New Orleans Saints Quiz (1967-2002): [Hey, someone has to do
it!] 1) First coach? 2) Rushing, career? 3) Receptions, career?
4) Passing, season? 5) Passing TDs, game? [Not the same as #4,
think 1969] 6) Where did Archie Manning go to school and
what year was he drafted? [He’s not the answer to either #4 or
#5] 7) Interceptions, career? [1980-89]. Answers below.
So I drove up to Saratoga Springs to go to the National Horse
Racing Museum and it’s kind of ironic that Bill Shoemaker died.
The Shoe won 11 Triple Crown races and is #2 all time in wins,
but I haven’t been to the museum yet so we’re going to hold off
on everything about the man and his sport until next chat.
In the meantime ..
Stuff, Part XXCV
[In no particular order, because .it’s just stuff.]
–Ed Whitlock became the oldest man to break 3 hours as he
turned a 2:59:10 time in the Toronto Marathon. Whitlock is 72!
But I saw a picture of him in Sports Illustrated and he
looked absolutely awful. No word on whether he’s alive today.
–College Football Wrap-Up
And what a weekend it was. The exclusive StocksandNews
“College Game Ball” goes to #1 Oklahoma for its incredible
dismantling of #11 Texas, 65-13.
“Frosties” (coveted more, actually, by the recipients than the
game ball because we only serve ice cold Shiner Bock beer), are
being handed out to ..
Missouri, for its upset of #7 Nebraska, 41-24. Sorry, Ken S. I
realize the whole state is in mourning.
Florida, for whipping #6 LSU, 19-7.
Wisconsin, #23, for beating #3 Ohio State, 17-10. [Now you
could say, ‘Hey, Editor, why not give the Badgers the “Game
Ball”?’ Well, you have a point, but Ohio State was way
overrated to begin with.]
Notre Dame, for beating what was clearly an overrated Pitt team,
20-14. Boy, it pains me to say this, since I thought Pitt was a
sleeper for the national championship.
Well, no more ‘frosties,’ because we are running low on beer,
but I can’t help but note that TCU is now #13. How great is
that? Northern Illinois is #16 and still undefeated. North
Carolina State, once thought to be a title contender (though only
by its students), beat U Conn just 31-24. Wake Forest
crap ..lost to Georgia Tech! [Uh oh, a winning season is
definitely in jeopardy but there’s
always basketball!]
Also Rutgers has now lost 24 straight in the Big East. Duke
has lost 28 straight in the ACC. Joe Paterno is 22-25 since
starting out 9-0 in 1999.
And how about Texas Tech’s B.J. Symons? The quarterback has
thrown for a phenomenal (and NCAA record) 2,239 yards in just
his last four games!!!
Finally, Boston College is joining the ACC. You talk about a
great football conference. Miami, Virginia Tech, Florida State,
Maryland, Virginia, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Boston College,
North Carolina State, North Carolina, Wake Forest and .
Duke. It’s going to be interesting at the top, but simply dreadful
for the lower teams on the rung, including my beloved Deacs.
–Boy, that Donovan McNabb sucks. 11 of 26 against Dallas.
–So the NHL season has started (I promise to have more hockey
quizzes down the road this year, ice fans), and Sports Illustrated
has picked Ottawa over Detroit for the Stanley Cup.
But for us Rangers fans, the season is already off to a hideous
start as they have been outscored 10-3 in their first two games.
New York hasn’t made the playoffs in 6 straight seasons. No
wonder I’ve lost interest.
–Golf bits
Wow. LPGA professional Jan Stephenson sure stuck her foot in
her mouth for an interview in the November issue of Golf
Magazine. She is urging the LPGA to establish a quota for Asian
players, citing “their lack of emotion, their refusal to speak
English when they can speak English, (plus) they rarely speak
(period).”
She said they’re destroying the tour.
Well, personally, I’m a huge Grace Park fan so I take exception
to these remarks. I do understand Stephenson’s further
comments, however, that many of the Asian players are
extremely unfriendly at pro-am events. The public is paying
good money, after all, to have a little thrill and for the players not
to even say a few words while playing is ridiculous. It’s no
mystery why PGA players such as Peter Jacobsen and Fred
Couples are so popular. They are supposed to be great with their
pro-am partners, recognizing it’s part of the job, if nothing else.
[Stephenson later apologized.]
–For those of you not too familiar with the PGA Tour and how it
runs its events, around 144 golfers usually tee it up for each
tournament, with generally the top 60 and ties making the cut
after the first two rounds (which most of the time works out to 70
or so). In other words, it’s not that easy qualifying week in and
week out for the weekend. So I couldn’t help but take note of the
following performances this year among the tour’s elite.
Mike Weir has made 18 of 19 cuts.
Jim Furyk 21 of 23.
Tiger Woods 16 of 16.
Davis Love XIX 17 of 19.
Vijay Singh 23 of 24.
Now that’s impressive.
–But this isn’t Golf Digest has a little quiz monthly between
two players that attended the same school and the questions are
on everything from baseball to world events.
This month Rocco Mediate and Lee Janzen were asked, “Who’s
the U.S. Secretary of State?”
Mediate said, “Don’t know. I just know that Rumsfeld’s the
man!”
Janzen replied, “It’s either Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld or
Condoleezza Rice. I don’t know which one, though.”
Oh, brother. To paraphrase the PGA Tour’s ad slogan, “These
guys are really stupid!”
–I’ve commented previously that I thought this past PGA season
was one of the best I could remember. After all, I like to see
great players like Jim Furyk come through and win their first
major, but the stories of Ben Curtis and Shaun Micheel were
equally special.
So Sports Illustrated’s golf “expert” Alan Shipnuck wrote that
this year was “the most blah in recent memory,” and he blamed it
on the fact that 11 different golfers 40 or older won events.
That’s part of what made it so special, you freakin’ jerk!
Jacobsen, Stadler (50, no less), Hoch c’mon. Throw in
Tom Watson’s super play in all the majors at 53 (along with the
Bruce Edwards story) and the year was tough to beat.
[The editor is 45 and still harboring dreams of playing on the
Senior Tour, despite a current handicap of 20+.]
*Hotel Flash .so this kid has been screaming in the
room next to me for about an hour now, and the parents aren’t
doing anything, and Bar Chat con-tin-uuuuuuesss.
–Interesting piece in SI on the labor problems the PGA Tour is
having with its officials. Hell, I didn’t even know some of these
guys were paid!
Turns out the PGA officials you see every week earn between
$65,000-$180,000. Now at first you might think, hey, that’s
pretty good for such a cushy job, but then consider that they have
to work in 28 tournaments over 10 months, receive only $225 per
diem from which they have to pay for their hotel, let alone meals
(granted, they eat at the clubs, I guess), and they must fly coach.
Now compare those figures to NBA officials who make
anywhere from $85,000-$375,000, working 70-75 games over
just 6 months, or Major League Baseball umpires, $85,000-
$320,000, 130 games over 6 months. Both also receive $300-
$320 per diem and get to fly first class on any flight over two
hours.
[NFL referees earn $31,000-$105,000, but of course they are
working just 15 games over a minimum of 17 weeks and the
league puts them up in first class hotels. In all cases, the
professional leagues give their referees / umpires time off, a big
difference from the old days.]
Well, the PGA guys do have one big advantage. They’re
generally working in great weather.
–We like to kid around a lot here about drinking and having a
good time it’s Bar Chat, after all. Sometimes, though, I realize
I may go over the top, but this site is limited to those 18 and
older (you didn’t know that?) and I expect everyone to act
responsibly, just as I try to do.
Nonetheless, there is a serious story in New Jersey involving the
parents of a then 2-year-old girl who was paralyzed in a 1999
drunk driving accident after being hit by a fellow who had been
at a Giants football game in the Meadowlands.
The suit was originally filed in 2001 but was re-filed the other
day to include the NFL, the Giants, and the Meadowlands Sports
Authority, among others. To say the least, it’s one worth
following as it progresses through the courts.
The driver was convicted back in 1999, but what gets me is he
blew a 0.26 and reportedly had 14 beers at the game. 14! That’s
ridiculous. But what are the teams and stadium officials to do?
[The Meadowlands already cuts off beer sales at the start of the
3rd quarter.] It’s the behavior in the parking lots that’s tough to
police and this is where the suit really comes in. Authorities may
have to start checking each car as it exits the parking lots as a
result stay tuned.
–Following the attack on Roy Horn by his tiger Montecore, the
story came out that Montecore was distracted by a woman in the
audience at the Mirage with particularly big hair and this started
a chain of events which led to Montecore’s picking up Horn,
who had slipped, by his neck.
I don’t know. I love big hair on someone like Dolly Parton, but I
don’t on my waitress, know what I’m sayin’?
Meanwhile, Harry K. passed along a story concerning Timothy
Treadwell, the guy who was killed in Alaska by a bear (s), along
with his girlfriend. Treadwell was known for his documentaries
on living among the bruins, including grizzlies, and he once said,
“Bears, bees and dogs can smell fear. Fear is your enemy in the
wilderness.”
Elephants and hippos smell fear, too, sports fans, along with
wolves and buffalo. Further reasons to be extra careful when
going out to get the morning paper.
[Actually, someone needs to do a study on how many people are
killed by elephants in India as they are picking up the paper.]
–Speaking of wildlife, the lion population in Africa is now down
to 20,000 from 200,000 in the early 1980s. With the recent tiger
and bear attacks, I suspect the lions are gearing up for a major
assault of their own as part of a pro-active plan to protect their
dwindling numbers. Personally, I hope they mass an attack
against President Mugabe of Zimbabwe. The film rights would
go for $10 million.
–Oh yeah, so we’ve got these baseball playoffs going on and we
have a slew of new “Dirtball of the Year” candidates, starting
with Boston’s Manny Ramirez and Pedro Martinez. Geezuz,
these guys are jerks.
Of course throw in the Yankees’ Don Zimmer, Jeff Nelson (who
is runaway “Jerk of the Year” for his entire body of work), and
Karim Garcia.
Johnny Mac is joining me in Cooperstown later in the week and I
imagine one night we’ll have a conversation on all-time jerks and
dirtballs.
–I noted in “Week in Review” that less than 30% of our nation’s
youth have formal physical education classes these days. Here’s
another tidbit from Runner’s World.
A 75-pound child riding a bike burns 90 calories in 45 minutes,
the equivalent of one large chocolate chip cookie.
But, a kid spending a half-hour running around and another 15
minutes watching ants carry crumbs will burn 260 calories, or a
large cookie and a Coke.
The magazine has launched a campaign to encourage kids to act
like kids. Of course yours truly has always said, “Throw them
outside in the dirt it’s the best thing for them.”
–From the Wall Street Journal:
The median age of NBC’s prime time viewers is 46.2, while
CBS’s is 53.8, Fox’s 35, WB 31.1, and MTV’s 21.5.
The median age for “Friends” is 37, “Sex and the City” 39.3, and
“West Wing” 50.
–This past weekend in Britain an estimated 70 million pints were
consumed due to the start of the World Cup rugby tournament,
along with a crucial football match between England and Turkey
(which ended in a 0-0 tie after David Beckham missed a penalty
kick). Pub owners received special licenses to open at 4 AM due
to the time difference (the rugby is being held in Australia) and
you have to appreciate how in the UK you have fans of Scotland,
Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, as well
as England. 70 million pints, though, is really only 16 million
more than a normal weekend in Britain. But then who’s
counting?
–Well, the weather is beautiful and I have to get over to the
Horse Racing Museum until next time ..
Top 3 songs for the week of 1012/74: #1 “I Honestly Love You”
(Olivia Newton-John) #2 “Nothing From Nothin” (Billy
Preston) #3 “Then Came You” (Dionne Warwicke & Spinners)
New Orleans Saints Quiz Answers: 1) First coach: Tom Fears,
13-34-2 (1967-70). 2) Rushing, career: George Rogers 4,267
(1981-84). 3) Receptions, career: Eric Martin, 532 (1985-93). 4)
Passing, season? Jim Everett 3,970 (1995). 5) Passing TDs,
game: Billy Kilmer threw 6 back on 11/2/69. 6) Archie Manning
went to Ole Miss drafted in 1971. 7) Interceptions, career:
Dave Waymer, 37 (1980-89).
Next Bar Chat, Thursday. It’s all about the ponies.
