who purportedly have the highest proportion of
centenarians in the world, 39.5 for every 100,000. They have
remarkably clean arteries and low cholesterol, while eating huge
quantities of veggies, tofu and seaweed. Okinawans also get lots
of exercise. Add it all up and, unlike in Nova Scotia, scientists
don’t think it’s the genes, just the lifestyle.
But now these folks are beginning to eat more like Americans, so
they’re going to hell. One 102-year-old, though, attributes his
longevity to a drink he takes before going to bed; a mixture of
garlic, honey, turmeric and aloe poured into “awamori,” a local
liquor. Time to head to my local packaged goods store.
–I listed the following just last October, but we always get new
readers and now that the college basketball season is gearing up
in earnest, here again is the ACC’s 50th Anniversary Men’s
Basketball Team. I figure if your office is off to a slow start in
2003, maybe this will give you hoop freaks something to talk
about around the old watercooler. Or when you take your
afternoon heart-healthy beer breaks.
[As selected by a panel of 120]
Kenny Anderson / Georgia Tech
Shane Battier / Duke
Len Bias / Maryland…snort, snort
Elton Brand / Duke
Tom Burleson / NC State
Len Chappell / Wake Forest
Randolph Childress / Wake Forest
Billy Cunningham / UNC
Brad Daugherty / UNC
Charlie Davis / Wake Forest
Walter Davis / UNC
Johnny Dawkins / Duke
Juan Dixon / Maryland
Tim Duncan / Wake Forest
Len Elmore / Maryland
Danny Ferry / Duke
Phil Ford / UNC
Mike Gminski / Duke
Horace Grant / Clemson
Matt Harpring / Georgia Tech
Dickie Hemric / Wake Forest
Art Heyman / Duke
Grant Hill / Duke
Bobby Hurley / Duke
Antawn Jamison / UNC
Bobby Jones / UNC
Michael Jordan / UNC
Albert King / Maryland
Christian Laettner / Duke
Jeff Lamp / Virginia
John Lucas / Maryland
Tom McMillen / Maryland
Larry Miller / UNC
Rodney Monroe / NC State
Jeff Mullins / Duke
Barry Parkhill / Virginia
Sam Perkins / UNC
Mark Price / Georgia Tech
John Roche / South Carolina…they used to be in the ACC.
Wayne “Tree” Rollins / Clemson
Lennie Rosenbluth / UNC
Ralph Sampson / Virginia
Charles Scott / UNC
Dennis Scott / Georgia Tech…overrated
Ron Shavlik / NC State
Joe Smith / Maryland
David Thompson / NC State
Buck Williams / Maryland
Jason Williams / Duke
James Worthy / UNC
And, as I did last time, this little exercise gives me an excuse to
bitch about the exclusion of Wake’s Rod Griffin.
–Lastly, check this out. Spiny lobsters have an incredible sense
of direction. It’s true…it’s really true. According to a piece in
Canada’s National Post by Mary Vallis, even after being
blindfolded and driven in circles, they figure out which direction
they need to be headed in. Said one professor at the University
of North Carolina, “It’s really a rather remarkable finding if you
think about it – these little crustaceans being able to somehow
determine their position under conditions in which humans
would be completely lost.”
One of the experiments involved the capture of dozens off the
Florida Keys, after which they were stowed in covered tanks and
relocated by boat, taking circuitous routes up to 20 miles long to
confuse them. [“Hey, where are we going?” said one to his
friends. “Shut up,” said Larry.]
The next morning the lobsters were then blindfolded – the
researchers placed rubber caps over their eye-stalks (ouch!) – and
then released them while tethered to a tracking system that
monitored their movements. Well, wouldn’t you know that
Larry and Leroy always headed home…after which they were
then undoubtedly recaptured and boiled.
Top 3 songs for the week of 1/14/78: #1 “Baby Come Back”
(Player) #2 “How Deep Is Your Love” (Bee Gees) #3 “Here
You Come Again” (Dolly Parton…underrated tune…we love
Dolly!!!!)
*Kind of ironic…I cycle these Top 3 lists and the Bee Gees just
happened to come up this time. In honor of Maurice, who passed
away this weekend, I’ll have more next time.
Figure Skating Quiz Answers: 1) Sonja Henie was world champ
from 1927-36. 2) Carol Heiss was American women’s champ
from 1956-60. 3) The U.S.’s Tim Wood was world champ in ’69
and ’70. 4) The Protopopovs dominated pairs skating in the 60s.
Bar Chat returns Thursday…Maurice Gibb and George
Washington’s wicked winter.
