Oakland Raiders Quiz: 1) Passing yards, career? 2) Name the
two with the career record for interceptions at 39. 3) Field goals,
career: 4) Rushing, game? 5) Name the two with 6 TD passes in
a single game. 6) Who replaced John Madden as coach? 7) Who
was the Raiders 1st round draft choice in 1972? [Hint: A wide
receiver from a now Division I-AA school for football. This was
the year after Jack Tatum was selected.] Answers below.
Broadway Joe Takes a Stand…for a while
I picked up this new book, “Going Long: The Wild 10-Year Saga
of the Renegade American Football League in the words of those
who lived it” by Jeff Miller and I haven’t read enough to give
you a concise review, but I did notice in the index it had a bit on
Joe Namath and the incident over his ownership of the restaurant
“Bachelors III.”
Following his Super Bowl III triumph, you can imagine how
Namath and the rest of the Jets had New York City wrapped
around their fingers. There were the Singing Jets, for example,
Don Maynard, Bake Turner, Matt Snell and Jim Turner who
appeared on “The Tonight Show,” and all the players were getting
commercial endorsements, especially Broadway Joe, who had
guaranteed the upstart Jets would beat the Colts and then
delivered.
But then NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle got a bug up his ass
about Namath’s co-ownership of the Manhattan establisment.
Rozelle’s people had been observing who was going into
Bachelors III and Namath’s attorney / friend, Mike Bite, was
presented with photos of “undesirable” people fraternizing there.
Namath claimed he knew nothing of the background of the
customers in question, reputed mob figures. Nonetheless,
Rozelle wanted Namath to sell his interest in the place.
Namath: “It was frustrating, like when you were a little kid and
you got called to the principal’s office. I didn’t do anything!
They had policies on undesirable people. Who are undesirable
people in a restaurant? I don’t know.”
You have to picture the whole episode exploded in the New York
media. I was only 12 at the time, but I’ll never forget it.
Rozelle thought Namath would roll over.
Tight-end Pete Lammons: “Hell, there weren’t any more
mobsters in that place than there were next door at the shoe shop.
We were going in there and having fun.”
Namath decided he would resign from football rather than sell.
Broadway Joe’s former coach at Alabama, Bear Bryant, called.
Mike Bite picked up the phone.
“Hello. I wanna speak to Joe. This is Paul Bryant.” Namath
told Bryant what he was doing and then in a tearful news
conference, “Namath announced that he had been presented with
an ultimatum by Pete Rozelle – sell the interest in what the NFL
considered a haven for undesirables or be barred from playing in
the league. Namath said he’d rather fight and quit, saying the
NFL had no business in his business.” [Miller]
Wide receiver George Sauer: “I had heard about the press
conference the night before and was tipsy…I went to (it) with
a hangover and was talking to Howard Cosell.”
With the cameras rolling, Sauer and two other Jets teammates
said that if Joe wasn’t going to play, neither were they.
Well, you can imagine the uproar then, but at the same time the
NFL realized they may have gone too far and Rozelle began
negotiating with Namath, meeting him at Namath’s apartment.
Training camp started, but Namath was a no show.
Namath: “I was sitting in Central Park while the team was out in
training camp, watching the world go by. And I thought, ‘All
these people walking around Fifth Avenue, all these people
walking around the park – they couldn’t care less whether Joe
Namath plays football. I’m the only one that cares. And why am
I not playing? Because something’s not right? Sometimes it’s
not fair, and you still have to deal with it.’”
Joe Willie went back to play, after making a deal with Rozelle
that he would get out of the restaurant. Ironically, Bachelors III
was opening in other locations, but the NFL only cared about
New York. Namath”s participation there was perceived to be too
hot. He got a raw deal.
So Namath goes back to training camp and the Super Bowl
champion Jets proceeded to barely beat the College All-Stars in
an exhibition game, 26-24. Then they had to play the Giants, in
the first game ever between the two.
Fullback Matt Snell: “When you went in the bars on the East
Side where everyone hung out, everybody said, ‘Wait’ll the
Giants get you guys. You think you guys are the world
champions? You’re nothin’ ‘til you beat the Giants. And we
don’t think you can beat the Giants.’ We heard that all off-
season.”
The game was at the Yale Bowl. It was supposed to just be an
exhibition, but it was obviously far more than that. The Jets took
it seriously and Namath was on fire, throwing 3 touchdown
passes in a 37-14 drubbing of the cross town rival. Actually, the
star of the game was a 12th round draft pick, punt returner Mike
Battle from USC, who took one 86 yards for a touchdown. But
Battle liked to drink.
Namath: “Mike was really a piece of work. All of us change a
little bit, I guess, when we get a little firewater in us…Don’t dare
him to do anything; he would. He started eating glasses and
putting holes in the wall with his head. But the team loved him.”
Well, we try to set an example for the young people at Bar Chat
so we’ll wrap it up right here.
Now on to the next drinking story.
Prohibition, Part II
Yes, it’s the exciting conclusion of… “The Rise and Fall of
Prohibition.” We pick up our story in the 1920s, as told by
historians Samuel Eliot Morison, Henry Steele Commager and
William E. Leuchtenburg in “The Growth of the American
Republic.”
“At the very outset of the decade rural America had scored an
emphatic victory when the Eighteenth Amendment, forbidding
the ‘manufacture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liquors,’
went into effect in January 1920. Prohibition permitted the
Protestant countryside to coerce the Newer Americans in the city
to accept its abstemious way of life. One ‘dry’ asserted: ‘Our
nation can only be saved by turning the pure stream of country
sentiment and township morals to flush out the cesspools of
cities and so save civilization from pollution.’ Many of the drys
believed that the Eighteenth Amendment was a landmark in the
development of civilization. Dr. Louis Henry Smith, president of
Washington and Lee University, called prohibition ‘the longest
and most effective step forward in the uplift of the human race
ever taken by any civilized nation.’
“In the cities opposition to prohibition, once strongest among
foreign-born workingmen, spread through every class of society,
and the thirst for liquor was sublimated into a philosophy of
‘personal liberty.’ The satirical essayist H.L. Mencken claimed
that prohibition had caused suffering comparable only to that of
the Black Death and the Thirty Years War, and Dr. Samuel
Harden Church, president of the Carnegie Institute of
Technology, told a Senate committee that rum was ‘one of the
greatest blessings that God has given to men out of the teeming
bosom of Mother Earth.’ Drinking not only continued, but even
became fashionable; the corner saloon gave way to the
speakeasy, and home-brewing became a national pastime. States
with large urban populations sabotaged prohibition laws just as
Northern states had once nullified the fugitive slave acts. Agents
of the Prohibition Bureau entered into corrupt alliances with
bootleggers like Chicago’s vicious Al Capone, and there was a
breakdown not only of law but of respect for the law.
“Both political parties tried to avoid the troublesome issue, but
without success. The Republicans, in office during most of the
life of national prohibition, and strongest in rural, Protestant
communities, were inclined to stand behind what Hoover called
‘an experiment noble in motive and far-reaching in purpose.’
The Democrats were in a quandary. Their strength came in
almost equal proportions from southern and western rural
constituencies which were immovably dry and northern
industrial constituencies which were incurably wet. In the
Northeast Democratic leaders reflected the rage of foreign-born
and second-generation Americans at the moralistic attitudes of
the drys. ‘The government which stands against the founder of
Christianity cannot survive,’ declared Senator David I. Walsh of
Massachusetts. If Christ came back to earth and performed the
Cana miracle again, ‘he would be jailed and possibly crucified
again.’ But Democratic leaders like William Jennings Bryan and
Cordell Hull found their Methodist and Baptist followers no less
intensely in favor of prohibition. This division almost split the
party in 1924 and deeply affected the outcome of the 1928
election.”
Well, that’s enough of this debate, mused the editor as he once
again realized he got himself into something that is awful hard to
get out of. Suffice it to say that by the time Franklin D.
Roosevelt was elected in 1932, attitudes had changed and repeal
of the 18th Amendment was proposed February 20, 1933, with
ratification on December 5, 1933 (the latter date being the reason
why we are celebrating here at Bar Chat, in case you’re new to
the site).
With passage of the 21st Amendment, FDR called for “good
sense” and the “education of every citizen towards a greater
temperance.”
But you know what? In doing the research for this piece I
realized that FDR is associated with the repeal of Prohibition, but
the actual amendment that accomplished it was proposed on the
above cited date, February 20, 1933. He wasn’t inaugurated until
March 4, 1933. Ah ha! And thus, boys and girls, you have
another example of…the Bar Chat advantage.
Bowl Championship Series…Barf!
Oh, what the hell. Thanks to the Oklahoma Sooners’ incredible
swoon on Saturday vs. Kansas State, we have two big football
games to wrap up the year instead of one. You know what?
That isn’t all bad. Division I-A football lives for controversy,
even if it doesn’t initially intend to.
USC finished 1st in the AP and Coaches polls, but ended up 3rd in
the BCS computer rankings so they play Michigan in the Rose
Bowl, while Oklahoma, #1 in the final BCS poll despite the loss,
plays LSU for the BCS title. So let’s hope for a Trojans win on
New Year’s Day and then we could sit back and see what happens
at the Sugar Bowl 3 days later.
The official StocksandNews choice is USC…and who should be
surprised? I mean after all, did you see their cheerleaders
Saturday? Another sterling performance as the girls willed their
boys on to score after score.
Stuff
–Bart Simpson, writing on the chalkboard the other day.
“Over forty and single is not funny.”
Doh!
–The best college football game of the weekend, and possibly
the year, was Colgate’s 28-27 win over Western Illinois in the
Division I-AA quarterfinals. For the second straight week
Colgate won in driving snow and both teams showed true grit
playing in unbelievably poor conditions. Colgate has now won
20 in a row and thus earns all of this week’s StocksandNews
“frosties.” Kansas State gets the far less fulfilling “Game Ball.”
–Meanwhile, Notre Dame did USC no favors as it lost to
Syracuse, thus wrapping up its 3rd losing season in the last five,
5-7. [USC had defeated ND earlier in the year and the Notre
Dame loss hurt USC’s already weak strength of schedule
ranking.]
–Ah yes, the Giants mailed in another. I still can’t believe I
actually picked these underachievers to win the Super Bowl. As
for the Jets, Mark R. said he fears for my health after my
prediction last chat that the Jets would win the Super Bowl next
season. Mark has a point. I’ve been real stressed out lately. My
teams have been losing…except for Wake Forest Basketball!!!
–Back to college football, today we have something like 28 bowl
games. Remember the good old days, those of you about 40 and
over? I take you back to a time before 1971 and the
introduction of the Fiesta Bowl. For example, 1968. Here was
the bowl lineup that year.
Orange, Rose, Sugar, Cotton…all New Year’s Day, of course.
Liberty (12/14), Tangerine (12/27), Gator (12/28), Sun (12/28),
Peach (12/30), Bluebonnet (12/31).
That was it. 11 games and each one was meaningful. Everyone
watched at least 9 of them in those days. Damn, it was great.
–You know who continues to be an amazing story of courage
and perseverance? Austrian skier Hermann Maier. This
weekend the Hermanator won his first World Cup downhill after
the 2001 motorcycle accident that nearly cost him his leg, thus
continuing his incredible comeback. Maier is 1st in the overall
World Cup standings so far and he now has a total of 43 wins,
just 7 behind the all-time leader, Alberto Tomba.
–You can’t make this up…from the Associated Press.
“Freetown, Sierra Leone – Thousands of fans rioted at Sierra
Leone’s national stadium Saturday when authorities substituted
two local dwarf comedians for a widely anticipated out-of-town
midget duo. Police arrested 30 people, amid damage and dozens
of injuries.
“Daylong radio ads had whipped up excitement and ticket sales
for Friday night’s scheduled performance by the two Nigerian
entertainers, Aki and Paw Paw.
“The Nigerian performers failed to show by early morning.
Organizers put the two local dwarf comedians on the stage
instead.”
Boy, I’m lucky. The snowstorm in the New York area on Friday
prevented me from flying over there. And that’s the last time I
get sucked in by Aki and Paw Paw.
–Brett Hull had his 731st career goal over the weekend, tying
him for 3rd on the all-time list with Marcel Dionne. He now just
trails Wayne Gretzky, 894, and Gordie Howe, 801.
–NBA tidbit: All 7 teams in the Midwest division of the Western
Conference are over .500.
–Yeah, he’s got a lot of money, but do you think Lebron James
is having second thoughts, lying awake at night, on not going to
college for a year or two? He’d be having a lot more fun, for
starters.
–College Basketball:
Congrats to Stanford for its upset of #1 Kansas, 64-58. And how
about Central Michigan beating #20 Notre Dame at the buzzer?!
Yeah, it’s been quite a fall season for the Fighting Irish.
But then there is pitiful St. John’s and its 1-4 start, the worst
since 1922-23. Mike Vaccaro had the following in the New
York Post.
“ ‘There’s something you should understand,’ a longtime coach
in the city’s Catholic League said yesterday. ‘You have no idea
how much it hurts to see what that program has become, because
for years, guys like me, we all felt we were a part of the good
that went on there. Some of us never sent a player there, but it
didn’t matter. St. John’s allowed all our kids to see what the
ideal was. “You want to be a New York player, kid? Look at
how they do it at St. John’s.”’” [ed. I had no idea how to
punctuate a quote within a quote…that I’m quoting.]
Vaccaro weighs in himself.
“This is what Mike Jarvis, in his ceaseless arrogance, from his
sanctimonious perch high above the fray, has never been willing
to learn. And it’s why he probably doesn’t even notice the
saddest collateral damage of this program he’s reduced to ruin:
New York doesn’t care about St. John’s anymore.”
Good for you, Mr. Vaccaro. There was Coach K of Duke
defending Jarvis as Duke whipped up on the Johnnies, Saturday,
and I’m thinking ‘What’s so great about the guy? The program
has gone to hell and it’s not like his kids go on to better things.
They all seem like drug addicts to me.’ Plus, Jarvis makes
$735,000! [I need a moment to check my umbrella policy……
……I’m covered.]
As for the coaching community, half of ‘em are on the take in
one fashion or another, which is why they always rush to the aid
of their brethren. It’s the part of college basketball that truly
smells.
–The New Jersey bear hunt begins Monday. Neighboring states
have held them for decades, with no controversy, but the animal
rights folks are out in force on this one.
Here’s where we stand at StocksandNews. The hunt is
warranted. There are simply way too many bears in what is
the most populated state in the country. But, we’d like to see the
bruins mount an attack of their own. Something like what
happened in Russia the other day, when a bear killed two
Moscow theatre workers. In this instance, the workers
threatened to take away the bear’s food if it didn’t vote for
United Russia in Sunday’s parliamentary election. Well, one
thing should be clear by now, a bear’s vote can’t be bought. To
be continued.
–So I’m hosting this party Saturday night and the last of the cool
people are sitting around my living room when my neighbor
Marge goes, “Have you seen our falcon?” “What? We have a
falcon?!” I exclaimed. It’s true. Right in our backyard we have
a killer that has discovered the, err, rats, that make their home
near this creek we have. Then another neighbor said, “I’ve seen
a red-tailed hawk!” Why goodness, gracious. This is getting
exciting. It’s enough to make one want to watch “Rat Patrol… in
Color!”
–Ah yes, nothing like a little snake for dinner, I always say. But
in Hong Kong, last winter’s SARS outbreak has led to a supply
crunch in the snake market because of the export ban that
remains in effect, even though the serpents have received a clean
bill of health.
“Say ahh.”
“Ahhsssssssssssssssssssssss.”
“Good…next…”
–This just in from AP…8 South Korean polar researchers are
missing in Antarctica.
“Three men went missing on Saturday while returning to base
camp in a rubber boat.
“They had been seeing off another group of South Korean
researchers who were on their way back home, an official said…
“Another group of five were sent to look for them the following
day, but they lost contact as well.”
Could it be? Megaladon?!
**Update…12/9: In a dramatic development, 7 of the 8 were
rescued. More Thursday. No Megaladon sighting.
–Wilt Chamberlain’s high school jersey went for $51,000 in an
auction the other day. A Honus Wagner T-206 baseball card
sold for $64,000…and for those of you who know the
background behind this one, the condition of the card was very
poor and it still made the owners that much.
–Dan D. in Honolulu sent me a note concerning my recent report
on the airing of the Notre Dame – Michigan State football classic
of 1966. It was the first football game ever broadcast live to
Hawaii. Before then Hawaii got the Saturday games on tape the
next day and the pro games delayed until the following Saturday.
Dan is also our official Michelle Wie watcher and he tells me she
received a special exemption to play in the Hawaiian Open early
next year. She doesn’t deserve it, Dan agrees, but he’s going to
be there with thousands like him who will show up to watch her
bang it out there with the men.
–Bulletin…for Wake Forest alums. Simos Barbecue is closing
its doors. This news has spread like wildfire. [Of course it was a
dive, but when you were in college you didn’t care. The beer
was cold and cheap.]
–From the New York Times, Friday.
“An obituary on this page yesterday erroneously reported the
death of Katharine Sergava, a dancer and an actress who
portrayed the dream-ballet version of Laurey, the heroine, in the
original production of ‘Oklahoma!’ Friends of hers reported the
error yesterday.”
[The Times was lazy and picked up on an incorrect obit in The
Daily Telegraph of London on Nov. 29. Which meant they had
all kinds of time to confirm it, especially since Ms. Sergava lives
in Manhattan!]
–College football tidbit. Michigan has led the nation in
attendance every year since 1974 except one, 1997 (Tennessee).
–Harry K. reminded me that Randy Bachman of BTO fame was
first chosen to be the lead guitarist for Led Zeppelin but opted to
stick with the Guess Who at the time.
Top 3 songs for the week of 12/6 75: #1 “Fly, Robin Fly” (Silver
Convention) #2 “That’s The Way (I Like It)” (KC & The
Sunshine Band) #3 “Sky High” (Jigsaw)
Oakland Raiders Quiz Answers: 1) Passing, career: Ken Stabler
…19,078 (1970-79). 2) Interceptions, career: Willie Brown
(1967-78), Lester Hayes (1977-86)…39. 3) FGs, career: Chris
Bahr, 162 (1980-88). Surprised? 4) Rushing game, 227,
Napoleon Kaufman (10/97). 5) TD passes, game: Tom Flores
(12/63) and Daryle Lamonica (10/69) each threw 6. 6) Tom
Flores replaced John Madden as coach in 1979. Madden took
over for John Rauch in 1969. 7) Mike Siani, WR, was the 1st
round pick in 1972 out of Villanova.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
