[Still aboard the QE2.]
Baseball Hall of Fame Quiz: How many of the nine 3rd basemen
in the Hall can you name? To help you out, I’ll give the initials
for four of them, all from the early years; F.B., J.C., G.K., F.L.
One other of the nine is from this same era, but you should know
his name. The other four are post-1950. Answer below.
Tasmania
This state of Australia is about 180 miles by 180 miles, far bigger
than I imagined, with spectacular mountains and rivers. It’s said
to have some of the cleanest water in the world, which is also
why Tasmania is known for its trout fishing. The island was
settled back in about 1804 with 178 convicts and 25 guards from
Australia. Unfortunately, the country is suffering through its
worst drought in history, as is the rest of Australia, but it’s
interesting to note (we’re just rambling big time here) that ¼ of
the land is still unexplored bush.
Hobart is the capital with only 195,000 people. It’s a compact
place with some great watering holes, though I ended up parking
myself at just one, Hog’s Breath. Of course a lot of cities have a
pub by this name, but in Australia it is part of a chain of about
42.
Anyway, one of the great beers in the world can be drunk here,
Cascade. I now rank it right up there with Efes from Turkey.
Now I said I only hit one watering hole and here I’m forgetting
another one. On our way to see the Tasmanian Devil at
Bonorong Wildlife Park, our tour bus stopped in the town of
Richmond, a quaint little place with some shops. But when we
were told we would be here an hour, well, that meant just one
thing. A group of us hit the Richmond Arms Hotel for our first
introduction to Cascade. So we each had two pints and Joe the
bartender was so appreciative he gave us all free caps! Now
baby, it just doesn’t get any better than that.
Then we hit the park to see the Devil. Now I was pumped and I
wasn’t disappointed. I did, however, think it was bigger, but the
Tasmanian Devil is basically the size of a pig. But geezuz, these
guys are vicious little things, with teeth and a jaw that is
powerful as hell. The park feeds them every hour so they have
an incentive to stay active and it was a highlight of the trip.
Hopefully my pictures come out so I can share it with the Bar
Chat crew. Devils, by the way, eat wallabies (kangaroos), to
give you an idea of their killing capabilities.
Years ago there was a Tiger Devil on Tasmania, but they were
hunted out of existence by 1936. They were said to be at least
twice the size of the remaining little guys.
The park also had some wombats (cool) and Koala Bears, though
the later isn’t native to Tasmania. Koala’s sleep 20 hours a day,
3 hours and 55 minutes feeding, and all of five minutes moving.
In other words, the patron saint of couch potatoes. I also fed a
bunch of kangaroos, though I must say I was scared of some of
the bigger ones. They get pretty nasty when they’re older.
Oh, and whereas New Zealand has no snakes, Tasmania has 3
species, Tiger, Wippet (sp?), and Copperhead, all being
poisonous. Undoubtedly, they rule the unexplored bush.
Actually, the Tiger Devil could still be there, too, and the park
ranger told me he’s convinced it exists.
Lastly, did you know that Errol Flynn is from Hobart? I didn’t.
Also, did you know that Tasmania is allowed to grow opium
poppies? I didn’t.
The America’s Cup
When I was in Auckland, I went on a tour of the yachts, as I
alluded to last time, and I also got to see the actual America’s
Cup. This may not seem like such a big deal, but when the New
York Yacht Club held it all those years, I bet a vast majority of
you wouldn’t have been allowed in to view it, the freakin’ snobs.
But New Zealand is the land of the common folk, and when they
first captured it, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron said the
public should be allowed to view it. Understand that along with
the Stanley Cup, this is the greatest trophy in existence. Created
in 1848 by Royal Jeweler Robert Garrard of London, it was
originally known as the 100 Guinea Cup. Then in 1851, a
syndicate of wealthy New Yorkers commissioned a sleek new
yacht, named the America, and crossed the Atlantic to take on
the best of the British fleet.
In a race around the Isle of Wight, the America won with ease
and her owners bore away the 100 Guinea Cup in triumph. The
trophy has been known as the America’s Cup ever since. [If the
boat had been called, Ba-Da Bing, it would have been the Ba-Da
Bing Cup.]
For 132 years, the Cup sat at the New York Yacht Club. In that
time the snobs successfully defended it 25 times – setting up the
longest winning streak in sporting history.
The Cup has only been won away from the United States twice,
the first time in 1983 by Australia and the second time in 1995
by New Zealand. New Zealand then successfully defended it in
2000, defeating Prada Challenge of Italy.
The America’s Cup is also called the Auld Mug, and to say the
least, mega bucks has been spent on trying to capture it this year,
about $700 million in total by the 10 teams that vied for it.
Larry Ellison of Oracle was one of them. “Whatever I want, I
get,” he once said. “That’s the beauty of being worth $26 billion
(he’s far less than that today…but we aren’t crying for the a-
hole). I thoroughly recommend it.”
Ellison brought along his 244-foot yacht, Katana, as his home
base in Auckland. I saw it…quite impressive…and it’s now on
sale for $68 million. I was told Ellison actually has four of these
behemoths. But Larry didn’t have the biggest yacht there. That
honor went to Paul Allen of Microsoft fame and his 301-foot
Tatoosh, supposedly the second-biggest cruiser in the world. [I
don’t know what is the largest.]
But all of Ellison’s and Allen’s money didn’t get their boats into
the finals, with that honor going to Switzerland’s Alinghi. Now
you normally don’t consider this landlocked cheese whiz to be a
yachting power, but money buys everything, as Larry said, and
the owner of Alinghi, billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, is seeking to
buy the Cup.
Ernesto went after New Zealand’s skipper Russell Coutts and
bagged him for $5 million. Coutts then took half of Team New
Zealand with him and many in the nation were mighty pissed.
Coutts was seen to be a traitor, especially since back in 1997 he
had blasted another owner who had stolen some of New
Zealand’s crew.
On the other hand, some in New Zealand say, hey, we aren’t a
rich country and certainly those involved in Team New Zealand
aren’t making a lot of money, so what’s wrong with grabbing it
when you can? Bottom line, it should be great fun as the two
boats square off in the finals starting Saturday. If the Kiwis win,
I’ll keep the site free for another year.
Stuff
–Here’s the real story on that 96-foot wave I wrote of two weeks
ago. I finally heard the truth from the captain. Back in the
1980s, during an Atlantic crossing, in the dead of night radar on
the QE2 picked up a rogue wave. They had a few minutes notice
and tried to get those passengers who heard the announcement to
lie down, though most were sound asleep anyway.
The QE2 hit the wave head on…it was 90-feet. Yes, had the
wave broadsided the ship, it easily could have sank, an incredible
thought considering over 2,000 would have died.
As for our little adventure, we had those three awful days out of
Los Angeles and it has been calm since. Even the feared Tasman
Sea was a pussycat, though in this case we were simply lucky. I
was actually hoping for some exciting action.
–New Zealand wildlife: Did you know that New Zealand is
home to the Tautara, a reptile (not a lizard) that has been around
225 million years? It’s about the length of a computer keyboard,
slightly longer, and can live up to 100 years. Anyway, I went to
he zoo in Auckland to see one and the zookeeper told me that
they can now only be found on the “sanctuary islands,” similar to
Galapagos. But here’s the sad thing. One day a yacht pulled up
to one of the 12 islands where the Tautara live and, unbeknownst
to the crew, introduced an ant from Argentina. The ants
immediately proliferated, climbed the trees where the Tautara
lays its eggs, and ate them all. Within two years, no more
Tautara on that island. Not that the following is profound, but it
is amazing just how fragile some ecosystems are. Personally, I
also would have given the culprits the death penalty.
As for the Kiwi, the flightless bird that is the symbol of the
country, it’s pretty cool, but I’ll take a Tasmanian Devil any day
over it. Actually, the Devil would make for the perfect watch
dog.
–Now here’s a great wildlife story I heard from a New Zealand
woman. Her friend moved to Australia and bought a house in the
outback. The first night she opened her windows to get some air
flowing and she was sitting in her living room, reading a book,
when she noticed a dark shadow slithering through the window.
It was a freakin’ python! Well, you can imagine the scare that
put into the woman. She left the house, called for help, but they
couldn’t find it for days. It turns out there were possum up in the
attic and the python was merely on the hunt. Eventually it turned
up, satiated. The moral? New Zealand has no snakes. Australia
does. Live in New Zealand. [I’m going to the Sydney Zoo later
in the week, in search of Bar Chat material.]
–Champagne prices onboard have been climbing. The old price
for a bottle of Dom Perignon was $105. Now it’s $120. Cristal
has gone from $125 to $135. Then again, I’m drinking beer, so
what the hell do I care? [I switched from Grolsch to Bass, just
because.]
–I met a former chaplain of the San Francisco 49ers and wore
one of his Super Bowl rings. I tried the old, “Hey, look over
there?” trick, but alas, I had to give it back.
–Finally, here is your distressing Blackjack update. [I’m
assuming you want me to win.] After my spectacular start,
where I was up something like $270, I have lost every night I
played since and am now down $295. The tables have been
closed a fair amount, due to being in port, and I only have two
more nights to play. It’s looking bleak for the kid, that’s for
sure.
So what did I do wrong? Well, I broke the cardinal rule of
gambling…always start out with 40 Xs your minimum bet, in
order to withstand the inevitable losing streaks. Instead, I have
been starting with just 10 Xs, due to the fact that I need to allow
some time for pints at the Golden Lion Pub. We do have our
priorities here at Bar Chat, after all.
Top 3 songs for the week of 2/12/72: #1 “Let’s Stay Together”
(Al Green) #2 “American Pie” (Don McLean) #3 “Without
You” (Nilsson)
Baseball HOF Quiz Answer: 3rd basemen – Frank Baker, George
Brett, Jimmy Collins, George Kell, Fred Lindstrom, Eddie
Matthews, Brooks Robinson, Mike Schmidt, Pie Traynor.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
